[Update: 4:39 PDT] The word on the street is that Nike will be unveiling the Air Mag, the awesome sneakers worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future II. A bunch of sneaker journalists (I love that there are sneaker journalists, btw) received late-night calls from Nike yesterday in order to make arrangements to attend an event today. All signs point to it being for the Nike Air Mag.
What do you think of the kicks? Are they a sweet reminder of when Michael J. Fox was the coolest guy in the world? Or are they ugly? Would you buy them?
Last night at dinner, my friends and I were talking about Carol Bartz being ousted as Yahoo!’s CEO. A beautiful girl asked, “What does Yahoo! even do anymore?” What a great question! At its best, Yahoo! was known for search, email, chat, and a groundbreaking videogame show. After numerous identity crises, its most recent focus has been content creation and distribution. The thing is, in almost every area Yahoo! competes in, someone is doing it better (in most cases, a lot better).
Yahoo!’s former core competencies have been lapped by Google, AOL, Microsoft, Skype, etc. The company did a marvelous job at stagnating Flickr, formerly my favorite photo service. As a content creator, the company is terribly inconsistent and often pumps out weak products. I’ve gone from using several Yahoo! products on a daily basis to hopping on Yahoo! Messenger every now and then. The only reason I even do that is because a lot of my friends in Asia still prefer it over other chat programs.
How about you guys and gals? To paraphrase one of the company’s most popular slogans, “Do you still Yahoo!” Were you a heavy Yahoo! user in the past? What Yahoo! products do you still use today?
Yesterday I received five calls about the situation over at TechCrunch concerning the status of its founder, Michael Arrington. The calls caught me off guard. A couple of people wanted quotes from me and I’m not sure why. Others are longtime friends in the Silicon Valley world that just wanted to talk about it in a totally high-school way. One question that came up in all five calls was, “Do you think that AOL is killing great editorial?”
Let’s take a journey back to March, when Josh Topolsky announced he was leaving Engadget. For a lot of people (not me), Josh was Engadget. He connected with millions of readers. His opinions and articles were respected throughout the consumer electronics industry. Yet AOL had no problem changing Engadget into a site he no longer felt passionate about.
The situation at TechCrunch is murkier, but it ultimately comes down to the same thing. For a lot of people, Michael Arrington is TechCrunch. Like Josh, he has connected with millions of readers over the years. Yet AOL, Arianna Huffington in particular, has no problem with kicking him off the site he founded.
I understand what AOL is thinking. It’s true that the sites and brands it bought are bigger than any one person. It’s true that Engadget continued to be successful without Topolsky and TechCrunch will continue to be successful if Arrington is fired. However, I believe the children are our future that Engadget isn’t as good without Topolsky and TechCrunch won’t be as good without Arrington. That said, I don’t think any of that matters to number crunchers and shareholders. Traffic and readers can be replaced as easily as writers and editors.
(Oh wait, I suddenly realized why these people called me. They know I think that…certain web sites are worse without me. Ha! I should have caught onto that earlier. I’m a little slow sometimes.)
Anyway, let me know what you think about what’s going on in AOL editorial land. Is the big company sucking the soul out of the web sites it buys? Or are popular bloggers making the situation bigger than it ought to be?
Apple has released Mac OS X Lion today, arguably the most drastic change to the operating system in years. A lot of the features point to Mac OS and iOS converging in the future, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Have any of you downloaded it yet? If so, I’d love to hear your initial thoughts. Please share!
The official iOS app for Google+ plus has been approved (finally) and is now available on Apple iTunes. According to the official description it’s, “Compatible with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.” It’s strange that the the iPod Touch isn’t listed as a compatible device, though I’m sure it will work on it as well (bsukenyan, care to give it a try?). I’m going to try it on my iPad 2, but I’m sure the resolution will bother me.
This is a huge step for Google+. Previously iPhone users had to use a really basic web interface to use Google+. The mobile-web interface is bare bones and doesn’t really encourage use. The new app will surely make Google+ on iOS more popular.
If you’ve tried the app, I’d love to hear your initial thoughts on it (please!).
Update: Apparently this version of the app does not work with iPod Touch and iPad. People on those devices will have to stick to the web “optimized” site according to ThisIsMyNext.
I’ve been using Google+ for about two weeks and I’m totally enamored with the service. I love that it combines facets of Facebook, Twitter, and BlackBerry Messenger. I love the control offered by its…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Spotify’s American launch, waiting for HSPA+ 42 phones, or naughty dreams about Ann Coulter, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I’ve been using Google+ for about two weeks and I’m totally enamored with the service. I love that it combines facets of Facebook, Twitter, and BlackBerry Messenger. I love the control offered by its Circles feature. I love the excellent Android app for Google+. Certainly there’s a whole “shiny and new” aspect to my fascination with Google+, but there’s no denying that Google launched a strong product and has several excellent features in the works.
The reason I’m most excited about Google+ is that it allows me to easily write personal blog posts again. After seven years of consistent blogging, I haven’t really touched my personal blog in three years. I love that I can easily share some intimate thoughts through Google+ Circles, whether it’s with five super-close friends or 50 people I really like. I’m definitely going to start using Circles for personal writing. Of course the big fear is a security issue exposing all my thoughts to the world…and also writing drunk blog posts.
I know that several of you are using Google+ too. Please let me know what you like and don’t like about the service. If you’re not using the service yet and would like to, just leave a comment here. Several RPadholics and I can send you an invite.
Here are a few sample images from the Google+ Android client. I’m really digging the interface so far — really clean and really simple. Check out the pics and let me know what you think (please)!
Here are a few sample images from the Google+ Android client. I’m really digging the interface so far — really clean and really simple. Check out the pics and let me know what you think (please)!
After more than a decade of releasing excellent products that were almost always on the ugly side, Google is on a mission to improve its design and UI. The tenets of Google’s design philosophy are focus, elasticity…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Canada Day, RIM’s employees writing letters to rise above, or whether Roger Federer will win another grand slam tournament, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
After more than a decade of releasing excellent products that were almost always on the ugly side, Google is on a mission to improve its design and UI. The tenets of Google’s design philosophy are focus, elasticity, and effortlessness. You can see the new design elements in Google.com, Google+, and Google Calendar. The new design is coming to Gmail in the near future. What do you ladies and gents think of Google’s new design philosophy?
As for me, I absolutely love it. Using Google+ is almost shocking. I don’t think a Google product has ever been more elegant and intuitive. I was 50/50 on Google Calendar at first, but after changing the background image I was able to appreciate its leaner design. The new Gmail design looks fantastic and I can’t wait to use it. Overall I’m super impressed with Google’s new design efforts and totally not surprised that one of the original Apple Macintosh designers (Andy Hertzfeld) is behind it.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on Google’s new design. Love it? Hate it? Gotta have it (think Aziz Ansari)?!?
Google has gone official with its Google+ Project, a social network that combines features of Facebook, Twitter, Skype, BlackBerry Messenger, and more. On the plus side, it’s seems like a huge and comprehensive service. On the down side, you know there’s a problem when a company has to post six videos just to explain what a service offers.
Naturally, I have to use the service for outreach purposes (and because I have too many Silicon Valley nerd friends that will give me crap if I don’t sign up). However, I’m genuinely curious about some of Google+’s features. The mobile aspect seems like it has a ton of potential. There are millions of Android users out there and it looks like Google+ will feature super-right Android integration. That said, I’m already a bit schizophrenic from juggling my Facebook and Twitter personalities.
Anyway, check out the videos when you get a chance and let me know if you’re interested in Google+.
The reactions to Apple’s Final Cut Pro X have been fascinating. Some people absolutely love it and some people absolutely hate it. I think everyone is right. Before I explain why, enjoy the Conan O’Brien video above and let me give you an idea of my background with the Final Cut series.
I’ve been using Final Cut Pro since version 4.5. I was never a power editor and after years of experience, I can still do more with Adobe’s Premiere than Apple’s Final Cut. However, I had to learn what I could since the program was used in every studio I’ve worked with, save one (it was an Avid shop, if you’re curious). After years of use, I’m a barely competent editor on Final Cut Pro 7.
Last Friday, I went to my friends office to play with Final Cut Pro X. I absolutely loved it. For a user like me, it’s the perfect blend of power and ease-of-use. It was so much easier for me to do so much more on Final Cut Pro X than Final Cut Pro 7.
Not surprisingly, all the video editors in the office hate it. They think it’s more iMovie Pro than Final Cut Pro. They hate that it’s missing vital features like dual-camera support, the inability to export to tape, the inability to import old Final Cut projects, and much, much more.
I’m positive that Apple will restore features to Final Cut Pro X to accommodate professional users. Their complaints are completely valid. Final Cut Pro X is a fantastic program for casual users and prosumers. For editing professionals, it’s flawed and limited…for now. Until those features are brought to the new version, I’m going to sit back, grab some popcorn, and watch my video-editing friends spit venom at the program.
The great news is that this is the perfect video editing program for me. The bad news is that I’m so far away from buying a new Mac and will have to fight with Premiere until that blessed day comes. *sigh*
