Apple stories must get some traffic
Eight of the ten most-viewed corporate stories on WSJ.com for the year were about Apple, from product launches that stoked frenzy to the somber news of co-founder Steve Jobs’s death.
Do you really need an app?
So many businesses are convinced they need an app these days and will dump good money on a lousy implementation without strong business or user goals defined, all for the sake of saying to an executive “We have an app”. You possibly don’t need an app any more than you should be putting ugly QR codes on your (hopefully) nicely designed marketing pieces. I guarantee you the marketing design team hates that and is pissed at IT or the business group for pushing it. They aren’t catching on for good... Read full article →
This is why I look forward to Apple owning the iPhone Maps app data
Google ads in map data have become too distracting for my tastes. They're not as easy to ignore as paid search results on the desktop have been. Take a look at this screen capture of my iPhone provides a perfect example of the reason Apple bought a Google Maps competitor.
Mobile technology, business and a little bit of world politics
Apple is as on par with Exxon Mobile. They’re in a huge growth market, as is Google, each coming at it from two different sides: hardware profit for Apple and ad revenue for Google. Both are very healthy companies, with Apple having a meteoric rise from near death in the late 90s, and Google being born from a better search engine written by two guys, to two of the fastest growing, hottest brands in the world. Take a step back. What does this tell us? Exxon Mobil probably does a... Read full article →
Greatest accessory ever
There is no cooler accessory than a retro Atari mini arcade cabinet.
Amazon E-Commerce Genius
I buy discs from Amazon occasionally. They often throw in video streaming credits as a bonus to this pretty often. Sometimes Amazon just gives them to you for buying unrelated items, like video games, to strengthen your relationship with Amazon. I’ve been wanting to see all the Stanley Kubrick movies that I’ve never seen. I’ve been wanting to rematch 2001: A Space Odyssey again and because my iMac is angled to my treadmill in my office, I can right now for free with those video credits they keep tossing me.... Read full article →
X Marks the Spot
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told by someone that they have a great idea for a website or app, and they guard it like they know the location of X on the treasure map. An idea’s terrific (well not this one guy’s idea. They already made that and it’s called Facebook). People think you can just will good products to life, especially software. They undervalue design, development, production, user testing, market research and marketing as being worth less than the idea itself. Are you passionate, driven... Read full article →
It could always be better
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/eric-schmidt-on-steve-jobs-10062011.html Great personal experience story from Eric Schmidt about Steve Jobs. The common burn on Jobs is that he was “just the business guy” and didn’t make or build anything he’s attributed credit for. Arguing the value of programming languages isn’t something even many tech executives could do. I’ve been in design and code reviews where I influenced someone else’s work based on my experience and expertise, directing them away from what would lead to problems technically and aesthetically. I’ve also worked with developers who had trouble articulating their value... Read full article →
Android is free and open… Last year’s Android
So with Amazon using 2.3 for Kindle Fire, I guess Google will market Honeycomb and future Android releases (ice cream?) against this by choosing who gets it first. Was Honeycomb the end of making the latest Android version free and open? You want free and open, you get last year’s version? http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/editorial-amazon-android-google/