"They’re Selling a Screen With a Giant Calculator Attached to It. It’s Not a Cool Device Anymore."

Jonathan Geller at BGR posted an excellent article about the inside working of RIM based on interviews with current and former employees at the company:

RIM was hoping to blow through the 500,000 units and have carriers take orders for millions of additional PlayBooks, but that has not happened yet. Mike Lazaridis looks at it as, why aren’t people buying this tablet when it has the most powerful engine with respect to multitasking, and supports Flash? But consumers have spoken pretty loudly a number of times, and Mike unfortunately leads the product side and continues to miss the mark with the masses, a former RIM executive told me. “I don’t even see anyone in Waterloo walking around with a PlayBook that doesn’t work for RIM,” another former RIM employee said. One of the better quotes from the piece, as highlighted by John Gruber: They’re selling a screen with a giant calculator attached to it. It’s not a cool device anymore.

Jawbone's Next Product: Up

Kara Swisher writing for AllThingsD:

The new product is described as “an intelligent, wearable wristband with an application that combines tracking, analysis, social and motivational elements.” Jawbone, which makes a popular Bluetooth headset and also the Jambox wireless speaker, said Up will track a user’s movement, sleep patterns and nutrition. I love my Jambox. If Up is as good I can see this hurting the sales of Fitbit. My wife owns a Fitbit. She has difficulty in charging it and getting it to sync sometimes.

One Third Of iPhone Owners Think They Have 4G Service

Retrevo conducted a survey they titled "Confusion and Skepticism May Impede 4G Adoption". Shawn Blanc linked to this and commented:

Perhaps it is the “4″ in the iPhone 4 name (since the iPhone 3G was a 3G device) that leads to the false assumption that it’s a 4G iPhone. But I also wonder if it’s not an assumption about the device rather than an assumption about the network provider. As networks tout their newer, faster networks, perhaps those 34% of iPhone owners (as well as 29% Android owners and 24% BlackBerry owners) assume their phones are automatically a part of the 4G network. Call me a cynical bastard, but I think that if you look at most surveys conducted, anywhere from 10 - 30% of those surveyed will generally be ignorant enough about the subject being questioned to give surprising answers. See the 28% of the populace that still thought George Bush was doing a good job at the end of his failed presidency. The results of this survey don't surprise me, but then again, I'm pessimistic when it comes to the technical knowledge of the general populace. It comes with working in IT for over 10 years.

Mr. President: What Twitter Users Asked vs What The Press Asks

Boston.com analyzed the Tweets sent by Twitter users from 2 p.m. on Monday and the transcripts from White House press briefings for the past few weeks and compared them. I think a lot of Twitter users do a better job than the press at asking questions. See the results.

The AppStorm Guide to Google+

Matthew Guay, writing at App Storm:

While Facebook and Twitter have tweaked their design and added new features over time, Google+ includes a beautiful design and an incredible amount of features from day 1. With extra touches such as the Huddles video chat and an option to download your Google+ data, it’s easily a step beyond what we’ve come to expect from social networks. That said, the birrage of features can be overwhelming, and Twitter’s 140 character simplicity seemed refreshing after spending a morning in Google+. Look for a guest appearance by yours truly.

"Get Over It"

Nathan Hodge writing for the Wall Street Journal:

“Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is pretty simple,” he told a group of Marines at a base in South Korea. “It says, ‘Raise an army.’ It says absolutely nothing about race, color, creed, sexual orientation. Then later... “Get over it,” he said. “We’re magnificent, we’re going to continue to be. … Let’s just move on, treat everybody with firmness, fairness, dignity, compassion and respect. Let’s be Marines.” Micheal Barrett is THE Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, the top ranking non-commissioned office in the entire Corps. Read the whole article.

Draconian ISP Copyright Enforcement Coming Soon To Your Computer

Greg Sandoval writing for CNet:

After years of negotiations, a group of bandwidth providers that includes AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon are closer than ever to striking a deal with media and entertainment companies that would call for them to establish new and tougher punishments for customers who refuse to stop using their networks to pirate films, music and other intellectual property, multiple sources told CNET. The details... Participating ISPs are given plenty of leeway to choose how to proceed. They can select from a "menu" of responses outlined in the plan, such as throttling down an accused customer's bandwidth speed or limit their access to the Web. For example, a suspected pirate may be allowed to visit only the top 200 Web sites until they stop illegal file sharing. The subscriber may also be asked to participate in a program that educates them on copyright law and the rights of content creators. And the part that really pisses me off: In addition to the NCTA, the White House was also instrumental in encouraging the parties to reach an agreement, the sources confirmed. President Obama has vowed to step up the fight against piracy and counterfeiting, and his administration has lobbied Congress the past several years to pass new pro-copyright legislation while instructing federal law enforcement to make antipiracy a priority. Not why I voted for you, Mr. President. It's becoming more and more clear to me that both political parties are the enemies of consumers & technology.

Final Cut Pro X Released

Well. The day is finally here. Final Cut Pro X has been released. Already announced back in the spring, but just to reiterate the price has been cut from $999 to $299, a move that is sure to make Avid and Adobe nervous. You can buy it on the Mac App Store, right now. While no full featured reviews are out yet, Macworld has had an early release version for the past week or so and their excellent video guy Gary Adcock has written a first-look about the new application:

Apple has revamped Final Cut Pro's hands-on user experience in three major areas: Editing, media organization, and post-production workflow. New tools such as the Magnetic Timeline, Clip Connections, Compound Clips, and Auditions provide a smooth, intuitive editing experience. With the rise of data-centric workflows and tapeless video recording, organizational tools such as Content Auto-Analysis, Range-based keywords, and Smart Collections work in the background to automate formerly tedious and time-consuming manual processes. Post production workflows now offer customizable effects, integrated audio editing, color grading, and a host of streamlined delivery options.