Few nice ones here, missed IA Writer
The iPhone 5 forecast: a predictable 73 degrees and sunny
The weather icon on the iPhone’s homescreen always reads a pleasant 73 degrees and sunny. It has since the original iPhone was released, a comfortable, inoffensive temperature that matches the comfortable, inoffensive homescreen on iOS.The prevailing opinion after the iPhone 5 announcement is that it’s boring, but still pretty great. The hardware is without a doubt impressive from a technical and engineering standpoint, but iterative on previous designs. The software is as competent as we’ve come to expect from Apple. Together they make for a product that’s not surprising — and therefore a little boring.”Boring” doesn’t quite encapsulate what’s happening with the iPhone 5, though. The new iPhone is timid. Apple has taken very few — if any — real chances. It’s a safe, pleasant, and sunny 73 degrees on the iPhone. Read on…
This is a wonderful analogy of the iPhone 5 launch. Yep, 73 degrees (22.7c for my non-US friends) is nice. Just about right. But sometimes, not always, we need tempests. And hot streaks and rain, and wind, and even the snowstorm or two. Otherwise it’s just sort of boring.
Or as they said in Bull Durham, don’t always throw strikes, it’s boring and fascist.
This rings true. I like cool apps as much or more than the next person. I too dash from trend to trend, when I’m good I’m a few steps ahead but really it’s not focusing on the hard issues.
And what are the hard problems? There are a few recurring themes, these are generally the same themes I grew up with.
A. Distribution of food and goods. We still over-produce food n some places, under-distribute it in others. Maybe it’s better now than 30 years ago but it’s not solved.
B. Healthcare. The US still has poor healthcare for many and even for the lucky/rich people with good insurance it’s tricky. And even with all that we don’t do much preventative care, we band-aid with some seriously expensive band-aids after the fact. Where is pre-natal care, fitness and diet care, well-being, tracking for differences in aging when hormones flare. Fitness and health is an area I am passionate about but the depth of the problem and institutional inertia is daunting.
C. Distribution of wealth. I’ve posted on this before, but we can’t continue like this. If you want a healthy economy at the tide must rise for all boats. Sure, some boats are nicer than others, but we all need to gain.
I don’t know (yet) how tech can make a huge impact to solve these problems but there aren’t enough people working on it.
Apple’s vision for the future of computing versus Microsoft’s vision for the future of computing.
Any questions?
This is just silly. It shows a series of apps vs. a folder. How about showing the folder on Mac OS which is a fair comparison. Turns out the iOS app screens and OS (any OS!) files are for different uses.
Next time show a picture of a supermodel vs. an NFL lineman, ha ha, isnt the model prettier? Yep, right up to the moment you want to play football.
And yeah, that Windows UI could use a little help, I get that.
(via emergentfutures)
Is there a bubble for social networking sites? Surely. This doesn’t mean there isn’t value or that several will turn into solid bets.
But Groupon? Really, 30 billion? They sell coupons. I don’t know how this works in other locales but I have yet to see a single deal from Groupon that even makes sense. They are frequently for places nowhere near where I live. But even worse for them is that copycat sites are eating into them already. LivingSocial for instance does a much better job in my area in terms of relevant offers. But the key point is neither really is offering something unique and worse there is no network effect, I can switch back and forth without any negative impact. Contrast that to Facebook for example; if I switched to a clone I would lose my network.
I am looking forward to seeing all the IPOs happen though. It’s fun to watch the press gush, gnash their teeth over the new bazillionaires, and then circle like sharks two years later as the company struggles and they can write “we knew it all along”. Good fun for everyone.
