January 8, 2013
Book stores foster ebook sales ∞
A fascinating premise, but I don’t get it. If we are shopping online more than ever, why go to a book store to see what we want to buy online?
Netflix Super HD ∞
Netflix Super HD requires an internet connection with at least 5Mb/s download. Not all devices can play Super HD. Super HD is only available via Internet Providers that are part of the Open Connect network.
Hulu’s Original and Exclusive Series ∞
In less than two years, Hulu has distributed 25 Hulu Original and Exclusive Series, offering viewers distinctive premium programming that can’t be seen anywhere else from top creative talent and 2013 is gearing up to be another great year for exclusive and original programming on Hulu. It’s a thrill to share what we have planned, including a new slate of Original and Exclusive Series that’s chock full of superheroes-in-training, rogue French cops, high-energy mascots and more. All shows will be available on free Hulu.com and the Hulu Plus subscription service.
This is the type of content I like to see services like Hulu work on. Exclusive, original, well done content. That’s worth paying for.
Qualcomm’s nightmare keynote ∞
I’ve never seen anything like this before. Never.
CocoaConf ∞
Dave Klein posted some dates on the 2013 CocoaConf Spring Tour. They have several cities already lined up.
Fender Select Series 2013 ∞
Fender Select series guitars and basses combine more than six decades of Fender experience and expertise with a wealth of high-end features and elegant design options for discerning musicians everywhere.
I must have one of the Strats.
Delivering innovation vs delivering products
A company’s ability to manufacture products using CNC burn tables and sell them worldwide is not the same as having the power to deliver innovation to a market. Apple has proven over the last few decades that it innovates, while many of its competitors are satisfied with building products based on that innovation.
There is nothing wrong with being a company that sees a product and wants to compete with it. Companies have made billions of dollars copying from its competitors and it’s a proven strategy.
Using a 3D scanning service can also help a great deal as it allows you to easily reverse engineer competitor products, I have used the service from https://physicaldigital.com/services/3d-scanning/ and it’s been brilliant so have a look into that if you need a quality 3D scanning service.
However, the ability to manufacture shouldn’t be confused with a company’s desire to affect change by offering new designs and a different way of doing things. In other words, innovating.
The Mac
Over the last 15 years Apple has literally innovated itself out of being close to bankruptcy to being the richest company in the world. It did so by improving the way we interact with the products we use most and offering a rich, attractive design. Apple recognized that products don’t have to be utilitarian “beige boxes” — they can be elegant and functional. They can be something we can be proud to own.
The modern version of this mindset really started with the iMac. Until then, PCs were a mass of wires and confusion, but Apple wanted to make the process simple and the end result tasteful. Out of the box, the iMac was setup by plugging it in and connecting the keyboard. Anyone could do it and millions did.
Apple did the same thing over and over again in the years following the introduction of the iMac. Even things like the Apple Remote is elegant and completely different from other remotes on the market. That design sense went into their software products, from iLife, iWork and the company’s pro applications.
They continued to innovate the computer industry with products like the MacBook Pro. It’s not just another laptop, it’s the material its made out of, the shape of the casing and the technologies it contains. Just look at how many copycat products came from HP, Dell and others.
The Big Three
However, Apple saved its most innovative designs for its mobile products. The iPod, iPhone and iPad are not only the company’s most successful products, they changed their respective industries forever.
They did that with a brilliant combination of functionality and design that no company had brought to the market before or since1. Of course, Apple didn’t invent those markets — there were music players, phones and tablets around before Apple, but it was Apple’s design that made the market what we know today.
Take a look at music players before the iPod. They only held a few songs and while popular, they were nothing compared to the popularity of the iPod that could hold a thousand songs. It wasn’t long before everyone was trying to copy the iPod and piggy back on Apple’s success.
The same thing happened with the iPhone and iOS. Even Google switched gears, taking Android from a copy of RIM’s BlackBerry OS to mimic the functionality of iOS. The iPhone changed the phone industry forever. Everything released since then was built on the innovations that Apple brought to market with that original iPhone.
Apple had one more design surprise up its sleeve — the iPad. Microsoft and its partners had been producing tablet computers for the better part of a decade by the time the iPad came out. They were heavy, clunky and didn’t work very well.
The iPad was sleek and designed for mobile use. It had apps that could be purchased specifically for that device and you can do almost anything you wanted to on that device.
The market’s response? Copy it as quickly as possible and get it to market. The same response that competitors had to the iPod, iPhone and Macs that came before it.
Innovation
I believe that Apple has been successful in innovating these markets because of a fundamental difference in the way they approach a new product. Apple sets out to solve a problem through design, and hardware and software innovations.
While Apple has delivered more innovation to more markets than most, it is important to realize that not every product released is going to be a design or innovative breakthrough.
Innovation is always followed by iterative upgrades to a product. There may be some design changes, added features and other small changes before another innovative change is made.
This is what a lot of analysts get so wrong. Analysts are quick to label a new Apple product as not being innovative, but they don’t even mention innovation with competitors products because they don’t expect anything from them.
Apple designs its products to work, from a software and hardware design perspective, not to be like something a competitor has released.
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Innovative companies and the copycats
There have been some wonderfully innovative companies throughout many industries. We all have our favorites. Sadly, many of them have lost their way over the last decade or so. Sony comes to mind as one of those companies.
Two companies that really led their industries, but have fallen badly are RIM and Microsoft. The latest releases of products from both companies seem to have missed badly in the market2. It seems that both of these companies just seemed to give up a number of years ago, perhaps being a bit too comfortable with their lead.
Then you are left with companies like Samsung, HTC3 and that ilk. They have made successful businesses from copying other company’s products and getting them to market quickly. You only have to look at Samsung’s 85-inch TV to see how ugly its designs are without someone like Apple to copy from.
Every company has a place, but it’s important to remember the difference between innovating an industry and simply delivering a product.
Companies are still basically copying the design and functionality of these products. ↩
With the exception of the Xbox, which is a great product. ↩
Given HTC’s latest quarterly numbers, maybe they aren’t so successful. ↩
Baking cookies on the Internet ∞
Candace Hammond for the Cape Cod Times:
Carrie-Lee and Matt Touhey, owners of the Cape Cod Cookie Co. have a sweet deal for cookie lovers: Help them grow their business and get cookies.
The Touheys have gone to Indiegogo to get capital to grow their business from a home operation to a commercial bakery.
I know Carrie-Lee because we’re both Cape Cod residents and run in the same social circle, and I tried her cookies early on, back before the Cape Cod Cookie Company was a full-time endeavor for her. They’re outstanding. If you’d like to back a really cool small business with a great product, check out their Indiegogo page.
Dallas Stars smack down the Cowboys ∞
A social media smack down.
Letter from David Bowie in 1970 ∞
In November of 1970, a month after signing a five-year publishing deal with Chrysalis Music, 24-year-old David Bowie wrote the following letter to Bob Grace, the man who signed him, and briefly filled him in on his life so far.
Mapping Apple’s international iPhone and iPad rollouts ∞
Graham Spencer has done a terrific job with his “mapping” series on MacStories.
The trouble with CES press conference day ∞
Rob Pegoraro:
You then watch a parade of executives bantering on about the company’s hopes and dreams and showing off their upcoming wares, which is good and useful–but from the cheap seats, you see no more detail than you’d get from watching video offsite. And except for Sony’s presser, which takes place in its exhibit area at the Las Vegas Convention Center, you rarely get any hands-on time with the new hardware either.
Rob does a good job of summing up the problem with press conference day. I always found CES so big that it was almost impossible to cover. In fact, it’s big enough that even press conferences don’t help reporters like they do at other events.
F. Scott Fitzgerald on the secret of great writing ∞
Maria Popova has some great letters from F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Bobby Orr memoirs coming in October ∞
Orr, who has always been reluctant to talk about his many triumphs and has never spoken publicly about his personal relationships, even when they made their way into the headlines, promises to set the record straight on his remarkable life story. While the memoir will include chapters reflecting on the incomparable career of a beloved sports statesman it will also feature the candid thoughts of a man who once lost nearly everything to the treachery of his best friend, then reinvented himself and found renewed success.
I can’t wait to read this.
Matias brings tenkeyless mechanical Bluetooth keyboard to laptops
You like mechanical keyboards, but don’t want a wire cluttering up your desk and don’t want the ungainly width of keyboards that have number pads. Sounds like you’re a perfect match for Matias’ latest creation, unveiled at CES this week: the Laptop Pro. It’s coming in February and will cost $170.
The Laptop Pro is built using the same “Quiet Click” mechanical keyswitches that Matias developed for its full-sized Quiet Pro keyboard, released in 2012. Mechanical keyboards from qwertybro.com are preferred by many fast typists for their improved tactile response and accuracy, compared to membrane and scissor switch keyboards like those found in Apple’s products. Need new pc equipment? Make sure to visit TopAchat!
The Laptop Pro comes equipped with a 1,600 mAh rechargeable battery, which Matias CEO Edgar Matias says should be good for six to twelve months on a single charge.
The Laptop Pro has been designed to complement the small desktop footprint of a laptop computer. It eschews the 109-key layout of its big, wired brother for a tenkeyless design that mirrors the capabilities of your Apple laptop with a few extras, like a forward delete key and page up and down keys. Like the Quiet Pro, the Laptop Pro features laser etched characters on each sculpted key along with the symbols each key produces if you hold down Option and Option-Shift.
Matias likens the new Laptop Pro to an Apple-made keyboard that’s still a fond memory for long-time Mac users. “It’s basically a smaller, quieter, wireless, Apple Extended Keyboard II,” said Matias in a statement.
Methods for building mobile-optimized Websites ∞
Johan Johansson gives a great explanation of the three most popular ways to build a mobile Website, complete with pros and cons.
CES matters less and less ∞
Mat Honan:
This is a problem for CES, which has never really been a show about software. As software matters more and more, CES matters less and less. The internet is already the world’s largest trade show. Gadget blogs are the new conventions. The hottest products are all in app stores, or on Kickstarter. Sure, big electronics shows offer the opportunity to meet people and forge relationships. But even that transaction is being moved online in the era of real-time social media.
So true.
Samsung 85-inch TV is ugly as shit ∞
I love large TVs and was excited when I heard about this big-ass TV, but damn is it ugly.
The Android ecosystem isn’t alive and well ∞
MG Sielger nailed it. Samsung’s ecosystem is doing great, but nobody else is making any money.
Adobe *isn’t* giving away CS2 ∞
Bob Levine, InDesign Secrets:
There’s a lot of chatter on the internet today, including Twitter, claiming that Adobe is now giving CS2 away for free.
This is simply not true. What is happening is that Adobe has shut down the activation servers for CS2. Because of that, CS2 users were unable to activate if they reinstalled the software. In order to allow these people to continue to use their software Adobe has made available, for download, CS2 software which does not require activation.
Earlier today we (and many other sites) reported that Adobe is giving away its Creative Suite 2 software – long out of date but still useful if you have an older Mac.
Turns out this isn’t the case. Speaking on behalf of Adobe, principal scientist Dov Isaacs cleared up the confusion in a recent post on their forums.
You have heard wrong! Adobe is absolutely not providing free copies of CS2!
What is true is that Adobe is terminating the activation servers for CS2 and that for existing licensed users of CS2 who need to reinstall their software, copies of CS2 that don’t require activation but do require valid serial numbers are available. See <http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1114930>.
Bitch about the patent system ∞
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will be sponsoring two roundtable events in February in an effort to form a partnership with the software community to enhance the quality of software-related patents (Software Partnership). One event will be held in Silicon Valley and the other in New York City.
Now you can bitch to the people that may be able to change it.
Ad blocking ∞
Still, last year, France’s largest ISP, Orange (the brand name of France Telecom), managed to strike a deal (Google Translate) with Google that required Mountain View to compensate Orange for some of the traffic it was sending. For months now, Free has tried to put pressure on Google to get a similar deal by throttling YouTube traffic for Free users.
When that didn’t work, Free then implemented its ad block last week—which affected, according to BFM Business (Google Translate), all of Google’s ad servers. This halted ads alongside search, Gmail, and YouTube.
They suspended ad blocking for now to try to work out a deal with Google. Given the precedent, I’m surprised more ISPs aren’t doing this.
HTC’s disastrous fourth quarter ∞
The company’s lowest quarterly profit since 2004.
Responsive design for apps ∞
Jason Grigsby:
A few months ago I was tasked with finding a good solution for a client who wanted to move to responsive design, but had a web app that they needed to support as well. The question they asked is one that I’ve seen others argue about in the past: does responsive design make sense for apps?
Revenue models: Subscriptions ∞
Fred Wilson offers a nice overview of the subscription model and what’s needed to make it work.
Hyundai to add Siri Eyes Free mode into upcoming vehicles
Hyundai is the latest auto maker to add support for Eyes Free mode, supporting Siri integration in its cars for owners who have a compatible iPhone. The company made the announcement just prior to the start of this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
The technology will integrate with the entertainment systems in upcoming Hyundai automobiles, enabling drivers to direct Siri to perform tasks while they keep their attention on the road.
Hyundai hasn’t offered details on which vehicles will get Eyes Free mode or when they’ll be released.
Hyundai joins nine other auto makers in supporting Siri Eyes Free mode, including BMW, Toyota, Honda and more.
Life size replica of HAL 9000 ∞
You know you want it.
Bold Poker [Sponsor] ∞
Bold Poker replaces your deck of cards with iPhones and has been praised by The Loop, Daring Fireball, and Mashable.
Try out Bold Poker at your next poker game. They’ll buy you a Heineken (i.e. give you a full refund) if the app doesn’t change your Texas hold’em home game for the better.