Apple’s Magic… Trackpad?

So, I usually applaud companies that try to set the curve for new user input standards, and such innovations are usually met with an “ooh ahh” by me… but to be honest – I don’t really know what to make of this:

The Apple Magic Trackpad

I mean, it’s kind of cool looking… I guess… but the “buy this now” chimp that usually bounces up and down on my back when I see new gadgets like this just isn’t bouncing on this one. The idea is to bring multi-touch hand gestures that users on Apple’s mobile platforms have been using into the desktop realm. They want to make rotating an image as easy as spinning your hand in a circle on a pad.

Here’s the quip I’ve got about it: most of the people who are going to be spending $70 (that’s right, the glorified board costs $70) on extra peripherals for their computers, aren’t going to be using Apple’s Preview to rotate their image. In fact, odds are they will be using Photoshop. I’ll be honest, I’ve tried Apple’s software and I don’t like it as much as a photographer. Just saying.

The funny part is that even though it’s brand new… there are a lot of raving reviews on apple’s website… all of them with titles along the lines of “Magical” or “Marvelous”…. I think the Steve Jobs fanboys that work in the Apple Stores around the world are commenting on it…. it will be interesting to see what happens to the ratings when real users get their hands on one.

Am I just a skeptical trackpad hater, or does this smell kind of like a waste of money to everyone else too?

Legal Opinions to the tune of LeAnn Rimes

So, Google was kind enough to highlight this in their blog yesterday, and I feel that it is my duty as a citizen of the interwebs/series of tubes to repost this here, because I’m willing to bet that most of my readers don’t read the Google Blog.

Anyway, back in 2001 LeAnn Rimes sued Curb Records Inc to void a contract she signed when she was a minor. The kicker, is that the legal opinion released by the court was written in song, intended to be sung to the tune of several LeAnn Rimes songs. I kid you not. I quote the opening lines of the “Statement of Facts”:

LeAnn Rimes
A very rich and famous star
Wasn’t so rich in times afar
But what a talent she had!

If you are in the mood for a good chuckle, check out Rimes v. Curb Records on Google Scholar. Also, if you guys manage to find any other amusing court decisions in this thing, let me know.

Library of Congress rules jailbreaking legal

Do you know what the Library of Congress did for you today? Ruled that jailbreaking an iPhone was not a violation of copyright as Apple has been claiming:

The Library of Congress, which has the power to define exceptions to an important copyright law, said on Monday that it was legal to bypass a phone’s controls on what software it will run to get “lawfully obtained” programs to work.

I, for one, am thrilled to hear the Library of Congress say what consumers have been saying all along: we buy it, we own it. Or maybe I’m just happy to stick it to the App Store Police.

Source: New York Times

Google, Microsoft, and Uncle Sam’s Inbox

So I don’t know about anyone else, but I was kind of creeped out when I ran across this news story from the WSJ last night. It talks about how Microsoft and Google are bidding for contracts to run email services for different Federal Organizations on their respective clouds.

Currently, most large organizations maintain specific computers called email servers for managing their corporate email. These email servers are often expensive to run, so to save money many small businesses and even some larger businesses (like the University of Georgia) have started using cloud services – where the hardware is maintained by whatever company is providing the email service. One of the major benefits is performance. Think of it as a co-op of sorts, but for processing power. But the flip side to this is that those organizations give up most of the control they have over their email server configuration, specifically in the area of security. [...]

Dell’s Streak = Awesome New Android Toy

Yes! I’m alive! I survived my exam and caught up on everything at work, so here I am again blogging. And boy do I have something to blog about. I was reading Talkandroid.com this morning (while drinking my coffee of course) and came across this little gem:

The Dell Streak (Photo Credit: Dell)

Allow me to be the first to introduce you to the Dell Streak. This little gem is an Android-powered device that Dell is producing, and I’m going to tell you all of what you need to know about it, and why this phone is going to be superb. More after the jump. [...]

Linkbait for July 19th

It should be noticed that today is the day I stopped reading John Gruber’s Daring Fireball. Listening to the guy on the top of a soapbox gets old after awhile. Especially when he bashes Android without knowing what he’s talking about. So, unsubscribe.

Anyway, this week I’m preoccupied with a project and an exam, among other things – so I may not be as active this week. But here are some cool bite-sized links for you to check out today. Leave me some comment love, and I’ll see you guys on the other side of this hell week. I might be able to post again between now and my exam on Wednesday, but don’t hold your breath. So, without further adue – this is what’s going on in Technology today…

#1 Verizon Rolling out 4G: Engadget obtained some alleged internal Verizon documents highlighting some details around a potential 4G rollout this year.

#2 Droid 2 Pictures: Talkandroid.com is featuring some pretty cool looking pictures of the Motorola Droid 2 on this post today. This will be a sequel to the original Motorola Droid and will also run on Verizon… so if you’re going to be looking at a new smartphone later down the road and you’re on Verizon, keep this one in mind.

#3 Netflix, eh?: Macworld reports that Netflix will be coming to Canada. More here.

#4 Facebook = small country: Macworld is also reporting that Facebook is expected to hit a half million users this week. You can read that article here.

Sorry this was so brief guys, but I’m really pressed for time this week. Maybe I’ll be able to do a more substantial update of original content in a few days. I’m sure you guys will find a way to manage without me.

Need Help with OAuth

So, over the past few weeks a pet project of mine has been an Android app for the growing website, Formspring.me. Granted, I have no interest in this site at all – I just thought their API looked easy to grind my teeth on. Regardless, when I start a project, I hate to leave it unfinished. Unfortunately, that may be what I have to do in this case. [...]

OldSpice wins at Social Media

BusinessWeek had an excllent article today talking about how OldSpice successfully leveraged social media to completely re-engineer their company’s image. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is a play that business classes are going to be talking about for years to come.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve never even remotely considered oldspice until these new commercials came out. What about you?

To John Gruber: Grow Up

What I can only imagine being a response to continued criticisms over Apple following their press conference yesterday, John Gruber (a popular Technology and Mac blogger, for those not in the know) has been spewing some Android, Nokia, and Blackberry hate on his blog, Daring Fireball, this morning.

His first post of interest at 5:28AM this morning was aimed as a direct response to a comment by Research in Motion co-CEOs who claimed that Apple’s accusation of antenna issues were unfounded and even going so far as to state, “One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity.” In response Gruber writes, “Sounds angry, but I don’t see what exactly was ‘distorted’.” When I read that, I’ll admit I was pretty amused… I may or may not have responded by saying “burrrnnnnn” out loud.

However, at 9:01AM we see Gruber again opening up the hate on anything non-Apple when he highlights a quote from the LA Times about the Droid X having software installed on it that can’t be removed. At this point I was planning on doing a response post that goes along the lines of “Droid and Android aren’t the same… droid is a marketing thing… android is the software blah blah blah” (if you want that discourse read the top of the Android section of this post).

That plan was thwarted when Gruber opened up the can of hate on Nokia, too. Quite frankly, by this point I’m resolved in thinking that Gruber is simply responding to criticisms by others of Apple’s antenna problems. With all the class of a shunned prom queen, Gruber is railing on anyone he can get his hands on – and it’s not an attractive show.

Quite frankly, I’m disappointed. Gruber, you usually have some pretty interesting opinions – but this morning you obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed (sometime before 5:30AM). So, all I’m going to say is this: grow up and stop whining because apple is taking one in the chin on this antenna issue. I know you love Apple, but this isn’t the way to go about defending them. You, and Steve Jobs, should learn that the correct response to this type of PR nightmare is “We’re sorry you’re not happy, we’re going to do everything we can to fix it.” No more, no less. The second you start pointing the finger at other people you just make yourself look desperate and you loose all credibility with consumers, including myself.

Here endith the lesson.

Google’s “Almost Revolution”

Source: Wikipedia Article

There are times in history that we can define certain points as changing the course of everything that followed. This is especially true in the technology industry. Since the technological revolution is such a recent ordeal, and so accelerated compared to other major sequences of events in history, there are events in time, even within my own life, that I can point out as events that changed the industry. One example of which was when a guy named Linus Torvalds created this little thing called Linux in 1991.

However, there always seem to be a lot of false starts on the way to important change. Something I think it’s safe to term an almost revolution.

It is my belief that the Google Nexus One smartphone was one of the most public, most important almost revolutions that we’ve seen in recent years. Not exactly because of the phone’s hardware itself, but because of how Google attempted to sell it. Unlike every other cellphone vendor out there – Google took at shot at selling the Nexus One directly to consumers. [...]