I certainly won't criticize The President for honoring soldiers and agents that paid the ultimate price for our freedom but why now? I don't recall him attending one of these ceremonies before now so there must be a specific reason for this event. My guess is that he's made his decision on Afghanistan and this is a prelude to that announcement....
So will he commit the troops that the military is screaming for or is he about to pull the plug? I don't think he's going to go all in on this, IMHO.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
You can't beat free
Google announced today that they would be providing free turn by turn navigation on smartphones running their Android operating system. Talk about a game changer.
First off it's a really bad day to be a stand alone GPS manufacturer like TomTom or Garmin. As a matter of fact TomTom's stock is down over 20% TODAY as of the time I write this. These GPS manufacturers have been charging big bucks for dedicated hardware, map updates and traffic services for years but here comes Google and says that a connected 3G smartphone can do all that for no extra cost.
Second, what does this mean for the current tension between Apple and Google? Did Apple go out and buy that mapping company knowing full well that this was coming from Google? If Google decides to make this service/application exclusive to the Android phone community and NOT the iPhone it could end up being a killer app for Android. There's no technical reason that it couldn't work on the iPhone.
I'm sure glad that I didn't spend $99 on the TomTom app for my iPhone because you can't beat free.
First off it's a really bad day to be a stand alone GPS manufacturer like TomTom or Garmin. As a matter of fact TomTom's stock is down over 20% TODAY as of the time I write this. These GPS manufacturers have been charging big bucks for dedicated hardware, map updates and traffic services for years but here comes Google and says that a connected 3G smartphone can do all that for no extra cost.
Second, what does this mean for the current tension between Apple and Google? Did Apple go out and buy that mapping company knowing full well that this was coming from Google? If Google decides to make this service/application exclusive to the Android phone community and NOT the iPhone it could end up being a killer app for Android. There's no technical reason that it couldn't work on the iPhone.
I'm sure glad that I didn't spend $99 on the TomTom app for my iPhone because you can't beat free.
Boeing's Woes
The Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" is officially in development hell. The program is two years overdue with massive cost overruns and no real promise that Boeing doesn't have even more production issues left undiscovered. Has Boeing over reached its own grasp? Maybe they should rename the plane to the PipeDreamliner.
For years Boeing flirted with returning to the supersonic arena with a successor to the much missed Concord but they always said that it was too complex of a problem to tackle. Seems like they were right given the issues they've had engineering something far more mundane.
For years Boeing flirted with returning to the supersonic arena with a successor to the much missed Concord but they always said that it was too complex of a problem to tackle. Seems like they were right given the issues they've had engineering something far more mundane.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
What did I just watch?
What's 40% Kill Bill, 40% Speed Racer and 20% The Matrix? Watch this trailer for a movie coming out in 2010 titled The Cup of Tears....it looks SWEET!!
The Cup of Tears film trailer. Dir. Gary Shore from Gary Shore on Vimeo.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
A cold wind is a blowin'
The Obama era FCC has shown that they are not afraid to take on broadband internet providers. I applaud the FCC for actually stepping up and realizing that Net Neutrality is absolutely essential to the continued growth of the Internet. However, broadband providers are not going to take this laying down and several CEOs have already come out saying that if they can't regulate their networks then Internet access will either get more scarce or more expensive.
The providers are going to try to screw you out of as much money has possible. I have no problem paying more for the Internet because I DO use far more bandwidth than the average user. But I have NO FAITH in them pricing the bandwidth in a fair way. They have consistently oversold and under-expanded their networks and now they want to squeeze their user base for every last nickel.
Maybe the Government will just decide to do what Finland did and make Broadband a legal right to all its citizens....that would really screw up their business model.
The providers are going to try to screw you out of as much money has possible. I have no problem paying more for the Internet because I DO use far more bandwidth than the average user. But I have NO FAITH in them pricing the bandwidth in a fair way. They have consistently oversold and under-expanded their networks and now they want to squeeze their user base for every last nickel.
Maybe the Government will just decide to do what Finland did and make Broadband a legal right to all its citizens....that would really screw up their business model.
I'm in a box
Balloon Boy parodies have officially gone viral, they are all over YouTube. Here's my favorite...
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Gadget Porn
I enjoy reading books on my Kindle 2 but as a device it disappoints on many levels. The interface is pretty clunky and Amazon's closed off book selling nature has made reading ANYTHING but books bought from Amazon nearly impossible. While the Kindle supports MP3 and other audio formats it was clearly an afterthought...and so is web browsing.
I looked at the Sony eBook reader and it was tempting but it's lack of wireless connectivity was a deal breaker IMHO. Well here comes what I think will be a real Kindle killer, the Nook from Barnes & Noble. I never would have guessed that B&N could bring out a device superior to the Kindle but just look at this thing.
I looked at the Sony eBook reader and it was tempting but it's lack of wireless connectivity was a deal breaker IMHO. Well here comes what I think will be a real Kindle killer, the Nook from Barnes & Noble. I never would have guessed that B&N could bring out a device superior to the Kindle but just look at this thing.
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