Recent Posts

Patents are Property – Like it or Not

Lately I’ve seen a flurry of postings about patents that clearly indicate a lack of understanding about patents as property. Before I write anything more I have to say that I am not an attorney or a registered patent agent.  I have a lot of experience with patents though.

Like any other property right, patents may [...]

Pondering My Blog Strategy

Wordpress is pretty heavy on resources for my needs.  Even if I tune Apache and MySQL it’s hard to get it to perform well on a 256MB machine.  Why 256?  That’s the lowest offered from Slicehost.  By the way, I like them a lot.  You get a great server in minutes.  256MB with 100MB in/100MB [...]

Now Apple Bans the Word Android?

It’s almost comical now.  Apple is really getting silly.  According to PC Week Apple has banned the word ‘Android’ in apps submitted to the App Store.  The article has a great summary of the evil doings of Apple around the iPhone so I won’t reproduce it here.  But it’s clear that Apple is feeling a [...]

Apple Has Gone Too Far

I read tonight that Apple has announced in it’s developer forum that any application submitted that uses location services ‘primarily’ for the purpose of serving ads to the user will be rejected from the App store. If this is true, they have simply gone too far.

Now Apple is making rules about what kinds of software [...]

The iPad is Bad for the Consumer

I’m really confused about why so many people are fawning over the Apple iPad.  I really don’t get it.  It’s an oversized and stunted iPod Touch.  I read silly things like “I’d buy one just to watch movies when I travel.“  Excuse me:  what????  The darn thing has a 4:3 aspect ratio!  We’ve come so [...]

The Cell Phone Ecosystems

I’ve been musing recently about how the cell phone world is split into fairly distinct ecosystems.    I know I’m generalizing (I’m trying to do that to draw some generalizations) but I see the following kinds of breakdowns:

iPhone Users: typically young (or want to be young), hip, and very media savvy.  They tend to be heavily [...]

Why the iPhone is doomed

The hoopla about the Apple iPhone App Store has been well discussed.  I find it hard to imagine investing the time and effort in writing an iPhone application and then *maybe* getting it accepted into the App Store (after some indeterminate wait period) and then hoping that Apple does not change their mind later (stranding [...]

The Future of Phones: Unlocked

I’ve read some this week about the complaints about the new Google Nexus One Android phone.  I got one this past week to test and develop with and have been impressed.  More on that in another post.  Like the Nokia N900 you can only buy it unlocked.  No carrier rebates.  I am tending to think [...]

Three Panel Layout for Digital Signage – Alive Yet Evolving

Nate Nead has a new post Five Reasons Why the 3-Panel Digital Signage Content Template is Dying.  I agree with some of his points but not with the premise.  It’s very interesting to see the creative and unusual formats of screens popping up all over the place.  I like this innovation, and I think it’s [...]

N900 Disappointment

This is not a full review by any means – only an initial glance, a taste, a hint of a review of the new Nokia N900.  I got one last Friday and have had a few hours to play with it.  I don’t have a SIM card for it yet so I’ve not tested any [...]