Monthly Archives: October 2011

Proof by Mask

October 30, 2011 – 9:19 pm

TweetWeb design is in bad shape. In the applications boom, news-related web sites end up as collateral damage. For graphic designers, the graphics tools and the computer languages used to design apps for tablets and smartphones have unleashed a great deal of creativity. The transformation took longer than expected, but great designs begin to appear [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Posted in design | Comments (17)

Steve’s Bio: A Personal Perspective

October 30, 2011 – 9:19 pm

TweetLet me jump to the conclusion: This is an extraordinary book on many levels: informative, entertaining often, insightful, sympathetic but not indulgent; it rises to its unusual subject and manages to render its complexity in a straightforward manner that attests to the biographer’s talent. Get thee to a physical bookstore, if you can find one, [...]

Edited by Jean-Louis Gassée | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (16)

Apple’s Newsstand: Wait for 2.0

October 24, 2011 – 3:30 am

TweetCan Apple crack the digital news market the way it did with music? The comparison might not be relevant. Here is why: – Today, in the new business, imperfect as it is, the transition from print to digital is much more advanced than the music industry’s similar transformation was when, in 2001, Apple launched the [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Posted in online publishing | Tagged , | Comments (16)

Mobile + Cloud + Social

October 24, 2011 – 3:28 am

TweetThese are the three interdependent forces that power the biggest wave of growth, change, and destruction I’ve seen since I have been allowed to take part in the high-tech industry. In the beginning (or mine, anyway), back in 1968 when I was, miraculously, offered a salary to be part of HP France there was the [...]

Edited by Jean-Louis Gassée | Posted in mobile internet | Tagged | Comments (27)

You Cheat. We Cut Prices

October 16, 2011 – 11:27 pm

TweetSurprise: To boost its circulation, Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal Europe engaged in massive channel stuffing. No kidding. It sounds like everyone discovers, all of a sudden, how medias (old and new) actually work. Granted, when it comes to cheating, News Corp is in a class all by itself. The phone hacking scandal pushed the [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (6)

Premature Evaluation: The iPhone 5 Introduction

October 16, 2011 – 11:08 pm

TweetOn October 4th, after months of speculation, Apple finally introduces the iPhone 5. The kommentariat are ecstatic and approvingly list the new smartphone’s strongest points: Twice the processor speed; seven times the graphics oomph; a new camera with an Apple-designed lens, 8 megapixels and improved image processing; the power of the new iOS 5; iCloud [...]

Edited by Jean-Louis Gassée | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (7)

The Teacher

October 9, 2011 – 7:51 pm

TweetSteve Jobs taught us so many things… To us whose professional life strides tech, ads and media, his way of fostering innovation, of creating an obsessive culture of perfection remains both inspirational and enigmatic. For those who like design and engineering, there isn’t a single field Apple hasn’t entered — or at least influenced. When [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments (7)

Too soon…

October 9, 2011 – 7:48 pm

Tweet‘Humor is the politeness of despair’, an approximate, googlish translation of l’humour est la politesse du désespoir, a saying attributed to noted post-WWII Left Bank jazzman, writer, and engineer, Boris Vian, So, let’s start with the reverent, despairing humor of Chris Calloway in Wired Magazine’s memorial to Steve Jobs: “Heaven got a major upgrade today…” [...]

Edited by Jean-Louis Gassée | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (20)

Dreaming at the Kindle Potential

October 2, 2011 – 10:01 pm

TweetWith each introduction of a new reading device publishers around the world are overcome with the same recurring same fantasy: What if it worked, this time around? Could a reliable business model emerge for news publishing companies? Last week’s launch of new Kindles is no exception to the cyclic fantasy. For those who where on [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (9)

Google’s “Interesting” Week

October 2, 2011 – 9:48 pm

TweetLet’s start gingerly, with Nokia. You’ll recall the indignation when Nokia threw Symbian under the Windows Phone 7 bus and osborned its existing product line. Nokia dead-ended Symbian handsets, causing sales to plunge while everyone waited for the new MicroNokia smartphones. The company didn’t stop there. It then presented Meego, the offspring of Intel’s Moblin [...]

Edited by Jean-Louis Gassée | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (60)