February 2012
1 post
Post PC retrospective →
Thoughtful, detailed analysis of the “Post-PC” iPad world
January 2012
2 posts
Quora: Why are Software Project Estimates often... →
The Tale of Fernforest and Petro Dale →
An enchanting fable about Hollywood and Silicon Valley
November 2011
5 posts
Control Freak →
The future will likely hold many surprises for computer control (mind control anyone? biotic implants?) but one thing that for certain is that whatever comes next will likely only take off if it is elegant in a way we didn’t anticipate, and useful in ways we can’t imagine.
Samsung See, Samsung Do: The Case of the Apple... →
“At the end of the day, I wonder if Samsung is doing a good job copying, or a great job stealing?”
Difference Engine: Luddite Legacy →
AN APOCRYPHAL tale is told about Henry Ford II showing Walter Reuther, the veteran leader of the United Automobile Workers, around a newly automated car plant. “Walter, how are you going to get those robots to pay your union dues,” gibed the boss of Ford Motor Company. Without skipping a beat, Reuther replied, “Henry, how are you going to get them to buy your cars?”
RIM, Stop Following the Leader →
RIM has done a lot for the smartphone industry, including being the pioneers of push messaging, but now it seems like their time is up, and it’s time for them to move on.
The Career Arc: Eddie Murphy →
“Why doesn’t everyone ever point out that Eddie (Murphy) is the most successful comedian ever, by any calculation … and really, it’s not even close? That he’s one of the best stand-ups ever? That, before Eddie, only white actors were considered sure things at the box office? That Eddie made more money making kids’ movies than anyone ever? Doesn’t this seem … I...
October 2011
11 posts
Android update woes visualized →
“7 of the 18 Android phones never ran a current version of the OS.
12 of 18 only ran a current version of the OS for a matter of weeks or less.”
Long Term vs Short Term Thinking Pt 1 -...
Sometimes it’s hard to make decisions about the future with a clear head. Life is full of opportunities to make trade-offs between short term and long term pain/gain. The closer the short-term, and the farther the long-term, the better your chances of making a short-sighted decision. This kind of thinking is well-understood in behavioural psychology, and they even have a term for it: hyperbolic...
Caught in the Google Nexus →
“The best Android phones available are probably going be the hardest to find, and the least promoted in phone stores. Thanks to Google’s partners, the most open version of their open OS is the one you’re least likely to see.”
Graphical Overview of Apple's Q3 results →
Siri, The Final Frontier →
” Is it hyperbole to put Siri on the same level as the graphical user interface, or multi-touch? It might seem so, but Siri brings us strikingly close to the future promised in Apple’s Knowledge Navigator video from 1987, which was strangely enough, set in 2011”
Dennis Ritchie: The Shoulders Steve Jobs Stood On →
“The tributes to Dennis Ritchie won’t match the river of praise that spilled out over the web after the death of Steve Jobs. But they should.”
Techcrunch iPhone 4S Reveiew →
“ Apple focused on the other thing they do best: refining already great products to make them better. The iPhone 4 was a great product. The best smartphone ever made. Now it cedes that title to the iPhone 4S.”
Steve Jobs: Nothing to Lose →
A fitting tribute to a great man.
Steve Jobs - Greatness Personified →
When I wrote this it wasn’t meant to be a eulogy…
Why 4S is Good Enough For Me
There may soon be blood in the streets over the lack of an iPhone 5. The ThisIsMyNext crew (soon to be the Verge) went on record before the Apple event saying that they would be “extremely dissapointed” if Apple announced an iPhone 4S and nothing else. Other tech pundits seem to be dissapointed (even if they still plan to get the phone) with what Apple has put on offer. I think...
Ready, Aim, Kindle Fire! →
Amazon has charged headlong into the tablet wars, and their opening shot is an impressive one. All kinds of tablet goodness, all for the low, low price of $199.
September 2011
10 posts
The forever recession (and the coming revolution) ... →
“Why do we believe that jobs where we are paid really good money to do work that can be systemized, written in a manual and/or exported are going to come back ever?”
How Amazon Picked Android's Lock →
“By creating a legitimate Market alternative with over 10,000 apps (at last count) and the full backing of the Amazon juggernaut, Jeff Bezos no longer needs a thing from Google.”
Amazon's Cloud based browser targets google →
“Fire isn’t a noun, it’s a verb, and it’s what Amazon has done in the targeted direction of Google. This is the first shot in the new war for replacing the Internet with a privatized merchant data-aggregation network.”
The Kindle Fire Does Less than the iPad, and... →
“A few months ago, Steve Jobs famously called traditional computers “trucks” in comparison to his small, sleek iPad. It was an amusing and prescient metaphor, and it’s one that works just as well to describe the Kindle Fire: the iPad might be a car, but Amazon went ahead and built a motorcycle.”
Samsung will pay Microsoft to use Android →
“Motorola Mobility is the only major Android manufacturer left not to have signed a licensing deal. “
Android seems less “free” now somehow
Amazons New 'Kindle Fire' →
7”, IPS Display, Forked Android 2.?
Looks pretty tempting…
Visualizing the Steve Jobs Era →
“From a value creation point of view, it’s hard to think of a better performance from anyone, ever.”
Best CEO performance ever? Possibly.
SEO the human way →
“So the result happened naturally, organically. And that my friends, is real SEO.”
The sleeping giant awakens →
You gotta figure Facebook would have a response to Google +
Embracing The Growth Mindset
Originally written in May, 2010; this article gives a good sense of where I’m coming from:
I’ve been reading a lot lately about the “growth mindset”, which is the idea that people who orient themselves to hard work and dedicated improvement are more likely to achieve great results over time. This is in contrast to people who have a “fixed mindset”. These people believe that abilities are...