The Narrative

Social networks repeat themselves or collapse upon themselves like some supernova…

Posted on by charlie

At Loïc’s confab back in Dec, I met Kevin Slavin from Area/Code.

Really nice guy. Clever, too.

Well, he added me to his Twitter list and I was pleased, since he was always on my mind.

Now, it looks like I we might do something together. Because of that, he now invited me to Dopplr (from Matt Jones and Matt Biddulph) so that we could make sure we hook up when our travel lines cross (we travel all too much, so it’s a pain in the tusch to always try and coordinate).

I signed up, futzed around, started adding some trips. Then I decided to just see who’s on Kevin’s fellow traveller’s list.

I think I knew personally a good number of them.

Thinking back to the number of folks I knew at reboot 9 (many on Kevin’s list, too), I think I’m linked somehow to this loose but stable network of people and whenever I pick up one thread, a bunch of others I know about show up.

Kinda funny.

I’m glad I know these folks. For sure they make me think (among other things). I highly respect the cool things they do. I am tickled pink that they include me, too.

Thanks.

Innovation/Strategy/The Narrative/Tips & Tricks

The veil between Web and Desktop becomes even less defined.

Posted on by charlie

I don’t know when it was launched, but I am sure all of you do.

One of the biggest downsides of going completely online with all these rich internet apps was that when you were not connected – a fair chance these days – then you were unable to do anything with your fancy rich internet app: no catching up with your email, no working on a document, no messing with your spreadsheet, no updating or accessing your calendar.

Of course, I expected there to be a day when the internet-only folks realized that they needed an offline version of their popular apps. Our team here at least understands that it’s not an either-or proposition, but that there is continuum between full Web app to various mixtures of internet and desktop to some full desktop app. The internet is the network behind it all, but various degrees of local storage can do wonders.*

I’m gonna install it as soon as I have the time.

Link: Google Gears (BETA):

Google Gears (BETA) is an open source browser extension that enables web applications to provide offline functionality using the following JavaScript APIs

  • Store and serve application resources locally
  • Store data locally in a fully-searchable relational database
  • Run asynchronous Javascript to improve application responsiveness

*Heh, this seems to be recapitulating the whole transition from dummy terminal to networked desktop computing.

Strategy/The Narrative

Great rant on The Register: How the mobile phone biz lost the plot

Posted on by charlie

Matt Mizenko sent me a link to a great rant article (click here) on The Register about how the mobile industry lost its groove (it’s getting stale, but I only just read it).

There are some really good points made about how ‘in the old days’ the industry was a while lot better and simpler.

Quite:

The [Nokia} 3210 is the Model T Ford of mobile phones. By 2000, the phone was cheap enough that almost anyone could afford it. Yet despite its affordability, it was packed with features not yet seen in the mass market; most of them market firsts. Among other things, it introduced internal aerials, T9 predictive text input, downloadable ringtones, downloadable operator logos and a user interface as easy to use as a doorbell.

Sigh.

But, here’s a biting quote that brings a chuckle:

The N-series must surely take the cake as the world’s most ill-conceived range of phones, being slower than treacle, as reliable as Windows 3.1 and clearly designed by a committee of unloved marketing droids.

Go give this article a read and let’s all grumble together.

I suppose this article can be one we can point to when we get upset at the idiocy of the industry.