I am no stranger to the iPhone. I was working as a Mac Genius In-Training when the original iPhone was released. I got my first iPhone 6 weeks after they were released. A year later, I upgraded to the 3G when it was released, and then again to the 3GS last summer. I’ve spent more money than I care to think about in third-party apps. So why did I give it up? Well…
It looks pretty slick. I wish this would come to Android and the iPhone.
Robert Scoble, on what he wants to see in future editions of Windows:
I want everything I touch to be socialized. Why doesn’t Outlook know anything about Facebook? Why don’t my photos automatically get pushed to Flickr? Why don’t I have a news app on my desktop that brings in Tweets from Twitter? Why aren’t notifications built into the system at a deep level?
[…]
Why can’t my Xbox be a Windows 7 PC and vice versa? Does the world really need separate devices for all these features?
I started ForkBombr when I left Apple in 2008. At the end of 2009, I posted this, saying I was putting the site on hold:
I decided to simplify in 2010. I’ve stopped checking Google Reader religiously, and am toning it down on Twitter. I’m writing for me for the first time in years, doing some research for Operation Broken Silence, working to improve Memphis with various groups and causes and — most importantly — spending more time with my family.
I started ForkBombr in September 2008. Since then, it’s seen impressive growth, averaging 3,000 page views a month, which still surprises me.
In the last 12 months, it’s been read in 105 countries.
Most hits come from readers using a Macintosh, although 17% of you are still using Internet Explorer.
The most popular articles have been the ones about Hackintoshing netbooks and using Dropbox to sync Safari history across machines. I’ve been linked to from various sources, including Ars Technica, MSNBC, Mac Surfer and more.
AT&T has apparently found a workable solution to the reported data congestion in New York City. They’ve quietly stopped selling the iPhone to customers in the New York metropolitan area, at least from their web site.
With rumors of the Apple tablet reaching new highs, MacRumors has found evidence that Apple acquired the domain name iSlate.com presumably in preparation for the new device.
It’s not a great name, but it sure sounds like something the company that named a notebook computer the “MacBook Pro” would use.
But the icing on the cake comes from a current senior employee inside Apple. When one of my colleagues here asked if the rumors of the Apple tablet were true, and when we could expect such a device, the response from his source was, “I can’t really say anything, but, let’s just say Steve is extremely happy with the new tablet.”
Yet another recently departed Apple employee tipped me: “You will be very surprised how you interact with the new tablet.”
NPR:
Democrats assert that the Senate bill would fundamentally transform the health care system in the country, beginning with restrictions on private insurance companies. Obama told NPR that “a patient’s bill of rights on steroids” lies inside the Senate bill.
Various provisions would prevent insurers from dropping ill patients and denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. The bill would also require that individuals buy insurance, if they don’t already have it from their employers or existing government programs, such as Medicare.
It’s easy to forget that it was the magical beauty of Napster, the then-illegal music-sharing service, that spurred many of us to sign up for DSL and cable broadband connections. Napster’s popularity made it clear for the first time that broadband was a platform, no different than, say, Windows or the PlayStation. That’s because it allowed for new applications to be developed and run on top of it, applications that consumed bandwidth — and in turn, driving demand for even more of it.
From our speed tests, it’s safe to say that Apple made the right choice switching to FireWire 800 from FireWire 400 on many Mac models. Although FireWire 400 is faster at most tasks than USB 2.0 (even though FireWire 400’s theoretical bandwidth is lower than USB 2.0’s) it isn’t always, or by much. If you’re looking for speed, FireWire 800 crushes USB on both systems in all four tests we ran. FireWire 400 is a pretty good choice too in most cases, but it’s modest speed advantage might not be enough to warrant paying extra for.
We’re really going out on a limb here, but one of our very connected sources let us know that they’ve heard very solid information about Apple’s upcoming tablet. It has been widely reported recently that the size of the tablet is 10″, but there was also talk about a 7″ model. Our connect said there is 100% a 7″ Apple tablet, to be announced in January, and whether this is in addition to a 10″ model, they don’t know. Would we bet the farm on this? No, but they’ve been amazingly accurate for us in the past and as usual, Apple rumors seem to get more interesting…