http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/25/scottish-power-islay-tidal
Monthly Archives: August 2009
Get the code out of the door quickly…
I’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating.
Microsoft has one major issue; and only one. The speed that they can get code and functionality out of the door. There seems to be some serious process issues when competitors are realeasing functions at twice the speed of the market leader.
“Microsoft is apparently going to counter the Android and iPhone offensives on the mobile market with a new strategy: confusion. The company will allegedly continue to sell its increasingly less relevant Windows Mobile 6.5 for a lower price when it launches version 7 in the fourth quarter of 2010.
The fourth quarter of 2010? I mean, does Redmond expect Google and Apple to go on a yearlong vacation? No wonder Microsoft is becoming irrelevant on the mobile platform. As I have pointed out in the past,Android is going to kill Windows Mobile.”
The Now Show goes global?
The debate in the US has noticed that the rest of the world is watching (mainly in amazement!)
Britons Unite To Defend Their National Health Service | Crooks and Liars.
How long till they find this?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00lyx3g
Go 7 minutes in!
Novels are difficult…
And I thought that it was just me.
Big Contrarian ? Never new enough.
I’ve never been a great fiction reader but in the last 3/4 years my reading offline has dropped to almost zero. Funny thing is that I miss it I just seem incapable of actually getting that calm. Glad to hear that it’s just not me!!!
Entourage becomes Outlook on the Mac…
This is an interesting comment…
“they’re pre-announcing this so far in advance to discourage current Entourage users from switching to the new Exchange-compatible versions of Apple Mail and iCal in Snow Leopard.”
If this is the plan then they’re on the route to failure. Moving desktop mail client has a minimal cost. You just plug in the new client and start syncronizing the mail server. It’s a two minute job.
What seems to be happening here is that Outlook is becoming a server only tool. The poor desktop client (is there anything slower?) is killing the fanchise.
Customer Service…
Another reason not to fly with them…
“The surge seems to have caught Ryanair, surely Britons’ least-favourite budget airline, unaware. On August 1st only 11 check-in desks were open at Stansted airport to handle 255 flights. As a result more than 700 passengers missed their planes. In the confusion armed police had to protect the staff of Ryanair (or “Riot-air”, as one passenger put it) and others from irate travellers.”
Why doesn’t anyone use the STAR OS?
In 1981 it was light years ahead of the rest…
Digibarn: Xerox Star 8010 Interfaces, high quality polaroids (1981).
In fact, it was still better than most in 1992 when I used it at Xerox. What I had not realized until I saw these pictures was that it had basically not changed in 10 years. I recognize the system in all its details, except that I has a color screen. Makes you wonder where they would be today if they’d actually invested in it.
Vertical integration…
“YKK Co. is now comprised of nearly 100 smaller companies acquired in the hugely successful years since their formation. They currently oversee around 200 facilities in 52 nations, worldwide – their factory in Macon, Georgia alone produces seven million zippers per day. They not only make every part of the zipper, but also the rigid fabric on either side of the zipper and the dye for that fabric.
The most incredible thing about this company, though, is that they actually manufacture the machines that make zippers (for – you guessed it – eventual use in other YKK factories). Seriously.”
Nobody would design a business like this today but then they’re almost a monopoly. Makes you think that vertical integration maybe isn’t a bad thing. Veritically integrated like Apple and Boeing when they delivered on time!
RSS vs. Twitter
Suddenly the cheerleaders of centralized services have had their fingers burnt. Dave Winer twists the knife…
“Our blogs are still there, as is the web and the Internet. They never went away just because we foolishly flirted with something fast and easy and seductive. Our blogs never went away, they’re still ready to share our ideas and connect us with others.”
So why are these centralized services so popular?
Personally, I believe that it’s simply easier for the media to get large audiences and then to report on the activity when they’re using a central system with a brand name.
The technical solution is far from perfect however it’s easier for the reporters. However, once people see the reality of scaling issues and a one size fits all design the boom will die!
Then we’ll all be back to buying domain names and running our own sites.