From the category archives:

Web/Tech

The myth of “programming is the only creativity”

July 16, 2010

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 Mike is committing a classic geek error. Mike contrasts the approach of App Inventor, which [...]

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Five things I’m thinking about right now

July 12, 2010

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 final piece of the jigsaw, and will devices easier to use than ever before. 2. [...]

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

July 12, 2010
Thumbnail image for Turns out that making an “iPad killer” isn’t so easy after all

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 – its site has vanished is still around, although the WePad has metamorphosed into the WeTab and [...]

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

July 11, 2010

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 quote stood out for me: “A few years ago I’d have said this was impossible. [...]

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The wit and wisdom of Internet commenters

June 23, 2010

The first comment on Ed Sutherland’s report on Android spyware: Anonymous commenter? Check. Strident swearing? Check. Pointless statement that adds nothing to the debate? Check Information-free? Check This guy has it all.

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Why Apple doesn’t want Flash on iOS

June 19, 2010

If you want to know why Apple wants Flash kept away from iOS, you should ask Palm: Adobe hasn’t given any signs that it’s close to porting Flash to webOS, Palm said in an AT&T online app development seminar on Thursday. When asked about the multiple delays, a representative said that Palm didn’t ‘know what [...]

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Another advantage to writing posts, rather than commenting

June 18, 2010

def dayCoder(self):: Blog Comments: “The first post on this blog linking to an external source linked to Daring Fireball. That’s no coincidence. Had there been comments, I’d have left one alongside dozens of others that would be ignored and forgotten. So thanks, John and Ian for indirectly and directly getting me to post stuff here [...]

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Why market research makes for bad products

June 18, 2010

Image by Softly, Softly via Flickr Market research often falls down on one simple flaw: if you ask consumers what features they want before you show them a product, it’s almost never in line with what they end up buying: “Consumers didn’t ask for tablets,” she points out in her summary. “In fact, Forrester’s data [...]

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Isn’t trackback a wonderful thing?

June 18, 2010

From let’s test it, then: “does this create a conversation? or does my lack of authority result in no public acknowledgment of my opinion.” Here you go “equity always matters, guys. say what(ever a-list bitchy shit) you want about commenters riding your coattails — and i agree with winer,* comment streams are poor/cynical substitutes for [...]

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John Gruber, Joe Wilcox, and why comments are anti-web

June 16, 2010

Myself and John Gruber have had plenty of disagreements. John and I have debated the reasons for the relative lack of malware on the Mac. I’ve tweaked his tail over his habit of excoriating those who make predictions and get it wrong, and over some inconsistency in the way he views positive and negative figures [...]

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