via penny-arcade.com
In actuality, he handled the snafus pretty well. Damn that guy can command an audience. I have a hard time thinking Schmidt, Zuckerberg, Bartz or Ballmer doing the same.
Say what you will about Apple, these guys know marketing
http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/facetime.html#facetime-video
The Apple marketing people (or their agency) should get a raise. This has got to be one of the most compelling commercials/videos I've seen for a mobile phone. They hit all the demographics and even worked the current war situation and special needs folks into it. This makes those Droid commercials look so one dimensional. We get it - you're faster, more powerful, etc. but that's not what's going to get the majority of folks buying your device. It's stuff like a soldier in Iraq/Afghanistan being able to see the ultrasound of his unborn child that's going to move merchandise.
Polish versus Raw Power - iPhone and Android
via apple.com
So this was announced today...
Over the weekend, I saw a bunch of ads for the Droid phone from Verizon. It seems their main selling point was how more powerful the phone was and they are correct. It will always be the case that Android phones will always have the latest and greatest hardware, just like with most Windows laptops. Apple will never make devices with the fastest processors, the most RAM, the hardware latest innovations. What Apple has made a very calculated decision on is they would rather have a more polished product than one with the best specs. They weren't the first with a front facing camera but I bet mobile video chat will explode because of their implementation and not any one else's that came first. Same thing with multi-tasking. Not the first, but a more smooth integration.
For a long time there was this pseudo arms race in the tech industry of who could cram the most transistors on a chip or the most pixels on a screen or crank up a few more Mhz from a CPU. I think we've gotten to a point where the vast majority of us have way too much horsepower in our devices. Now the question is who will use that horsepower in a way that appeals to us. Apple seems to be leading in that sense... for the time being.
Great puzzle game
I just finished playing the game Machinarium. One of the most interesting and creative games I've seen in a very long time. It's amazingly drawn and has a sweet and tight plot. It's hard to believe that it is Flash based. If these are the type of games that might be ported to the iPhone if Flash was allowed in the development environment, I would be willing to soften my stance on the Adobe versus Apple debate.
W's get hosed, but not that big of a big deal
Lottery is over and the Warriors got a little hosed dropping from a projected 4th pick to the 6th pick. Fittingly, Washington won the lottery as the late Abe Pollin's wife represented them, wearing her husband's 1978 championship ring for luck.
So what does the 6th pick translate to? Most boards have the following players rotating between the 4-6 spots - Wesley Johnson (SF), Greg Monroe (C), or DeMarcus Cousins (PF/C). Good thing is that all these players fill needs for the Warriors. The biggest issues they had (besides injuries) were rebounding and a solid post up player. Monroe and Cousins will provide solid rebounding with Cousins being the slightly better offensive player. Johnson is more of a wing player who can rebound so would be less of a fit for the team. Like last year, I don't have a ton of expectations for the pick but would prefer Cousins, but what do I know. I wanted Jordan Hill over Stephen Curry...