Category: Technology

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Technology

The Need To Link

From Marco Arment’s post Stop Not Linking (which links to Stop Not Linking by Matthew Panzarino):

But the bigger problem is the practice of news sites rewriting articles from source sites while adding little to no original value. In those cases, where they put the source link doesn’t matter, because as I wrote a few months ago, they replace the need to view the source article.

I try to link as clearly as possible to the source material and this is the reason why (along with everything else in those two articles). Seemingly the larger the publication, the worse it is.

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Technology

Apple’s Podcast App

Apple has released a dedicated Podcast app for iOS and, like most things, it is …

POLARIZING THE INTERNET!

Oh no, who didn’t see this coming?

Head on over to Curious Rat and read his thoughts, he nailed it.

  • This is a simple app … so if you are looking for all of the advanced features of your favorite podcast application, you are not going to find them (shout out to my favorite: Instacast).
  • It’s a free app.
  • I, personally, like the funny tape deck UI that is under the cover art. It’s funny and I only have to see it as often as I want to because I usually start a podcast and then … DO SOMETHING ELSE. If you are a person who feels the need to stare at your podcast app while it plays, find something else.
  • Definitely a 1.0 release. There are some obvious missing things (like syncing your library over iCloud), but this is an initial release of what is supposed to be a simple podcast listening application.
  • We really need to lighten up about the UI decisions that companies make. It is fine to state what you like better, but stating, definitively, that a design or design decision is the WORST POSSIBLE THING THAT YOU COULD HAPPEN IN THE UNIVERSE is not just ridiculous … it’s juvenile. Let’s try and be better. I’m guilty of this too.
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Technology

Terrible Facebook

Facebook is again being a pain (link to Lifehacker). They have gone through and changed the primary email address to their own @facebook.com address.

Bad move Facebook.

Go in and change it back to your own so that people can contact you at YOUR OWN email address. Just another shady move by Facebook.

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Technology

Microsoft’s Surface

Not much to say because there hasn’t been much really shown yet.

The hardware looks decent and it is a huge step for Microsoft to build their own hardware. No one has really used it all that much and a lot of details are still missing.

Reserving judgement until I can actually see and touch it.

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Technology

Contrived Apple Kerfuffles

A week away and so much crud being written about technology. I’ll just comment briefly on the main Apple controversies that erupted over that time.

Non-upgradability of new MacBook Pro

Honestly? I think Apple was very clear with where they were headed with every single design they have rolled out since the … iMac? This is a complete non-issue. If you don’t like what Apple is selling, go elsewhere.

Here are two articles that pretty much echo my thoughts on this completely:

It is just not a big deal at all. Next please?

Sandbox Rules in the Mac App Store

I think Apple has been pretty transparent about their application stores that it is meant for the average consumer. On iOS you don’t have an option … besides jail-breaking the device.

On OS X, you do (and you still will after Mountain Lion).

Which is why TextExpander going away from the App Store makes perfect sense and is a complete non-story … again.

Ben Brooks over at The Brooks Review pretty much pulled his thoughts from my mind.

There are always going to be apps that I need to go outside of the App Store to grab for my Mac because that is how I use my Mac. It would be immensely useful if every piece of software could be downloaded through the App Store, but Apple has decided to leave open the ability for people to install software outside of the App Store and the rules are going to push out programs because there is another avenue.

It is a non-story for the Mac because there IS an alternative.