In February, at the height of the Flappy Bird fad, a game called, Threes, was released in the app store. It had the addictive quality of Flappy Bird but it was not nearly so pointless and required, for want of a better word, 'thought.' It was also a polished game. Great music. Very fluid design. …
Apple's goto fail is pretty interesting and worth reading about
I update my Apple devices regularly so when, four days ago, a security alert was issued and then an iOS software update appeared, I did not think too much about it. But this article in Slate about what the security issue was and how it was found piqued my interest. It is worth reading, take …
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That Star Trek economy thing
Matt Yglesias weighed in to the whole "how does the Star Trek economy work" thing. This followed on a long piece by Rick Webb. I think when it comes to juxtaposing knowledge of economics and knowledge of Star Trek, I am in some position of authority here so I had better put in my two …
Is Apple harming the feature innovation ecosystem?
Yesterday, Apple announced iOS7, the latest version of its mobile operating system. It was a large change but perhaps the most interesting bit was Apple's continuation of its rather tense relationship with the app developer community. To be sure, Apple has enabled that community and handed them $10 billion in revenue since 2008. However, once …
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Deconstructing Google's Trust Problem
Right after it announced the execution of Google Reader, Google released a new product -- really a service -- called Google Keep. It basically is an Evernote, note keeping app on the Google ecosystem. This prompted many bloggers including The Atlantic's James Fallows and Ezra Klein to announce their reluctance to invest in using products …
Apple's Share Price and Time Machines
Over the last few days, many commentators, notably Daring Fireball's John Gruber, have been frustrated at, other commentators', but also the market's reaction to Apple's earning report. Basically, over the last quarter, Apple's share price has fallen around 35%. This is the same quarter that got them record iPhone sales, record iPad sales, numerous product …
The fact Apple are losing whole towns is good news for Apple
Mildura is a town in the far west of the state of Victoria, Australia. According to Google/Wikipedia, around 30,000 people live there. News today, however, that for the rest of the world, Victorian police are warning those looking for Mildura not to use Apple Maps. Mildura Police are urging motorists to be careful when relying …
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What is the biggest load of drivel you'll read about books today?
That would be Andrew Piper whose book, Book Was There: Reading in Electronic Times, was excerpted in Slate today. Actually I wouldn't recommend reading it. So let me save you the trouble by commenting on it. Piper's point is this: electronic reading sucks compared to physical book reading because with out the touch of a real …
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Digging deeper into Apple's maps problem
Since my post last week, Apple's iOS6 maps problem has become this year's '-gate' issue. Despite an incredibly strong iPhone 5 launch and a successful iOS6 launch, the share price has gone down and for the first time in recent memory, consumer satisfaction on an Apple product has dropped. The issue, of course, is how …
Apple's big mistake
Regular readers will know that I often are willing to give Apple the benefit of the doubt. But with iOS 6 released today they have actually made a mistake that makes you wonder "whether Steve would have allowed it." The mistake was to drop Google Maps and replace it with an in-house Maps app with …
Digitopoly 