Apple Can’t Make Time For iPhone Copy and Paste
July 28, 2008
I’m a big Apple fan and I own lots of Apple products including a first generation iPhone. I was somewhat shocked to read some statements from Apple product head Greg Joswiak about some iPhone features customers have been wanting. As far as copy and paste goes, the article says:
Apple has a priority list of features, and they got as far as they could down that list with this model, Joswiak said
Really? Apple’s priority list of features certainly does not match up with its customers priority list because every iPhone owner I know had copy and paste at the top of that list. It smacks of the elitism that has always been a part of Apple if you look closely. We’ll do what we please and you’ll like it. For the most part we do because what they create is amazing. For all the talk of Open Source and freedom on the Internet, Apple is the most closed, proprietry company there is. So, Apple will give you copy and paste on the iPhone when they are darn good and ready and until then you will sit quietly and wait.
The Cameras Are Never Off
July 23, 2008
Interesting video as President Bush asks that the cameras be turned off and then makes some remarks we have to assume he didn’t want recorded. Unfortunately these days, especially when you are a public figure, the cameras are never off. Somebody out there has a cell phone with video or some other kind of pocket recording device. We live in a time of constant recording. To many people are carrying devices capable of recording and distributing that recording to millions via the Internet is also so easy now. One camera I saw yesterday specifically records video in YouTube compatible format, a feature that was highlighted prominently on the box. Remember when America’s Funniest Home Videos was a top TV show? Now YouTube is America’s Funniest Home Videos. Watch yourself out there in public because the camera is never off. Neither is the audio recorder or the snapshot.
Seth Godin Agrees With Me
July 23, 2008
Or maybe I agree with him. Either way, I have been saying for a long time now that how many people follow you on twitter or read your blog isn’t nearly as important as who. Its a principle I learned from Dave Slusher, and I believe it completely. I would much rather have 20 high quality, important people reading my blog than 2,000 everyday joes.
But we haven’t come very far yet as every blog/podcast ad network still works under the presumption of numbers. Lots of raw numbers. They do this because this is what the advertisers demand. As an “old school” podcaster, I belived we were going to change the world. We were supposed to change the very face of advertising, forcing them out of their relentless chance for raw numbers and getting them to understand the power of who and the return on influence. But were trying to change an industry that has done what it does for many many years and change never comes easily. Until then, the fight goes on.
Starbucks/AT&T Not So Free Wi-Fi
June 3, 2008
This week Starbucks will make the transition to AT&T as their in-store wi-fi provider. As part of the deal they are announcing free wi-fi with the purchase of a $5 Starbucks card. You must use your card at least once a month to keep the deal going. So, for a cup of coffee a month, you have wi-fi at Starbucks. The one hitch in the deal is that the access is for two hours a day only and those hours must be consecutive. That means you can come in the morning and get some use but if you come back in the afternoon, no dice.
I don’t understand why they need to put these kind of restrictions on the service. My other favorite coffee shop, It’s A Grind, provides free open access, no questions asked. And when I am there, I always buy a coffee. The Starbucks program reeks of corporate think. Let’s look at all the risks and mitigate them. God forbid we trust our customers because given the chance they’ll rip us off. 98% of Starbucks customers will buy a coffee while there, so there’s no real reason to require it with the card and how many will sit there all day and suck access? Not many. And those that do are going to be thirsty and hungry and will most likely buy more stuff. I would rather see Starbucks and AT&T trust customers to begin with and apply restrictions in the future if real problems surface. But like the music and film industries, corporate America still feels the need to control their customers and has a basic lack of trust for them. This, of course, runs completely contrary to the spirit of the Internet and the new world of business online. Maybe, just maybe if you treat your customers with respect they will give you back the same.
Flight To Open Source
June 3, 2008
Weather it’s attributable to a fear of Google Open Social or increasingly savvy executives there is a real movement to open up social network platforms. Facebook has been the hottest network of late but is also once of the most closed and restricted. Not anymore as Facebook announces an open platform. Not to be outdone, Myspace also has plans to open it’s code. What the open platforms will do is enable outside developers to create extensions and addons to these services. New features will not be solely at the mercy of the original developer.
Within five years it’s going to be hard to run any kind of web service or application that is not open source, or at least provide a strong set of open API’s. This is part of the new paradigm of Internet business. Open Source has been around for years, but only now it is really starting to take hold. This is partly why Google has the strategic advantage over Microsoft as we move into the future. Open Source is built into the Google DNA. Microsoft has been built on the concept of proprietary systems and control. Buying Yahoo makes sense for Microsoft not just for their search advertising program, but for the Yahoo culture and philosophy. Yahoo also has Open Source built in. If Microsoft would allow some of that to seep in, it could benefit them emencly.
Bubble Anxiety
April 28, 2008
Kara Swisher over at All Things Digital wrote a nice piece about Twitter and how many people she found outside the tech bubble who had no idea what it was. This kind of shock and disappointment is common for people who don’t come up for air often enough.
Last Christmas I asked the members of my family about various aspects of technology. I didn’t even bother with things like Twitter. I was probing mostly about RSS. Some knew of it. Fewer had a good idea of what it did and none used it. They all read blogs directly from the websites, no aggregation. Shocking. The Internet, like the entire Silicon Valley, is a giant reality distortion field. If you don’t check things out from a different point of view, you can get a very inaccurate notion of what is true.
As Kara so aptly points out, while Twitter looks like the hottest thing since sliced bread, when you take off your reality distortion lenses, you realize we’re not even close to being there yet.
I Dig Sprout
April 27, 2008
Web widgets are one of the hot topics of 2008. Sprout is a company I found recently that makes creating and publishing widgets super easy. Everything is based on Flash technology which gives your widget a lot of power and flexibility. The interface for creating sprouts couldn’t be easier and there are built in components that make adding things like rss feeds, Twitter and audio files easy. The program also does everything needed to prepare the widget for publishing on a wide variety of web sites. I love tools that empower the common person to harness the Internet in more powerful ways and Sprout certainly fits that bill in the widget category.
Google Android is Coming
April 23, 2008
According to reports T-Mobile will be first out of the gate with mobile phones based on the new Google Android specification. I am excited to see what becomes of this and I hope Android phones are sucessful. We need more competition in the mobile market when it comes to software. Palm has been left for dead and Nokia is not a player outside of Europe. The iphone has been the only real breath of fresh air in the market in years.
Although many will play it off as such, I don’t see Android as competition as much for the iPhone as it is for Microsoft and Windows Mobile. Google is taking the Microsoft approach, not focusing on hardware at all, but providing a software platform upon which many phones can be built. Apple’s iPhone is a unique experience unto itself and I think it will continue to stand apart. The pressure is really going to be on for Microsoft to make Windows Mobile more compelling.
What all this means in general is that the mobile market will continue to accelerate and companies had better start thinking about how mobile fits into their plans. Already I am disappointed that my bank Washington Mutual has no mobile access to their online banking. Customers will soon factor mobile access into their buying decisions when looking at things like online banking and bill payment.
Synchronization features will also be an important part of any new product or service. Ideally I want my data synced between my desktop, mobile and Internet. Evernote is a new note taking program that I am loving and it does a masterful job of synchronization. All they need now is a better iPhone client.
Seesmic Video WordPress Plugin
April 23, 2008
Seesmic is already an interesting video platform but this new WordPress plugin takes things to the next level. {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/YDCHJRXiqP_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”Seesmic Video WordPress Plugin ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/53MaznvsaV”}}}
Blockbuster’s Online Play
April 21, 2008
Blockbuster is taking the only logical step left to save it’s business. As I wrote about already, the online film rental market is not there yet and the opportunity is open for someone to take the lead. I think Blockbuster is taking the right road with a hardware box, but it remains to be seen what the user experience is. They may be building upon the Movielink service they purchased but Movielink was never a very good service and was saddled with lots of arcane DRM. This will surely doom the service unless they have changed things.
In general I don’t trust Blockbuster to pull of either the hardware or the service. It’s not what they do and unless they have a very good partner to help them, I foresee failure. If they can put more pressure on Apple, however, to get more movies on iTunes or Netflix to accelerate their online initiative, their effort will be worthwhile for end users.
It’s funny to read statements in the article like Blockbuster needs to be careful not to canabolize their brick and morter business. That’s old school thinking. That business is already dead. The best way to survive in a changing world is to put yourself out of business before someone else does. Blockbuster does have a strong brand name and a window of opportunity here to make the leap. Are they savy enough to pull it off?