Comments Back Online
Sorry for comments being nonfunctional for the past couple of weeks. I only noticed it yesterday and then figured out what was going on this morning.
Apparently, my server's motherboard clock battery is dead and the system time got reset to January 1, 2000, which screws up record-keeping for new comments and Movable Type automatically denies them. I will keep an eye on it until I get things moved over to a new server.
Until then, keep your fingers crossed and keep the comments coming.
Posted on June 29, 2009 by Craig in Other
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Palm Pre Review Round-Up
Some major pre-launch reviews of the Palm Pre and their concluding thoughts:
Engadget: "Ultimately -- carriers and developers notwithstanding -- what Palm has done is not only a major feat for a company of its size (and its dire position), and we think it's an important step in the evolution of mobile computing. Just like the iPhone's notches up the ladder, and the G1's contributions, the Pre moves the game forward in a very real way."
David Pogue / New York Times: "So do the Pre's perks (beautiful hardware and software, compact size, keyboard, swappable battery, flash, multitasking, calendar consolidation) outweigh its weak spots (battery life, occasional sluggishness, ringer volume)? Oh, yes indeedy."
PreCentral.net: "Palm has hit a home run with the Pre. Probably not a grand slam, but a definite home run."
MyPre.com: "This is first-generation hardware running a first-generation OS, and yet it delivers not only the expected functionality but an innovative UI, solid cellular performance and synchronization features that rivals are already scrabbling to counter. The Pre isn't perfect, but it's very good; when Palm start rolling out OTA updates and delivering things like video recording, it'll get even better. We've high hopes for the Pre's success, but we're even more excited about where Palm will take webOS."
Gizmodo: "The Pre may have hardware that's worse than the G1/G2, but the whole package--the software and the hardware--isn't bad. It's good. It's different. That's something we can get behind. I can''t wait to see what Palm gets dealt in their next hand."
Boy Genius Report: "The OS is great. There's no ifs ands or buts; it's really refreshing to see something that's brand new with a UI unlike anything else out there. The only problem with this is, Palm's never been a hardware company that anyone's really cared about. They have been the furthest thing from innovative since circa-2003 -- their hardware has always been second rate at best and it doesn't seem to be changing now. Couple that with the nation's underdog carrier at a $299 price-point (before rebate), and we're not sure how many people are going to be lined up overnight, yet we're pretty confident once people are able to play a real unit themselves, there will be more than a lot of happy Palm Pre customers."
PC Magazine: "Overall, though, webOS is the most exciting mobile platform I've used in quite a while, and the Pre is pretty impressive, so it nabs our Editors' Choice for smartphones on Sprint."
Walt Mossberg / Wall Street Journal: "All in all, I believe the Pre is a smart, sophisticated product that will have particular appeal for those who want a physical keyboard. It is thoughtfully designed, works well and could give the iPhone and BlackBerry strong competition -- but only if it fixes its app store and can attract third-party developers."
CNET: "Despite some missing features and performance issues that make it less than ideal for on-the-go professionals, the Palm Pre offers gadget lovers and consumers well-integrated features and unparalled multitasking capabilities. The hardware could be better, but more importantly, Palm has developed a solid OS that not only rivals the competition but also sets a new standard in the way smartphones handle tasks and manage information."
Wired: "The Pre emphatically shows that Palm has not reached the stage of suffixes. And multitasking rules!"
CNN Money / Fortune: "That means even if you're one of the folks who likes the Pre's features a bit better than the iPhone's, you might have to do without some of the cooler mobile apps for a while. If that's OK with you, the Pre is a very good choice."
Michael Gartenberg: "Palm's clearly delivered on the vision they articulated last January and the Pre/WebOS combo are clearly going to be a mobile to force to be reckoned with. It's the first platform that's really differentiated itself from the iPhone and looks to be among the few devices that could serve as competition to that most iconic of phones."
Associated Press: "Move over, iPhone. You've had two years on top of the smart phone world. Now there's a touch-screen phone with better software: the Palm Pre."
Phonescoop: "The Pre offers a lot, but has some glaring omissions. If you're willing to give up features such as video capture and don't mind being limited to 8GB of storage, the Pre will offer you excellent personal information and messaging management along with a user interface that outperforms many others in return."
FOX News: "My takeaway: The Palm Pre is an impressive device with a slick design and an even slicker user experience. It took me five minutes to learn how to use it, unlike the Sprint Instinct, which I almost threw into oncoming traffic."
USA Today: "I've been testing the Pre for more than two weeks and like it a lot. Pre is easy on the eyes. I can't think of a more comfortable cellphone in my hand. It has a lovely screen for taking in YouTube videos or browsing the Web. The "always-connected" software foundation at its core, which Palm designed from scratch and calls WebOS, is slick and rife with possibilities."
Laptop Magazine: "We've seen many smart phones come and go since the original iPhone, and the $199 Palm Pre is the first device we've tested whose user interface not only matches up well to Apple's offering, but also beats it in some areas. The Pre isn't just cool and fun to use; its highly integrated approach to calendars, contacts, and messaging, the way it elegantly multitasks, and makes apps and notifications accessible across the device change the game. However much the Pre does for you without your lifting a finger, managing the number of open apps (so you don't hit the limit) can feel like work; and we wish the phone lasted longer between charges. Nevertheless, Palm and Sprint have a hit on their hands with the Pre, and the webOS is a smart phone platform to be reckoned with."
Palm Infocenter: "The Palm Pre delivers on Palm's promise of a bringing a next generation differentiated product to market. WebOS is a powerful and compelling new mobile platform. Despite being a 1.0 product, the Pre is pleasantly functional and it users in new level of simplicity and ease of use. Coupled with the attractive hardware design and charming display, this adds up to a distinctively agreeable experience for mobile phone users. Palm has a lot riding on the Pre and it now appears to be fully back in the game with a superb combination of software and hardware."
Brighthand: "The Palm Pre has been tasked with an almost impossible job: it's the device that's supposed to put both Palm and Sprint back on course after months in the doldrums. Amazingly, it just might do it. Palm has created an operating system and a suite of software that's easy to use but powerful, and has the features both consumers and business people are looking for in a smartphone."
SlashGear: "Still, these are shortcomings in a first-generation platform on first-generation hardware, and we're happy giving Palm the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps it's the threat of financial ruin, but the company seems far more attuned to user feedback than previously; there's a lot riding on the Pre, and Palm know we know it. Thankfully they've delivered a smartphone not only capable but honestly impressive and distinctive. Improvements to webOS will only make it better, but even in this fledgling state we'd readily recommend the Palm Pre."
MobileTechReview: "A most excellent start from Palm with their first new Web OS smartphone. The hardware is attractive and the Pre looks great, feels great (albeit slippery and fingerprint-y) and is smaller than the iPhone and many other touch screen smartphones. The phone is intuitive, fun and generally responsive, though there are occasional minor slowdowns. The capacitive touch screen is not only beautiful but easy to control and the Pre has all the bells and whistles of smartphone except local syncing: email with Exchange support, GPS, top notch web browser, WiFi and Bluetooth. If you're a Sprint user and have been hankering for something truly different and fun, the Pre is a go."
Posted on June 3, 2009 by Craig in Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
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Are Mac & Ruby the New "I'm a PC"?
The teaser video featuring Roger McNamee and Jon Rubenstein arguing over how to promote Palm's forthcoming Pre smartphone is, by most standards, pretty funny. And by Silicon Valley geek standards, it's hilarious. I think Palm would be justified using Roger and Jon in some future tongue-in-cheek ads.
This video was shown at the D7 conference today. Have a look:
Acknowledgment: I owe the inspiration for the "Mac & Ruby" abomination above to this tweet by Rene Ritchie, and I'm quite sure I'll never again be invited to Palm's Sunnyvale headquarters because of it.
Posted on May 28, 2009 by Craig in Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
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The Ultimate Fate of Popular Websites?
Posted on May 28, 2009 by Craig in Internet
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Did Roger McNamee Lie About the Palm Pre's Features?
Shortly after Palm had announced the Pre, its new webOS-powered smartphone, Roger McNamee made the rounds on financial shows touting the product and the company. McNamee, in case that name is unfamiliar to you, is an investor with Elevation Partners, one of Palm's major shareholders.
Here's one of his interviews; he talked about webOS and the Pre, as well as EP's stake in Palm, on CNBC on March 6th, 2009. Below the video is a transcription of some of the claims he makes about the Pre.
"It has a clock, it has your calendar, and it has GPS. So it knows not only where you are, it knows where you should be. So, for example, if you were going to be late for a meeting, it not only alerts you that you're going to be late, it will automatically email ahead to the people you're going to see and tell them. It automatically downloads all of your maps each night before your meeting for the next day."
He made similar claims in another interview around this time (I cannot find that video, though), so this was not a one-off mental slip.
I don't know about you, but I've watched darn near every walkthrough and demo video I can find on the Palm Pre and have never seen these automation features mentioned anywhere other than by McNamee. If the Pre were so advanced as to be able to link its calendar, GPS, and email apps to effectuate the type of autonomy McNamee is describing here, well, I just don't think Palm would've kept it a secret until now.
What do you think? Was he exaggerating, or does Palm have a surprise in store for us come June 6th?
Posted on May 27, 2009 by Craig in Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
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Palm Pre Screen Size: A Carefully Considered Compromise?
While using my Centro, I began wondering how much wider, if at all, the Palm Pre's screen would be. I knew it was 3.1" diagonal, but how does that compare to the Centro's square 2.2" screen? Or my old Treo 700p's 2.5" square screen?
Not being able to visualize, I whipped up a quick and dirty comparison and included two other 320x480 screen mobile devices (the iPhone and the Palm TX) just for reference:
Yes, the Palm Pre's screen is smaller than the iPhone's, but the whole device more pocketable due to being narrower and shorter overall. So, until we figure out how to pack a 20" display into something you can drop in your pants pocket, there will continue to be this compromise between screen size and overall dimensions; we want one to go up and the other to go down, and borders can only get so thin.
For another take on screen specs, check out my recent post: Mobile Device Displays: A Few Words on Pixel Density
Posted on May 26, 2009 by Craig in Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
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The Evolving Relationship Between Palm and Apple
Palm and Apple: two icons of the consumer technology industry. Over the past 15 years, they've had a complicated relationship. These firms have both learned from each others' mistakes, emulated each others' successes, and, for the first time, are now competing squarely against each other for mastery of the smartphone market.
In 1993, Apple launched what many consider to be the first serious attempt at a sophisticated PDA (personal digital assistant): the Newton MessagePad. Typically referred to simply as a Newton, it was, by most measures, a disaster in the marketplace. While it seemed like a brilliant concept, its uneven performance -- most notably, its lackluster handwriting recognition -- lead it to become the target of much mockery (e.g., several mentions in Doonesbury).
Watching all this transpire was a small group of entrepreneurs and inventors who wanted a crack at the PDA space. This foundling company lead by Jeff Hawkins was Palm. In 1996, it launched its own take on the PDA: the Palm Pilot. Palm had learned several lessons from Apple's experience with the Newton.
For example, instead of trying to transcribe anyone's handwriting (a feat difficult even for the human brain), Palm decided to require the user to learn Graffiti, a special script specifically developed for better handwriting recognition. And it worked; the Pilot soared to heights of popularity, partly because Graffiti was a much better solution to the input problem.
Apple abandoned the PDA market and, after failing to purchase Palm, their paths crossed only very infrequently over the next several years at the corporate level. However, several Apple employees left to join Palm. That trend continued; in fact, a significant percentage of Palm's employees are today former Apple staffers. Palm's Chairman, Jon Rubenstein, lead development of the original iPod while at Apple; he joined Palm and launched the program that resulted in the new Pre smartphone. That cross-breeding may be part of the reason that Palm and Apple continued to learn from each other.
In 1997, upon Steve Jobs' return to Apple, it decided it would cease this practice (for various reasons that continue to be debated to this day). Around the same time, Palm decided to start licensing its Palm OS to other hardware/device makers. Palm quickly began to understand the complexities associated with trying to run a business that sold devices while licensing the OS that ran those devices to its competitors. Diverging product lines and pressure from licensees to open up the OS beyond what Palm could readily manage eventually lead Palm to split in two; its device (PalmOne) and OS (PalmSource) sides went their separate ways with only a licensing agreement and some lingering animosity to connect them.
A few years later, Palm found that the venerable Palm OS was running out steam and chose to begin developing a Linux-based replacement. That new OS, which has been called webOS, will launch on the Palm Pre June 6, 2009.
This OS replacement situation was similar to one Apple faced about a decade ago. Around the time of Jobs' return, Apple decided to begin phasing out the original proprietary Mac OS and replace it with the new UNIX-based OS X, which launched in 2001.
Another way Palm has learned from Apple is how it handles product launches. Steve Jobs has long been considered master of the product launch. Apple tightly controls pre-launch information leaks, highly engineers new products so as to rely on minimal "patches" after launch, and puts heavy emphasis on industrial design. Palm's latest launch, that of the Palm Pre, has all the trademarks of an Apple event. Information has been, for the most part, carefully managed. Palm has taken extreme care in ensuring that the product that hits the streets on June 6 is as devoid of flaws as possible. And the trade-offs associated with form versus functionality are often skewed towards the former (e.g., the rationale for not including a removable memory card slot in the Pre was to ensure the unit was as sleek and small as possible). While both companies have less-than-perfect track records in product launches (e.g., Apple's MobileMe and Palm's Foleo), Palm is clearly learning from Apple's successes in this regard.
But the learning hasn't been all one-way; Apple has also learned quite a bit from Palm's experiences over the past 13 years. Several design decisions in the iPhone are straight out of Palm's playbook: a touchscreen, icon-based interface; an external "ringer" switch to silence the device; an application-launcher "home" screen; and so forth. While the iPhone is different in many ways from any Treo or Palm device ever made, it is clear that some elements were lifted from Palm's successful line of handhelds and smartphones. Palm returned the favor by including some multitouch gestures similar to those used in the iPhone; Apple was unhappy enough with that to threaten legal action, but nothing came of it (yet).
Apple also learned from one of Palm's main failings, which was how it managed third-party development in order to create value for its user community. While Palm had occasionally encouraged and/or partnered with software sites that catered to Palm OS users (e.g., Stingersoft, PalmGear, and Handango), there was never a centralized, easy-to-access catalog for those new to the platform. And even if the user found one of those sites, he still had to navigate downloading to a PC, sometimes unzipping and/or running an installer application, and then syncing the new app to his device. All told, it was not a thoughtfully engineered user experience suitable for the masses. Apple's App Store greatly improved all that by making the one place with all apps available directly from the device. While some might argue that the lack of an open market ecosystem retards innovation, there's no debate over the improvement the App Store approach has had on users' familiarity and usage of 3rd party software.
One area that both companies have had similarly poor performance is interacting with the fan community. Apple is notorious for suing blogs over rumors and product leaks. Palm has sued websites over naming issues. Both companies have had their share of PR faux pas when it comes to handling contentious issues on the Internet. Apple found itself in hot water over how it addressed pricing changes shortly after the 1st-gen iPhone launch. Palm messed up an opportunity with the PreDevCamp crowd over secrecy/transparency pressures (although that appears to be reconciled, now). While it's easy to make original mistakes, let's hope that both companies improve how they manage their community relations.
While I'm certainly not claiming that either Palm or Apple is beholden to the other company for its success (or failure), it seems clear that both companies have carefully observed each other and tried to learn from their experiences. Not replicating your competitors' mistakes is always helpful.
Going forward, as Palm and Apple find each other squarely in the other company's sights, it will be fascinating to watch how each move is countered and each new product is reacted to. With all the history and common blood linking these two firms, this match-up could be one of the more compelling and interesting over the next few years.
Update: Rene Ritchie pointed me (indirectly) to a list of Apple's product flops over the years, which is interesting reading to reflect on when you start thinking the company can do no wrong.
Update #2: Fortune has an interesting story on the impending rivalry: Palm fights back (against Apple)
Posted on May 23, 2009 by Craig in Industry
and Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
and Technology
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Cincinnati Should Support the Streetcars Plan
There are many reasons to support the plan to bring streetcars back to Cincinnati, such as renewed development and financial investment in downtown, reduced crime, increased visitorship, environmental health, and so on. A good introduction to the proposal is in this whitepaper produced by the UC Economics Center (PDF).
Comparatively, there are relatively few reasons not to support it, with the primary ones being ignorance of the facts combined with fear of change.
Hopefully, if the matter does come to a vote, concerned citizens will educate themselves before casting their ballots.
Posted on May 22, 2009 by Craig in Society / Politics
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On Religion and the Protection of Choice
According to a report by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, most Americans change their faith at some point in their lives, and many do so more than once.
More than half of American adults have changed religion in their lives, a huge new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found. And there is no discernible pattern to the change, just "a free for all," one of the lead researchers told CNN."You're seeing the free market at work," said Gregory Smith, a research fellow at the Pew Forum. "If people are dissatisfied, they will leave. And if they see something they like better, they will join it."
Many people switch because they move to a new community, and others because they marry someone of a different faith, he said.
Some don't like their ministers or pastors; some like the pastor at another church better.
And many people list more than one reason for changing, Smith said.
"The reasons people change religions are as diverse as the religious landscape itself," he told CNN by phone.
Read full story (CNN.com)
So if religion is something most people choose to engage in, and their religion isn't forced upon them, but rather freely decided upon in a "free market" environment, why is religion protected from discrimination along with race, color, gender, and national origin by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
Those protected attributes other than religion are inherent and impossible, if not exceptionally difficult, to change. One's race, color, and national origin are set for life; one's gender is genetically mandated at birth, although outward manifestations can be altered through radical surgery and hormone treatment.
But religion is something completely different. No one is born a religion and unable to change it during their lifetime. Even if that statement doesn't pass one's "common sense" test, the Pew study's statistics show it clearly to be true. Religion, or, more specifically, one's religious affiliation is a conscious choice that everyone is free to make and change at any time.
Some individual attributes that employers can legally discriminate against and fire (or not hire) an individual based on include the employee's clothing, their education level, and their willingness to travel, just as a few examples. It's relatively easy to see why an employer should be able to let an employee go, or not hire someone in the first place, if the employee chooses to wear inappropriate attire, doesn't have the correct education, or declines to travel for a job that requires it.
If individuals can, and do, choose their religious affiliations and change them at will, why do we protect religion when other individual attributes, such as what we wear, what we know, and how far away from home we prefer to go, are not protected? Is what we believe so different from these when they can all be changed at will? Logically, it doesn't seem so.
In some sense, it almost appears as if religion is getting special treatment as the only choice given protection from discrimination.
But why should it matter what religious affiliation someone has when considering or retaining them as an employee? Because sometimes it makes a difference in how well, or even if, the employee fulfills his job responsibilities.
Case in point: healthcare workers whose religious beliefs trump their medical training when making decisions that can affect the health of their patients (e.g., this article in the Detroit News).
Suppose someone is hired as a pharmacist and, at the time of hiring, has no qualms about fulfilling prescriptions for emergency contraceptives. A short while later, he switches religions to one that opposes this practice and decides that he can no longer fulfill that responsibility.
I am no lawyer, but under the Equal Rights Act, I would suspect the pharmacist's employer would have a difficult time replacing him with someone who would fill the script.
But why is this situation different than when an employee decides that he doesn't want to travel any more, or is tired of wearing neckties, or fails to complete a mandatory educational requirement? All of these would be sufficient reason to fire the employee, as travel, dress, and education aren't protected attributes.
If I can choose my religion just as I choose what to wear, why is one protected and the other is not? Why are some of our choices permitted to be inspected and acted upon by employers while others are not? This is logically inconsistent, which seems like a significant chink in the armor of an otherwise good law.
Ultimately, one's choice of religion seems much more similar to one's other choices in life (e.g., where to live, what to wear, how much and what kind of education to get, etc.) than it is to one's personal attributes that cannot be changed (e.g., race, ethnicity, origin, and gender).
It is likely that those with strong religious beliefs will make claims that what one believes should be protected from discrimination. Fine...what about beliefs regarding clothing? One might believe that God says "life is sacred" just as someone might believe that ties are uncomfortable, yet only one of these beliefs can be acted upon by an employer.
In reading the above, some might accuse me of trivializing religion. Certainly not -- I would very much like to have my choice of clothing also be off-limits when discussing job security with my employer -- but a belief is a belief, and beliefs are not the same as permanent, unchangeable attributes that define who we are and for which we had no choice.
One can change one's religious convictions and affiliations; one cannot readily change one's race, color, sex, or national origin. So, again, why are all of these granted equal protection? So far, I fail to see a compelling reason.
Posted on April 27, 2009 by Craig in Society / Politics
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Welcome New Twitter Follower
If you're reading this because you've just followed me on Twitter, thanks...I appreciate it. If you did it solely so I'd follow you back, then you may be disappointed since I don't auto-follow everyone who follows me. If I don't follow you back, it may be because you run afoul of one of a few general guidelines I have.
I probably won't follow you if:
1) Your friends-to-followers ratio is well over 1:1 -or- you have way more friends than followers.
If you are following 1,200 people (i.e., have 1,200 friends) and only have 100 followers, then you're probably up to something. Perhaps you just joined and are trying to build up a huge followerbase by doing mass followings in hopes of snagging lots of auto-follows. In that case, I'm not going to contribute to your game.
2) You haven't tweeted in a long time, if ever.
Why should I follow you when you aren't contributing to the conversation?
3) You don't have a bio or a pic or a website. And no, Myspace pages don't count.
If you aren't going to reveal anything about yourself, why should I follow you? Give me a reason to find you interesting.
4) I'm not finding your recent tweets very thought-provoking, entertaining, or compelling in some way.
You may be doing everything right, but I still may not follow you. Sorry...it might just be that we don't have much in common...it happens. Or, perhaps your tweeting every meal, belch, and bowel movement just doesn't do it for me.
5) You're offensive.
I don't follow raving lunatics, extremists of any kind (political, religious, sports fans, etc.), people who express themselves only in crass banalities, or those who TYPE IN ALL CAPS.
6) You're on Twitter solely to sell me something.
Are you an SEO? Social media expert? Online marketing consultant? Bean curd and flaxseed extract vendor? Sorry...I'm not interested and far too busy bored with you to listen to your pitch.
7) You play games following and unfollowing.
Update: I just was reminded of another reason. If you follow me and then unfollow me shortly afterwards when I don't follow you immediately, and then follow me again when I do follow you, you're getting unfollowed and blocked. You're not only annoying, but you're gaming the system and I don't like it.
Most likely, if you're an actual person with a bio, a photo, and something reasonably interesting (IMO) to say, I'll follow you right back. But if not, well, consider this post our official "it's not me, it's you" talk.
p.s. If you've landed here from my Twitter profile page and aren't finding it very useful to discover just who this schlub called Craig Froehle is, then check out my abbreviated GearBits bio or the longer bio on my personal website.
Posted on April 8, 2009 by Craig in Internet
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Palm Announces Palm OS Legacy App Emulation for webOS and the Pre Smartphone
Palm has announced something that many Palm OS die-hards have been waiting to hear: the Pre smartphone will have the ability to run Palm OS legacy applications when it launches sometime in the first half of 2009.
PreCentral.net broke this story on April 1st, meaning it took a bit more convincing than normal that this was, in fact, true.
The "Classic" emulator will be provided by MotionApps. As you can see on the graphic, they cleverly use the bottom third of the screen to represent the standard Palm's hardware buttons, meaning most functions should be usable on regular apps. Hacks and system-level utilities, such as things that change how the keyboard functions, alter Palm OS preferences, or access specific bits of hardware on the Treo (e.g., the camera) likely will not work at all.
One interesting thing is the performance gain that MotionApps' Classic will offer to legacy Palm OS apps:
Compared to Treo 700p your PalmOS apps will run approximately twice as fast on Classic.
Wow! That speaks volumes about how poweful the Pre's new TI OMAP 3440 CPU will be if it can run apps in emulation mode twice as fast as the 700p's 312 MHz Intel XScale PXA270 processor.
While using crusty (in most cases) Palm OS apps isn't the main reason so many are excited about the Palm Pre, it is certainly comforting knowing that those of us who still rely on a Palm OS device as our regular smartphone, but want to move to the Pre when it launches, won't have to lose a lot of functionality while we wait on developers to port over their apps or code up replacements that are better integrated with the Pre's webOS platform.
Backward compatibility is truly the best of both worlds, the old and the new.
Update: Here's a short video of a Palm rep demoing the Classic emulator for Phonescoop:
Posted on April 2, 2009 by Craig in Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
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Segregating One's Personal and Professional Online Personas: Is it Folly?
I'm losing a battle, the battle to keep my personal online self separated from my work/professional online self. And losing that battle has some potentially serious consequences.
In the 15 or so years I've been "on the web," I've tried to maintain a division between my personal life and my professional life. The reason is pretty simple: some of the things I might say or do with friends and family might be incompatible with expectations for my behavior as whatever kind of professional I'm employed as at the time.
I'm not talking anything scandalous...no KKK activities, secret families, or felony indictments...but statements and actions that might seem totally innocuous in one context and to one person (e.g., joking with an old friend) might seem out-of-place in another context to a different person (e.g., to a student or client).
And that division is slowly eroding...slipping away as my ability to keep one "life" separate from the other disintegrates. Some of my work colleagues and students have started following me on Twitter and friending me on Facebook (hi, folks!), places that I've never intended to engage anyone from work (with, perhaps, a few exceptions). More confounding is LinkedIn, on which I have a complete cross-section of associations from every corner of my personal and professional lives.
Many of those connections, and the overall intermixing of my personae, are, admittedly, my own fault. When I initially set up Facebook, I accidentally let it troll through my Gmail addressbook and send out automatic invitations. Newbie mistake. On Twitter, my profile is open, meaning anyone can follow me. And, I also have this tendency to only use my real name online; I never felt comfortable hiding behind a quasi-anonymous pseudonym or fake profile. All considered, I really only have myself to blame for allowing the online division between my personal self and my work self to blur.
So what does this mean? I think it means that my online "self" will have to be much more thoughtful and considerate of the implications, for every facet of my life, of my actions online. A bawdy joke told in a small, yet public, mailing list could easily find its way to my boss' desk. A thoughtless, or even mean-spirited, comment could ultimately offend a co-worker. These unintended consequences are like civilian casualties in a war; collateral damage from acting thoughtlessly in a casual space that is, ultimately, connected in a very real sense to one's professional environment.
Perhaps this is precisely what all those Gen-Y kids were learning when their Facebook profiles and Myspace pages were being used by potential employers as reasons to not hire them; 27 photos of you drunk off your butt at a fraternity party doesn't tend to impress the HR department very much.
So, the bottom line is this, what I'm calling my Golden Rule for the digital era:
If I treat every interaction, whether online or face-to-face, as if it were happening in person, I'm sure there would be times I would handle it differently. Is it better to have less freedom to do as my basest reactionary self wants, less consideration for the human on the other end of the bitpipe? No, I think society has always relied on our ability to reign in that temptation. And the Internet changes nothing in that regard, except, perhaps, to give us more opportunities to screw up.
So, now, going forward, the real test is seeing if I can live by that rule of mine. Wish me luck!
Posted on March 27, 2009 by Craig in Internet
and Other
and Society / Politics
and Technology
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Five Apps I Will Miss in the Palm Pre
The Palm Pre looks like it will be an amazing piece of kit, and webOS, Palm's new mobile operating system, sounds light years ahead of the now decrepit Palm OS. However, as a long-time Palm OS user (I got my first Palm OS device, a USRobotics Pilot 5000, in May, 1996), I've come to rely heavily upon, and truly enjoy, several applications that may not be ported over to the webOS-based Pre.
Here's a short list of 5 applications that I'll miss when I migrate to the new Palm Pre (assuming it doesn't come with something equivalent):
1) Capital & Function Key Customizer -- A utility that greatly increases the usefulness of my Treo's keyboard is KeyCaps600, which enables capital letters by press-and-hold and enables symbols by double-pressing the key. This is much faster than hitting the Shift and Symbol buttons prior to the keypress. Given the Pre's hardware keyboard, something like this would be a natural project for the aspiring programmer.
2) Mode / Profile Manager -- Profiles is a utility that does some amazing things. First, it lets you set up different hardware profiles, which determine how the phone works (e.g., backlight level, ringer volume, vibrate mode, etc.). For example, I have a "Meeting" profile that turns off the volume for all purposes, but enables vibrate for calls, text messages, and other notifications. Doing all those things separately would take many steps, but Profiles combines them all into a single switch. Second, Profiles lets me automatically switch among these hardware profiles manually or automatically based on triggers (e.g., calendar events, time of day, etc.). For example, I have a trigger set up to completely silence the phone and disable vibrate at 10pm so as to keep inbound calls and text messages from waking up my wife. It then re-enables all those alerts at 6am. It's incredibly handy and I'm really hoping that kind of functionality is included with the Pre...or comes out shortly after it's launched.
3) Button Customizer -- I've gotten totally spoiled by LudusP, a utility that lets me remap many of my 700p's hardware buttons. I imagine someone is already working on a way to make the Pre's one hardware button (apart from the physical keyboard) do more things than just bring up the app panel...at least I hope so.
4) File Browser -- A powerful file management app makes light work of moving, deleting, and copying media files and other content. With 8GB of onboard storage, the Pre better have a decent interface for managing all that stuff.
5) Backup -- An automated backup utility, like Backup Man, will be impossible to replicate since the Pre has no expandable storage / flash memory card slot. Hopefully, its "cloud" functionality will make this moot...hopefully.
The Pre looks like it will be an incredible device, but there's always room for improvement...or at least customization.
Posted on March 10, 2009 by Craig in Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
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6 Years of Blogging...So What?
Six years ago today, I fired up GearBits for the first time with no idea what would become of it. I was pretty sure I had no desire to turn it into a business (been there, done that), but, apart from that, I wasn't at all certain what I'd write about, how frequently, or in pursuit of what objectives (if any).
Now, it's pretty clear that GearBits has gone through several stages in its short life. At first, it was a curiosity...a chance to learn about blogging, host a webserver, and some other aspects of a techno-centric life that are best acquired through hands-on experience.
Then, I invited some friends to play. Mitch, Sam, and Ken, and later Bob, all brought unique voices, but as the site was never more than a casual outlet for occasional thoughts, it never really gelled with any of them. But, seeing friends contribute their thoughts and ideas in ways very different than I would have was educational for me and a lot of fun.
As their interest vacillated, my own did as well. While I continued to post, it became much more sporadic. I deviated from technology and consumer electronics more heavily into politics around the 2004 and 2008 elections, primarily as a cathartic tool...one small voice calling out the absurdities and injustices.
Then, in Spring 2008, something happened that changed how I see my blog entirely: Twitter. I've become a bit of a Twitterholic. As my brain is rather limited in its capacity for complex thought, many of the things I think seem to fit nicely in 140 characters or less. Since my joining Twitter less than a year ago, I've made nearly 4,000 posts (tweets). Compare that to less than 1,200 posts on GearBits in six-year span.
But why? Thinking about it, it seems there are three reasons: convenience, engagement, and reduced expectations. First, posting to Twitter is incredibly convenient; I can do it through text messages, via the web interface, on custom apps...all easy and quick. Second, given the size of the community on Twitter, it's easy to be engaged in conversations and get feedback very quickly. That's rewarding, so it prompts me to do it more often. Comments work here, too, but they're not nearly as quick and convenient to post, read, or respond to.
Third, and perhaps most surprising (to me), is that I've always felt like anything I post on GearBits needed to have some meat...be substantial. While I clearly didn't always accomplish that, I almost always strived for it. On Twitter, however, there's no such pressure to create meaningful content. When giving a talk, every sentence matters. When chatting with friends, however, there's a much lower bar to clear. And that's the way Twitter feels to me.
So, will I continue with GearBits? Probably...almost definitely. I want to continue having my own server -- it's just too convenient. Since that's in place, hosting Movable Type isn't a huge amount of incremental effort or cost. A second reason GearBits will continue is that I will, from time to time, have information I'd like to "put out there" that doesn't easily fit on a tweet. Product reviews, short essays (like this one), graphical content, etc. all fit much better on a proper blog than on Twitter. Finally, there's value in what I've already done. I don't get huge numbers of people at GearBits...a thousand or so each day...so, if it were to go away, it's not like the masses would rise up and demand I put it back up. But, during the six years I've been adding content, there are some pages that a nontrivial number of people seem to find helpful (see the most frequently commented entries, for example). So, if having it around helps a couple people a day fix a problem or make a better tech decision, then that's more than enough.
Thanks for reading (if anyone actually does) and I'll hopefully see you in another six years.
Posted on March 8, 2009 by Craig in Internet
and Other
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How, and When, to Use Twitter for Customer Service
PC Magazine posted a list of 10 companies using Twitter in interesting, novel ways. One of the more common uses was as a customer service channel, such as what Palm and some folks from Sprint have been doing.
And it's fairly easy to do. With Twitter's search engine, it's relatively painless to stay abreast of any mention of your company or its branded services. Monitoring this constantly is essential to initiating timely contacts with customers who mention they are having problems.
But, before companies jump into offering customer service via a novel medium like Twitter, some caution should be taken; while the payoff of an innovative move like this can be significant to your customers, there are easy mistakes to be made. So, a quick list of some general lessons:
1) Twitter isn't the best option for most, or even many, of your customers
For part of my PhD dissertation, I worked with customer support of a major ISP researching how they interact with customers over various channels (at the time, it was phone, email, and IM). We found that different problem types and different customer needs were most effectively handled via different media (due to the characteristics of those media)...there was not one medium that did the best under all circumstances.
So what does this mean when using Twitter? Different customers are going to have different needs. Some are going to have very simple problems that can be addressed quickly and are going to be fairly matter-of-fact/rational about the issue. Twitter could be a terrific medium for those kinds of situations.
But, many customers are going to have complex problems, be upset about the problem, or both. In these cases, Twitter is unlikely to be the best choice. In these situations, the 140-character limitation of Twitter makes it really difficult to engage in complex conversations with completeness and clarity. And in cases where the customer is upset or angry, you need to convey empathy and concern. The terseness required in Twitter is just not adequate for mollifying emotional customers.
2) Use Twitter to route customers to better support channels in your firm
Instead of trying (and likely failing) to address customers' issues via interaction on Twitter, use that opportunity to direct customers to those other people/channels in your company who can best handle them. But don't just rely on a message like the following:
You clearly risk losing the customer. Instead, ensure the hand-off happens by getting the customer's contact information (obviously best if done via direct message) and then passing that onto the appropriate channel so a support rep can then join and continue the conversation that was started on Twitter through whatever medium is best suited for the problem at hand (phone, email, etc.).
3) Failures are public spectacles
It's important to remember that Twitter is a social medium. Any failure on your part to soothe an aggravated customer could easily turn into a public shouting match, even if the shouting is only one way. And to make matters worse, that conversation is persistent, there for the customer to reference for any and all friends to view. A happy customer might tell a friend, but an unhappy one will tell the world. And, since that unhappy customer is already sitting there in front of a potentially huge social network, that negative word-of-mouth can spread quickly. This makes it just that much more important to avoid long, public conversations with upset/angry customers on social networks like Twitter. If the customer wants to vent, let them rant over a medium that is isolated away from public scrutiny and where they are guaranteed to have the customer rep's undivided attention.
4) Do it well, or don't do it
As social media are still fairly new to many companies, it's tempting to let an employee or two who are particularly interested in the medium "try it out" informally, perhaps even during off-hours. This approach is unlikely to result in highly satisfied customers for a few reasons. First, the hand-offs mentioned in #1 above are unlikely to happen smoothly and quickly, thus risking further alienating a customer already having problems. Second, these employees who are interested may not be the best people in your company to do this; they may not even be customer support professionals with appropriate training and/or people skills. And third, a lack of formality means that key lessons may not be captured in order to help improve future efforts at using social media for customer service.
No, instead, set up a quick team with appropriate resources. This doesn't have to be, nor should it be, a several-month project to assemble the team and create policies and document processes. But, some level of formality can be helpful, even if it's simply a list of contacts within the company for handing off different types of problems/customers and a regular (e.g., daily) huddle to share insights and set expectations. This will likely be a very new way to engage the customer, so learning is inevitable. You're unlikely to get it perfect from day one, but getting there as quickly as possible is the key to creating an advantage over your competitors.
Posted on March 1, 2009 by Craig in Industry
and Internet
and Technology
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Quote of the Moment
"Today's scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality." - Nikola Tesla
Posted on February 26, 2009 by Craig in Science & Nature
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Sprint Reveals "Treo Jones" Handset, Increases Warranty Replacement Fees
Sprint sent out a rather innocuous-looking notice dated February 16, which arrived at our house yesterday. Opening it reveals two interesting bits of information:
1) Sprint will be increasing the replacement fees it charges to its Total Equipment Protection (TEP) program customers based on a two-tier system; pricier phones, including all Palm devices (which, strangely, are listed under the old PalmOne brand), Blackberries, and assorted other smartphones are listed as Tier 2, meaning a $100 replacement fee (versus the $50 fee it previously charged). These changes go into effect April 19, 2009.
2) Listed among the PalmOne [sic] devices is a model I've not previously heard of: The "TREO Jones". Anyone have any idea what that is? My guess is that it's the forthcoming Treo Pro.
It's also interesting that they refer to the Palm Centro by its much less common name, the Treo 690p, which seems odd for a document meant to be read by non-technical customers.
Sloppy work, Sprint...and disappointing.
Posted on February 25, 2009 by Craig in Industry
and Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
and Wireless
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Mobile Device Displays: A Few Words on Pixel Density
A lot has been written about displays on mobile devices; smartphones and portable media players rely heavily on their screens to both display information and allow interaction. A lot of consumers might consider display SIZE when thinking about their next mobile device purchase, but I'd like them to also consider another, slightly more technical, attribute: PIXEL DENSITY.
It's obvious that display sizes vary a lot in the smartphone and PMP world. One comparison of a few relatively recent devices showed a variety of sizes and aspect ratios:
When publishing the specs of devices, most often, we're given two pieces of information about the display:
• Its resolution, expressed in pixels along each side (e.g., 320x240)
• Its diagonal measurement, as in the diagram below
However, we're rarely given the statistic that has a significant effect on a screen's readability and our enjoyment in looking at it, which is the pixel density. Screens with low pixel density can have that "blocky" effect, which can make text unpleasurable to read and photos look, well, yucky.
So, higher pixel density is always good, right? Unfortunately, no. The human eye is limited in its ability to perceive resolution...more than about 300 dots per inch (dpi) and our eyes can no longer distinguish them from each other. High-quality print output is generally in the 300 dpi range. Photos generally don't need to be this high to convey good detail (see my Photo Printing Worksheet for more info).
So where does that leave us with device displays? Well, there's a pretty broad range of what people find acceptable. I consider myself a screen snob and am generally unhappy with displays below about 170 pixels per inch (ppi). However, as noted above, more isn't always better...a display with 350 ppi isn't going to be much better than one with 300 ppi, and may even be worse. The higher the pixel density, usually, the smaller (physically) fonts appear, making it more difficult to read.
We can calculate pixel density (in terms of pixels per inch) by knowing the screen resolution and diagonal size, but it requires a bit of algebra. So, I created an Excel spreadsheet with those calculations and whipped up a table of some popular smartphones, PDAs & PMPs to show the range of pixel densities found in mobile devices today.
This is simply a screen grab of that Excel sheet (here's the Excel file if you want to download it for your own use), but it illustrates how impressive some of these recent devices have gotten in terms of displays. Sony has a weird fetish for painfully high pixel densities, both on their phones and some of the subnotebooks, but RIM, which resisted higher-resolution displays for a long time, now has some Blackberries with really stunning screens.
Hopefully, this will help you think about the pixel density of the next smartphone or PMP you plan to buy, since the display is one of the biggest influences on how much many people enjoy their mobile devices.
Posted on February 20, 2009 by Craig in Computing
and Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
and Technology
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How Does Your Writing Compare with Your Personality?
I'm always interested in how our personalities affect what we do, think, and say. Now, there's a tool that uses the Myers-Briggs type indicator personality framework to analyze your writing.
Following up on a tweet from @bshermcincy, I submitted GearBits.com to the Typealyzer and it popped out this analysis:
Keirsey.com labels ESTP profiles "Promoters" and says "Clever and full of fun, Promoters live with a theatrical flourish which makes even the most routine events seem exciting." I guess that makes sense given that not all gadget reviews are inherently exciting and many need a bit of hyperbole to make them interesting.
But that ESTP seemed somewhat different than the profile M-B tests have generated for me in the past, so I self-administered the 72-question instrument here and came up with the more familiar INTJ. INTJs are described as follows (courtesy of Keirsey.com):
Rational Portrait of the Mastermind (INTJ) All Rationals are good at planning operations, but Masterminds are head and shoulders above all the rest in contingency planning. Complex operations involve many steps or stages, one following another in a necessary progression, and Masterminds are naturally able to grasp how each one leads to the next, and to prepare alternatives for difficulties that are likely to arise any step of the way. Trying to anticipate every contingency, Masterminds never set off on their current project without a Plan A firmly in mind, but they are always prepared to switch to Plan B or C or D if need be.
Masterminds are rare, comprising no more than, say, one percent of the population, and they are rarely encountered outside their office, factory, school, or laboratory. Although they are highly capable leaders, Masterminds are not at all eager to take command, preferring to stay in the background until others demonstrate their inability to lead. Once they take charge, however, they are thoroughgoing pragmatists. Masterminds are certain that efficiency is indispensable in a well-run organization, and if they encounter inefficiency-any waste of human and material resources-they are quick to realign operations and reassign personnel. Masterminds do not feel bound by established rules and procedures, and traditional authority does not impress them, nor do slogans or catchwords. Only ideas that make sense to them are adopted; those that don't, aren't, no matter who thought of them. Remember, their aim is always maximum efficiency.
In their careers, Masterminds usually rise to positions of responsibility, for they work long and hard and are dedicated in their pursuit of goals, sparing neither their own time and effort nor that of their colleagues and employees. Problem-solving is highly stimulating to Masterminds, who love responding to tangled systems that require careful sorting out. Ordinarily, they verbalize the positive and avoid comments of a negative nature; they are more interested in moving an organization forward than dwelling on mistakes of the past.
Masterminds tend to be much more definite and self-confident than other Rationals, having usually developed a very strong will. Decisions come easily to them; in fact, they can hardly rest until they have things settled and decided. But before they decide anything, they must do the research. Masterminds are highly theoretical, but they insist on looking at all available data before they embrace an idea, and they are suspicious of any statement that is based on shoddy research, or that is not checked against reality.
Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, Dwight D. Eisenhower, General Ulysses S. Grant, Frideriche Nietsche, Niels Bohr, Peter the Great, Stephen Hawking, John Maynard Keynes, Lise Meitner", Ayn Rand and Sir Isaac Newton are examples of Rational Masterminds.
Given the work I do and my albeit limited degree of self-awareness, it seems to fit quite well (if you know me IRL and have a different opinion, let me know).
But why the difference between my writing's ESTP profile and my "normal" INTJ? That will take some looking into, but my guess is that I don't feel a need to juice things up in day-to-day life, but can be very enthusiastic when writing about something because I know I won't be there to convey my thoughts in person. That's just a guess, but it's an interesting difference nonetheless.
If you try this, let me know if you come up with different profiles as well.
Posted on February 18, 2009 by Craig in Internet
and Science & Nature
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Palm Pre's Mirrored Slider
In keeping an eye on the Palm Pre news, I ran across this photo on Crave's coverage of Palm's Mobile World Congress display:
Beyond the uses Andrew Lim suggests, which are all well and good, the original intent of that mirrored surface is likely to help someone position the phone so that taking photos of themselves is a bit more reliable (much better than the tiny mirrored domes on so many phones these days).
What other uses do you think it might have?
Posted on February 18, 2009 by Craig in Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
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GearBits' Hot/Not List for Winter 2009
It's been about 8 months since our first Hot/Not List, so I thought I'd post an updated one:
HOT
- Logitech Squeezebox - After Logitech's acquisition of Slim Devices, a lot of fans of the smaller company's products were concerned that innovation would halt and corporate fossilization would set in, as happens in so many of these cases. Well, it couldn't be further from the truth. Slim's innovative products are benefiting from Logitech's branding and distribution muscle and the combined firm is churning out really impressive audio streaming devices. Our home audio ecosystem now consists of a Squeezebox Duet controller, two receivers, and a Boom; these three cover about 80% of the house and it's wonderful to have perfectly synced music streamed throughout without breaking the bank.
- Palm - The Pre smartphone was the buzz of CES and is still making strong headlines at MWC. Sprint may have a winner on its hands with this new device.
- Sprint - Coming off a really impressive turnaround regarding its customer service and anticipation of its 4G wireless network, Sprint could be poised for strong growth in the next few years.
- Aptera - So far, this innovative hypermileage boutique car-maker in California has avoided some of the pitfalls that its performance-oriented sibling Tesla Motors has made, and the 2e vehicle it should be shipping very soon looks like it could be a key evolutionary link in transforming the way we think about cars.
- Twitter - Easily the most addictive thing I've tried recently.
- Windows 7 - Sure, it's still in beta, but I am SO looking forward to its release. As much as I've panned Vista over the years, I think 7 will be a winner.
NOT
- Cloud-Based Contact Management - Even with Google's recent improvements to Gmail Contacts, there are no really excellent cloud-friendly contact management solutions available. The best I've found is ClearSync, and that isn't as widely compatible as most would like.
- Battery Technology - Seriously...scientists and engineers have been working on this for decades and we're still not fundamentally better than we were 20 years ago.
- Obese Netbooks - Almost by definition, a "netbook" should be incredibly lightweight. Why, then, are we seeing netbooks weighing over 3 lbs released to market??
- Winter - by definition. I am quite ready for Spring, thanks very much.
- Digital Transition Delay - We set the date for February 17th, and now Congress is pushing it back to June 12 for those stations that want extra time. Why? Delaying it doesn't solve anything and, in fact, actually increases the costs of the conversion and sows more consumer confusion. Clearly a lose-lose proposition.
Posted on February 16, 2009 by Craig in Computing
and Home A/V
and Industry
and Internet
and Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
and Popular Media
and Society / Politics
and Technology
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ClearSync for Chumby Brings Your Calendars to Desk and Bedside
As a longtime ClearSync subscriber (see my review of ClearSync 1.0 from 2006 here), I was excited when John Tanner, the company's CEO, announced that a ClearSync client for Chumby was forthcoming.
Remember Chumby, that quirky, plush nightstand/desk/kitchen counter companion that streams Internet content to its touchscreen? Chumby is an ideal device for places where you need access to online content but where a laptop just doesn't fit or is "too much" machine (not that I'm sure that's ever possible). To the right is Chumby on my bedside table.
Here's a screenshot of what ClearSync on Chumby looks like:
You get access to some key ClearSync Calendars features, including:
• Viewing multiple calendars in a single, color-coded view
• The ability to enable/disable any combination of calendars
• Date selection (just tap the time/date header to bring up a calendar-style date picker)
• Automatic cloud-sync with your online/handheld calendar updates
Those of you who live and die by your daily calendar know how critical it is to always have it within arm's reach. Now, it can be right in front of you at all times, even when you're sleeping (which is important if you're like me and have literally woken up in the middle of the night in a mild panic because you can't remember what time an important meeting is the next day).
ClearSync for Chumby is available for free to all ClearSync subscribers who own Chumbys.
Posted on February 16, 2009 by Craig in Computing
and Internet
and Mobile & PDAs
and Wireless
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Poem for My Daughter #5
Other poems in this series can be found here.
Posted on February 13, 2009 by Craig in Family
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The Beginning of the End for xD-Picture Cards?
In July, 2002, Fujifilm and Olympus horrified digital photography fans by launching an all-new flash memory format, the xD-Picture Card. Why, nobody outside these two companies was sure, but it seems the grand experiment may be coming to an end.
Fujifilm has announced that an upcoming pocket point-and-shoot camera, the F200EXR, will accept both xD and SD/MMC memory formats. At least according to the folks at Crave.
I, for one, will be happy to pare down the ranks of incompatible flash memory formats. Sony, would you like to take your turn and off the noxious Memory Stick? Honestly, nobody will miss it...I promise.
Posted on February 4, 2009 by Craig in Computing
and Industry
and Photography
and Technology
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If the Palm Pre Really Can "Precog" Our Needs, Should We Thank Jeff Hawkins or Don Norman?
There has been a lot of talk about the Palm Pre and how its name is meant to invoke the phone's ability to anticipate your needs and act upon them before you ask it to. A couple of concrete examples have come straight from Roger McNamee, head of Elevation Partners, a tech-centric venture capital firm which now has 20% of its fund in Palm, in this video interview:
"...but better than that, it does stuff for you. When you wake up in the morning, it has taken your calendar, if you ask it to, downloaded the maps for your whole day, downloaded the Wikipedias for the people you're going to visit and the companies you're going to see. Why is it on PCs you have to go and do all that? And when you're late -- get this -- when you're late, it -- remember, this thing has GPS, it has a clock, and it has your calendar, so it not only knows where you are, it knows where you're supposed to be and when -- and so when it realizes you're going to be late, it says, 'hey, not only are you going to be late, but I can take care of it for you. I can send an email to your assistant, or to the people in the meeting...which would you prefer? And oh, by the way, here's the map.'"
To many, this sounds like something that blurs the line between magic and sentient robots (witchcraft meets Skynet, if you will). To others, it's the logical culmination of converging technologies, and, frankly, they're not sure why it took so long. One such person is Don Norman, an industrial designer with a resume a mile long; he's worked at Apple and HP, is a design professor at Northwestern University, and is co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group.
Don Norman gave the keynote at the 2005 PalmSource Developer's Conference (the last year the event was held). In that speech, he professed amazement and dismay at his car's inability to put to good use the basic technologies already in and around it. Paraphrasing (from memory) that portion of his speech:
"So my car, a BMW, has a computer on board that lets me know when the oil needs to be changed. What does it do with this information? It illuminates a little light on the dashboard and then expects me to respond appropriately. Why not provide a little more information? Instead of just an idiot light, why can't it use the GPS it has to tell me the phone number of the nearest BMW dealership? Let's take that one step further. The car has Bluetooth so I can send and receive calls through my cellphone when I'm driving. My cellphone also has my calendar in it. Why doesn't my car, sensing it needs an oil change, look at my calendar, figure out a 2-hour period when I'm not busy, add an appointment, call the dealership, make the appointment, and then let me know all that's been done? The technology is there...we just need to integrate it and make it talk to each other."
Clearly, if the Pre comes out with the type of precognitive powers Roger McNamee is describing, the Palm engineers and designers working on webOS took Dr. Norman's comments to heart.
Of course, given the efforts Jeff Hawkins (inventor of the Palm Pilot and founder of Palm) has put into mapping cognition and other fundamental activities of the brain, as well as his close ties to Palm even now, he may have been even more influential on this amazing capacity for anticipatory assistance.
Personally, I'm hoping webOS and the Pre are as revolutionary as the Pilot was back in the Spring of 1996. It's been 13 years...we're due for something exciting from Palm.
Posted on February 1, 2009 by Craig in Computing
and Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
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Seeking Your Input on 2 Tech Purchases: TiVo and Camera
I am in need of two new pieces of gear and would like YOUR suggestions and insights on what to get.
First, we need to replace our dead (kaput!) Series 1 TiVo. It lasted an amazing 7 years and change, but it has made the final ascent to the great Now Showing in the sky. So, what should we get to replace it? An HD TiVo? The HD XL TiVo? We have nothing but HD TVs in our house, so the Series 2 isn't terribly desirable. Or should we nix TiVo and go with a different brand altogether? We're on Time Warner Cable (despite their awfulness), in case that affects your recommendation.
Second, I need a smallish digital camera with a reasonable resolution (5MP+), but with as much optical zoom as possible (320mm and greater would be ideal). This is for use with the GigaPan Imager I acquired for work purposes. The GigaPan mount won't support something like a dSLR, so nothing that massive can be considered. What suggestions do you have for this purchase?
Thanks in advance for your comments, here on GearBits (using the form below), to me via Twitter (CRA1G), or via my Facebook account (Craig Froehle).
Posted on January 27, 2009 by Craig in Home A/V
and Photography
and Technology
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Flashback (May 2001): Review of the HandEra 330 PDA
A friend reminded me of a device that, at its time, had no equal in the PDA landscape and had some features that no handheld (or phone) has ever had since: the HandEra 330.
One of the more innovative features was the presence of dual memory slots; the 330 had both a CompactFlash slot and an MMC/SD card slot (which was very new at the time). It also ran on either 4xAA cells or a Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack. Ounce-for-ounce, the 330 packed in more features than any PDA I ever came across.
Back in May, 2001, I posted a rather lengthy review of it on MemoWare.com, the PDA document site I ran at the time. Thinking of the 330, I realized I still had the files, so I tossed the page on my personal server for old time's sake.
If you like, check out the review and be AMAZED at what cutting-edge tech in 2001 looked like. Clearly, the 330 has not aged gracefully.
Posted on January 26, 2009 by Craig in Mobile & PDAs
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CNN.com Partners with Facebook to Stream & Comment 2009 Inauguration Live
CNN.com and Facebook have partnered to bring a unified live, social experience for the 2009 Inauguration of Barack Obama today. It's accessible to everyone; Facebook account not needed to view (but needed to comment).
It's a pretty cool collaboration...I expect the merging of live TV from established channels with social media functions to be a big theme of 2009.
Posted on January 20, 2009 by Craig in Internet
and Popular Media
and Society / Politics
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Some Predictions for 2009 Already Coming True
A mere 12 days ago, I posted GearBits' Predictions for 2009. To my surprise, some of them are already coming true:
3) Palm Launches New OS to Fanfare, Skepticism
I predicted that Palm would announce its new OS and show off at least one device at CES, which they did...in spades. While most coverage has been off-the-charts positive, there have been some nattering nabobs of negativism who feel there's just can't be a way for Palm to come back. Palm's next big hurdle is actually getting the Pre through FCC approval and into Sprint's stores.
7) Steve Jobs Announces Transition to New Role
My guess was that Jobs' health concerns were more serious than the public was being led to believe. Today, Jobs announced he was taking some time because his "health-related issues are more complex than [he] originally thought." Given Jobs' recent statement that his weight loss was due merely to an easily treatable hormone imbalance and expected no change from the status quo, this announcement shocked everyone. We hope for his quick recovery and return to doing the job he does so well.
10) Line Blurs between "Netbooks" and Notebooks/Laptops
My prediction stated that we would start seeing new models fill in the gap between the low-end netbooks and traditional (i.e., full-featured, more powerful, and more expensive) subnotes. At CES, there were a variety of netbooks announced. While most played the familiar tune of 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, a hard drive, and an 8-10" screen running 1024x600, there were a couple of standouts. The most discussed was the Sony Vaio P, a 1.4-lb netbook (even though they don't want you to call it that) that rocks a 1600x768 screen and runs Vista (albeit slowly). At a price point of $900 (for the low-end unit), it clearly is aimed at the gap between typical netbooks and upscale ultraportables. Another, more obscure one that fills this gap is the Olidata Conte, a very capable machine that, when it comes to market, may cost around $1,000.
Update (1/25/09): Apparently, AMD (via Engadget) agrees with me; CEO Dirk Meyer said in an earnings call that "the distinction between what is a netbook and what is a laptop is going to go away...there will be a continuum of price points and form factors." Good to know the C-suite is listening to me. ;-)
Posted on January 14, 2009 by Craig in Computing
and Industry
and Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
and Technology
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Watch Palm's CES Launch Demo of the Pre and webOS
If you're just as curious as I was how all the press coverage of Palm's Pre / webOS launch was so overwhelmingly positive, watch the entire presentation on Palm's website and you'll soon see why everyone loved it.
Posted on January 11, 2009 by Craig in Mobile & PDAs
and Phones
and Wireless
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