The next iPhone is going to look like iPhone4 and that is a good thing

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Greg C.

Tomorrow, Apple is going to release the next version of the iPhone, it will be called iPhone4S, and it will have the same form factor as the current iPhone. Â I am not sure why this is a surprise to anyone?

If you believeÂ Chinese iPhone case manufacturers, they think the next iPhone will have a teardrop design, but there is tons of evidence pointing to this being incorrect. Â I even wonder if the images of these cases are actually for iPodTouch. Â John Gruber has a great take on the teardrop skepticism.

The guts of the phone have definitely improved, faster processor, better camera, an option for 64GBs, and support for 4th Generation (4G/LTE) networks that AT&T, Verizon and Sprint have been building out so quickly this summer.

One of the nicer features we are getting with the next version of iOS is the ability to take a picture with the volume button on the side of the phone. Â I am pretty sure the teardrop design will render this feature useless.

So why is everyone going to freak out when Apple calls this an iPhone 4S, instead of 5? Â The phone is going to be a significant step forward but people are caught up by the look and feel and the silly version number. Â People think it’s not cool to have a new device if the outside is undistinguishable from the previous version. Â It makes it harder to show it off as a status symbol. Â Sometimes consumers drive me batty! Â 🙂

I think we are all missing the real point, we are getting a new phone that will run iOS5 which is a superior operating system to iOS4, and depending on your view an OS with tight integration with both Twitter and Facebook. Â And who can forget about iCloud, Music Match and the magazine store front. Â Tomorrow’s announcement is going to be huge, I just hope Tim Cook and others can fend off the criticism if the phone looks the same.

Netflix Moves in the Correct Direction

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Greg C.

Even if no one else understands the move Netflix made today in separating their DVD business and streaming business. Â The plan was set in motion months ago when they changed their pricing models forcing streaming customers to sign up for a separate DVD package.

Qwikster, Netflix’s new name for their DVD business, was set up to deal with an antiquated Supreme Court ruling in 1908 referred to as “first sale doctrine.” Â The doctrine says:

The doctrine allows the purchaser to transfer (i.e.,Â sell, lend or give away) a particular lawfully made copy of the copyrighted work without permission once it has been obtained.

This is the basis for Netflix’s DVD business, but in the streaming world the rules are different. Â In the streaming world, Netflix has to negotiate the rights to stream each movie. Â Talking with friends at the company over a year ago, it sounded like a nightmare to do this, and I am not sure how it can scale.

But ignoring the scaling issue for a second, the real reason Netflix had issues making streaming the core business was that the deals that were being negotiated were based on the number of Netflix users (not streaming users, ALL USERS!). Â By making users choose which format they want to consume media, it allows Netflix to be able to more easily negotiate the streaming rights to movies. Â The argument was that too many Netflix users who were only consuming media via DVDs clicked a checkbox to get streaming too even though they never used it.

While everyone is talking about Netflix’s blunders and their tanking stock price, I hold a contrarian view that they are moving the in the right direction. Â Bottom the ship with regards to registered streaming users (Netflix filed papers with the SEC they were going to stop reporting this number purposely), and then pay the streaming rights for the people who really want streaming which will control Netflix’s costs.

Its a dangerous strategy, especially the way Netflix has gone about executing it, but once the fervor dies down, Netflix will be in a stronger position for the future.

Remembering 9/11

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Greg C.

Years ago I wrote a post on AOL Journals about September 11th, 2001 and the memories of the day. While I can’t link to that post anymore since AOL Journals was retired at the end of 2007, I still have the text from the post.

The day started like any other for me. Â I got to AOL very early, around 8AM, thanks to living 10 minutes away from the office. Â We were preparing for a release, and at that time the AIM build machine was in the QA Lab on the 3rd floor. Â To make sure all the builds were kicking off properly I went up to the lab at 830A. Â The TV in the lab had The Today Show on and in the next 18 minutes my view of the world was about to change. Â The build was long done by the time the second plane hit the World Trade Center, but I was not about to stop watching. Â Already shaken up by watching a plane crash into WTC, at about 940A, the fear hit much closer to home as images appeared of an explosion at the Pentagon. Â Being directly under the flight path for Dulles where planes landing come over the building at about 500 feet, AOL decided to evacuate the buildings. Â Life changed that day for me, as it did for countless others I am sure, but for that hour I was in the QA lab will sit with me forever.

One thing I remember most about that day is how AIM kept everyone connected. Â Phone lines were tied up and email did not always work, but people’s online presence on AIM was reassuring to see and to know they were OK. Â We heard from users for weeks after the attacks that AIM helped them through that day.

On September 11th, 2011 we need to never forget what happen 10 years ago.

Weiner is at fault, but is Twitter partially responsible?

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Greg C.

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All of us our sick of hearing about Anthony Weiner and all the jokes that are associated with what he did and his name. Â Everyone says the guy is an idiot, and I agree he is an idiot for lying. Â Some of my technology compatriots have said he is an idiot for not knowing how Twitter works, but this is where my views differ.

As the story goes, Weiner got himself in trouble when he typed the “@” symbol, which in Twitter speak means you are mentioning the person’s name instead of the letter “d,” which means you are sending a private message to the person, when he composed his tweet. Â As a result a “private” direct message became a public message. Â Are you kidding? Â How intuitive is that? Â From a product, Twitter is lacking the fit and finish, and I am putting that kindly. Â It is the reason that there are tons of 3rd party Twitter clients and that it is a tool that most people use to read tweets instead of write tweets. Â Perhaps Apple and iOS will make Twitter a better product for the massess to use and contribute to.

Weiner is wrong for lying and that is why he is being asked to resign. Â He even may be an idiot for not knowing the difference between typing an “@” and a “d,” but Twitter has done a poor job in evolving the product around the syntax that is being created around its product. Â The hashtag, @ mentions, direct mentions, replies, and retweets, all have made Twitter a better product, but how it is implemented in Twitter.com is very unintuitive.

Haters Gonna Hate — But Google Wallet is Significant

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Greg C.

Google announced their Google Wallet program today where your phone is now your wallet. Â This is made possible thanks to Near Field Communication, NFC, which I wrote back at the beginning of the year was key to so much of what Google was up to. Â The test will begin this summer and run in 4 cities, and expansion to other cities will follow.

One particular “early review” from Jay Yarow at AlleyInsider says that adoption will be slow because using a credit card is too easy. Â I think that is really near-sighted and here is why:

Security of your credit card in public places continues to be a problem. Â In the UK for example, when you pay for a meal at a restaurant, they bring the credit card reader to your table so you can watch them scan the card.
Not everyone has the ability to have a credit card, as rules tighten around credit, and I assume they will continue to do so, Google Wallet gives parents the ability to distribute money to their kids to use.
Local deal and advertising via Google Wallet is going to be huge thanks to Google Offers. Â While it is not a Groupon killer, Google has a head start on getting deals out to Android/Wallet users.
5 years from now will we think about carrying a wallet, or will a single device do it all? Â I am guessing/hoping it will be a single device.
Google just sent a huge shot across Apple’s bow with this feature. Â I believe Apple will make some kind of NFC announcement at WWDC in 10 days, how can they not?

So haters can hate, but Google moved the ball down the field today with this announcement and for the first time since getting an iPhone 3+ years ago, it makes me question whether it’s time to switch.

AIM and Google Talk Federate…Off with the Multihead

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Greg C.

Can we finally put to rest the multiheaded IM clients that require me to log into 5 different services? Â My former colleagues at AOL finally turned on federation with Google after 4 years of Google running an AIM multiheaded server in their data center.

The Old AIM GTalk Multihead Logo

Turning off the multihead unwinds one of the most over engineered solutions in the history of messaging. Â When AOL and Google did the original deal around messaging in 2006, we were not ready to do federation, so we proposed a multihead. Â At the time the negotiations started Google only had a desktop client, but soon after we started talking Google unleashed something called Caribou on us. Â Caribou was the code name of Gtalk in GMail, and needless to say it threw a wrench into our plans. Â In the end Google wrote a server side multiheaded experience using a client side library that had to handle 1000s of threads. Â It was a miracle it worked, and a lot of great engineers made it happen. Â Thank goodness we can turn it off now.

With federation comes the hope that we can break down the walls of the IM networks that have existed for 12+ years. Â For users they get the ability to talk to their friends regardless of networks and use the application they like best. Â For the networks, federation means an application battle royale. Â Personally, I will use GTalk when I am at my laptop at work since we use Google Apps here at Clearspring. Â For my iPhone and iPad I use AIM because Google’s mobile experience on iOS is lacking.

Let’s hope that the other networks can figure out how to federate with each other and we can all stop using clunky multiheaded IM applications.

Sum of the Web

Greg's new blog about the web, DC, sports and all things social.

Category Archives: Technology