Posts tagged Technology

They’re not going to just walk in

Ed Colligan, Palm CEO, 2007:

We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.

Chris Moseley, Samsung AV Product  Manager, 2012:

We’ve not seen what they’ve done but what we can say is that they don’t have 10,000 people in R&D in the vision category. [...] So, from that perspective, it’s not a great concern but it remains to be seen what they’re going to come out with, if anything.

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The Patients Are Running the Asylum

Roger Martin, RIM Director:

I laugh at the vast majority of critics when they say ‘Oh, you should have made this CEO transition, like, four years ago.’ Yeah, right – like, to who?

So we’re supposed to hand it over to children, or morons from the outside who will destroy the company?

He’s right. The customers can’t get it in their heads that Blackberry devices are perfect. And the investors … well, they’re all morons.

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Half-assed genius reporting

Jonathan Geller, explaining “Why the iPhone is worse than a BlackBerry”:

I might want my phone to vibrate for almost all alerts, and sometimes I want my phone ring as well. Sometimes I want everything to be on silent and have my phone ring only if it’s a certain person calling or messaging me. I just want more control over how my phone acts in this respect — it’s something that is half-assed in its current state.

That explains why all stores are running out of Blackberry devices.

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The unlucky 99 percent

MG Siegler:

First of all, yes, Chrome for Android is here. Second, it’s only compatible with Ice Cream Sandwich which is currently on — wait for it — 1% of Android devices.

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The bizarro-Motorola

MG Siegler:

In order to acquire such a company at the market price Google sets, it would take something like $14 trillion.

Via parislemon

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Sometime comments are futile

July 1, 2010:

It’s our first day together, but it’s already abundantly clear to everyone who’s been involved in bringing the two companies together that great things are in store. The combination of Palm’s trailblazing webOS and HP’s strength as the leading provider of everything from PCs, laptops, and printers to home electronics and enterprise systems promises an amazing roadmap of new tools for your mobile and web-connected future.

June 30, 2011:

Sexy user interface? I guess there’s more to TouchPad than just raising the productivity bar. Some of the “wow” features that drew praise from reviewers: Beats Audio, Touch to Share, Adobe Flash Player support, and apps like the free Box.net, which includes 50 gigabytes of cloud storage at no cost.

August 18, 2011:

HP will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. The devices have not met internal milestones and financial targets. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.

 

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The long, sad story of Ask.com

  • March, 2005: IAC announces plans to buy Ask Jeeves
  • April, 2005: Nothing significant happens for almost a year
  • February, 2006: In a landmark move to improve user experience and search quality, Ask drops its butler mascot
  • May, 2006: Influenced by IAC, Green Giant brand drops its mascot in an effort to improve the quality of canned peas—comes to senses 30 minutes later and reinstates the giant (OK, I made that one up)Qe at doing exactly the same thing a year earlier
  • March, 2007: The South Park kids announce to the world that nobody uses Ask Jeeves in the “The Snuke” episode
  • April, 2007: Ask’s creative shop Crispin Porter & Bogusky effectively generates awareness of a term no one understands or cares about—”the algorithm”
  • May, 2007: The Algorithm fails to find itself an audience– in spite of media initiatives from May 2006 to May 2007 Ask.Com percent of US searches falls to 3.92% from 4.40% according to Hitwise
  • June, 2007: Ask 3D is launched in response to Google’s Universal Search
  • July, 2007: No one hears about 3D ever again. Wall Street Journal runs a piece on search engines, Ask.com Is not referenced
  • October, 2007: Ask Launches PPC Bid Platform 2.0—the exact number of advertisers who noticed the change
  • December, 2007: Hoping to capitalize on media hyped privacy panic; Ask offers to delete search data even if people don’t opt out after 18 months
  • January, 2008: Nothing really happens until Ask closes its search doors over 2 years later

Full article at Advertising Age http://lnkd.ca/ch

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Twitter error

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MG Siegler on iPhone 4

MG Siegler:

The Mac vs. PC debate has often found people using a car analogy to explain things. I keep coming back to that when thinking about iPhone vs. Android. For a long time, iPhone felt like a Lexus while Android was more like a Kia. With recent upgrades, Android has transformed into more of a Honda. But with iPhone 4, the iPhone is now an Aston Martin (it was James Bond, remember).

But the crazy thing is that the iPhone is an Aston Martin with a Honda-price. Meanwhile, Android remains a Honda at a Honda-price — it’s a good deal, but it’s not an iPhone-deal.

Full article at Tech Crunch (via Daring Fireball)

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Google to Add Picture Backgrounds to Search Home Page

Marissa Mayer:

Today, we’re introducing a new feature that brings a whole new level of personalization to Google by letting you add a favorite photo or image to the background of the Google homepage.

Step-by-step instructions to get it to work today:

  1. Go to http://bing.com/
  2. You’re done.

Via Daring Fireball

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