Eric Sink on iPad

Last night I (Eric Sink) saw this article, which basically says the one day soon computers won't present the user with the ability to manipulate 'files' anymore.
Suddenly, I had stuff to say. But I've been using Twitter, which limits me to 140 characters. So, I Tweeted this:

We're heading toward two classes of computers: one for people like me, and one for people like my Mom.

(And BTW, Mom, usually when I mention you on the Internet, I'm not really talking about you. You're a metaphor for "normal people", those who use computers to get things done, as opposed to geeks like me, who use computers just because they are shiny.) Anyway, I thought the tweet would be enough. It wasn't.

In the beginning, we were the only ones here. Normal people didn't use computers at all. Only the geeks used computers, and we certainly weren't using them to get anything done. I remember my Mom saying that she would never use a computer. (Mom, this one is actually you.) And I certainly can't blame her for thinking that at the time. She had no reason to see computers as a way of getting things done. All she knew is that I would periodically run into the family room to announce to my parents that I had just shaved three more instructions out of the main loop so now my graphics move faster. And Mom just wanted me to at least stack my Byte magazines in the corner so she could get the vacuum cleaner through.

Fast forward to today. Computers, by and large, are still designed for geeks. This is why we all buy T-shirts that say "No, I will not fix your computer". The genius of the iPad is that it cannot get things like viruses. It is a closed platform. You can't put apps on it. You can't write and distribute software for it without Apple's permission. This is why geeks hate it and normal people will love it.

Your Mom wants a computer she doesn't have to ask you to fix. She is willing to trade power and flexibility to get simplicity. The iPad is another major step. I find this interesting because it raises all kinds of questions:

• The industry is finally ready to sell things that make geeks feel frustrated instead of things that make normal people feel helpless. What does this mean for geeks and our role in society?
  
• How is the terminology going to shake out? Surely we need two different names? Things that geeks use should probably still be called "computers". What should we call the class of devices that helpnormal people manage their Amazon wish list?
  
• We geeks will become the minority market niche. How will this affect the pricing of things? Will there be sufficient economies of
  scale to sell computers to geeks at margins that are tolerable to both buyer and seller?
  
• What kinds of computers/devices will get caught in the middle and suddenly have no place in the world?
  
• What classes of users are going to be special cases? I'm talking about folks that are not geeks but that for some other reason cannot accept the power/simplicity tradeoff of devices designed for normal people.

This is a major wave of change. I don't know the answers to these questions. The only thing that seems clear to me is that Microsoft will miss this wave just like they missed the last one.

Cloud 1 og 2, where do YOU want to be?

TechCrunch talks about the new Cloud. I know where iFacturas will be. Do you?

Manage your FreshBooks expenses on the go

FreshBooks on iPhone and Anroids : "

ExpenseBooks puts all of your expenses in the palm of your hands.

One of the biggest requests we get time after time, is more mobile support for FreshBooks. That’s why we’re happy to announce ExpenseBooks, a mobile expense tracking application brought to you by Mobomo. ExpenseBooks is available today, for both the iPhone and Android smartphones.

ExpenseBooks works directly with your FreshBooks account, and is perfect for those of you that use FreshBooks to keep track of all of your expenses. ExpenseBooks allows you to create, edit and delete expenses on the go. Don’t have constant access to the Internet? No problem! ExpenseBooks lets you work offline and then syncs the data when your connection is back up and running.

Now, you don’t have to wait to get back to your desk to record your latest expense. With ExpenseBooks, you can even do it while your waiter is bringing your change!

ExpenseBooks is available through iTunes and the Android Marketplace (version 1.6 and above). As usual, visit our add-ons page to learn more about ExpenseBooks, and the rest of our add-ons.

Microsoft plays Tag with the bar code

Ars Technica says Microsoft plays Tag with the bar code: "

Microsoft Tag, whose slogan is 'Linking real life with the digital world,' is another stab at digital scanners that aim to connect printed materials with online content. The advantage of Microsoft Tag, which first began as a Microsoft Research project and was unveiled at CES 2009, over previous digital scanner attempts is that it doesn't require a special device. It's simply software that you can load on your cell phone; the phone's camera is used for scanning the bar code and the digital content shows up on the phone, provided your phone is online. Microsoft Tag can run on devices from basic Java phones to smartphones, including Windows Mobile devices, BlackBerrys, and iPhones.

Over the past year, the tags have started showing up in magazines, newspapers, yellow pages, and public transportation tickets, though they can also be placed on business cards, directly on products, and even on large billboards. The tags can link to anything on the Web: be that additional information on a product, interactive content, or just a company's website. CNET has a video up that demonstrates exactly what the technology is all about:

Since advertisers and publishers can set up tags by themselves, and the technology is freely available to try for anyone who is interested, the Microsoft Tag team is only four people right now. Microsoft thus has a little bit of trouble keeping track of everyone that uses the technology since it does not charge companies that want to create a tag or for the reader software itself. 'It's the hyperlink in the physical world. We believe the basic services we provide now are going to be free,' Marja Koopmans, Marketing Director of Online Services at Microsoft, told CNET. Microsoft may charge for more advanced services sometime in the future though, she said.

Erik Meijer and Team: Cloud Data Programmability - Connecting the Distributed Dots | Going Deep | Channel 9

Connecting the Distributed Dots | Going Deep | Channel 9

You are your website

Building a brand on the Web:

Where customers spend their time is where you build your brand. Organizations need to stop trying to use traditional advertising techniques to create false images. For an increasing number of customers, you are your website. It's about time senior management woke up to that fact.

MVVM, MVC and MIX10

We got the MVC inventor, Trygve Reenskaug in as an mentor, in order to inspire and check that we made a true MVC implementation of our product, and And after struggling with the MVVM variant a half year, we are pleased to see that we are not alone ;-)

Shawn Wildermuth: "The MIX conference this year had an open call for sessions, and 12 sessions were voted by the public out of 169. Surprisingly (or maybe not that surprisingly in fact), 3 sessions out of the 12 have the MVVM pattern in their title."

How many PCs in the world have the .NET Framework installed?

I did a second .NET Framework features informal poll recently, and as with all .NET related polls the question comes up: How many PCs have the .NET Framework on it?

If you're a company that is considering creating a client application using .NET (not Silverlight, but the .NET Framework) you'd probably like to know if your end-user needs to install something extra to use your app.

So I started asking questions. We've said things here and there about the pervasiveness of the .NET Framework but I wanted to get the final word (at the time of this writing) and put it somewhere easy to fine.

After some digging, here's what I've got:

• Well over 90% of the PCs in the world have some version of the .NET Framework installed.
• Over 65% of Windows PCs in the world have .NET 3.5 SP1 installed.

This is a lot higher than I thought, and it's pretty cool.

The .NET Framework is smaller than you'd think (that's why I wrote SmallestDotNet). The very small .NET 4 Client Profile makes it easier (both speed and download size) to put .NET on a machine.

I think these numbers will help folks who might be considering using .NET for a client application.

© 2009 Scott Hanselman. All rights reserved.

Apple Dominated With Nearly 100% of Mobile App Sales in 2009 [Apple]

Gizmodo explains: "

Say what you will about platforms, but in 2009, Apple's App Store absolutely pwnd the paid mobile app space—selling 99.4% of the $4.2 billion market single-handedly, according to ars technica.

All this data is based upon research by Gartner, who claims that, should sale trends continue, Apple could retain 2/3 of the paid mobile app market into 2010 (amidst growing competition from Android, Palm, RIM, etc). Of course, if Apple releases an app-wielding tablet, market share could error greatly in their favor again.

(Note: there's some discrepancy in these numbers, as Engadget counters ars' 99.4% number crunching with a 97.5%. Whatever, either way, it's enough of the market to mean every other retailer was moot in 2009.)[Ars and Gartner]

Apple has 99.4% of mobile app sales in 2009

Apple responsible for 99.4% of mobile app sales in 2009: "

The latest report from market research firm Gartner suggests that mobile apps are big business, and that business should only grow in the next few years. According to Gartner's numbers, Apple completely owns this market, grabbing almost every one of the 4.2 billion dollars spent on mobile apps in 2009. Based on Gartner's estimates and our own analysis, Apple could hold on to at least two-thirds of the market if current sales trends hold for 2010.

Apple first opened the App Store in July 2008, along with the launch of the iPhone 3G and the release of iPhone OS 2.0. Sales were brisk, with 300 million apps sold by December. After the holidays, that number had jumped to 500 million. Earlier this month, Apple announced that sales had topped 3 billion; that means iPhone users downloaded 2.5 billion apps in 2009 alone. Gartner's figures show another 16 million apps that could come from other platform's recently opened app stores, giving Apple at least 99.4 percent of all mobile apps sold for the year.

La creación de empresas sube por primera vez en dos años y medio

La creación de empresas sube por primera vez en dos años y medio: "La creación de empresas ha logrado cerrar noviembre con su primer repunte tras dos años y medio de caída. Según ha publicado hoy el INE, en el penúltimo mes de 2009 se dieron de alta 6.947 sociedades, un 4,6% más que en el mismo periodo de 2008."

My first iPhone app submitted!

I’ve just submitted my first iPhone apps to Apple Store. In my company we have scheduled next Saturday to do an iPhone app stunt, trying to get something out during twelve hours. But it’s a long time to next Saturday. It was too long for me at least…

So this Saturday morning I got an offer of 75% off the $199 price on www.AppMakr.com through http://startupTodo.com, which had managed to get this with a little help from Guy Kawasaki at http://blog.guykawasaki.com

AppMakr.com, as of now, seems best to create a news app showing different news feeds. I have a lot more feeds than I really can manage, and the possibility to have them joined inn an app was appalling.

I followed a guide in startupTodo.com showing the process. AppMakr also have its own wizard which are pretty easy to follow, at least if you have graphics and feeds in the right format – that’s it. But this was not what I had…

My nice graphics didn’t have the correct pixel formats. iPhone is very restrictive, and will have the graphics at an excact size. So I had to try, try, try and I finally got something that wasn’t too bad. The AppMakr wizard cropped my images a bit, but they are still nice. As a splash-screen I used a painting of my late cousin Annette Hide of Calendula Officinalis. It is a bit cropped on the side, but still pretty cute.

For the logo I used the ones created by Toni Tito in Summa Summarium SL and myself. They also had to be cropped. If I had access to a 24/7 designer they would helped me, but now I have to get some graphic software myself, and learn to crop and size.

The feeds were a lot of work to find. AppMakr doesn’t have the ability to search for feeds in a website, so you must be exact. www.iakttakelser.com and www.noexcuseaccounting.com feeds did I found deep in the bloggers menu-system. The feed to the company’s Facebook page was very difficult to get. Doing search in Google and tests in yahoo! Pipes, I settled of this http://www.facebook.com/feeds/page.php?format=atom10&id=153623487303. At least it is working now. But Facebook is known to change feed addresses repeatedly…

After some work on Twitter I chose to use http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/70394454.rss. I also added two of my earlier blogs which should be given more attention.

Flash to Silverlight Guide : Project Rosetta

Flash to Silverlight Guide : Project Rosetta

Rumor: Windows Mobile 7 Will Have Gestures, Really Debut in February [Windows Mobile 7]

There's still some question about whether Windows Mobile 6.6 or Windows Mobile 7 will be shown in February, but a solid tipster just told us that it will be WM7. And then he describes it.

Rumor: Windows Mobile 7 Will Have Gestures, Really Debut in February [Windows Mobile 7]: "
Here are a couple things described about WinMo 7 that mesh with the rumors we've heard before. First, it'll have the Natal-like gestures to be able to use the phone without touching it. We first heard about gestures on WM7 two years ago, and then prinkled about the rumors in the past year.
Then, he says that you won't be able to upgrade to Windows Mobile 7, because the OS actually requires you to have better hardware (faster processor, more memory, etc) and includes support for the motion-sensing gestures above.
This bit also meshes with the rumored specs of the 'Zune phone', which is basically Windows Mobile 7. From that rumor:

ARM v6+ processor, with an Open GL ES 2.0-capable graphics chip-this may be the TI3430 or the Nvidia Tegra. To show all the eye candy there will be a 3.5' 800 x 480 or 854 x 480 pixels touchscreen. The specification also points out at other things in Pink, like 3-megapixel camera, GPS, light sensor, 3-axis compass, accelerometer, USB, Bluetooth, and full Wi-Fi support.

But then how does that account for the HD2, which HTC Russia claimed will be getting a WM7 upgrade? Because HD2 is basically the top of the line right now, which—looking at its specs—put it into the Windows Mobile 7-capable category.
So yes, it seems like we'll be seeing Windows Mobile 7 at Mobile World Congress in February. It better be pretty damn good for Microsoft's projection of being able to regain 25% of the phone market by 2014.
Thanks tipster!

Famous Knots of the World Illustrated in Earbuds [Image Cache]

Famous Knots of the World Illustrated in Earbuds [Image Cache]: "
I can't tie a sheepshank knot off the top of my head, but more than once, I'm pretty sure I've tangled one by accident. (Yes, this is a Ford Sync ad, but it's quite clever.) [AdsoftheWorld via 9GAG via TheNextWeb]

Delay's Blog : "I feel the need... the need for SPEED!" [Seven simple, performance-boosting tweaks for common Silverlight/WPF Charting scenarios]

Delay's Blog : "I feel the need... the need for SPEED!" [Seven simple, performance-boosting tweaks for common Silverlight/WPF Charting scenarios]

Telerik Silverlight Roadmap 2010

Silverlight/WPF

• General Improvements
  - Major focus on streamlining control templates, minimizing assembly size (SL), streamlining/simplifying control templates, and improving animations/transitions (i.e. a major "improve what you've got" release)
  - SL4 beta support (this release will still be primarily SL3, though)
• New Controls
  - (Beta) RadEditor for SL & WPF(!): based on SL4, early preview (this control will grow in 2010)
  - (Official) RadMap for SL & WPF: Official release of control intro'd in Q309
  - Transition control: new tool for making animation configuration easier
• (Other) Major Improvements
  - RadGridView: Built-in paging UI
  - RadChart: New optimizations for handling millions of data points
  - RadScheduler: New UI virtualization for better handling of many appointments

The App Store Economy is Booming [Apps]

The App Store Economy is Booming [Apps]: "
We've already followed the iPhone money, but this follow-up infographic from GigaOm proves what we suspected all along: the real money's in apps. [GigaOm]

Let's just add in a little virality

Josh Kopelman, Managing Director of First Round Capital tells:

It happens all the time. I’m meeting with an entrepreneur, who is telling me about a really innovative product idea for a consumer website. And I’m liking it. We’re going back and forth on product ideas. And before I know it, we’re approaching the end of our meeting. I then ask them, “So, how are you going to acquire customers.” And that’s when it happens. That’s when I realize that they’ve spent all their time focusing on the product/site, and aren’t nearly as innovative when it comes to their customer acquisition plans. They view marketing as something they can “bolt on” afterwards.

The most disappointing answer is when they say “Oh, we’ll just make it viral.” As if virality is something you can choose to add in after the product is baked - like a spell checker. Let’s imagine the conversation at the marketing department of the wireless phone companies. “Let’s see. Should we spend $4 Billion on advertising this year…or should we just make it viral?”.

Redeye VC: Let's just add in a little virality

Google y Apple, en el Olimpo bursátil · ELPAÍS.com

Google y Apple, en el Olimpo bursátil · ELPAÍS.com: "Los dos grandes protagonistas han sido Google, que fortalece su posición dominante en Internet, y Apple, capaz de reinventarse a sí misma por enésima vez, esta vez con el iPhone como bandera.
Apple ni siquiera aparecía a finales de 2008 en la lista de las 50 empresas del mundo con mayor valor en Bolsa y este año ha logrado escalar hasta la undécima posición, con una capitalización de 132.000 millones de euros, más del cuádruple que Nokia. La finlandesa era hasta hace pocos años todopoderosa en la telefonía celular y la primera empresa de la zona euro por valor en Bolsa. El arrollador éxito del iPhone, que ha revolucionado el mundo de las aplicaciones para móviles, ha permitido a la compañía revalorizarse un 147% en 2009. Es la cuarta vez en los últimos seis años que las acciones de la compañía que dirige Steve Jobs suben más del 100%. Desde comienzos de 2003, su precio se ha multiplicado por 30. Sus iPod, sus portátiles o sus grandes tiendas han impulsado las ventas de la compañía.

Google, por su parte, ha pasado en un año del puesto 35º al 10º. Su historia bursátil es más corta que la de Apple, pero casi igual de exitosa. Tras asentar la hegemonía de su buscador, se ha lanzado a la conquista de nuevos mercados, desde los vídeos de You Tube a los sistemas operativos para móviles, pasando por la geolocalización o el software para ordenadores. Su próximo gran estreno será el Nexus One, su réplica del iPhone, que se vestirá de largo la semana entrante."

Apple's App Store: More than Three Billion Served

Apple's App Store: More than Three Billion Served: "

Apple announced that over three billion apps have now been downloaded from its barely-18-month-old App Store.

The App Store now offers over 100,000 apps--over 20,000 of which are games--to more than 50 million iPhone and iPod Touch users in 77 countries worldwide.

After years of lurking in the fringes of the smartphone market, mobile apps have taken center stage, as RIM, Microsoft, and other vendors rush to populate their own online stores for BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, and other devices.

"

Apple Now Selling 350 Apps Per Second

Apple Now Selling 350 Apps Per Second [Apple]: "
Heyzeusrollerbladingchrist. Apple has sold one billion apps since the two billion September 28 mark, reaching three billion in 98 days. That's 30,612,244 apps per day, 1,275,510 per hour, 121,043 per minute, 350 every second. Freakingnuts.

Apple's App Store Downloads Top Three Billion
CUPERTINO, Calif., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today announced that more than three billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store by iPhone® and iPod touch® users worldwide.
'Three billion applications downloaded in less than 18 months-this is like nothing we've ever seen before,' said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. 'The revolutionary App Store offers iPhone and iPod touch users an experience unlike anything else available on other mobile devices, and we see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon.'

How much is that in fart apps? And how many apps per minute would Apple sell if you counted time in dog years? What about fox years?

AppMakr Lets Anyone Be an iPhone App Developer (Not Really)

AppMakr Lets Anyone Be an iPhone App Developer (Not Really): "PointAbout has unveiled AppMakr, a service that lets developers cobble together basic content-focused iPhone apps in as little as an hour for $199.

As MediaPost reports, that compares well to the usual $10k+ budgets and weeks-to-months of development time the average iPhone app takes. But there's less here than meets the eye, as the service concentrates on text, video, and RSS-type services--not games, tools, utilities, or other rich media.

Still, it's an interesting concept. To get started, users enter a site address, upon which they receive a sample iPhone app built with content from that site within about 30 seconds. After that, publishers can customize the app by adding feeds, Twitter compatibility, new graphics, and so on--and then even sell the app in iTunes (pending approval) or hook into Google AdSense and AdMob for extra revenue streams.

The $199 price stamps an AppMakr logo on your app. For $499, developers get more control with separate Apple developer accounts, although AppMakr still handles provisioning, according to the report. A $99 discount coupon through January 15th is available to the first 1,000 users to sign up.

"

RIA jobs market trends: Silverlight vs Flex vs JavaFX

Several days ago I’ve received message with link to the InsideRIA. Mike Slinn of the InsideRIA has posted interesting article about job trends regarding Silverlight, Flex and JavaFX. If you go to the Indeed webpage and search for these keywords, you might be surprised. Here are some really interesting facts.
med henvisning til: RIA jobs market trends: Silverlight vs Flex vs JavaFX (vis på Googles sidewiki)

The US virtual economy is set to make billions

Virtual goods such as weapons or digital bottles of champagne traded in the US could be worth up to $5bn in the next five years, experts predict.

In Asia, sales are already around the $5bn mark and rapidly growing.

For many, virtual goods are one of the hottest trends in technology and are fuelling huge growth in the social gaming sector.

"This is just an exploding part of the gaming business right now, said venture capitalist Jeremy Liew.

"It is the most exciting area in gaming," he said.

Mr Liew, whose firm Lightspeed Venture Partners has invested $10m in virtual goods companies, said the rapid growth of the sector was unprecedented.

"We have seen companies go from nothing in the last 18-24 months to tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue."

med henvisning til: BBC News - The US virtual economy is set to make billions (vis på Googles sidewiki)