'Fix That'

The Macalope responded to Guy English’s claim that no insight comes from tearing down stupid tech commentators and pundits:

Hang on, though, because the Macalope gets English’s point, but he doesn’t completely buy the whole thesis. The pointy one would argue that this exercise actually can be insightful. In coming up with responses to some of this nonsense, we can actually better define what’s going on in the market.

I agree with the Macalope. We actually tend to derive a lot of insight in debunking the noise permeating the rest of the Web.

English’s post was linked to on a variety of sites, all of which seemed to concur with his thought that Apple should worry about losing brilliant people as they get bored inventing the future. That definitely makes sense and should worry Apple as it continues to skyrocket, both in revenue share and mindshare.

However, that’s all I got out of English’s piece. The rest of it was an uninspired rant about how Apple needs to fix iTunes and content deals, but with no real solutions on how to do so. English says:

That’s not even a thing. Fix that. If I watched the first season of Community via Netflix streaming and now want to rewatch it on my TV as fed from an Apple TV? Make it work. I don’t care how. If you want to pop up a dialog thats asks if you’ll charge me $4.99 to $9.99 for the privilege, I’d pay. Let me pick what I want to watch, regardless of the source, and let me watch it.

“Fix that” is not an answer. That’s what the beleaguered police chief in old ’70s cop shows says to his team of reckless-but-lovable detectives who get the job done by any means necessary.

I agree iTunes is bloated and Apple’s content distribution method needs something new, like a streaming service. However when I complain about how things should work, I at least try to come up with ways to change them.

"iLounge Has Learned..." is Becoming the New "Digitimes Reports..."

ᔥ iLounge:

iLounge has learned that Apple will soon offer the Nest Learning Thermostat for sale through the Apple Store, an interesting development given both Nest’s history and the types of products commonly sold by Apple.

Why? What’s the point? Because the ex-iPod guy helped create it? It offers no benefit to any other product in the store.

Apple sells speaker docks because they’re perfect additional purchases to go along with your iPhone or iPod. The same goes for cases, hard drives, mice, and cables.

But no one is going to walk into Apple store and say, “This special $250 thermostat can be controlled using the new iPhone I’m buying? I just have to pull my old unit off the wall, attach these wires, drill a few holes for the new mount, and screw it into place? I’ll take one!”

inThirty Episode 41: Google Me This

Better late than never. We talk Google’s Knowledge Graph and whether it’s useful, fair, and a total invasion of our privacy.

Download Link | iTunes Link

'Apple's Behind the Destruction of the Laptop'

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Apple’s effect on Dell’s disappointing last quarter (↬Michael deAgonia):

“When the smoke clears off this miserable Dell quarter, people will realize that Apple’s behind the destruction of the laptop,” Cramer said. “And with that destruction comes a world of hurt for just about everyone, save Apple.”

It’s not a matter of the iPhone and iPad obsoleting the laptop. Apple’s success isn’t just with iOS devices, it’s with MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros, too. What Apple has done is obsolete poorly-made computers, poor shopping experiences, and poor customer service.

Apple isn’t destroying laptops, it’s making its customers happy. What are the other guys doing?

Chameleon

A Kickstarter project for a better Android tablet homescreen.

Chameleon Home Screens can be set up based on GPS locations, WiFi networks and time ranges, allowing you to define which Home Screen is the most relevant for the situation.

Beautiful concept and the working demo in the video looks great. This is where the tiny bit of Android openness that actually exists comes in handy. There’s no way Apple would let users modify their homescreens, but this makes me wish I could.

I’m hoping either Teknision releases a “hub” app just like this for iOS, or Apple sees what’s going on here and implements some of Chameleon’s design cues.