March 2011
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Google Redefining "Open" On The Fly →
So “open” is the new codeword for “bait and switch”?
If so, good for Google. And ultimately, good for Android users.
Also, I swore Facebook said over and over that they weren’t working on a phone. How weird.
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Nokia E6-00 — What A Name, What A Look →
This is seriously a phone being released in 2011?
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Truly Mad Men →
Apparently season five has been pushed to early 2012 (at the earliest) because AMC and Lionsgate are arguing with Weiner over cost-cutting measures. Specifically, they’re said to want each episode to be two minutes shorter (so they can run more ads) and they want to eliminate two regular cast members to save costs.
Such bullshit.
Sure, maybe this is Weiner leaking stuff to the press to get...
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The "A" In Amazon Is For Asking For Forgiveness... →
More on Amazon’s ballsy bet to go ahead without full label support.
WSJ’s Ethan Smith:
One major music company, Sony Corp.’s Sony Music Entertainment, expressed dismay at Amazon’s plans, echoing concerns of others in the industry. “We are disappointed that the locker service that Amazon is proposing is unlicensed by Sony Music,” a spokeswoman said Tuesday...
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Amazon's Big Ballsy Bet To Rush To The Cloud →
Rumors had been circulating for a couple of weeks that Amazon would be announcing something soon — I just didn’t expect it to be this soon.
Amazingly, apparently they’re going ahead with this even though they don’t have the full support of the major labels. So is this technically illegal? I don’t know. But it’s very ballsy.
Next question: will this force Google...
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“Working at Apple was a dream. Color’s name is a tribute to Apple.”
– Color co-founder Bill Nguyen
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Mah Setup →
My interview with The Setup (usethis.com) on the tech I use on a daily basis.
Note: this interview was conducted a few weeks ago, so the iPad 2 wasn’t out yet and the new MacBook Pros hadn’t been announced yet.
I now have an iPad 2, which I love, but I’m still Air all the way over the MBP.
Update: I got them to add in a blurb about iPad 2.
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RIM, Playbook, And the Microsoft Cleanup →
I got to play with a Playbook briefly a couple weeks ago. It looked pretty nice and seemed to run smoothly. But the RIM guy must have said “Flash” 200 times. I simply don’t care if it runs Flash or not.
Others might, but even then, it’s probably item 20 on the list of important things. If that’s going to be their main selling point, they’re in trouble. And when...
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The Race To The Media Cloud →
So apparently Google, Apple, and now Amazon are all planning the same service. And Amazon’s may actually launch first!
Having all three in the same space should ultimately be good for consumers.
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Turning The Page →
Sounds like some refreshing changes to simplify the bureaucracy at Google. At the same time, product/strategy largely sound like business as usual — at least so far (Page doesn’t officially take over until April 4).
Still encouraged by this.
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Japan Donation
Had a busy day — hadn’t had a chance to hop on Tumblr until now. See all these icons with Japanese flags overlaid on them in my stream. Immediately understand what’s going on. Look to the right side of the Dashboard. Donation took 3 seconds. Easiest thing in the world. Ingenious implementation.
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Famous Last Words? →
Elizabeth Woyke:
Talach is skeptical about iTunes and NFC. “How do consumers benefit from using iTunes as a payment mechanism?” he asks.
Um, I can think of a number of benefits. Number one, using your iPhone to pay for things.
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Google's Honeycomb Hideout →
Open — until it’s inconvenient to be open.
Then not open.
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It's A Rental →
And one more thing on the movie download price cut thing. Greg Sandoval writes:
Nonetheless, the word coming out of Hollywood is that buying films is in and renting is out.
This continues to show the Hollywood doesn’t really understand the issue. The core problem isn’t really that movies are too expensive to buy (though that is an issue), the main thing is that most movies simply...
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$12.99 Is Nice. $9.99 Is Nicer. →
I’ve noticed a few other films getting the same $14.99 to $12.99 cut on release. I also see iTunes is doing a one-day sale of Tron Legacy for $9.99 when it hits next month.
$9.99 seems like a pretty killer price point for movies distributed this way. But the studios have to stop the SD/HD nonsense. Just sell one version (that perhaps can downgrade for portable usage) at $9.99.
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"Like When You Buy A PC Online" →
So much for the easy, streamlined Windows Phone update process. The first update roll-out was a disaster. The second one is more like a riddle. One that required this post.
Microsoft:
Much like when you buy a PC online, you’ll be able to see when the update is being tested and packaged, when it’s about to ship, and when it’s “left the warehouse.” We’ll update the site once a week with the...
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The Color Of Money, Indeed. →
If the execution is right, this idea is really, really interesting. And wow, what a round of funding.
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WSJ Airplane iPad Edition →
Selling individual digital issues of a daily newspaper seems like it may make sense for plane rides, but little else.
Of course, that’s the only time I buy newspapers in any format.
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Showtime Killing Dexter On Netflix →
Well that was fun while it lasted. But a war is coming. I suspect we’ll see a lot more of this.
If Showtime and HBO offered their own Netflix-like services on boxes like Roku and Apple TV, I would definitely pay another $5 to $10 a month for each. (For both their original content and their film collections.) All in the name of killing cable, naturally.
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Microsoft Patents Ones, Zeroes →
13 years ago, this was a solid spoof. Today, it just reads like a regular headline.
Best line (note the “interim CEO”):
“If this patent holds up in federal court, Apple will have no choice but to convert to analog,” said Apple interim CEO Steve Jobs, “and I have serious doubts whether this company would be able to remain competitive selling pedal-operated computers...
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Luck
Sometimes I think about how lucky I am to make a great living doing what I do. Then I read some of the email that comes in to our tips account or some of the comments on our posts. I quickly remember: luck has absolutely nothing to do with it.
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The Spectrum Is Both A Race And A Sprint →
Step 1 and Step 2 towards Google making a run at buying Sprint?
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20 Terabytes Of Tweets On The Move →
The entirety of Twitter has moved not once, but twice, in the effort to scale. That’s 20 terabytes of tweets.
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T-Mobile Wastes Little Time Addressing The iPhone... →
From their Q&A:
Is T-Mobile USA getting the iPhone?
T-Mobile USA remains an independent company. The acquisition is expected to be completed in approximately 12 months. We do not offer the iPhone. We offer cutting edge devices like the Samsung Galaxy S 4G and coming soon our new Sidekick 4G.
One point: because of the 3G differences, even if AT&T and Apple allowed for the iPhone to be...
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Google TV Buttons Up For iPhone App →
I mean, seriously? Look at that middle image with that the buttons. It’s this but maybe even worse!
Apple makes a similar app for the Apple TV. It looks like this.
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I Love Netflix Part 238 →
Peter Kafka’s interview with Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos is a great example of why I love Netflix. It’s very clear that this guy totally gets it. He’s not bullshitting, he’s just laying it out as is.
Will this maneuver work? Maybe, or maybe not. But it’s a brilliant bet. They’re betting on good content from establish content makers. And if it does pay...
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"Guys, you won't be doing this." →
Can you imagine if a carrier said that to Apple? Their response would probably be along the lines of: “Go fuck yourselves.”
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iPad Case Makers In Agreement That They Will Not... →
I mean, what else was anyone expecting them to say? “Run for the fucking hills! Ahhhhhhhhhh!”?
The problem with most iPad covers is that they’re awful. And that included Apple’s previous attempt at one. The new “Smart Cover” is great because it was designed to work in a symbiotic manner with the iPad 2.
I wonder if/when any other case makers will make use of...
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Aronofsky Bows Out of 'The Wolverine' →
Noooooooo…
The first Wolverine spin-off pretty much sucked. Aronofsky was the only reason I was looking forward to this one. Hard to imagine who they could replace him with that would keep me excited.
andrewnonumbers asked: Wow, simply amazing. I had no idea the illustrious MG Siegler had been a Tumblr user for so long.
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Verifone CEO Perfects The Art Of Not Apologizing... →
All Things D’s Tricia Duryee:
Did you give Square a heads-up that you were going to do what you did?
Verifone CEO Doug Bergeron:
I don’t know who our PR folks talked to or didn’t.
Verifone was trying to destroy Square’s business and they may or may not have given them the heads up beforehand. And if they did, it was not Bergeron or any executive at Verifone, it was their PR...
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Leaving So Zune? →
“As demand ebbs” — was there ever demand? I’ve never seen being used one in public by someone who is not a Microsoft employee.
Update: Someone just reminded me of this. As I wrote two and a half years ago:
Microsoft should scrap Windows Mobile and build a single (like the iPhone) mobile computing device with a completely new mobile OS. Sure, it’s easy for me to say that,...
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The Once Elusive Review Unit →
John Gruber is happy that Apple is allowing a wider variety of sites in to do early reviews of their products. As one such reviewer, obviously I’m biased. But even if I weren’t included, I would totally agree.
I used to read the reviews from the old guard (WSJ, NYT, and USA Today), and found them fine and informational, but they often missed the edge and perspective found on my...
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