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Jan
15

The Great 3D TV Scam

By | Blog, Marketing, Technology, TV/Entertainment

3dtvA recent study indicates most of the American public is not interested in buying a 3D television. This is no surprise to me as I have always thought 3D television is indicative of a greedy industry pushing technology consumers never asked for.

Once you have sold plenty of HDTV’s, what’s next? How do you get consumers to keep upgrading their televisions? I understand the motivation but 3D is completely the wrong answer. It’s a gimmick, and not a very good one either. The same thing is happening with movies in theaters. Way too many 3D movies that have no reason to be 3D and they don’t even look better. Read Roger Ebert’s great article on why 3D movies suck.

We may have a solution, however. What will propel the televisions in 2012 and beyond will not be the evolution is so-called “smart” tv’s. These are televisions with Wi-Fi and Internet applications built in. We have been waiting for this convergence for a long time and it’s looking like 2012 is the year it will happen. Apple is driving this change with their still rumored TV product. Even before the rumors are confirmed, other manufacturers are racing to get their own smart tv’s out. I will write more on smart tv’s later but for now let’s hope the smart tv technology will spell the end of the great 3D TV scam.

Dec
23

Why Google Needs To Bitch Slap Samsung

By | Blog, Technology

fragmented-androidSamsung just took a giant dump on Google and Android.

They announced today the hugely popular Galaxy S line of Android phones will NOT be getting the latest Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich. Samsung only sold around 10 million of those phones last year. One year and your phone is already software out of date! It’s outrageous. The excuse is that the phones are not powerful enough to run the new OS. Not powerful enough actually to run the OS and Samsung’s user interface layer they put on top of Android.

This is going to be a huge blow to Google and the Android OS. The ramifications will spread beyond the 10 million customers they just instantly pissed off to many future owners of Android. Who wants to buy a phone when there is no guarantee you can update the OS? Apple could pound this point home in it’s marketing. Every iPhone gets the same software update the moment Apple releases it. Apple only leaves behind phones that are more than 2 generations old. By that time, your two year contract is up and you are eligible for another discounted phone.

Here’s what’s worse; they risk loosing the tech community and influencers who have been hot on Android. These folks set the buzz around products and the buzz on Android is going to get pretty sour.

Google has not been able to control Android and this is the worst example to date. There was supposed to be a rule that all Android phones would be updated to the newest OS within 18 months. Samsung just threw that rule right out the window. Google is going to have to do something to these vendors to bring them in line. These are the perils of an open system. It sounds so great in theory, but when you get down to the practical day to day it often causes more trouble. I don’t always like Apple’s maniacal control, but I do love that my iPhone works really well all the time and I can expect regular software updates until I am eligible to move to the next model.

This flakiness in updating OS software has been going on for awhile in the Android universe, but this could be the straw that breaks the camels back because the Galaxy S line have been the most popular Android phones ever. This could be the tipping point that really causes serious damage to Android. It will be very interesting to see how Google responds to this crisis.

Dec
04

Kids Creating And Producing Their Own Toys

By | Blog, Technology

Disruptive Technology

A disruptive technology or disruptive innovation is an innovation that helps create a new market and value network, and eventually goes on to disrupt an existing market and value network (over a few years or decades), displacing an earlier technology there.

3D printing is not terribly new and has been around a few years, but putting this technology into the hands of kids IS groundbreaking and could lead to all kinds of unexpected consequences. The prototype Origo 3D printer is made for children 10 and up to design objects on a computer and print them out in 3D to play with. Yes, kids designing and creating their own custom made toys. I have always preferred the random box of legos to the highly designed play sets they make these days. With a random box of shapes and colors, you can endlessly create all kinds of lego toys to play with. The only limit is your imagination. In that same spirit, this 3D printer can free kids minds even further to create literally anything they can think of. They could even make toys for friends. Technologically, the ability to design and create your own objects is very cool, but what kind of disruption could this cause for the toy industry?

Oh Barbie and GI Joe don’t have to worry quite yet, but for how long? Per the definition, disruptive technology can take decades, so how much better do you think the technology will be in 20 years? This isn’t just a disruptive technology for the toy industry but as larger, and even more sophisticated versions of 3D printing are made for adults, it could be disruptive to a large sector of manufacturing. How many companies will be savvy enough to make the transition to selling the designs for objects rather than the objects themselves? How many entrepreneurs will get there first, selling their own versions of products directly to customers on the Internet?

Nov
27

The Secret Of Apple Televisions

By | Blog, Technology, TV/Entertainment

Apple TelevisionIt’s been a rumor for years and years that Apple is building a televisi0n. Finally, with the new Walter Isacson biography on Steve Jobs, we have a hint that Apple has indeed been hard at work.

“I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use. It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.”

The simplest user interface you could imagine. Some people are theorizing about a gester interface like the Kinnect on XBox, but this is wrong. The interface revelation is Siri. What could be easier than talking and simply telling your tv what you want. “Change channel to ESPN”, “Record this program”. “When is the next episode of The Walking Dead on?” Sounds like giving commands to an iPhone. Build your television with iOS and you have it all. iCloud/iTunes integration, Siri, apps, everything.

Trust me, Apple will have a television in 2012 and it will be built on iOS and you will talk to it via Siri, and you will die to have one.

Oct
04

How Big Is Too Big – Android Pushes The Limits With Nexus Prime

By | Blog, Technology

nexus primeSo, very interesting news today from Apple, as they take a half step with the new iPhone 4S instead of a more complete redesign of the hardware. The only thing I wonder about is the screen size. I have gotten used to my Droid X and it’s 4.3 inch screen. I do like the extra room but I will admit it’s about as large a device as I would want to hold as a cell phone. The rumors were that the iPhone would move up to a 4 inch screen; not as large as the Droid X but larger than the current 3.5 inch iPhone screen. This would have been a nice compromise and I was looking forward to it. Now, however, if I want to go back to the iPhone as I have been planning, I will be stepping down a little on screen size.

Now comes word that next week Samsung will announce the next great Android phone for Verizon (my carrier) and it’s the Nexus Prime. It will have a screen that is supposedly 4.5 inches. Like I said, I can’t imagine wanting a screen larger than my Droid X at 4.3, so 4.5 is really pushing the limits I think. At a certain point, it’s just too large for a cell phone isn’t it? At a certain point, you just want to to straight to 7 inches and call it a tablet. but your phone you want to keep smaller and lighter. I don’t see how pushing the cell phone screen larger and larger is helping anything.

I am still disappointed to not get at least a slightly larger screen for the iPhone but I think I will hold to my plan of moving back anyway for many of the reasons I previously outlined. iPhone 4S isn’t everything I hoped for, but it’s still a very good phone.

Sep
11

Surprise! Apple is a Mobile Device Company

By | Blog, Technology

apple cloudIn case you hadn’t noticed, Apple isn’t really a computer company anymore. Remember when they changed their name from Apple Computer to just Apple? Now a recent report says 70% of their revenue is non traditional computer related. We’re taking iPad, iPod, and iPhone.

A poplar buzzword lately is the post-pc era. As usual, Apple is the innovator and leads the way. Isn’t it appropriate for the company the originally launched the personal computer era in the first place to lead us into the next era? There is also an interesting concept of the “Internet of things” which I do believe we are moving toward. Apple geeks bemoan the deemphasis of the stalwart Apple operating system, OSX and the growing importance of iOS that powers the iPad and iPhone. For Apple, however, it will be iOS that will power the Internet of Apple things.

With Steve Jobs retiring, at least as CEO, many have wondered what is legacy will be. This is it, I believe; leading Apple into the post-pc era. With this transition, Apple should see a clear path to success for the next 10 to 20 years. The only question now is has Steve Jobs injected enough of his mojo throughout the company to keep them on track. Apple employees need to get themselves little WWSD bracelets. What Would Steve Do?

Sep
09

Even Prisons Can Be Hacked Now

By | Blog, Technology

HackHere is a somewhat disturbing but not surprising story about hacking vulnerabilities of modern prisons. It turns out some prisons use the same technology that was recently hacked in Iran. The same PLC’s used in Iran’s nuclear centrifuges are also used to control locks of cell doors. These PLC’s were hacked by the Stuxnet worm.

Again, it shouldn’t be all that surprising anymore as anything that is computerized is hackable and anything that is connected to the Internet even more so. Pair that fact with the fact that more and more things are computerized and even more connected and there you go. We are truly living in a connected, technology driven world. What will be hacked next, your car, your toaster? Don’t laugh. I fully expect hollywood to use this latest news to come up with a great prison break movie based on a hacked prison door.

This is one of the primary reasons that I draw my personal line at implantable tech. I’m not at all interested in putting tech into my body with the one exception of anything that can help with my diabetes. Other than that, I am not looking forward to the day when someone tries to hack my brain.

Sep
02

Why I Am Going Back To The iPhone

By | Blog, Technology

iphone5I primarily changed from an iPhone to an Android phone two years ago not because I disliked the iPhone but to get away from AT&T and their terrible network. Now, my contract with Verizon is up and I can choose a new phone. Since the iPhone is not on Verizon as well, I have a real choice. Stick with Android or go back to the iPhone. I have a Droid X Android phone, which is fine enough, but I’m going back to the iPhone for a couple of reasons.

Media Management

The Android platform is terrible at managing and playing media. It always has been and I am shocked to this day Google has not vastly improved this feature. Syncing songs and podcasts with iTunes is no trivial matter and the media player application itself leaves so much to be desired. Third party apps help but there is nothing I can find that comes close to the grace and elegance of the iPod features built into the iPhone. Google Music helps a little, but that service wants to stream all your music and with stricter data caps coming to all wireless carriers, I don’t know how that’s going to play.

Apps

It’s all about the apps these days and which Android has made vast strides in the apps that are available, I have found a few that I am interested in that are iPhone only. Also, it appears to be that iPhone development is still getting more love than Android development. A company may have support for both platforms but they will almost always update the iPhone app first. The big double edged sword as well is Apple’s approval process for apps. Since Apple goes through everything with a fine tooth comb, iPhone apps are generally of higher quality, both in their look and feel as well as stability.

Accountability

Here is another double edged sword. Apple controls everything in their ecosystem from the hardware to the software, so they can provide a more seamless experience. Android, by definition, is fragmented. Different hardware all with different specs. Even the operating system is different as hardware vendors put their different skins and extras features on top of Android. No two Android phones work exactly the same. My Droid X, after upgrading to the latest Android OS had a nasty bug where it would randomly reboot itself in the middle of playing music or a podcast. Now who is responsible for this bug and who do I complain to? Google, Motorola, Verizon? With the iPhone, the buck always stops with Apple and they are very agressive about fixing bugs, especially one as serious as mine. I waited months for the bug to be fixed on my phone. With an iPhone, a bug that serious would have been fixed in days.

Carrier Control

With iPhones, the wireless carriers have very little if anything to say about what goes on the phone and how things operate. On Android phones, carriers put all kinds of bloatware and apps that you never asked for on the phone. Carriers also decide which operating system updates you will get and when. I am sick of carriers telling me what I can and cannot do with my phone. All iPhones come clean, with only the software Apple wants and virtually all iPhones get software upgrades at the same time and when Apple releases them. Part of this goes back to Apple’s control over the ecosystem as they can better ensure updates will work on all iphones. Every time Google updates Android, carriers have to update their special interfaces and that takes time.

Things I will Miss

Is there anything I will miss about my Android phone? Probably the biggest thing is the Google integration. Especially Gmail on the phone, which is great. Also, Android has the best sharing features I have seen anywhere. If you are sitting on a webpage or in Google Reader, the universal sharing interface that lets you use just about any installed app to share that content is second to none.

The timing couldn’t be better. My contract is up and the iPhone 5 is just around the corner. I’m coming home.

Jul
03

Hacked!

By | Blog, Technology

HackedMy wife Lisa always said it would come to this, although she always though they would come to the house and kill us. This site was hacked by some pro Muslim, anti-American group. Thankfully my sister Joanne alerted me and I was able to fix things, mostly. The hack wasn’t hard to turn back but in the process there was some damage to the data. I lost many of the links to the thumbnail images for the posts and they absolutely killed my Google ranking. I don’t know why the hell they go after me for. I rarely talk politics. I do have the Jewish name though and a way to easy to hack password. After some research I found they hit many websites, most likely with a robot program just probing for easy passwords. You know when they always tell you to use a strong password? Well, listen because I didn’t and I got burned. Guess what? My passwords are much much harder now.

It’s the first time I’ve ever been hacked. I can’t say it’s not unlike having your car broken into. Someone or something was inside my website mucking around. Get out and stay out, bastards.

Mar
06

I love Penzu Journal Writing Web App

By | Blog, Technology

Penzu

 

I’ve been interested in online journal writing software for awhile now but have never found anything that really cut the mustard, until now.

I’ve looked at Mac and PC software in the past and several web based solutions. All fell short in one way or another.

Finally I found Penzu. Penzu is web based beautifully designed journal software. It’s one of the best things I have ever used and I love it dearly.

Penzu has a great design and user interface. It’s web 2.0 and more importantly it’s clean, nice to look at and highly usable. The default design mimics a sheet of lined paper, which is quite appropriate and pleasing. If you want something different, however, there are lots of different design options and backgrounds to choose from. These are only available when you upgrade to the Pro account which is only $19 a year. A Pro account also gets you mobile access, tagging and multiple journals. Don’t tell them but seriously I’d pay more than that for Penzu and be happy to do so. It’s just that good. Penzu also has a neat feature that will email you a reminder if you have not written in awhile. I have not used the iPhone app as I am on Android these days, but the html 5 mobile version on Android is excellent.

Penzu can be used for more than just journal writing as well. I keep a second “journal” that is my blogging journal where I keep links and notes that might make good future blog posts. You can email items into Penzu as well so I often will use the email this article to a friend feature to email to my blog journal from a web page.

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