Things found and ideas about technology, business, music, culture and more — a blog of sorts by Shawn Yeager.
Strong, no-nonsense language from Penguin’s CEO John Makinson:
The iPad represents the first real opportunity to create a paid distribution model that will be attractive to consumers.We will be embedding audio, video and streaming in to everything we do.The definition of the book itself is up for grabs.Asked how he felt about Apple’s 30-percent cut:
This is better than the equivalent print agency model, in which publishers let retailers keep 50 percent.
iTunes Store launched in 2003, with 25 millions songs sold by year-end. By early 2006 the number was 1 billion. By mid-2008 the number was over 5 billion. 18 months later that number has now doubled. Astounding.
While I’m sure you guys will concoct plenty of things we haven’t even begun to imagine, the things we’re super-excited to see are any completely new ways to visualize your Dashboard content. Check out Tumblr on Boxee for some inspiration.
Developers: We want to build the most robust, unique, and useful API we can, and your feedback is essential. Please pass on your thoughts and requests once you get started!
The Tumblr Staff on their evolving API.
That, folks, is how it’s done; no waiting until it’s deemed bullet-proof to release. Put it out there, let those who are driven to do so kick the tires, then learn, improve, and do it all over again.
The Neo Gramophone: Audio as Sculptural Artwork
The Neo Gramophone is both a throwback and step forward in one, with a polygonal minimal-modernist speaker form which hearkens back to an era of scratchy vinyl audio while actually abandoning the former medium for an updated feature of streaming audio via Bluetooth, complete with hidden subwoofer inside it’s horn speaker housing.
This is a great run down by Gabriel Nijmeh of the flurry of activity that’s occurred over the past two months, from funding to new launches to analyst insights.
Good for a laugh, and yet this was the the effective state of affairs not so long ago. Indistinguishable from magic, indeed.
(via suzannexie)
Chris Anderson, Editor of Wired Magazine, describes the impact of DVR on his kids in The Decade of DVR
(via Mike Hudack)
Ann Trubek, “Handwriting is History”
(via Christopher Butler)
Though I cling to the nostalgia of handwriting and still get great satisfaction from seeing elegant, cursive writing, I confess that mine has devolved over the years to the point of embarrassment. I simply don’t write enough to maintain the skill, save the occasional notes scribbled in my Moleskin during meetings or the annual batch of Christmas cards — less legible every year.
But to Trubek’s main point, I’m not sure I agree. Does it truly allow us more time to think, or do we merely rush on to the next thought or task with the time saved by typing?
