All of a sudden, we’ve lost a lot of control. We can’t turn off our internet; we can’t turn off our smartphones; we can’t turn off our computers. You used to ask a smart person a question. Now, who do you ask? It starts with g-o, and it’s not God.
‘Ever Wonder What Type of Mac Setup a Prince Would Have?’
On Google Chrome OS
Today, Google announced Chrome OS, a light-weight, Linux-based OS that is designed to get users online as quickly as possible.
The OS supports multiple accounts, offline access via HTML5 (if the web app supports it) and even cloud-based printing.
The iOS and Android universes are all about apps. Instead of using a browser to do simple tasks, most users prefer to use apps instead, since apps are far more powerful. Back in October, I wrote:
The main problem with web apps today is that they aren’t granted the same rights as native apps, including integration with calendar, contact and photo information. Web apps continue to be islands. Even with off-line data, they just aren’t the same as SDK-built apps. Until Apple, Google and other mobile OS makers resolve this issue, web apps will always be second-class citizens in this app-driven world.
I don’t think Chrome OS can change this. I’m not sure Google wants to change it, even. Chrome OS’ “Web Store” is a repository of web-based apps that offer users rich experiences within the browser itself.
Better web apps are great. The web needs to evolve to catch up with native, SDK-built apps.
That said, I don’t think Chrome OS-powered netbooks will do all that well. It’s a refreshed version of the thin client — something that never has done well with consumers. People like rich, fat apps, and as good as these web apps may be, they may not be enough to keep Chrome OS afloat.
‘I Still am Amazed’
Ben Brooks revisits his 13-inch MacBook Air review after a month of use.
ForkBombr Refresh Now Live
After a couple of years with basically the same look and feel, I’m happy to announce that ForkBombr’s overhaul for 2011 is complete.
The look is now far more minimal, with more white space, slightly larger text and a revamped sidebar that should make content more easily accessible. The logo (done by my friend Carl Fox) has gotten some fresh paint and the Archives have been reworked from the ground up.
This theme is based on one named “White as Milk.” Since the original developer hasn’t seemed to update the theme in quite some time, I took it upon myself to re-work several parts of it.
It is still a work in progress, and not everything validates quite yet, but I will be working on irnoning out the bugs in the coming days.
As always, you can follow along via RSS or on Twitter, if RSS is too old-school for you.
Josiah Featured on eBay’s ‘Giving Works’
Tumblr Makes Statement on Downtime
While you might feel like you’ve gotten used to seeing errors on Tumblr recently, know that this is absolutely unacceptable to our team, and unacceptable for a platform determined to be the best place in the world for your creative expression.
[…]
We can’t apologize enough, nor can we thank you enough for putting up with these growing pains. We know how impossibly frustrating it is to see your work offline. But please always know that we truly care about your work as much as you do, and we have an incredibly capable team working incredibly hard to take good care of it.
This just doesn’t seem like enough, even though Tumblr’s service is free.
What’s Really Going on with Tumblr
Android 2.3 Announced
Lots of goodies for our Android brethren.
On Facebook and Television
I’m not on Facebook. I used to be, but it stopped adding value. So I quit. And I don’t regret it at all.
I also don’t have cable for my TV. I have a TV, a big one, but I don’t have “TV” the way that most people think of it—cable, with programming and live sports, etc. Why don’t I have cable? For the same reason I don’t have Facebook: it stopped adding value. Or, at least, value sufficient to justify its cost.
So, I guess what I’m getting at is this: If “I’m not on Facebook” is the new “I don’t have a TV,” it’s because both are acknowledgements that having the option to do something doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to do it. Just because “everyone” is on Facebook, or watches cable TV, doesn’t mean you should.
I totally agree. And have neither a Facebook account nor a television.
Thurrott’s Site Joins 21st Century
After 12 years of manually updating my site like a 1990’s throwback, we’ve finally moved the SuperSite for Windows to a modern content management system (CMS). I’m excited by this for obvious reasons, but the real work is still ahead.
[…]
The aging technological infrastructure of this site has always been an issue for me, forcing me to deal with weird issues and manually write HTML code when I’d be better served just writing. This switch will relieve those problems and dramatically so, allowing me to focus on what really matters here. In fact, this is the first article for the site for which I didn’t have to create a custom, hand-coded HTML page. I can see the future already.
You can’t make this stuff up. Also, I’m not sure I want to take tech-related advice from a dude whose massive site was built page-by-page, by hand until 2010.
Steve Jobs’ Writing to Customer Nothing New
Every time Steve Jobs hits Reply to an email, it ends up in countless, repetitive posts around the Apple-centric corner of the Internet.
Turns out Jobs’ writing to customers is nothing new, though.