dashiel

For better or worse Mark was inspired by Jobs, Jobs’s philosophy has long been you must control the entire experience to provide the best experience. Opera also has a ton of talented engineers who have years of institutional knowledge in creating a browser, that’s a rare and valuable asset to have.

Agreed, for older people Google is the internet, for some younger people Facebook is the internet. Just like people typing in URLs to Google’s search box I see people typing in the brand or service they’re looking for in to Facebook’s search and then clicking through to the site – if the Facebook page hasn’t already answered their question.

When Duarte first went to Google I was very intrigued – then we got ICS. Maybe bringing some of the old team back might rekindle some of the magic, but I’m beginning to think WebOS was a perfect storm of talent of which Rubenstein was a key component. There is no Jon analogue on the Android team.

A similar argument could be made for not forking. Samsung gets nothing for Play, Maps, Docs, etc… that’s all demographic/ad sales/revenue for Google. Samsung has to rely on unit sales. Forking would incur development time & money, but a forked device working in a similar fashion to the Fire with Samsung’s ad service, music/movie store would mitigate the costs.

I still think Google is going to fork Android themselves, potentially spinning off Android into an independent subsidiary with Google using the Play brand for the devices created by MMI. Android becomes Linux-esque and actually embraces forking while Google gets to reign in the multi-headed hydra and create a vertically integrated experience.

Sorry I just re-read my reply and it sounds utter gibberish. What I meant to say was in-app preview windows are troubling as they don’t necessarily reflect shipping browsers capabilities. There is a utility called LiveReload (available in the Mac App Store) that monitors site folders and can automatically update "connected" open browser windows. Typically during initial development I will work in a single browser, but when finishing up I’ll have Firefox, Safari, Chrome and IE running to make final tweaks. Oh it also works in the iOS simulator.

Preview windows are a bit scary anyway. LiveReload with FireFox, Safari, Chrome & IE (VM) all open in a second window is a much better solution. Instant updates in real browsers.

Just FYI Command-Z works on the iPad when using a connected keyboard. Restating the obvious, I wouldn’t ever use it as my default coding environment, but it sure makes the laptop less necessary when heading out on vacation.

I have to admit though my day dreams about Coda 2 have left me slightly disappointed. I wanted a LESS/SASS compiler option, a GUI for Capistrano/ANT deploys, basically CodeKit with a few other niceties built in.

And Samsung’s bum just got a little squeakier.

I was walking by an Apple store at 10am last weekend. There were 20 people waiting inline. For nothing. It‘s also worth pointing out sales at the Apple store only represents about 15% of iPhone sales. No doubt the lines are great publicity, but let’s not pretend it’s only a publicity stunt.

Said it elsewhere, but I believe this will be the defining moment in Android’s history. Traverse the challenges effectively and they could prove a strong competitor to Apple in the overall experience, stumble and I can see Android becoming an analog to Linux.

I don’t use it on the iPhone much. but on the iPad it’s stunning. From just a technical point of view it’s utterly flawless unlike other solutions I’ve tried. The most important thing is the experiential nature of it. Unlike sitting in front of your web cam placing the iPad on coffee table and chatting with your friends/relatives is a totally different experience. The device disappears after a minute or two and you’re just having a conversation with the people on the other end of the call. I suppose actually the flawless connection isn’t just technical, it maintains the illusion of presence.

Facts have no place in an internet discussion.

That video of Peter Thiel’s rambling nonsense is the perfect example of someone grossly over-informed yet colossally ignorant.

Eduardo seems a rather unscrupulous individual, hardly a surprising move. The idea this guys is going effectively "win" a 9 figure windfall and he’s worried about an 8 figure tax bill? Perhaps it’s why I’m not rich, but after a certain point the accumulation of wealth just seems like a way to keep score. No one needs a billion dollars, it’s just silly.

Apple is one of the most profitable companies in the world with $100 billion in the bank. If anyone has the resources Apple do. Not to mention Apple has quietly acquired 3 mapping/geolocation companies with extensive pre-existing maps and data.

How does everyone one know this? Google doesn’t break out profit/loss statements for Android.

Because it wouldn’t have been surprising had it been Samsung. Both seem to be competing to have the most embarrassing marketing campaigns of 2012

Apple introduces non-intuitive interfaces to iOS all the time. 4 finger gestures in the iPad. Double clicking the home button on any iOS device. I always view them as akin to keyboard shortcuts on the desktop; they provide faster access to users who know them, but do not replace the more obvious, but slower interactions.

Apple could conceivable introduce this feature in the same manner, augmenting rather than replacing the admittedly poor text selection.

What’s the point of that then? I mean if I’m paying $10 a month to stream their 17 million track library how does scanning & matching my library help me? Or is this a scan and upload what we don’t have in our library feature?

Here’s an interesting one that I can’t seem to find an answer to, but Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 is not available on an digital media service anywhere for rent or purchase. Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu, iTunes, Amazon, not even Time Warner’s own Harry Potter App where you can buy all the other films. It’s truly bizarre.

People stopped watching because Voyager and Enterprise (at least the first season) were really poor. TNG survived its uneven first season or two in an entirely different landscape; flagship title of the UPN network, little-to-no science fiction competition on television or really even theaters.

I’d actually like to see a new series, but one that adopts a more European approach in development. Rather than the network requesting 22 episodes I’d like to see the creators given the freedom to come up with as many good stories as they feel warrant a season/series.

I feel a little sheepish as I never really considered Paolo’s work to be Young Adult.

Perhaps for larger developers, but for us small guys releasing to the Nook and Amazon store makes a lot more sense and anecdotally has proven more lucrative. I don’t know why (smaller overall catalog, different demographic), but more sales come from Amazon and B&N and because the hardware is set there’s not the inevitable whining when something doesn’t work on a particular handset running a particular flavor of Android. Honestly for me it’s iOS first by a large margin, Fire and Nook second. I don’t bother with Marketplace/Play anymore too much grief for less then .5%< of downloads.