As someone who downloaded the entire GRIN collection, I am super excited about this new photo archive.
The Gemini missions don’t get nearly enough attention, in my opinion.
Year: 2012
‘A Blonde Tennesseean Orangutan’
I think Brett Kelly maybe should start smoking again, so he doesn’t lash out at those he loves.
Ungeniused 015 – Laserdiscs
You may think Laserdiscs were just the giant things people used before DVDs came along. And you’d be dead wrong.
Erica Sadun, on a 7-inch iPad
There’s a lot of buzz about the pressure on Apple these days to follow up in the reader world with better markets, platforms, and tools — I’ve been writing quite a bit about that topic this month, and there’s rumors flying about what we might see announced soon. But I can’t exactly see how a 7" tablet would help Apple respond to those issues, although I know I’d certainly buy one for myself.
For me this comes down to a split between yes, I’d love one personally, and no, I don’t think it would be in Apple’s best interest to go there. Did Apple get “caught with its pants down at Christmas” as it lacked a 7-inch model? I don’t think so.
I don’t see Apple doing this. This is still valid.
The Many Colberts
This piece in the New York Times on Stephen Colbert gives me an all-new respect for one of the funniest men on television.
Apple to Hold Event on Jan 19
I know everyone’s heard about this already, but I can’t help but share the invite artwork. Apple does such a good job with this stuff:
Motorola: Blame Carriers for Android Fragmentation
Chris Ziegler, from an interview with Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha:
We also talked about OEMs’ perennial press to skin the operating system — a trend that looks poised to continue in Android 4.0 — which developed into a full-blown conversation about the conflict between the mythical “stock Android device” and the realities of business between manufacturers like Motorola and carriers. “Verizon and AT&T don’t want seven stock ICS devices on their shelves,” he said, insisting that he “has to make money” and that there simply isn’t a way to profit on a device that isn’t differentiated. “The vast majority of the changes we make to the OS are to meet the requirements that carriers have.”
Clearly, carriers want the illusion that they are offering more choice than they really are. We shouldn’t be surprised.
‘Expecting A Letter From The Queen…’
Congrats to Pat and Myke for making it to episode 100 of the Enough podcast. If you don’t listen to this show, shame on you.
PlayBook OS 2.0 Surfaces
Version 2.0 finally brings a native mail client to the BlackBerry tablet, along with calendar and contact apps. RIM also made some general aesthetic changes, and added a bulked-up version of BlackBerry Bridge and an eerily familiar “reading view” feature in the browser.
Thank goodness. RIM is saved!
On Windows 8 and that ‘No Compromises’ Mantra
Steve Ballmer, at CES last night:
There’s nothing more important at Microsoft than Windows. You saw Metro in the phone, you saw Metro in Xbox. It’s everywhere. And you’ll experience more and more natural user interface in Metro. Together, all of us in this industry, in thousands of new ways, will use the software and services to invent new things. Metro will drive the new magic across all of our experiences.
Our math is that 1+1 really does equal 3. So what’s next? Metro Metro Metro! And Windows, Windows, Windows!
Microsoft keeps using the phrase “No compromises” when talking about Windows 8. Thing is, Windows 8 seems full of compromises. Let’s look at the big one: the user interface itself.
In short, Windows 8 promises to bring the Metro UI to the desktop, as well as notebooks and tablets.
In the current beta builds, Windows 8 boots in to the Metro environment by default. The “classic” Windows interface lives in a layer below the one filled with little apps living in little rectangles.
Now, I like Metro. I think Windows Phone 7 is pretty decent, and I can’t wait to see it on tablets, where I bet it will be better received (and easier to use) than the “classic” Windows environment we’re all used to now. That said, Microsoft will still have the classic UI under Metro on tablets[1], while notebooks and desktop users will be stuck with Metro.
Can you imagine running Lion on an iPad, or booting a MacBook Air and seeing Launchpad instead of the Finder? Apple allows its hardware to help dictate what software is best suited for it. The company is willing to compromise on software features for a better user experience.
In short, Microsoft doesn’t seem willing to compromise on its vision for Windows 8. Metro is hard to use with a mouse, and Windows is hard to use on a tablet. Microsoft is compromising where it matters the most — the user experience.
Apple is willing to compromise with what features it offers on what platform, for the good of its users.
To Microsoft, the product comes first. Apple puts the customer first.
I prefer Apple’s philosophy.
- Rumor has it ARM-based tablets will just be Metro, but Microsoft hasn’t said anything yet. ↩
HelpSpot & Open Source Help Desk List [Sponsor]
Thanks to HelpSot for sponsoring the 512 Pixels RSS feed this week.
At HelpSpot we’re big supporters of open source software and simply couldn’t run our business without it. So, 6 years ago we created Open Source Help Desk List to assist companies looking for an open source help desk software solution. It’s success has been beyond our wildest expectations; serving as an invaluable tool for thousands of companies to find the solution they need. We hope it can help you as well.
If you’d prefer a professionally developed and supported help desk application, then give us a look: HelpSpot: Help Desk Software.
Thanks!
Ian Landsman
Founder, UserScape
P.S. Checkout the newest project we’re working on, the PHP framework Laravel
‘Pushing Boundaries’
It’s hard to breathe during this 20-minute interview of David Steel, Executive Vice President of Strategy for Samsung North America due to all the bullshit in the air.