Editorials

Editorials, Game Diary May 13, 2010

Does the iPad FINALLY Give Apple a Viable Gaming Platform?

Wait … WHAT?!?! I know what you’re saying: what about the 150 trillion games in the App Store? What about the massive growth in the sales of games for the iPod Touch that I talked about here? I know about all of that, but I still believe this: the iPod Touch business model as it exists today is not one that is sustainable for the game industry, and therefore the iPod Touch will NEVER be a viable ‘major tent-post platform’ based on that business model. OK, you have probably noticed I’m already starting to nuance my phrases in the first…

Editorials May 13, 2010

Kigo Footwear Takes Customer Service to Web 2.0

Every job I’ve had has been sales or customer oriented in some capacity, so I always geek out a bit at innovative ways to improve customer service. Today I came across a company that used Twitter very effectively to reach out and interact with me as a customer, and I wanted to share that story. I found out about Kigo Footwear on the Runner’s World forums and thought their “Kigo Shel” shoes sounded really cool. So I poked around their website and learned the company is as interesting as their shoes. They use recycled materials, and their whole business model is…

eBooks, Editorials May 11, 2010

The Two Audiences for eBooks

It occurred to me after reading this editorial at Teleread that there are really two audiences for ebooks. There are the people who just want to read a book. They’re happy picking up their reader or iPad, opening a book, and just reading. Maybe they want some minor options like font sizes, but talk to them about specific fonts, background colors, backlight adjustments, dictionary lookups, etc., and they’re going to glaze over. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a measure of what the audience wants or is taking advantage of in their device or software. Then there’s the type…

Editorials May 10, 2010

Tech Bloggers Prove Obama Right Within Hours

Image from XARKAGANDA Did you hear? President Obama is threatening to regulate the tech industry in the name of ‘protecting democracy’! President Obama is putting technology on his ‘axis of evil’ list! President Obama is calling all new technology ‘dangerous diversions’! President Obama has declared war on technology! President Obama is warning of ‘iPad Perils’! Actually … none of that stuff is true – but I bet you have read something similar today in a hype-titled post at some tech blog coupled with some out-of-context portion of a speech given by the President to the graduating class of Hampton University….

Editorials May 8, 2010

A Tale of Three iPad Case Pre-Orders- The Good, The Good and the Ugly.

One of the interesting things that happens when you are an early adopter of some key new technology is that you not only get early looks at the device and some accessories, but you also get a chance to see how various businesses work with customers or… don’t, as the case may be. I recently had a chance to see how three different companies handled the pre-order process for their new iPad cases. Two impressed. One did not. Two I am eager to do business with. One I have no interest in dealing with ever again. Here is a look…

Editorials May 7, 2010

Follow Me and My iPhone On Our C25K Journey

My running career hasn’t been a long one. I started running back in the summer of 2007 as part of an effort shed a few pounds. After a few runs I was hooked and made a promise to myself. I was 37 at the time, and I pledged that I’d run the NYC Marathon the year I turned 40; at the time I planned to make it my first marathon. Anyone who knows me knows that when I start something I go all all in. I know only one speed. So it didn’t come a surprise to my friends or…

eBooks, Editorials May 3, 2010

Buyer Beware – MyPadMedia

It sounds great…”Unlimited books and comics for your iPad!” But what is MyPadMedia? Well, it is a site that promises the holy grail to readers: pay them $50 ONCE, and the floodgates open for unlimited books. What books? Well, you need to pay to play, my friends. There’s a testimonial that claims to have read “the whole twilight series”, but if you want more you need to pony up some serious dough, sight unseen. From all appearances, it is a huge scam. Red flag #1: no searchable listings. Pay up, but they won’t tell you what you’re paying for! Red…

eBooks, Editorials May 3, 2010

Numbers Take on the eBook Fiction Section

(image courtesy Readymade) It’s time for another “State of the eBook”! This time there’s some quickie news, and then an examination of numbers. What’s for real, and what’s a smokescreen? More on that in a bit. Kindle: -The Kindle app for PC has been updated! Apparently, it adds a few interface improvements. Hopefully, the next step is going to be releasing some new Kindle apps (cough, Android, cough). -In addition, it looks like Amazon will be offering commissions to affiliates for Kindle books. B&N nook: -The nook may/may not have outsold the Kindle in the first quarter. The actual results…

eBooks, Editorials April 30, 2010

Don’t Mess with Amazon

Lately, book pricing is a better drama than daytime soap operas. While the publishers have thrown their undying love and affection towards Apple, Amazon has been quietly maintaining their dominant position. Time and again, the publishers complain bitterly about ebook and book pricing, but the reality is they need Amazon far, far, more than they need Apple. And Amazon knows it. Reason one why you shouldn’t cross Amazon: Penguin has been a holdout on the agency pricing for ebooks, so they’ve been MIA in the Kindle store. Amazon has clearly learned from the disastrous showdown with Macmillan, and they found…

Editorials, Game Diary April 29, 2010

I Don’t Know If It’s Art, but I Like It!

Image courtesy of WebMuseum I love Jackson Pollock … but there are many who despise his work and would argue that his technique, described as “”all-over” painting, pouring paint rather than using brushes and a palette, and abandoning all conventions of a central motif”, isn’t art at all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=quGnEkYt_0g I also love Derek Bailey … but again many would argue that his approach to music, which eschews structure of any kind, isn’t art, perhaps not even music. And I love video games – I love role-playing, solving puzzles, shooting stuff, building civilizations, exploring mysteries, shooting peas at zombies, having in-depth…

Editorials April 29, 2010

The Daily Show On GizmoGate… A Few Days Late

Yes Jon Stewart and the Daily Show have taken on the plight of poor Jason Chen and the folks at Gizmodo. The bit had a few good chuckles… like when Jon said, “The cops had to bash in the guy’s door??? Don’t they know there’s an app for that?” And with that they showed this image.. But from there Stewart went on to take on Apple and the “raids” commenting “This whole thing is out of control”. And with that he went into a first person diatribe about Apple becoming “The Man”. He even showed a clip of the commercial introducing…

Editorials April 28, 2010

What Is Google’s Tablet Strategy?

Apparently, Google is offering a sly wink to Archos 5 Internet Tablet owners who hack their devices to include the Android Marketplace; the newest firmware update opens up the marketplace to paid as well as free apps according to Liliputing. What’s interesting here is that it means either the Archos is presenting itself as an existing Android device, or Google is greenlighting the Archos specifically. Either way, it gives the A5 a huge leg up over the other Android tablets out there. Which leads to a question: Exactly what is Google’s plan in the tablet space? Whatever it is, they…

Editorials April 28, 2010

Is the ‘Netbook Era’ Drawing to a Close?

According to a report from CNET, an IDC report this week will show that sales of Intel’s Atom processor – which is dominant force in the netbook space – represent a smaller overall share of the company’s mobile processor space. The implication in the article is that since the Atom powers most netbooks, netbooks themselves are on the demise. The obvious question is … what does it all mean? Here are the basic details: In the first quarter of this year, Atom processors as a percentage of Intel mobile processors fell to 20.3 percent, compared with 24.3 percent in the…

eBooks, Editorials April 25, 2010

The Case for eBook Readers

It’s been a big week for dedicated ebook readers! Sure, everyone wants to talk about the iPad, but the Kindle, nook, and their comrades have been generating some headlines of their own this week. Barnes and Noble nook: The nook has had a busy, busy week. First, it hit Best Buy shelves, so if you have a craving for an ebook reader but an aversion to bookstores, you’re all set. To go along with this new retail takeover, B&N is airing a series of commercials about the nook during primetime. It’s actually a very effective commercial and plays on the…

Editorials April 24, 2010

“Ode To The LP” or… Why iTunes Is Killing The Musical Experience

Last night I encountered the most elusive of musical creatures… the perfect album. That’s right, last night I listened to an album and when all eleven tracks were done playing I realized that I had not been tempted to skip a single song. I liked every single one… hence… the perfect album. I won’t even bother to mention the particular album since “likes” and “dislikes”, let alone “perfect”, are highly subjective with it comes to musical taste, but it did get me thinking about the state of the musical experience. More accurately, it made me realize what a shame it…

eBooks, Editorials April 21, 2010

Is Fictionwise About to Walk the Plank?

Teleread has an interesting editorial about the future of Fictionwise/eReader (or lack thereof). Yes, there’s the elimination of the buywise program, and there’s the slow death of the PDB format in favor of ePUB. The really bad news: There’s no intention to release an iPad-specific version of eReader. So your choices are either blow the app up to 2x size or skip making use of the gorgeous iPad screen. Or, of course, just buy your books through Barnes and Noble instead. It’s a shame, really. Many, many ebook fans started their reading on Peanut Press, which turned into eReader and…

Editorials April 20, 2010

What’s Up With Certain Devices and the Android Market?

I have an issue that’s a bit perplexing: I have the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G and the Verizon HTC Droid Incredible. Both are Android devices, and both have the Android Market, albeit branded differently based on carrier as you can see in the above photo. I was looking up a free software title on the Incredible — one that is definitely available on the MyTouch 3G, but on the Incredible it was nowhere to be seen. This happened to me again when I did a search for another title, only this time I could see that there were other results that…

Editorials April 20, 2010

Apple, Don’t Fire Gray … Give Him a Raise!

Gray Powell, the Apple employee outed by Gizmodo for losing the next-generation iPhone prototype, is probably not having his best week ever. After all, Apple is known for their secrecy, and they expected the utmost of care when prototypes were taken outside of their facility — witness the elaborate 3GS disguise Gray’s phone was found wearing. As the world now knows, Gray managed to lose his prototype, ultimately resulting in it being sold to the highest (or only) bidder – Gizmodo. We’re sure he’ll probably lose his job, and he may be in even more trouble than simply economic ……

Editorials April 20, 2010

No Relief in Sight for Palm

Poor Palm just can’t get a break. They are up for sale, but no one’s showed up at their open house, and Jon Rubenstein even baked cookies! In all seriousness, there’s no concrete evidence of a buyer, and the last few days have just been one blow after another. First, their Senior Vice President of Software resigned, and from the looks of the stock grants flying around, apparently, most of the office intended to follow him. Palm threw loads of stock at people to keep them around; if a new, deep pocketed suitor were around no one would be beating…

Editorials, Game Diary April 19, 2010

Where the HECK Did All of Those PSP Games Come From?

A couple of weeks ago when Apple introduced iPhone OS 4 something struck me, but I had forgotten it until someone on a forum was asking me about the amount of games on the PSP … then it came back to me. Do you remember when Apple announced the new iPod lineup in September of 2009? At the time I wrote about the iPod Touch questioning the quantity to quality ratio, and led with this image: Image Source: Engadget Back then I thought that the PSP number was perhaps a bit low, given that I had reviewed more than 200…

Editorials April 19, 2010

Gear Chat #8- The “No iPad Edition”

In Gear Chat #8 Larry and Dan do their best NOT to talk about the iPad. In fact they make a bet and place a dollar amount on each slip. How do they do? Listen and find out. So what DO they talk about if they are going to stop obsessing about the iPad for a bit? Why the iPhone of course. iPhone OS 4.0, rumors about new hardware, some recommended apps and more get covered in this week’s podcast.

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