Some readers may recall one of my predictions for 2012 was the end of this column. It’s time for me to start explaining what that’s all about. Next month will mark 25 years of my doing some version of this column either in print or online. It’s not a record (I’m sure John Dvorak has that) but it is a milestone that I’ve been for some time determined to reach. But having achieved 25 years of continuous service, what then? Well there is no gold watch. In fact my transition is, if anything, forced by the declining economics of the web. Facebook has much the same problem.
Facebook, Cringely and the devolution of the web
YouTube’s Olympian Recovery
I had a surreal experience yesterday driving here in Sonoma County. My Bluetooth speakerphone rang and it was YouTube calling. How many people get calls from YouTube? The message was simple: I’d written a column critical of YouTube’s live Olympic coverage and they wanted me to try again.
“We’ve made a few changes,” said the voice on the other end of the line.
“What changes?” I asked.
“Just try it,” the voice said.
And so I did. And YouTube was correct.
The service is better for live streaming the Olympics. I can now reliably connect at 720p on a computer that couldn’t do better than 360p before. It’s still not perfect with occasional stutters and 1080p is still […]
Steve Jobs — The Lost Interview available for preorder on Amazon.com
This DVD won’t ship until October, but it is ready for preorder right now on Amazon.com and might make a good Christmas gift for someone.
Additional material on the DVD not available anywhere else include a commentary audio track and my 2005 NeRDTV video interview with original Mac system programmer Andy Hertzfeld in which he talks about his Apple experiences and recounts the hilarious story of what happened when Steve Jobs apologized to Bill Gates for telling me that Microsoft had no taste. This 65 minute interview with Andy has never before been available in full resolution and is well worth having in its own right.
But then what do I know?
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Apple and Samsung: brands at war
I was supposed to be on CNN last night to comment on the Apple v. Samsung patent infringement trial that just started in San Jose, but then Mitt Romney insulted the Palestinians and I was bumped. The way these things work is CNN calls the day before so I have time to think up something pithy to say. The question now is what to do with all that pith? So I’m dumping it on you. Consider this the long distance view of this legal battle in the context of what it really is — brands at war.
As a practical matter, I think it is very unlikely that Apple can win based on its accusation of […]
YouTube might be the best place to watch the Olympics (if it doesn’t break)
Update at 7:00PM Saturday — It’s the speed of the PC. A dual-core 2-GHz iMac is jerky while a 2-GHz four-core I7 Mac Mini runs fine. A 2.4-GHz AMD four-core PC running Windows 7 Professional runs fine, too. But I can’t watch the Olympics on a 2 GHz iMac, a 2 GHz Mac Mini, or my mid-2010 MacBook Pro (also 2-GHz). All three computers have two cores and are at their max RAM. Yes, I can slow down the connection, but anything above 360p clearly has problems (240p is best) and this on a 25 mbps Internet connection. Understand that in each case I’m starting with the resolution setting on “auto,” so […]
