I was skimming TechCrunch and saw that the state of David Sifry was in transition. Well, matter of fact Dave Sifry is no longer H.N.I.C. at Technorati.
Rewind, the past few months of Technorati and their ever changing homepage, I thought to myself, “Man, they don’t know what to do with themselves, search engine, portal or a community?” As a web user to me it seemed that the more that Technorati “added”, the more they were “taking away”. More►
The Apple iPhone / Meizu Mini One argument has been swelling since January. Did Meizu copy the Apple once again?
Evidence presented last time I cared to read on this subject says that the Meizu did embrace design cues introduced by Apple at MacWorld in January, but Meizu announced the M8, a full screen mobile, four days prior.
Arguments have sprawled several directions since. Can a “copycat†company produce a superior product at a cheaper price? Meizu has copied Apple products previously, and many state, those products have subtle improvements over the originals. Not long ago many considered Samsung second rate. Now, many of their products are in high demand. More►
Well, I have been playing with Google Street View for quite a while. I’m really impressed. Some people are up in arms for no reason, but paranoia is useless. Google Street View has the potential to become more useful than Google Search. Think of all the possibilities. More►
In 2000 InfoWorld ran a story on the 10 commandments for mobile phone etiquette, times have changed, but the need for proper mobile phone etiquette still remains. More►
Bill Maher is known for cancelled latenight talk shows, Supahead and most recently wishing the VP was dead. BlackBerryCool is back online and is reporting that Cingular, for some reason will carry the Blackberry Pearl in red. What’s the common thread? They’re all utterly ridonkulous. More►
Both are covered on Gizmodo today. There’s also the credibility / legitimacy issues and that they get too much press. But you already knew that. Gizmodo kicks out more news daily than most sites in a week. Still, they do what other sites with the same reach or more don’t. They question authority.
Today’s “You Might Have Just Bought a DVD But We Still Think You’re A Criminal “, covers those crappy anti-piracy ads that get more screen time than Ann Coulter for calling John Edwards a faggot and possibly being a transexual. We agree. They suck. More►
HotSpots
Picking up a story ran by the NYTimes, SmartMobs chimes in on McDonald’s and StarBucks charging for WiFi. This rings up there with the public library saying you can’t use FREE WiFi after hours.
There’s also comment on airports starting to charge for electricity. We may still have to fly but luckily we have user-friendly Panera Bread who happens to offer WiFi for FREE. Probably healthier for you anyway. More►
Like trained lap dogs a good majority of the online world is slobbering on the shiny knob of Apple and the yet to be released iPhone. Countless acolytes have submitted their sonnets of praise and worship for the still unreleased device. The Apple iPhone will no doubt be cool but could the community please not do the same thing with the iPhone that was done with the iPod, namely dubbing every potentially equally cool, if not cooler device a “Killerâ€. More►
When Microsoft can steal the thunder with a one page website, with nothing on it, you know something has gone terribly wrong.
When company press releases are about accessories, colors, and feature announcements (we should have had from the start) something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.
No, it’s not Apple’s fault all alone. We as a society it seems are coming out of the iPod trance.
The iPod will give us video and touch screens and forever be the icon, but mobile phones are giving us touch screens, video and music all the same.
For iPod to survive it needs to be seen as a lifestyle device not simply a media player. The iPod also must have content. We are in the era of the PSP, the Nintendo DS, Windows Mobile and 8GB hard drives on mobiles.
It is time for the iPod to grow up. We have asked for it long enough. We want iPod phones and we want iPod video. We want it so bad that people are creating false images, news outlets are reporting false stories. It’s getting bad.
These items must come if the iPod is to stay on the playing field. Apple must change the public perception of the iPod as to what it is as a device into something greater or Apple will have it’s number retired and the iPod sent to the Hall of Fame.
Yes, I know iPods are still selling, but the market is evolving and as I have revealed in the earlier portions of this long tirade, it is only a matter of time before the next “RAZR” is an iPod killer.
Why wait until then? Adapt now ahead of the curve. Produce phones. Evolve past audio. Completely.
Not simply emblazon iTunes on another manufacturers handset, but work to evolve the device into something which captures the times and presses us forward all in one fell swoop the same was done with the iPod…in the beginning.
