Beware of Spam Titles in Kindle Store, article.
I've run into this. Thousands of titles published by the same author, with junk content. I really don't understand why Amazon don't charge at least $20 to publish a book, it would help the situation so much in a single step.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Marco Arment & Instapaper’s Reading List
Marco Arment & Instapaper’s Reading List, article.
I would love to read on the train with this thing — I had a train commute every day — but the screen was really small, it wasn’t that fast at downloading things, and on a train commute you sometimes go under ground and don’t always have good reception. So what I needed was really something I could toss links into during the day, sort of a temporary link bucket, so I’d have stuff in there for the ride home.
His solution was Instapaper, which I along with many other enthusiastic readers absolutely swear by. Hit a bookmark in your web browser, and the article you're looking at is saved to a server, is formatted for much easier reading, and if you download it on your iPad or iPhone, for which there are apps, you can read all the saved articles offline too. A huge amount of my article-reading is done with the Instapaper app on my iPad, because it's so much more comfortable than reading long pieces sitting at my workstation.
I think there's a free version of the app (... nope, not any longer it seems), but even if the full version cost $20 instead of $5, I'd pay it happily.
He doesn't make Android apps, but others are contributing them, and at least one is not bad.
I would love to read on the train with this thing — I had a train commute every day — but the screen was really small, it wasn’t that fast at downloading things, and on a train commute you sometimes go under ground and don’t always have good reception. So what I needed was really something I could toss links into during the day, sort of a temporary link bucket, so I’d have stuff in there for the ride home.
His solution was Instapaper, which I along with many other enthusiastic readers absolutely swear by. Hit a bookmark in your web browser, and the article you're looking at is saved to a server, is formatted for much easier reading, and if you download it on your iPad or iPhone, for which there are apps, you can read all the saved articles offline too. A huge amount of my article-reading is done with the Instapaper app on my iPad, because it's so much more comfortable than reading long pieces sitting at my workstation.
I think there's a free version of the app (... nope, not any longer it seems), but even if the full version cost $20 instead of $5, I'd pay it happily.
He doesn't make Android apps, but others are contributing them, and at least one is not bad.
Report: Apple Store Secret Sauce: Control + Attention to Detail
Report: Apple Store Secret Sauce: Control + Attention to Detail, article.
Of course, Apple’s own retail operations are anything but low-margin. Apple commands US$4,406 in annual retail sales per square foot, and that excludes online sales. Compare that to Tiffany’s$3,070, Coach’s $1,776, and Best Buy’s $880, and you can see that Apple’s retail performance exists in a league of its own. Apple’s profit margins are 26.9% for its retail operations, according to Needham & Co., compared to 1% for Best Buy.
That's astonishing! $4,400 per square foot of store! This company continues to astound me.
Don't get me wrong: I don't love Apple, and I don't even admire it or its profitability.
Firstly: I love many of their products, but you can't love a company, at least not a big one, for almost by definition they are soul-less, a machine.
Secondly: the more I look into it, the more it seems to me that making lots of money is totally incidental to... well, to anything really. Incidental to intelligence, to "goodness", to quality... Even skill and sheer work, which would be my best bets as causes of big-money-making, seems sometimes to be bypassed by some people/companies. So that by itself is not admirable, nor really important, actually. I'm just saying this kind of extremity is astonishing, that's all. It's just so unique a company, no matter if one "likes it" or not. (Another thing is I don't really see why some people seem to dislike Apple so much. Seems to me that's like disliking a... cloud or a rock or a frontloader. It's just there, doing what it is doing by its nature.)
Of course, Apple’s own retail operations are anything but low-margin. Apple commands US$4,406 in annual retail sales per square foot, and that excludes online sales. Compare that to Tiffany’s$3,070, Coach’s $1,776, and Best Buy’s $880, and you can see that Apple’s retail performance exists in a league of its own. Apple’s profit margins are 26.9% for its retail operations, according to Needham & Co., compared to 1% for Best Buy.
That's astonishing! $4,400 per square foot of store! This company continues to astound me.
Don't get me wrong: I don't love Apple, and I don't even admire it or its profitability.
Firstly: I love many of their products, but you can't love a company, at least not a big one, for almost by definition they are soul-less, a machine.
Secondly: the more I look into it, the more it seems to me that making lots of money is totally incidental to... well, to anything really. Incidental to intelligence, to "goodness", to quality... Even skill and sheer work, which would be my best bets as causes of big-money-making, seems sometimes to be bypassed by some people/companies. So that by itself is not admirable, nor really important, actually. I'm just saying this kind of extremity is astonishing, that's all. It's just so unique a company, no matter if one "likes it" or not. (Another thing is I don't really see why some people seem to dislike Apple so much. Seems to me that's like disliking a... cloud or a rock or a frontloader. It's just there, doing what it is doing by its nature.)
Friday, June 17, 2011
Malware on Mac
Finally after 15 years I got my first malware attack on my Mac. Or would have if I hadn't known better. It downloads by itself, and claims your computer is infested and you need the app to clean it up. Then it puts up it's own porn spam which disappear when you pay them to "clean it up".
Don't set your browser to open "safe" files automatically. And don't install anything you don't for sure where came from and what is.
Don't set your browser to open "safe" files automatically. And don't install anything you don't for sure where came from and what is.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Windows 8, is that a tablet OS??
Why Windows 8 Is Fundamentally Flawed as a Response to the iPad, Daring Fireball article.
But I think it’s a fundamentally flawed idea for Microsoft to build their next-generation OS and interface on top of the existing Windows. The idea is that you get the new stuff right alongside Windows as we know it. Microsoft is obviously trying to learn from Apple, but they clearly don’t understand why the iPad runs iOS, and not Mac OS X.
[...] Consider the differences between the iWork apps for the Mac and iPad. The iPad versions aren’t “touch friendly” versions of the Mac apps — they’re entirely new beasts designed and programmed from the ground up for the touchscreen and for the different rules and tradeoffs of the iOS interface (no explicit saving, no file system, ready to quit at a moment’s notice, no processing in the background, etc.).
The ability to run Mac OS X apps on the iPad, with full access to the file system, peripherals, etc., would make the iPad worse, not better. The iPad succeeds because it has eliminated complexity, not because it has covered up the complexity of the Mac with a touch-based “shell”.
-
I think this is a good observation. Building Windows 3 and '95 originally as a shell on DOS gave Windows users a decade of constant headaches. And now Windows 8 may do the same for Win tablet users. You don't eliminate complexity by throwing a tarp over all the buttons.
But I think it’s a fundamentally flawed idea for Microsoft to build their next-generation OS and interface on top of the existing Windows. The idea is that you get the new stuff right alongside Windows as we know it. Microsoft is obviously trying to learn from Apple, but they clearly don’t understand why the iPad runs iOS, and not Mac OS X.
[...] Consider the differences between the iWork apps for the Mac and iPad. The iPad versions aren’t “touch friendly” versions of the Mac apps — they’re entirely new beasts designed and programmed from the ground up for the touchscreen and for the different rules and tradeoffs of the iOS interface (no explicit saving, no file system, ready to quit at a moment’s notice, no processing in the background, etc.).
The ability to run Mac OS X apps on the iPad, with full access to the file system, peripherals, etc., would make the iPad worse, not better. The iPad succeeds because it has eliminated complexity, not because it has covered up the complexity of the Mac with a touch-based “shell”.
-
I think this is a good observation. Building Windows 3 and '95 originally as a shell on DOS gave Windows users a decade of constant headaches. And now Windows 8 may do the same for Win tablet users. You don't eliminate complexity by throwing a tarp over all the buttons.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
What is this "Cloud" really good for?
I am not entirely sure, beyond the companies' need for finding new sources of income, why this "Cloud" thing is becoming so big. What is it really solving for us, apart from forgetting to bring your laptop? Apart from convenience, what important issues does it solve for us? There is probably things I haven't gotten yet, it's been known to happen.
... Mossberg talks about how the vision is that basically the data, the computing power, most of the Operating System, will be left to the cloud servers, so what we we, we can do on very compact and cheap terminals, because they don't need all the storage space and computing power. Well... it sounds great, but... it demands an awful lot of trust, doesn't it? Several huge companies recently have had big breakins where they lost personal data for millions of customers. Not to mention, can we trust our internet connections to be up and fast enough when we need it, ten minutes before a deadline or meeting? Can we trust our documents not to disappear? I think these things need years and years of development and also getting-used-to once they do work, for it all to become a real alternative way for serious work.
Ironic: I have been paying Apple $100 every year for ten years, first for .Mac, then for its replacement, MobileMe, all the time waiting for some feature which really made it worthwhile for me. (I got my .mac email address when it was free, and then they started charging...) And now with iCloud it seems like it may actually begin to become useful to me, and now they make it free! What a friggin' weird world.
... Mossberg talks about how the vision is that basically the data, the computing power, most of the Operating System, will be left to the cloud servers, so what we we, we can do on very compact and cheap terminals, because they don't need all the storage space and computing power. Well... it sounds great, but... it demands an awful lot of trust, doesn't it? Several huge companies recently have had big breakins where they lost personal data for millions of customers. Not to mention, can we trust our internet connections to be up and fast enough when we need it, ten minutes before a deadline or meeting? Can we trust our documents not to disappear? I think these things need years and years of development and also getting-used-to once they do work, for it all to become a real alternative way for serious work.
Ironic: I have been paying Apple $100 every year for ten years, first for .Mac, then for its replacement, MobileMe, all the time waiting for some feature which really made it worthwhile for me. (I got my .mac email address when it was free, and then they started charging...) And now with iCloud it seems like it may actually begin to become useful to me, and now they make it free! What a friggin' weird world.
Friday, June 10, 2011
The baby iPad is born
Did you know that the iPad was planned before the iPhone? But seeing an iPad prototype, Jobs said "this would make a great phone!" So they put the 'pad on the backburner.
It is clear Apple knew they had something big...
It is clear Apple knew they had something big...
Steve Jobs presents building plans to Cupertino City Council
That's going to be one kewl building. Holding 13,000 people, completely circular, most parking underground, and of course state of the art all through.
from Yahoo:
"There is not a single straight piece of glass in this building," says Jobs.
The grounds will be transformed from primarily asphalt to green. Parking will go underground and the CEO says Apple plans to almost double the 3,700 trees on the property. He wants to add apricot orchards like the ones he recalls growing up with nearby.
The structure will also be fueled primarily by natural gas.
They will supply their own electricity and use the grid as backup!
Personally I'd have said that in a building that size, it would not be visible if the glass panes were not curved. And it would be much, much, cheaper. But Steve does not do anything by halves, and they are having their own huge glass panes made, and they will be curved, dammit! :-)
from Yahoo:
"There is not a single straight piece of glass in this building," says Jobs.
The grounds will be transformed from primarily asphalt to green. Parking will go underground and the CEO says Apple plans to almost double the 3,700 trees on the property. He wants to add apricot orchards like the ones he recalls growing up with nearby.
The structure will also be fueled primarily by natural gas.
They will supply their own electricity and use the grid as backup!
Personally I'd have said that in a building that size, it would not be visible if the glass panes were not curved. And it would be much, much, cheaper. But Steve does not do anything by halves, and they are having their own huge glass panes made, and they will be curved, dammit! :-)
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Kobo and Barnes & Noble Offer New E-Readers
Kobo and Barnes & Noble Offer New E-Readers, NYT article.
The touch-screen (not multi-touch though) is the most important feature, an important advantage over the Kindle.
For now at least. Let's see what Amazon will dish out in the coming few months.
The touch-screen (not multi-touch though) is the most important feature, an important advantage over the Kindle.
For now at least. Let's see what Amazon will dish out in the coming few months.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Buy books in the iTunes store
You can finally buy e-books in the iTunes store. At least in the U.S. so far.
I never got why they didn't do that from the beginning? Everything else had been shoe-horned into iTunes, films, TV-shows, audio-books, podcasts, university lectures, music social networks, dinosaurs, antique airplanes, parts for nuclear bombs... but e-books? Nah, need a separate app for that. Silly.
One thing missing yet, though: we still can't read the books on a Mac or PC so far as I can see. Need an iOS device for that. That has to change too. Even though I prefer an iPad for reading, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to read on my MacBook Air if that's what I have with me. It needs a table or stand, but otherwise it's a perfectly serviceable reading device with a very good screen, outstanding screen in fact, even better than the iPad's.
Fortunately Kindle already has an excellent app for Mac, so I'll just have to use that one instead of buying my books in the iBookstore... :-)
I never got why they didn't do that from the beginning? Everything else had been shoe-horned into iTunes, films, TV-shows, audio-books, podcasts, university lectures, music social networks, dinosaurs, antique airplanes, parts for nuclear bombs... but e-books? Nah, need a separate app for that. Silly.
One thing missing yet, though: we still can't read the books on a Mac or PC so far as I can see. Need an iOS device for that. That has to change too. Even though I prefer an iPad for reading, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to read on my MacBook Air if that's what I have with me. It needs a table or stand, but otherwise it's a perfectly serviceable reading device with a very good screen, outstanding screen in fact, even better than the iPad's.
Fortunately Kindle already has an excellent app for Mac, so I'll just have to use that one instead of buying my books in the iBookstore... :-)
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Apple says Yes
[Thanks to geekbeat.tv.]
True story: a guy had bought an iPad 2 in an Apple Store, but the next day he returned it for domestic reasons, most probably "are you crazy, we can't afford that!". Apple likes to know why any returns happen, so the stores report to them in each case. So this iPad went back to Apple with a sticky on it saying "Wife says No".
So somebody at Apple made a decision, and the guy got a free iPad shipped, with a note saying "Apple says Yes".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)