This week on the 512 Podcast, Myke and I discuss RIM, Android, WordPress plugins and my upcoming book about the Apple store.
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The End of Internet Innocence?
Moscow-based I-Free and its app Girls Around Me crystallized the online privacy debate this week, and, I suspect, will begin the end of our long era of digital naivete.
I think anyone naive enough to think that the Girls Around Me thing is “the end of Internet innocence” is living under a rock.
Comparing Instagram on Android, iOS
Android fragmentation rears its head once again with Instagram on Android, forcing the company to leave out features it could have otherwise shipped in order to support the wide array of OS versions and hardware out there. I know people like to pretend this isn’t a problem, but it is.
Instagram for Android is a great example of an iOS developer making a great translation of their app that manages to be similar on both platforms, while retaining a singular theme between them. If you’re an Android user that has been waiting, this is a faithful and mostly whole Instagram experience, enjoy.
Instagram for Android Ships
March Fails
Sponsor: One More Thing - iOS Conference →
Interested in the design, development and business of iOS apps? At One More Thing, our goal is to get developers confident, psyched, and ready to move from dreaming of making apps to just doing it. Learn from awesome developers & designers such as:
- Loren Brichter (Tweetie/ex-Twitter)
- Neven Mrgan (designer at Panic)
- Karl von Randow (lead developer on Camera+)
- Raphael Schaad (engineer at Flipboard)
- Matt Rix (Trainyard)
- Shaun Inman (Last Rocket) and many more…
They’ll be in Melbourne, Australia on the 25th & 26th of May, 2012. Register before April 12th for discounted early-bird pricing.
OS/2 Turns 25
OS/2 felt so important at first because DOS was still a gussied-up version of the rickety 16-bit software that Microsoft had licensed in 1980 for $10,000 from a tiny company called Seattle Computer Products. Windows, which first appeared in 1985, sat atop DOS and inherited its many flaws, such as the inability to utilize large amounts of memory and an eight-character limit on file names. The whole mess couldn’t utilize memory properly and was prone to frequent crashes. It was just begging to be replaced.
The iOS Text Editor Roundup
Step Behind the Genius Bar
I’m happy to announce that the website for my first book, Bartending: Memoirs of an Apple Genius is live.
Visit the site to read some reviews from notable Apple nerds and be sure to sign up to be notified when it goes on sale later this month.
Apple Retail Adjusting Hours?
Apple is reportedly instituting mandatory weekend hours for some full-time employees and increasing the mandatory minimum hours for part-time employees. Under the new rumored rules, Friday will join Saturday and Sunday to become a weekend day. All full-time Family Room, Red Zone Specialists, Creatives and Geniuses may have to work two out of every three weekend days. Part-timers may have to work 24 hours a week, up from 16 hours. These new rules will supposedly go into effect on April 15.
Oh, We’ve Got Red Flags, Baby
There are a few troubling technical aspects of the new iPad that give me pause about the post-Jobs Apple.
I’ll skip the obligatory praise of the new iPad’s Retina display. And for those readers who want to call me a whiner, idiot, or Apple hater, go ahead, take your best shot.
Ok, I’m happy to oblige.
That said, the design decisions that led to this are a little worrisome and break – in my opinion – one of Steve Jobs’ cardinal rules: devices should get thinner and lighter, not bigger and heavier, as another review pointed out. Stay on this current trajectory and iPads become merely a better doorstop.
The Next Web Pokes Fun of Paywalls for April 1
For those choosing to subscribe to Pay-To-View, we’re going to make it very easy. You’ll pay for 1 year up front, and we’ll automatically renew your subscription for you. If you don’t want to renew, just give us 90 days written notice, mailed to The Next Web offices in Amsterdam, and we’ll be happy to arrange alternate options for you personally.
Boom.