PhoneFare

Why I deleted @pixable

Tue, 15 May 2012 19:02:39 -0500

When they came on the scene I really loved the concept - get to the most interesting content on your fb feed without trawling thru the less interesting stuff. Still love the concept but pixable damages the sacrosanct contract that fb has with its users, i.e fb will never reveal to your friends your activities on fb. When you view pictures on pixable, it inserts an item in your newsfeed that reads something like “Deepak viewed top 10 pictures on pixable featuring pictures by user y and z”. Note that from a legal standpoint the language could pass muster but it is one of those things that implies that I’ve been looking at user y’s pictures (for all you know user y is my snotty high-school classmate from 15 years ago who I’ve not had the heart to delete yet, but there is no way I’m looking at his pictures). This just sends the wrong social signals. Sorry pixable - it’s been real.

Is it bad that my moving company is “S&M Moving...

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:14:25 -0600

Is it bad that my moving company is “S&M Moving Systems” (Taken with instagram at Rockridge, Oakland, CA)

AT&T has no bars in San Jose (you know the signal strength...

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:06:05 -0500

AT&T has no bars in San Jose (you know the signal strength kind, not the purveyors of the last legal drug kind), but web pages seem to load just fine - go figure

Sinister motive behind Apple approving Opera's iPhone Browser?

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:34:47 -0500

Sinister motive behind Apple approving Opera's iPhone Browser? :

I was wondering why Apple who doesn’t play nice to apps that compete with their won, would approve this one. This explains it - when the trust-busters come calling it is not like they didn’t allow competition to play on their turf. Just happens to be that competition isn’t that competent, which ironically may have been the reason they got approved.

iPad v. Kindle - I think I'm keeping my kindle

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 11:57:35 -0500

Kindle wins because it is designed to be a dedicated reading device for reading books and little else. Note that I say as a device dedicated to reading ‘books’, I don’t say magazines or blogs (the iPad is probably better at these). Why?

- Ergonomics: call me a wimp, but I can’t hold the iPad like I would hold a paperback - using one hand, shifting from one to the other without resting it on a surface for long periods of time. Because I can do this with the kindle, after a few minutes I don’t notice that I’m not reading a dead tree book. Kindle 1, iPad 0

- Reading time: I read for a couple of hours at a stretch before I put my book down briefly and then may read again for another hour or two. With the iPad I probably could do the same but with more strain on my eyes; after all you’re staring at a light-bulb (which is pretty much what a back-lit display is), for that long. I do stare at a computer screen for 12 hours a day, but not like this, uninterrupted. So Kindle 2, iPad 0

- Portability: I’d be more likely to carry a small paperback-sized, feather-weight device with me more often that I can read on, say when I’m grabbing lunch or on the plane (every oz counts when you’re chasing changed gates and making transfers). Kindle 3, iPad 0

- Graphics and general feel: Love the fonts, color and richness of the iPad page (the screen is truly a triumph). The Kindle page looks pretty drab and the fonts are definitely not as good. But then again, I weaned off Winnie the Pooh recently, so unless it is one of those Phaidon art books (not sure if they’re on iPad yet), it doesn’t really matter much to me. I’ll call it a wash.

- Price: books on the kindle still might be cheaper, but I could be wrong about this. Besides, as long as there is competition, letting content owners set price is a better model IMHO. Eventually, with the competition, prices should converge. Wash, again.

Obviously this is is colored by my reading habits, tastes, and upper-arm strength, but if you’re reading a lot of hardcovers and paperbacks, you may want to stick to your kindle or organic reader. For other awesome game-changing personal computing stuff you may want to rush out and buy an iPad. No sarcasm, really - the iPad is a genre-maker albeit a first gen product with some rough edges - more on that soon.

Apple's iPhone 4.0 software to deliver multitasking.

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:58:00 -0600

Apple's iPhone 4.0 software to deliver multitasking. :

Brilliant move on AAPL’s part. As an anomaly in the hardware business (30% operating margins compared to 5% for Dell or 3% Motorola), this will really drive profits for AAPL.

Here’s how: the PC replacement cycle fostered by MS-Intel was essentially predicated on incrementally beefed-up hardware chasing ever-hungry software. In other words, users were browsing the web, watching video, doing email and IM all at the same time requiring replacing their PCs every couple of years. Voila, Apple just facilitated that on mobile phones - now iPhone users will use more apps at the same time, constantly driving demand for more powerful phones. Because they own the hardware business as well, AAPL will directly benefit from a multi-tasking OS, way more than GOOG will directly benefit from multi-tasking on Android.

Google’s Chief Economist: “Newspapers Have Never Made Much Money From News”

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:33:38 -0600

Google’s Chief Economist: “Newspapers Have Never Made Much Money From News” :

Right, they made money from placing ads next to the news. GOOG would like the newspapers to keep the news going, but place the ads themselves - sounds good.

Palm to release tool to port iPhone apps | It's almost like Palm read my post on this: http://bit.ly/agat1i #palm

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:56:18 -0600

Palm to release tool to port iPhone apps | It's almost like Palm read my post on this: http://bit.ly/agat1i #palm

Why you should get into micro-blogging #twitter #tumblr #mobile

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:27:40 -0600

Assuming you know why you should blog, this post is about why you should instead choose to micro-blog (Twitter, tumblr etc)

- most ppl don’t have the time to write a 2-page post every day

- most ppl don’t have anything interesting to say that’s longer than a paragraph - I’ll be the poster-boy of that thesis

- most people don’t have the time to read a 2-page post - most ppl are getting their news online, and increasingly on their phones

Internet consumption is changing from ‘Internet-time on the couch in the evening’ to short ‘fixes’ throughout the day - a ‘micro-consumption’ model is emerging quickly. Micro-blogging lets you skim thru hundreds of news sources effectively as a reader and by being able to write out quick observations, become a more engaged reader. Btw, love tumblr because I do have trouble expressing myself in 140 characters (twitter).

Facebook's most relevant (missing) feature #facebook

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:21:12 -0600

IMO of course, but a ‘social calendar’ could be the most relevant new feature on fb. I have most of my friends on fb (shocking, but I do have friends) but I have no easy way to stay informed about everything that’s going on offline - sure I get event invites and if I install the spammy birthday reminder app I get reminders and all that. But what I’m looking for is a calendar that I can peek at quickly on fb/desktop/phone, with invites and reminders that I can respond to - basically a social equivalent of the work calendar that I’m a slave to.

Fb nailed the social network, but the services around it are still weak - the app platform hasn’t really worked out very well in addressing this problem - take a leaf out of AAPL’s playbook, fb. Fb is supposedly investing in a full-blown gmail-like email service. That’s funny because gmail nailed email, but they’re trying to break into social (I’m shorting buzz btw - they’ll never get to the network externality benefits of fb). GOOG calendar is good - you can set it up as a social calendar, except it doesn’t have the social network.

Realistically, fb would have more success focusing on a social calendaring feature where a real need exists rather than trying to get proprietary lock-in with an email replacement service.

First Google Buzz iPhone App Hits The Store – It’s Buzzie! Me: Why $1.99? Shouldn't they upsell?

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:41:01 -0600

First Google Buzz iPhone App Hits The Store – It’s Buzzie! Me: Why $1.99? Shouldn't they upsell?:

With AAPL permitting publishers to charge in-app ‘add ons’, it doesn’t make a lot of business sense to set up a price barrier. My bet is a ‘freemium’ model will result in higher revenue.

10 Ways Palm Could Make a Comeback. Me: How about an iPhone app -> WebOS translator? #palm #pre

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 13:32:00 -0600

10 Ways Palm Could Make a Comeback. Me: How about an iPhone app -> WebOS translator? #palm #pre:

I think the folks at Palm had a pretty good thing going when they announced the WebOS platform last year, but I think they missed the point on software. No new Smartphone platform has a chance of breaking through until it can get to a critical mass of applications. Today the marketplace of applications has been created, pricing has played out and the best ones have already bubbled to the top on one platform, i.e. the Apple iPhone. If there is an easy way for iPhone developers to port over their apps to the WebOS platform where the incremental cost of deploying on an additional platform is low enough, Palm has a shot at getting to that critical mass. I know, code translators are never perfect, but some tool that gets you a bit farther than half way might help.

Palm was betting on winning over a number of web developers due to how similar the platform is to developing for the web, but I guess it didn’t really court the mobile developers who already understood and internalized the different development and operational challenges as well as the economics of mobile apps. I would’ve loved to have seen Palm come up as a third or fourth front of competition in this space.