Is there a tablet market or an iPad market? Will the iPad be the iPod or the iPhone of the tablet world? These are the questions that keep tech pundits up at night (or at least me, it’s 3.30 in the morning and I can’t sleep). In order to answer these questions it seems to [...]
In response to the Windows 8 video that came out today, John Gruber has a piece at Daring Fireball entitled Why Windows 8 is Fundamentally Flawed as a Response to the iPad. Gruber praises Microsoft for displaying innovative new thinking when it comes to touch-based devices but is critical of the fact that the touch-based [...]
I care about the environment. I use electricity like it’s going out of fashion. I’m concerned about the plight of the poor. I give nothing to charity. I think trade unions are important. I didn’t join one. I believe it’s difficult to morally justify the slaughter of animals for food when alternatives are available. I [...]
Over the past six months a growing amount of my life has moved online. My email is online, my to do lists, my photos, my bookmarks and even the songs I’m listening to as I write this are online. And as all this data has moved onto other people’s computers I’ve started to feel a twinge of [...]
One of the books that had the most impact on me when I was younger was Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder. One scene in particular has always stuck with me. There’s a point in the story where two characters are talking about the way the typical person gets used to existence and stops questioning the [...]
Every year the JET Programme runs an essay contest and, because I had nothing better to do, I entered it. I found out today that mine was not among the winning entries but that’s OK. When you read it I think you’ll understand why this was probably not what they were looking for. I thought [...]
With the impending launch of the iPhone in the US sometime next month prepare yourself for two things. First, prepare for the inevitable slew of articles from journalists attributing the success of the device to the multi-touch screen and its otherwise breakthrough design. Second, get ready for the similarly inevitable slew of challengers that will line-up against [...]
That’s it. I’m calling for a moratorium on analogies. What’s my authority? Do I need authority? I’m making my own authority. The fact of the matter is that the use of analogies has gotten so completely out of control someone has to step into the breach and if that someone has to be me, so [...]
Be forewarned: this is a young person becoming old rant. In it I will decry the youth of today, become aware of a process known as ageing and consider my own mortality. I’m not sure if it’s the fact I’m working at a high school but lately I’ve been thinking about getting older. This year [...]
Some are calling it the end of DRM. That’s probably going a bit far. DRM seems too lucrative in the burgeoning markets of ringtones and videos to disappear anytime soon. Still, as far as music albums go, the announcement by EMI that it would be making its entire digital catalgoue available DRM-free was incredible news. [...]