 Cult of MacRead Leander Kahney's latest commentary about Apple and Mac News in Wired.com's Cult of Mac Blog, including Mac, Mac Pro, MacBook, iMac, iBook, Mac mini, iPod video, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iTunes, iPhoto, iPhone, Apple TV, OSX, Steve Jobs, and Macworld. http://blog.wired.com/cultofmac/ другие подписчики этой ленты также читают >> |
- Cult of Mac Invades BusinessWeek Innovation Blog
Apple owns the discourse around design and innovation these days. Everyone wants to be like Steve Jobs, and everyone wants to invent the new iPod. People also want to be Google, but being Google seems to be a lot harder,...Apple owns the discourse around design and innovation these days. Everyone wants to be like Steve Jobs, and everyone wants to invent the new iPod. People also want to be Google, but being Google seems to be a lot harder, and the founders aren't terribly charismatic, so Apple gets a lot more attention regardless.
As a result, and because of the world I live in at my day job, I get into a lot of discussions about the role of design strategy and the value of innovation. Specifically, that understanding what people really need is the best way to create new products, services and businesses that will really connect with people.
All of which is a preface to encourage you to check out a comment of mine that BusinessWeek Innovation honcho Bruce Nussbaum highlighted into a blog post over there. It was at the end of a business day, so I think I might sound a little more snarky than I meant to:
YouTube's actual future is far from certain, and Second Life will surely be passed by another player, as it superceded The Sims, which superceded a lot of MUDDs and the like. Bill Moggridge even asked, "What is the YouTube of design?"
And I have to say, I don't particularly care. YouTube, Second Life, Flickr, Vlogs, blogs, they're all different solutions trying to meet some very core needs of people, whether they know it or not. And needs outlast solutions. I won't perform a straight-up needs analysis on these sites, but they definitely come from wanting to express oneself creatively, connect with other people, feel famous or even lead a different life, as in the case of Lonely Girl 15 and some others.
By the time we start analyzing a solution, the next way to meet the needs it addresses is already underway. We're going to miss the most important opportunities unless we see beyond the fun and exciting solution we hold in our hands.
Pete Mortensen - Speaking about Nike + iPod at Stanford This Afternoon
I know this is late notice, but I wanted everyone to know that I'll be speaking about the Nike + iPod at the Second International Conference on Persuasive Technology this afternoon with my colleague Conrad Wai. Persuasive tech, if you're...I know this is late notice, but I wanted everyone to know that I'll be speaking about the Nike + iPod at the Second International Conference on Persuasive Technology this afternoon with my colleague Conrad Wai. Persuasive tech, if you're scratching your head right now, is any technology that attempts to persuade its user to do something differently. This includes smoking cessation aids, political attitude adjusters, fitness motivators, with the Nike + iPod Sport Kit obviously being the latter.
Conrad and I are putting a stake in the ground: Persuasive Technologies Should Be Boring.
Anyway, I thought you might want to know. We'll be posting our paper on the subject to the Web in the next few days, so I'll hook you up when the time comes. If you are hanging around Stanford's Tressider Hall around 3 p.m. this afternoon, duck into our little enclave, and we'll be happy to share our thoughts around why the Nike+ has been adopted so quickly when other fitness devices tend to take longer to break through. Say hi if you see me.
Pete Mortensen - Jobs: People STILL Don't Want to Rent Music
Just in case you're wondering if Steve Jobs has changed his mind about offering music on the iTunes Store in any form other than purchased downloads, here's a reality check, courtesy of Reuters: Not gonna happen.Never say never, but customers...Just in case you're wondering if Steve Jobs has changed his mind about offering music on the iTunes Store in any form other than purchased downloads, here's a reality check, courtesy of Reuters:
Not gonna happen.
"Never say never, but customers don't seem to be interested in it," Jobs told Reuters in an interview after Apple reported blow-out quarterly results. "The subscription model has failed so far."
Are you sure Steve? I mean, mayb...
"People want to own their music," he said.
Cool. We hear you. I do think Steve is basically right, of course, as I'll explain after the jump.
People do have an interest in sampling a wide variety of music, but mostly they can tell what they like from 30-second samples. If anything, renting music is a rip-off unless you're a high-volume user. It's much like Netflix. If you're receiving, viewing and returning your DVDs the day they come in the mail, it's one of the best deals in all of entertainment.
If, on the other hand (and on my hand, unfortunately), you take weeks to watch the DVDs currently on hand, it's a dramatic waste of money. There might be a place for subscription models of music downloading, but I think unless you can keep a certain number of sampled songs once you kill your subscription, it's largely empty. Maybe it's just time for companies to create a music subscription service that costs $15 a month for unlimited access. The only way I'm interested in this service is if I get to keep my favorite 10 songs from all the ones I downloaded at the end of the month -- otherwise, it's not really my music.
Thanks, Evan!
Image via Yahoo.
Pete Mortensen - Building the Two Tone MacBook
What should you do if your white MacBook takes a tumble in the road, destroying its display? If you're Cooper vanRossum, you buy a black screen on eBay for 300 bucks and trick out your MacBook in two-tone splendor. We...What should you do if your white MacBook takes a tumble in the road, destroying its display? If you're Cooper vanRossum, you buy a black screen on eBay for 300 bucks and trick out your MacBook in two-tone splendor. We caught up with vanRossum online, and got the deets on his mod.
It wasn't too difficult, just time consuming. The only problems were in reconstruction and stuff not fitting back but I chalk that up to the fact that the thing was ran over by at least one car. Everything slipped out relatively easily (esp. the hard drive, that thing just slides right out) but I bypassed some steps I felt were unecessary, like keeping track of screws and such. Proper screw drivers are a must as well, I stripped approx. 4 screws throughout the ordeal.Here's the website.
Well, I might, actually. Isn't that what the motion sensor is for?
In hindsight I probably shoulda sprang for the applecare insurance (although they woulda given me a white top, and I kinda like being the only two-toned owner I know of) but no one expects to leave their laptop on their car like a 1200 dollar coffee mug, right?
Mat Honan - Ousted Apple Execs Blame Jobs and Board For Back-Dating Scandal
Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when we do but first allegedly manipulate stock option grant dates to make more money for ourselves. Or something. Former Apple CFO Fred Anderson and general counsel Nancy Heinen had civil charges brought...Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when we do but first allegedly manipulate stock option grant dates to make more money for ourselves. Or something. Former Apple CFO Fred Anderson and general counsel Nancy Heinen had civil charges brought against them by securities regulators relating to the back-dating of stock options to Apple leaders, including Steve Jobs, almost six years ago.
As you might expect, the cone of silence has officially been broken. Anderson, who settled with the Securities Exchange Commission today, went straight after his former boss Steve Jobs, as well as Heinen, the board of directors, and probably everyone reading this post, according to the San Jose Mercury News:
As for the responsibility for the backdating of an earlier grant in 2001 that was made to Anderson, Heinen and other members of Apple's executive team, Roth pointed fingers at Jobs, Heinen and Apple's board. Jobs and Heinen picked the date for that grant - and the board verified it - after Anderson warned Jobs that moving the grant date might result in an accounting change, Roth said.
Roth's statement marks the first time that anyone has suggested that Jobs had reason to know the accounting implications related to backdating. Although Apple has acknowledged that Jobs knew that backdating was going on at Apple and that he picked some favorable dates, the company said he didn't commit fraud, because he didn't know that there were any legal or accounting implications with the practice.
Anderson "was told by Mr. Jobs that the board had given its prior approval (for the grant) and the Board would verify it. Fred relied on these statements by Mr. Jobs and from them concluded the grant was being properly handled," Roth said in a statement.
Heinen, of course, blames the Board. This is so sordid. If only Fake Steve Jobs could tell us what's really going on... Oh, here he is!
He didn't settle. He flipped. They played him and Nancy Heinen off each other. Made them both an offer. Nancy, being a lawyer, figured she'd be cute and reject the first offer and bump them to something better. Instead, Fred rolled. And now Nancy is going to trial. I just mailed her a pamphlet that shows you how to make a shiv out of a bar of soap.
All this stuff about how the Jobsmeister is off the hook? Fuggedaboutit. Fred is the Big Pussy Bonpensiero of the Apple crime family. He's betrayed us. Note to Fred: I'd stay away from boats if I were you.
Zing!
Technorati Tags: back-dating, fake steve, fred anderson, steve jobs
Pete Mortensen
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