Links
- Jeff Bezos, inheritor to Steve Jobs’ crown? by Om Malik at Om.co
- Making Money While Keeping Prices Low: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Explains It All (Mostly) by Tricia Duryee at All Things D
Twitter forced to turn over protester's deleted tweets
Twitter forced to turn over protester’s deleted tweets
Mike Isaac, writing at All Things D:
In the end, the New York DA and the judge used a legal maneuver to put pressure on Twitter, threatening to hold the company in contempt of court and levy steep fines if it didn’t hand over the data.
You can’t say they didn’t try.
They have even appealed the judge’s threat to hold them in contempt. The envelope—yes, a physical envelope—containing the tweets at issue will remain sealed until that appeal is complete.
I’ve said it before: it may not be a good time to be a third-party Twitter developer, but the company truly goes to bat for its users when it’s appropriate.
Apple's Comfortable Middle
Hamish McKenzie, writing at PandoDaily :
With two product launches in a row that show Apple is merely keeping pace with innovation rather than leading it, the world’s most valuable company will start to seem mortal.
I disagree.
For the record, I’m usually on board with Mr. McKenzie’s analyses, and I think he’s right that the iPhone 5 doesn’t restore the staggering lead Apple once had in smartphone innovation. I just don’t agree that there is any probable circumstance in which the iPhone 5 marks the beginning of the end of Apple’s dominance. I want him to be right, but I believe it will take action on the part of Apple’s competitors, rather than mere inaction from Cupertino, to catalyze that descent from the pinnacle.
I want to see something truly threaten Apple’s dominance: it would be good for consumers and even good for Apple, potentially motivating just the sort of next-generation innovation everyone wishes we saw with the iPhone 5. But Android is peddled in an ever-changing array of hardware of wildly varying quality, its interface often marred by manufacturer “improvements” and carrier-mandated bloatware, with no cohesive or remotely predictable software upgrade schedule.
Yes, it’s customizable, “open” (depending on how you define the term), and a provider of competitive pressure. In fact, Android, the OS, in its pristine Jelly Bean state on glorious hardware, is functional and gorgeous. But Android, the experience and, for lack of a better word, the brand, is truly a mess.
Then, there is the iPhone.
Apple tried for years to make things people loved. They succeeded. Now they are in the business of making improvements on the things they make that people love. And they’re succeeding there, too.
Whether or not they revolutionize TV next, and whether or not they drastically refresh iOS in the next couple of years, I think they’re still comfortably in the middle of their dominance, and at the top of their game.
Gruber on "Amazon's Play"
John Gruber writes one of the most respected and prolific tech blogs on the web, Daring Fireball. Some people deride him as a blindly-worshipful Apple fanboy who delights in pointing out the failed attempts of other companies to copy Apple’s products and strategy.
I don’t agree with those people.
This article by Mr. Gruber is a great example of his willingness to praise true innovation. Amazon has taken inspiration not from Apple’s hardware or software design, but from their approach to product development.
Place the delight of your customers first and the device and multimedia sales will follow. Put another way, Amazon, like Apple, operates on the premise that putting customer experience first is the best way to put corporate success first.
Further Reading
"The Math"
Once again, MG Siegler nails it on HBO’s missed opportunity for direct-subscription innovation.
Most companies are so desperate to maintain anything close to an upward slant in revenue year-over-year that they never even know opportunities like this one exist.
The worst part of this situation, to me, is the fact that HBO is being repeatedly told about this opportunity and actively ignoring it merely because it doesn’t make short-term business sense.
Kindle Fire HD 8.9: how the new Kindle tablet compares with the competition
Kindle Fire HD 8.9: how the new Kindle tablet compares with the competition
Amazon increased the power and range of its Kindle offerings and achieved impressively-low pricing across the board. Again.
I’m 100% certain someone I know will get one of the newly-announced devices, maybe even before the holidays, and I can’t wait to have a look.
Further Reading
Brevity
MG Siegler posted yesterday about his desire to write with more concision. His point is a good one: writing concisely suggests, when you think about it, a far better grasp of a topic than does the need to write 1,000 words about it.
It’s a lesson I learned from a couple of professors in law school (while others tried to teach almost the opposite):
Get in, make your point, and get out.
Being Real Builds Trust
Steph Hay, writing at A List Apart:
Your mom may not be your target user, but she is a real person who’ll call you on your bullshit.
This is great advice.
Peeling Back the Hidden Pages of History With Hyperspectral Photography
Peeling Back the Hidden Pages of History With Hyperspectral Photography
John R. Quain, writing at American Photo:
When the hyperspectral eye was turned on an early draft of the Declaration of Independence written in Thomas Jefferson’s hand, researchers could see that Jefferson had originally written the word “subjects” on one line, which he then scratched out and replaced with the more politically correct “citizens,” exemplifying the egalitarian sensibility of one of the Enlightenment’s greatest minds.
Okay, that is the most fascinating tech I will see this month. Read the whole article. It’s, well, fascinating.
NoWait protects restaurants from the wrath of restless customers
NoWait protects restaurants from the wrath of restless customers
Rebecca Grant, writing at VentureBeat:
Restaurants can use this iPad app to keep track of available tables and alert customers with a text message when their table is ready.
This sounds like technology with the potential to go far beyond restaurant use cases.
Neil Armstrong, First Man on Moon, Dies at 82
Neil Armstrong, First Man on Moon, Dies at 82
Neil Armstrong on Chuck Yeager’s breaking the sound barrier, quoted by his own biographer:
All in all, for someone who was immersed in, fascinated by, and dedicated to flight, I was disappointed by the wrinkle in history that had brought me along one generation late. I had missed all the great times and adventures in flight.
Hardly, Mr. Armstrong, hardly.
Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy’ Hits Evolution Deniers
Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy’ Hits Evolution Deniers
Bill Nye, as quoted in an article by Kevin Dolak at ABC News:
And I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, in your world that’s completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that’s fine, but don’t make your kids do it because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future.
Watch the full clip of Mr. Nye’s thoughts on creationism on YouTube.
Securing the legacy of the world's greatest geek
Securing the legacy of the world’s greatest geek
New Scientist's Jacob Aron interviewed Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal fame, whose latest endeavor is the financing and creation of a museum dedicate to Nikola Tesla’s work.
A random piece of trivia that caught my eye:
He actually built an earthquake machine in his laboratory in New York City, and when he turned it on they had to smash it with a sledgehammer to keep it from taking the whole block down. Not a useful invention, but kind of cool.
Contribute to the project here.
Cloud startup aims to make “dumb” cell phones smart
Cloud startup aims to make “dumb” cell phones smart
Sean Gallagher reports at Ars Technica on biNu, a company developing an asynchronous, server-side smartphone emulator in Java. The system’s low-bandwidth, high-security nature makes it a perfect fit for countries where the next iPhone is out of reach.
Read Gallagher’s article for the details. This is far more exciting to me than the next iPhone. Networked mobile computing technology is still in its infancy when it comes to worldwide availability and adoption. Clever technology like biNu’s may help change that.
Microsoft's Election 2012 hub on Xbox Live heralds the interactive TV future
Microsoft’s Election 2012 hub on Xbox Live heralds the interactive TV future
Samit Sarkar, reporting at The Verge:
The interactive element of the hub is a live polling system. It will gather impressions from Xbox Live users as they watch live broadcasts of the three scheduled presidential debates between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
It’s not exactly the cross-examination inspired debate format pushed for by Will McAvoy in The Newsroom, but I think it’s a forward-thinking use of the platform.
[Longread] Scamworld: 'Get rich quick' schemes mutate into an online monster
[Longread] Scamworld: ‘Get rich quick’ schemes mutate into an online monster
This article by Joseph L. Flatley at The Verge is a feat of modern reporting and storytelling. Do yourself a favor and watch the associated documentary, too.
I like to give everything a “link” / “longread” category and one other that describes the content. This one covers a topic I won’t likely post about often, so I’m filing it under “journalism” because, again, it’s just that good.
What Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day
What Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day
Kevin Purdy, formerly of Lifehacker fame, shares the morning strategies of several people in this Fast Company article. I have never liked the empty proclamations of Tony Robbins and his ilk, but the rest of the article is interesting.