Shawn Blanc on Apples product roadmap:
>The hardware are vessels for accessing your music, movies, apps, websites, documents, and more. Pick the device you want to use at the moment. The rest is just details.
Every software and product release makes what Shawn said even more true.
What’s interesting about this Twitter blog post claiming 100 million active users is that they qualify the user count with the word “active”. Of course we know that active users are all that matter, but it is not a common way to bill your service — especially when it is estimated that you have over twice as many “users”.
Twitter does a piss poor job of clarifying what active means, while over on [Paid Content Ingrid Lunden states](http://paidcontent.org/article/419-twitter-reaches-new-milestone-100-million-users-more-than-half-on-mobil/):
>The 100 million active monthly users, which are based on people sending a Tweet in the last month, is an increase of 82 percent since January 2011.
I don’t buy that Twitter would do that poor of a job measuring active users. Since you can be a very “active” Twitter user and never post a tweet.
MG Siegler reporting on the *fantastic* news that we will all be getting “promoted” Tweets shoved in our, um, streams:
>“We don’t think there’s anything more we need to do to make money,” he [CEO Dick Costolo] reiterated.
Something tells me this will come back to bite him. ((Not that I don’t thinks ads are profitable — just that I don’t think they will be profitable in this scenario.))
There has always been a debate about widescreen laptops versus 4:3 (standard/normal/TV-non-HD) aspect ratio laptops — ever since widescreen became a “thing” in laptop users minds. The debate always came down to one or two points, but usually people would settle on the notion as follows:
– A vertically oriented screen that best reflects your standard A4 sized page is the best for reading and writing. Whereas a horizontally oriented screen such as a movie theatre screen is better when trying to sit back to be immersed in the content (e.g. movies, photos). However, multi-tasking (more than one app open at a time) throws all of this out the window.
This thinking has lead to a large swath of people lamenting over the fact that all computers seem to be becoming vertically challenged — because in fact for some tasks vertical screens are better.
These people, however, might have cause for rejoicing.
The tablets that are currently permeating the landscape are overwhelmingly shaped in the old 4:3 aspect ratio. The iPad ((I’ll mention others so as not to be called biased or something, regardless of the fact that the only tablet with meaningful sales to date is the iPad.)) , the TouchPad, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, these are the tablets that users are preferring.
These tablets, despite their aspect ratios, are orientation ambiguous. They are made to be used both vertically and horizontally at the user and app developers discretion.
But that’s not the end of it, because as any movie buff will tell you — the iPad is anything but “widescreen”. Unfortunately — for this subset — the general user couldn’t care less if widescreen is really, well, widescreen.
I ran a little survey to gather a few data points on iPads and their usage. ((I specifically chose iPads because I needed a device with an actual user base.)) I tried to make the survey fun enough that users would quickly answer the questions I really wanted to know, without a lot of thought put into them. ((The more thought respondents put into questions, the less useful it is for me. I wanted true off-the-cuff answers.))
Look at this split for the normal orientation that an iPad is used in:
That’s pretty astounding when you think about the fact that PC/Desktop/Laptop manufacturers all but ditched this type of view, thus preferring the widescreen view portal. What’s even more amazing to me is the user preference for the iPad’s orientation:
Yep, most still like that vertical view — however — far fewer than I thought. Initially I suspected that most users (more than say 60%) would prefer the vertical orientation, but as you can see this is not the case. My guess is that it really depends on what and how each user is using the device.
What’s telling about this data, the take away, after looking it over is this:
– Users, by-in-large, use the iPad in whatever way they see fit for the task at hand — not in line with their screen orientation preference. That is if it is best to use the iPad in portrait than so be it — even if the user hates portrait devices.
Think about this for a moment, because it represents a very important industry shift.
**…**
For the very first time in computing, the user has been put in control of how best to utilize the display portal they have been given — not the manufacturer.
In fact it doesn’t matter that a slight majority uses the iPad more in portrait view than in landscape. What matters is the split — it’s close to even — because that shows that both views are important and crucial to the device.
Further consider this data about whether or not respondents own a laptop:
The overwhelming majority has a laptop. Two portable computers, one with a forced widescreen aspect ratio and the other with an orientation agnostic workflow — both not only used by people, but valued enough to have been purchased to do similar tasks.
Do we think now that the iPad is being purchased because it makes for great couch surfing, or could it be that it offers a level of flexibility and choice that consumers have yet to experience?
I am beginning to think that the “you pick the orientation” attitude of the iPad and most of its apps is what makes it so appealing.
I think initially both consumers/pundits/Apple thought that the iPad was going to see a lot of use as a video player. If turned out to be the case, then this data makes no sense:
Very few users give a crap about 16:9.
Want to take a guess as to why?
Yes, 16:9 aspect ratios would be great for movie watching, but it would be pretty piss-poor for just about any other task. Again, this is why the serious iPad competitors are closer to 4:3 than they were when the iPad first came out.
When tablets first started competing with the iPad, the only thing that other companies could see the device usage for was movies. They were wrong and I think they know it now.
### The Developer Take-away
You’d be foolish to make an app that only works in one orientation — even if your app is a game.
Take Madden for example. This game is a Football ((AMERICAN)) game that is only played in landscape — but does that make the most sense?
Certainly not when you are trying to make a hail mary pass, return a punt/ kickoff. Portrait would make much better sense in those scenarios because you could see a longer range of the field. In fact, in real life, Football fields are shaped in portrait — not landscape — for the players, not the fans.
Most apps are better if they offer something unique about each orientation the app may be used in. Better keyboard in landscape, easier to read in portrait, for example.
### In Conclusion, or Something
Tablets are not only a massive shift because of low-CPU powered computing and touch interfaces. They are shifting the balance of power back to the user.
Tablets are giving the user a viable choice for how they want to view any given set of data the screen will show. Tablets are *actually* more malleable to the task at hand.
#### The Rest of the Data
I won’t leave you hanging in case you were wondering the response to the rest of the data. Here is the remaining data sets with a few comments from me on each.
The iPad 2 hasn’t even been out a year yet, massive ownership thus far.
This was just a test to see how nerdy the respondents were/are.
We all knew this answer…
Just goes to show that people still don’t want crap — even if it is absurdly cheap.
My guess is that at least half of the people that answered “sometimes” are lying to themselves — they really should be in the “wait, where is that thing” category.
*Thanks for playing.*
Those lovely sounding gentlemen from across the pond (and well the entire U.S. for me) were kind enough to have me on the latest episode of the Bro Show. We talked about the missing iPhone 5, what the iPhone 5 may end up having, the Amazon Tablet, and TechCrunch.
Om Malik:
>There is one place Yahoo can easily finish first: the company with the worst and most ineffectual board with the spine of a centipede.
That’s just the first sentence. The rest is a pretty good starting point for Yahoo.
Nice compilation of Bartz quotes, I had no idea she liked to cuss so much — now I may miss her. Here’s my favorite of the lot:
>I always do my firing in the morning because that’s when I’m fresh. I mean, why sit there all day thinking: I’m going to fire Joe at 4:59?
The news of her firing broke in the late afternoon — specifically [All Things Yahoo](http://allthingsd.com/20110906/exclusive-carol-bartz-out-at-yahoo-cfo-interim-ceo/) reported it at 3:55 PM Pacific.
Ben Parr:
>Netflix has started to restrict its users from streaming more than one movie at a time as part of its price hike. The change could have a major effect on how families use Netflix. No longer can one person watch a movie from the iPad while the rest of the family watches another film on the Xbox, for example.
To be clear it was my understanding that this was never allowed before — it’s just that Netflix is now enforcing that rule. Still sucks though.
**UPDATE** (on Sep 7, 2011): [Netflix is denying the charges](http://gigaom.com/video/netflix-simultaneous-streams/).
Carol Bartz was [fired via a phone call today](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904537404576555250572211010.html), unfortunately for her, she is no longer CEO of Yahoo. In truth it is a non-story to anyone who is not named Carol Bartz, or who is a part of her family.
Yahoo simply is not relevant today.
What is interesting to me is the reaction that I am seeing in my Twitter feed and RSS reader. The focus seems to be on two things, none of which are important.
1. That the firing was confirmed by Bartz who emailed from her iPad.
2. That the CFO was appointed as the interim CEO.
The second point is one that many seem to be reading too much into. The logic is that the CFO is in charge of finances and so therefore it would make sense to have a CFO as your CEO if your company is in a death spiral and/or about to be sold.
I can see where this logic makes perfect sense. but here’s the thing though: it’s a non-issue, there is nothing to read here. Typically CFOs are put in charge when a board gets tired of hearing that spending *more* money is the solution.
In most C-level corporations the CFO is typically seen as the third in command behind the COO and then the CEO. However the CEO will also serve as the COO/President in many companies and in fact Bartz [was listed](http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyOfficers?symbol=YHOO.O&WTmodLOC=C4-Officers-5) ((Just in case, [here is a screenshot](https://f3a98a5aca88d28ed629-2f664c0697d743fb9a738111ab4002bd.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/bartz.png).)) as CEO and President.
Essentially she was the CEO and COO of Yahoo, thus leaving the CFO as “next in line.”
There was a saying in business school: “In times of prosper the marketers run the company, in times of decline the accountants run it.”
It’s something that finance professors would tell you to try and woo you away from those splendid marketers, but it is a telling statement and relevant to the Bartz firing.
This saying makes sense and is what people are reading into, except that they are missing that this saying isn’t meant to be an indicator of the health of a company, but rather the health of the economy. And guess what? We are in dire economic times, the sheer fact that there are some marketing/product types left running companies is what is truly amazing to me.
Bartz is gone.
An “accountant” is running the company for now.
That’s all we know, it means nothing about a possible sale or the possible death of the company. If a company is going down, it’s going down no matter who is in charge.
And if it is an acquisition? Well there is no point in the CFO being in charge and paying severance to a CEO — you just want the best negotiator in charge — maybe thats the CFO, but it isn’t the CFO by default.
Don’t read things where there’s no writing.
Steven Greenhouse:
>Fredric V. Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, warned of disaster if partisanship keeps Congress from acting.
>“This is about one of America’s oldest institutions,” he said. “It survived the telegraph, it survived the telephone, and we have to do everything we can to preserve it and adapt.”
I would point out that what replaced the telegraph and telephone (I guess he means cellphones) turned out to be *far* better. So, there’s that.
Jaguar Financial Corporation in a press release:
>Jaguar Financial Corporation (“Jaguar”) (TSX: JFC), a shareholder of Research In Motion Limited (“RIM” or the “Company”), on behalf of itself and other supportive shareholders, today called upon the Directors of RIM to establish and carry out a formal process for the maximization of shareholder value. This value maximization process would include the pursuit of all options including a potential sale of the Company or a monetization of the RIM patent portfolio by a spin-out to RIM shareholders.
They cite the 80.3% loss in value since 2008, “corporate governance” concerns, and a general lack of innovation. I am sure *one* of the CEOs can weasel out of this.
Derek Kessler reporting on a Digitimes story that is, alas, behind a paywall:
>True to form, Digitimes claims to have the details, stating that HP’s plan is for the second wave of TouchPads to land in late October (and you thought it was outdated when it launched in July), with somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 units to be produced.
There is other juicy information in the report too.
Great post that should give you all the reason you need to get out of GoDaddy’s clasp. I have moved 90% of my domains to [Dynadot](http://www.dynadot.com) — whom has been great thus far (way better than GoDaddy).
If you have a moment I would really appreciate your help with some research on iPad usage. (It’s a quick survey.)
Mattias Östergren
>What happens when you try to design a new version of an application based solely on the most commonly used features of an older version, instead of focusing on what the users are really trying to accomplish with it?
Microsoft.
A great look at what CrunchFund means to TechCrunch and the readers of the site and the companies who depend on the coverage from it.
Long and short of it: there’s bias everywhere, but a special kind of bias over at Arrington’s TechCrunch.
Wx is an award winning US weather app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone with forecasts, alerts, radar, maps, and more. Read more about Wx and check out other iOS and Mac apps by [Hunter Research and Technology](http://hrtapps.com/).
If you are a Geektool user then you better check these out — best I have seen.
Marco Arment, responding to [Jacqui Cheng’s absurd notion](http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2011/09/why-keeping-up-with-rss-is-poisonous-to-productivity-sanity.ars) that RSS is “poisonous”, makes the statement:
>You should be able to go on a disconnected vacation for three days, come back, and be able to skim most of your RSS-item titles reasonably without just giving up and marking all as read. You shouldn’t come back to hundreds or thousands of unread articles.
I’ve been out, away from my computer all day. It is Sunday on a U.S. holiday weekend and I last checked RSS over 10 hours ago, likely longer. I have 232 unread items. Any other day of the week and it would likely be well over 600. I subscribe to almost 600 feeds, some updated constantly, others not.
To claim that RSS is bad for you if you subscribe to too many feeds is absurd.
What’s bad for you is letting a tool like RSS overwhelm you, take over your life if you will. I have gone away for 3 days, as Marco suggests, and come back to thousands of RSS items, I read them all in time and it never bothered me. ((As Marco suggests I don’t allow red badges. Reeder for Mac doesn’t do that, and in fact has a very nice subtle indicator in the Dock.))
If it bothers you, then blaming the tool is **not** the solution to this problem.
A tool is a tool. Should I get mad at my car because there are thousands of miles of road I haven’t driven yet to drive? No.
If you don’t like RSS don’t use it. If you want to use it but don’t want to have thousands of items, then use it like Marco does. ((I have no problem with Marco’s method, or Cheng’s method. I just have a problem with blanket statements that blame a tool and not the user, when it is clearly a user issue.)) Or use it like I do and check the feeds more often.
But don’t blame RSS. ((I almost can’t believe I have to write this.))
The best advice I can give you if RSS is too much, but you don’t want to miss out on the latest: follow [this Twitter account](https://twitter.com/#!/newsyc20).