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iPod program helps school test scores

An iPod pilot program in an Oregon classroom lifted math and reading scores. Results from that single pilot inspired the Canby School District to provide iPod Touch access to all its third graders.

Xcode 4 Preview 2 Now Available

For those of you fellow iPad and iPhone developers out there, a preview version of Xcode 4 has been released. I'm personally looking forward to the integrated single window in the IDE, as opposed to multiple separate applications, the enhanced debugger, and enhanced code editing and navigation tools. Not to mention, the faster LLVM 2.0 compiler.

App Inventor and the culture wars

Google's new App Inventor gets to the heart of the cultural difference between Apple and Google. If you haven't seen it yet, App Inventor is an experimental new SDK for the Android platform. What's different about App Inventor is that there's practically no coding per se; it's an entirely visual language. Its heritage goes back to Logo, but more directly,...

Check Mate: Apple's iPad and Google's Next Move

There is an axiom that the biggest game-changers often result from ideas that, at first blush, seem easy to dismiss. So it goes with yesterday's launch of the iPad, Apple's entry into what they call the 'third category' of device -- the middle ground that exists between smartphone and laptop. Why is the iPad (seemingly) so easy to dismiss? Well, for one, it is an evolutionary device when conventional wisdom suggests that it needs to be a revolutionary device to find a wedge into a new market. In this instance, conventional wisdom is just plain off base.

Ruminations on Apple Q1, 2010 Earnings Call and Investor "Dead Zones"

Listening to Apple's earnings call today, then the chatter across a number of technology, investing and Apple-focused sites, and finally, watching the stock go up, down and sideways, I am reminded that when you are working from the wrong narrative, faulty storylines are destined to emerge. Read more.

Google Android: on Inevitability, the Dawn of Mobile, and the Missing Leg

If for no other reason than the 'Anyone but Apple' crowd needs an alternative, there is an 'inevitability' meme associated with Google's Android initiative. But, is their success in the market really inevitable? Over a year after Android's launch, the jury is still out. Read more.

Steve Jobs is the closest thing to Walt Disney since Walt Disney

Steve Jobs is the closest thing to Walt Disney since Walt Disney, now forever bound by Pixar. If you believe in karma, how can you not think that it's pretty cool that Jobs ended up as the largest individual shareholder in Disney, an active board member who now is helping Disney re-boot its retail efforts!

It's in the Bag! The Apple Tablet Computing Device

In the past 25 years, the 'personal' computing revolution has evolved from tethered (desktop) to luggable (portable) to joined-at-the-hip (mobile). The author argues that the next wave of computing will extend this level of personal attachment to the bag-carrying consumer (think: purses, backpacks and briefcases) when Apple releases it’s much rumored Tablet Computing Device. Read more

Rebooting the Book (One Apple iPad Tablet at a Time)

The book business is under assault. Book sales have been stagnating for some time, Amazon is the industry's boogeyman, and more terrifying, book publishers have no idea how to market books in a world (largely) devoid of bookstores. Moreover, in the age of the always on, it's fair to ask, do people even still read anymore? Just as it re-envisioned the Media Player, the Mobile Phone and Mobile Computing, Apple is well positioned to reboot the Book with its forthcoming iPad Tablet. Read on...

Touch Traveler: London, Paris and only an iPod Touch

Recently, I spent two weeks vacationing in London and Paris with only an iPod Touch for communications and connectivity. Mind you, I am not suggesting that this was a wise thing to do, but it's what I did, and this post captures the good, bad and ugly of the experience.

APPLE is EVIL, You’re All Fanboys and other half-truths

There is a meme afoot. Apple is evil. Its arrogant ways and dependence on the cult of personality are to be its demise. Developers are said to be unhappy. And, Apple Secrecy Doesn’t Scale. Google-ification is the way, the RIGHT way. The Apple Way can’t possibly persist ad infinitum. You Apple fanboys; you just don’t get it. Ol’ Steve (Jobs)...

The Sizzling Sound of Music

Are iPods changing our perception of music? Are the sounds of MP3s the music we like to hear most? Jonathan Berger, professor of music at Stanford, was on a panel with me at a meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Mountain View, CA on Saturday. Berger's presentation had a slide titled: "Live, Memorex or MP3." He...

The Strange Co-existence of iPod Functionality with Other Audio Apps

I've been experimenting with AOL Radio, Last.fm, and voice recording apps to get a better sense of the iPhone's ability to be a general purpose audio device. In the course of regular use over the past three weeks, I'm really...

Photographing Nature in Studio

Sometimes the best way to photograph something natural is indoors, using a studio setup. This kind of studio doesn't have to be anything fancy, although you do have to pay attention to light and exposure. Often, the setup for indoor still life photography of natural objects such as flowers, shells, and insects is pretty ad-hoc and jury rigged. Case in...