RIM stands as a warning for any tech industry Goliath that once owned a market only to watch it get snatched away by smaller, faster moving rivals with better products and better strategies. This is a fate that could befall any company–Microsoft, Apple, Google, whatever. Though I have a hard time imagining any of them being as poorly run as is RIM.
RIM is dead. I’m glad I never wasted time covering this junk.
The Android Update Alliance is Dead
Jamie Lendino at PCMag.com has the shocking news.
NASA Shuts Down Discovery
28 years of history just got unplugged.
Scrivener for iOS
RIM: No BlackBerry 10 Phones Until ‘Late 2012’
I’m sure that when these do come to market, RIM will be saved.
Dell Leaves Netbook Market
While very few are still buying netbooks, many manufacturers have continued to release the small Intel Atom-powered computers (see Asus, Toshiba, etc.). However, Dell isn’t going to be one of those companies.
[…]
Not only are the Inspiron Minis being put in the grave, but the company confirmed for us that it will not be releasing new netbooks based on Intel’s forthcoming Cedar Trail platform. In other words, it is done with the category.
To be honest, I wasn’t aware anyone was still making netbooks.
On Backpacks — And What’s in Mine
For the most part I am an over one shoulder bag type of guy. Since my freshman year in high school I have been using a messenger style bag of some sort — that was 1998.
In his post, Ben outlines his usage of his new backpack — a Tom Bihn Smart Alec.
I — like Ben (and Michael Lopp) — switched from a messenger bag to a backpack this year.
I use an older[1. This bag used to be Patrick Rhone’s, but I bought it over Twitter from him. It enjoys the warmer weather we have here.] STM Revolution. Mine is the small version, in graphite with orange highlights.
It’s got a large back pocket with a laptop sleeve that easily fits my 13-inch MacBook Pro and iPad 2, with another pocket up front with a zippered section and a spot for cables. The bag has two water bottle pockets and a built-in rain cover. The shoulder straps are wide and comfortable. The zippers and handles
Here’s what is normally in my backpack on any given weekday:
- 13-inch MacBook Pro
- iPad 2 with Smart Cover
- Kindle 4 in carrying case
- Laptop and iPhone chargers
- Miscellaneous cords and cables
- Two USB thumb drives
- Thinline ESV Bible
- Field Notes brand notebook
- Manila folders for current projects
- Two blue Pilot G2 .07 pens
- Wallet & Keys
With a messenger bag, this just wouldn’t be possible. Ben, Michael and I might not be the coolest kids on the block with our backpacks, but I don’t mind one bit.
On Pushing Apple Rumors
Google has published a listing of their top keyword searches from 2011. Out of the 10 fastest-rising global search trends, Apple holds three spots. At number six was the iPhone 5, number nine Steve Jobs, and number 10 is the iPad 2. Other lists also have Apple products, including the iPhone 4S and iPad 3 on the Fastest Rising Consumer Electronics list.
There are a number of things we can take away from the findings. The first thing is that the general population is genuinely curious about what’s going on at Apple these days. That’s a great thing for Apple, and us, obviously. The second, and probably more important thing to point out here is that people eat up Apple rumors with an appetite that’s much bigger than the competitors’ audiences. Devices like the iPad 3 and iPhone 5, not even released yet, are on these lists.
With the Google Nexus, is it More of the Same?
Google has done some very nice work here. Both the Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich are a new pinnacle of the Android platform. But in the end, it still comes down to something very simple: which device do I want to use day-to-day? Which phone do I reach for when I’m not doing a review? It’s still the iPhone. Without question.
Keep at it, Google.
With every release of Android, I always get the feeling that the operating system is almost there. It seems that Ice Cream Sandwich may suffer from the same problem as its predecessors.
Old Mac of the Month: The Performa 637CD
Editor’s Note: This month’s entry is by Garrick Anson. He blogs and tweets while not working or enjoying time with his wife and two sons.
The Christmas season of 1994 was a special time in my life. As with
many kids, I had a bad habit of snooping around the house to try to
get a glimpse of any unwrapped presents my parents had hidden. We had
an old darkroom built-in our basement (my father had been a
photographer for years) that had a lockable door to keep people
from exposing any film or paper that might be out in the open. This
room also served as a perfect place for my parents to lock up those
unwrapped gifts each year. After pushing my conscience aside, I went
looking for the key to the dark room in my father’s desk. One day
after school, and before my parents got home from work, I went in.
Sitting on the small table in front of me was a shiny (OK,
beige) new Apple Macintosh Performa 637CD.
Our first Apple Computer.
It was such a hard distinction from the grey, sharp cornered, bulky
IBM and Tandy machines I was used to. The corners were lightly
rounded, the colors of the beige case were slightly more pleasant, the
mouse only had one button. It was amazing.
Not being able to leave well enough alone, I plugged it in and fired
it up. I was grateful I hadn’t tried this while my family was
upstairs because the System 7 start-up chime was deafening in that
small darkroom, and I’m pretty sure you could have heard it from
outside. The monitor lit up with the Happy Mac icon, something I had never seen before
(all my previous Apple experience was with the Color Classic my school
library had). There was no crude BIOS, no DOS command prompt, no
MS-DOS Shell, just a graphical screen as it loaded extensions and then
a desktop. So there it was, all 33mhz, 8MB of RAM, and a whopping
350MB of hard drive space running Mac OS 7.5.
I was hooked, and for the better part of a month I managed to sneak
down quite a few more times to play around with the Mac I wasn’t even
supposed to know about.
Of course, I was not as sneaky as I thought, and my parents found out
what I had been doing. I watched as my parents packed up the computer
and put it in the car to “return” it to the store. As you can guess
the Performa still ended up under the Christmas tree (I think my
dad was more excited about the purchase than I was), and I
learned a valuable lesson about not getting caught…er…not
snooping.
We were a house of early adopters, and had many things before other
people knew that they wanted or needed them. We had various computers
in the house for as long as I can remember. IBM, Tandy, Commodore,
etc. We had internet access for years before that Mac (Prodigy,
CompuServe, AOL, etc…), and it still seems weird to think I was
using the internet before there was a World Wide Web.
I spent countless hours playing games like Myst, Glider, Escape
Velocity, and Doom on that Performa.
I messed around with a copy of Adobe Photoshop (version 3.0 if I
remember right) that my dad brought home from work. I would edit
photos and make custom icons for hours on end. I wasted more time than
I care to imagine messing with ResEdit customizing the look and feel
of the System various apps. I learned basic HTML and made a few small
personal web pages, and even learned how to set up an Apache server.
That computer gave me my love of both tinkering and technology.
Since then I have owned a couple old SE/30’s, a Luxo iMac G4, a
Powermac G5, first generation Black Macbook, mid 2009 Macbook Pro, not
to mention a slew of iPods, iPhones, Apple TVs, and an iPad. I even
just recently ordered a new Macbook Pro.
I’d love to tell you that because of that first Mac, I pursued a field
in computers, design, photography, or communication. That would be a
great way to end this tale, but in reality I sit daily in a cubicle
farm, in a small windowless office, plugging away at Microsoft Word
and PowerPoint on and outdated HP running Windows XP.
Macs have been my escape. I write, design, game, and communicate on
them every chance I get. I’m grateful for my past experiences with
them, and look forward to the future.
Want to write about an old Mac you love? Get in touch! In your initial email, please indicate which Mac model you are planning to write about, so I don’t have systems covered more than once.
After we talk, please submit your work in Markdown or HTML. I will be editing posts to conform to AP style, and will link to your site or Twitter account in the Editor’s Note at the top of the post.
‘Aged to Perfection’
Cool.
The iPhone-Controlled Coffee Faucet
Don’t tell Shawn Blanc about this.