Editorial: I’m done with Android
Fantastic read.
Facebook Camera
While I think this is a cool idea, I wish Facebook would just make there standard application work properly. Facebook should have one application that does everything. At current count they 4 - Facebook, Messenger, Page Manager, and Camera. The only apps that make sense to me are Facebook and Page Manager everyone else shoulde built into a streamlined Facebook app.It’s about time. I know this seems a bit crazy given the recent (but not yet completed) Instagram purchase. But I had heard a few weeks ago that the app was really close to being done.
Remember, the Instagram deal was done very quickly by Zuckerberg himself. I imagine they figured there was no point scrapping all the work this team was doing — at first glance, the app looks great — especially since the plan is to let Instagram operate mostly autonomously. And again, the Instagram deal isn’t done just yet (but it will get done).
Source: parislemon
Core iOS apps being replaced, one at a time
The home screen on my iPhone has changed quite a bit over the years.
The most obvious thing is Apple’s very own core apps have been replaced by 3rd parties.
The default camera app has been replaced by Camera+, Hipstamatic and Instagram
The default notes app has been replaced by Simplenote
The default messenger app has been replaced by Kik
The default calendar app has been replaced by Calvetica
The default music app has been replaced by exfm, soundcloud and rdio
The default mail client has been replaced by Sparrow
There will always be competition between the platform supplier and the ecosytem. This tension is normal and healthy to some extent, as long as the platform keeps innovating and growing. For example, Apple came out with an Instapaper competitor with Reading List. But that only pushed Marco to come out with strong Instapaper updates.
Apple launched iBooks & Newstand to compete with the Kindle app. But Kindle is still much more compelling.
The next step I’d like to see as iOS matures is a way for the ecosystem to get more access.
For example, when I swipe right from the home page, i want to replace Apple’s search with Duck Duck Go. Or when I click on an email address on a webpage, I want it to open Sparrow instead of Apple’s mail client. When I click on a phone number in an app, I want it to open Google Voice, not Apple’s native dialer. When I see a beautiful photo, let me share it to Tumblr and any other app I love.
Developers deserve that access and consumers deserve that choice.
Android has done an excellent job at giving 3rd parties equal capabilities on their platform. That’s the thing they got right - even much more than the much hyped openness of Google’s “open” app store model vs Apple’s controlled app store model.
Source: bijan
MySpace Ghost Town
A very funny read.
This is the true story… of seven strangers… picked to live in a house…work together and have their lives taped… to find out what happens… when people stop being polite… and start getting real…The Real World.
Rise of the Tech Bandits
A really great read on the rise of the tech blogging community.
Dan Lewis: Jeff Bezos on eBooks ... in 1998
In 1998, Jeff Bezos sat down with the Commonwealth Club to discuss the history and future of Amazon. The speech itself is amazing — one of my favorite things I’ve read ever. But today, I discovered that he also did a Q&A with the audience. One question in particular shows just how forward looking Bezos has been.
Q. What is the future of purely electronic books, for example, of downloadable books?
A. I’m a huge believer in downloadable books. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when. I think that it’s still early. I suspect that it’ll take a few more years – who knows exactly how many: three, five, maybe even ten years – before electronic books are a big deal. The limiting factor at this point for electronic downloadable books isn’t bandwidth. With downloadable music and downloadable video, the limiting factor is bandwidth. With books, it’s something completely different; it’s display technology.
It’s still the case that paper is just a darn good display device and is much better than any computer display device we have. It’s higher resolution, higher contrast; it doesn’t need backlighting, blah, blah, blah. So, at some point, technology will catch up with paper, and then I think you’ll see electronic books be very important.
One of the Kindle’s big selling point is its e-ink technology; you can read a book on a Kindle in glaring sunlight because of it. High resolution, high contrast, no backlighting needed, blah blah blah. The first generation Kindle came out on November 19, 2007 — almost ten years after Bezos described it above.
Wow.
Source: danlewis
