Monthly Archives: July 2010

Hold on there: Copyright Office ruling doesn’t give blanket protection to video remixes

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Ian Betteridge

The US Copyright Office and Library of Congress have made some much-needed rulings which clarify when it’s legal to break copy protection on things like DVDs, as well as stuff like jailbreaking phones to allow you to install software on … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sunday round-up

Posted on July 25, 2010 by Ian Betteridge

Here’s some posts that have tickled me over the past seven days… Bad connection: Inside the iPhone network meltdown Proving that it’s still possible to do good, interesting long-format stories, this Wired story by Fred Vogelstein should be required reading … Continue reading →

Posted in Sunday Round Up | Leave a comment

The myth of “programming is the only creativity”

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Ian Betteridge

One of the often-used memes concerning Apple’s approach to iOS is that it’s for “passive consumers”, people who aren’t creative. In an interesting post on Google App Inventor, O’Reilly’s Mike Loukides dredges this one up again – and I think … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple, Google, iPhone, Web/Tech | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Five things I’m thinking about right now

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Ian Betteridge

Following on from Matt, Alice, Ben and Dan… 1. Computing is heading towards a new, simplified era. I’ve written about this before, but fundamentally: we’re on the cusp of a revolution in simplicity. Easy to use touch interfaces are the … Continue reading →

Posted in Web/Tech | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Turns out that making an “iPad killer” isn’t so easy after all

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Ian Betteridge

It’s three months since the launch of the iPad, and the much-heralded “Android iPad killers” are somewhat thin on the ground. HTC, probably the best Android hardware company around, isn’t making one. Neofonie’s WePad isn’t just missing in action – … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, iPad, Mobile, Web/Tech | Leave a comment

Google App Inventor: Not for everyone

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Ian Betteridge

As someone who grew up on BASIC and actually did some serious projects back in the 80′s and 90′s using HyperCard, I’m massively in favour of simple, easy to use programming tools. So Google App Inventor instantly caught my attention. … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, Mobile | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

The era of simplified computing

Posted on July 11, 2010 by Ian Betteridge

I’m currently trying to get some thoughts down on the contrasting approaches of Google and Apple to the future of technology. There’s a whole host of stuff buzzing around my mind: are they yet another instalment of the conflict between … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple, Google | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The era of online anonymity as default may be coming to an end

Posted on July 11, 2010 by Ian Betteridge

If you’re in any way connected to World of Warcraft, you may have heard about a controversy that’s been kicking around over an attempt to tie accounts publicly to real names. Amongst all the “anonymity is a right!” stuff, this … Continue reading →

Posted in Web/Tech | Tagged , , | Leave a comment