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  • Quote of the Day: Lessien

    “The toddler stage for iOS is over.” — Lessien

    “The toddler stage for iOS is over.”
  • MG Siegler on iMessage

    MG Siegler: >And again, while this may be iOS-only, guess who else is going to have to match this feature now? Android. SMS is about to become a cross-platform messaging platform only. I hadn’t thought about that, iMessage will have a big impact in the mobile world. Especially because, as Siegler notes, it is built…

    MG Siegler:
    >And again, while this may be iOS-only, guess who else is going to have to match this feature now? Android. SMS is about to become a cross-platform messaging platform only.

    I hadn’t thought about that, iMessage will have a big impact in the mobile world. Especially because, as Siegler notes, it is built into the current SMS app and defaults to iMessage with SMS being a backup only (or so I hear).

  • “Why Groupon is Worth $25 Billion Dollars”

    Steve Cheney writes up a nice post explaining the business of Groupon, but if we are to believe the title he used: “Why Groupon is Worth $25 Billion Dollars”. One would be inclined to think that he would answer that question — he doesn’t. Yes Groupon has a neat business that thus far has been…

    Steve Cheney writes up a nice post explaining the business of Groupon, but if we are to believe the title he used: “Why Groupon is Worth $25 Billion Dollars”. One would be inclined to think that he would answer that question — he doesn’t.

    Yes Groupon has a neat business that thus far has been hard for people to pull off, but again: massive amounts of users doesn’t mean future profitability, plain and simple.

  • Financial Times Web App

    The Financial Times: >We have launched a new, faster, more complete app for the iPad and iPhone which is available via your browser rather than from an app store. >We’re encouraging our readers to switch immediately to the new FT web app, as many new features and sections will be added over the coming weeks.…

    The Financial Times:
    >We have launched a new, faster, more complete app for the iPad and iPhone which is available via your browser rather than from an app store.
    >We’re encouraging our readers to switch immediately to the new FT web app, as many new features and sections will be added over the coming weeks. Make sure you don’t miss out on these updates.

    This is a great move by FT to keep their 30% while barely effecting user experience. The most interesting thing and biggest challenge will be discovery. Will they pull their iOS app, and if so how will they tell readers that they can have a native-like experience with this app?

  • What Safari’s Reading List means for Instapaper

    Marco Arment on where Instapaper stands after today’s announcement: >But the more potential scenarios I consider, the more likely it seems that Safari’s Reading List is either going to have no noticeable effect on Instapaper, or it will improve sales dramatically. Apple has no doubt put Marco in a tough spot. From what I can…

    Marco Arment on where Instapaper stands after today’s announcement:
    >But the more potential scenarios I consider, the more likely it seems that Safari’s Reading List is either going to have no noticeable effect on Instapaper, or it will improve sales dramatically.

    Apple has no doubt put Marco in a tough spot. From what I can see the Reading List feature is comparable to the RSS reader in Mail, but with a touch better implementation. To that end I think Instapaper will always be the ‘NetNewsWire’ of the category — meaning it is *the* app that power users flock to. However, like Marco said, time will tell.

  • WWDC: The Big Stuff

    I am not going to rehash everything that was announced today, but I want to touch a some important things introduced and provide my thoughts on those — not the details you are likely to already know about. ### Mac OS X Lion None of the blogs that I was following made mention of this…

    I am not going to rehash everything that was announced today, but I want to touch a some important things introduced and provide my thoughts on those — not the details you are likely to already know about.

    ### Mac OS X Lion

    None of the blogs that I was following made mention of this being 10.7, it sounded like Apple simply referred to it as ‘Lion’ and I find that very telling. In that it is the most consumer friendly, non-geeky, way to refer to an OS. It also is a direct shot at Microsoft’s calling the next Windows release: ‘8’.

    The biggest thing with Lion has to be that it even further propels the ‘it just works’ mantra. If you step back and look at Lion, UI candy aside, what you see is an OS that has been made for “normal” folks.

    That is: auto-saving and versioning will take the OS to a whole other level in the general consumer mind. Add to that Mac App Store availability (instant gratification) and the price of $29 — adoption will soar.

    These small changes, in my eye, are massive and strong reasons why Apple will continue wild growth of the Mac platform. Most telling though is that Lion feels more like iOS 4 — in that iOS 4 didn’t truly shine until developers updated their apps, in the same vein I think Lion will really shine once developers start pushing out those updates. (Support for versions and auto saving and such.)

    ### iOS 5

    iOS 5 is not only a big leap, but it is a massive pole vault ahead of where every other competitor currently is. There is far too much to touch on, so I want to touch on my three favorite things.

    #### One

    Camera. I can’t tell you how amazing the quick access and shutter controls for the camera are going to be. This is going to be one of the most useful new features in iOS 5 for every user.

    #### Two

    Twitter is the biggest thing in iOS 5 as far as people outside the mobile industry are concerned. I personally think this is the catalyst that Twitter was waiting for to propel their user base forward. This is going to be big. Many don’t think this will drive adoption, I think this will really drive adoption — time will tell.

    #### Three

    iMessage. This is a big deal because it basically offers a better, more secure, messaging system for iOS users. It is also free with a data plan. Thus you could theoretically rid yourself of overpriced text messaging plans and just use iMessage.

    This also is a major play against Twitter DMs, as the system looks far more robust and better suited to the type of DMs that I regularly send.

    The best part is that this comes to the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

    #### Bonus

    No doubt that OTA updates and backups is huge, but of the two, backups is the bigger deal. Yes, OTA updates is important, but not nearly as important as knowing you lost nothing the next time you drop your phone in water.

    ### iCloud

    The biggest thing about iCloud is its integration to the devices. Meaning that it is not just about iOS, but about iOS and Mac OS being equal in the eyes of iCloud. This makes the *entire* thing simple.

    Most cloud based services are pull services, where you need to go get the data you want from the cloud. Dropbox is the notable exception to this rule and it is also the exact same solution that Apple came up with.

    As most dropbox users will tell you: Dropbox is pure magic. I expect the same out of Apple with iCloud.

    ### A Bit More

    Lastly, I want to share these tweets that sum up today’s WWDC pretty well:

    [Mike Lee](https://twitter.com/#!/bmf/status/77810289143332865): “I can finally redownload my lost iTMS purchases. Yay.”

    [Shawn Blanc](https://twitter.com/#!/shawnblanc/status/77808856339718144): “I’m gonna miss the square toggle switch in iOS.”

    [Rands](https://twitter.com/#!/rands/status/77808807140540416): “This is what happens when you’re no longer beholden to cables, carriers, and labels. #WWDC”

    [Dustin Curtis](https://twitter.com/#!/dcurtis/status/77804441293688832): “Apple just pissed off: Dropbox, Sparrow, Instapaper, Readability, Remember the Milk, Facebook, RIM, & the carriers. Well done.”

    [Fraser Speirs](https://twitter.com/#!/fraserspeirs/status/77791693323239424): “Lion “only in the Mac App Store” <- sound of a million sysadmins killing themselves." and, lastly: [Marco Arment](https://twitter.com/#!/marcoarment/status/77796293510037504): "Shit."

  • Reading Time Redux

    Dr. Drang reworked his reading time for TextMate foo to make it a lot better, and he made an OS X service out of it. Great work.

    Dr. Drang reworked his reading time for TextMate foo to make it a lot better, and he made an OS X service out of it. Great work.

  • [SPONSOR] Hoban Cards

    Elegance is not stopping every two seconds to spell out your email to people that want to connect with you as you are trying to get out the door. Elegance is handing out a minimal, unique card. A calling card from Hoban Cards is all about elegance. Each calling card is hand printed on a…

    Elegance is not stopping every two seconds to spell out your email to people that want to connect with you as you are trying to get out the door. Elegance is handing out a minimal, unique card.

    A calling card from Hoban Cards is all about elegance.

    Each calling card is hand printed on a 1902 Chandler and Price letterpress. For $75 you get 100 personalized cards with your name and the option of either your email or phone number printed on 100% 110lb cotton paper.

    *(Editors note: The quality is top-notch.)*

  • How to Pronounce Scotch Names

    If left on my own at a bar, I am going to run up the bill with Scotch, but as any Scotch drinker knows the names can be absurd to try and order. Thanks to Esquire I don’t have to guess anymore. (For the record I love Glenlivet and Highland Park, neat. ((Good whiskey or…

    If left on my own at a bar, I am going to run up the bill with Scotch, but as any Scotch drinker knows the names can be absurd to try and order. Thanks to Esquire I don’t have to guess anymore.

    (For the record I love Glenlivet and Highland Park, neat. ((Good whiskey or whisky should always be served neat, if you think that it needs ice, then you — my friend — are *not* drinking good whiskey/whisky.)) )

  • Assange’s Air Quotes

    Jill Lawless: >Julian Assange told an audience at the Hay literary festival in Wales that “there are no official allegations in the public domain” of anyone being hurt by the secret-spilling site’s disclosures. I picture Assange putting air quotes around the word: official. I also have no “official” proof that Assange is an egomaniac.

    Jill Lawless:
    >Julian Assange told an audience at the Hay literary festival in Wales that “there are no official allegations in the public domain” of anyone being hurt by the secret-spilling site’s disclosures.

    I picture Assange putting air quotes around the word: official. I also have no “official” proof that Assange is an egomaniac.

  • Reading time in TextMate

    Dr. Drang whipped up a way to have a reading time estimate in TextMate — nicely done.

    Dr. Drang whipped up a way to have a reading time estimate in TextMate — nicely done.

  • What if Apple and Twitter merged?

    Dave Winer speculating on Apple buying Twitter: >Twitter is a poor imitation of Apple, in every way. and: >Another reason Apple would like it is because it’s inevitable that Twitter will turn the screws on the news business, and Apple loves to get into position where they own the mortgage on a media industry. The…

    Dave Winer speculating on Apple buying Twitter:
    >Twitter is a poor imitation of Apple, in every way.

    and:

    >Another reason Apple would like it is because it’s inevitable that Twitter will turn the screws on the news business, and Apple loves to get into position where they own the mortgage on a media industry.

    The price? Winer speculates that it would take about $10 billion to get it done — cheap.

  • The B&B Podcast, episode 14: When the Internet is Your Job

    Shawn and I talk about Typekit, cable modems that confuse us, and the great unknown (WWDC ’11). Thanks to our sponsors: [Typekit](http://Typekit.com/), [Idea Division](http://ideadivision.com/) and [Tasks App](http://tasksapp.com/).

    Shawn and I talk about Typekit, cable modems that confuse us, and the great unknown (WWDC ’11).

    Thanks to our sponsors: [Typekit](http://Typekit.com/), [Idea Division](http://ideadivision.com/) and [Tasks App](http://tasksapp.com/).

  • Why Groupon Probably Paid Off Its Early Employees

    Dan Shipper on why Groupon dispersed all the VC money the original employees and investors: >If it doesn’t work out we’re all pretty rich. If it does work out, we’re all really rich. This would keep the entire original team together, the people who understand the business the best, so that in the next year…

    Dan Shipper on why Groupon dispersed all the VC money the original employees and investors:
    >If it doesn’t work out we’re all pretty rich. If it does work out, we’re all really rich. This would keep the entire original team together, the people who understand the business the best, so that in the next year we can shoot for a much higher valuation than the $6 billion offered by Google.

    I can see that point too, don’t agree with it.

  • ‘Groupon is Effectively Insolvent’

    Conor Sen on Groupon: >That being said, it’s operating like a Ponzi scheme that needs constant infusions of cash to stay afloat as it’s hemorrhaging money. A great point is made, the main difference between what Groupon and a true Ponzi scheme is that the investors in Groupon are aware that part of their ‘investment’…

    Conor Sen on Groupon:
    >That being said, it’s operating like a Ponzi scheme that needs constant infusions of cash to stay afloat as it’s hemorrhaging money.

    A great point is made, the main difference between what Groupon and a true Ponzi scheme is that the investors in Groupon are aware that part of their ‘investment’ is going towards paying off old investors.

  • Jeff Croft: Briefly, on Windows 8

    Jeff Croft commenting on Windows 8: >Effectively, Metro works just like Windows Media Center does: it’s just an app that run atop the Windows we all know and…well, know. Just as Media Center provides a 10-foot UI on top of the existing keyboard-and-mouse Windows UI, so does Metro provide a touchscreen UI. He has some other…

    Jeff Croft commenting on Windows 8:
    >Effectively, Metro works just like Windows Media Center does: it’s just an app that run atop the Windows we all know and…well, know. Just as Media Center provides a 10-foot UI on top of the existing keyboard-and-mouse Windows UI, so does Metro provide a touchscreen UI.

    He has some other great criticism, but the above highlights exactly what the problem is with Windows 8. Windows alone is fine for computers, Metro is great for touch — combining the two though is just, as Croft says, “ghetto”. Or think about it like this: how many people are clamoring for that great Windows Media Center experience?

  • Quote of the Day: David Heinemeier Hansson

    “If you can’t figure out how to make money on three billion in revenue, when exactly will the profit magic be found? Ten billion? Fifty billion?” — David Heinemeier Hansson

    “If you can’t figure out how to make money on three billion in revenue, when exactly will the profit magic be found? Ten billion? Fifty billion?”
  • Gruber on Microsoft

    John Gruber: >What Microsoft revealed this week is that they do not believe there *is* a post-PC era. They’re banking that the PC era will never end. This is not only evident with Windows 8, but in everything that the company is doing right now.

    John Gruber:
    >What Microsoft revealed this week is that they do not believe there *is* a post-PC era. They’re banking that the PC era will never end.

    This is not only evident with Windows 8, but in everything that the company is doing right now.

  • Sony Hacked Yet Again, Really

    Peter Bright: >The hackers retrieved account information from the database. They claim there are more than a million accounts in total; their BitTorrented dump just contained a sample. The database contained information about a variety of different account types, apparently related to different promotions and features operated by the company. Different sets of accounts, but…

    Peter Bright:
    >The hackers retrieved account information from the database. They claim there are more than a million accounts in total; their BitTorrented dump just contained a sample. The database contained information about a variety of different account types, apparently related to different promotions and features operated by the company. Different sets of accounts, but with one major feature in common: they included plaintext passwords.

    Wow. Also, don’t entrust any of your information with Sony. Ever.

  • Porn Service iP4Play Goes Bust

    Travis Falstad CEO of the now failed iP4Play, the FaceTime video ‘vixen’ chat service (reporting by Nicole Martinelli): >Lack of FaceTime adoption and competition from webcams, coupled with higher costs to maintain quality talent… Wait, you mean people didn’t want other people seeing their face during a sexy video chat? Shocking.

    Travis Falstad CEO of the now failed iP4Play, the FaceTime video ‘vixen’ chat service (reporting by Nicole Martinelli):
    >Lack of FaceTime adoption and competition from webcams, coupled with higher costs to maintain quality talent…

    Wait, you mean people didn’t want other people seeing their face during a sexy video chat? Shocking.