seanmonstar

As Shawn Blanc puts it:

When they say the iPad is not a PC what they mean is: there’s no way I would or could give up my PC and use an iPad instead.

Some people seem to think that tablets are not PCs. They aren’t desktop computers, that’s true. But these new devices, tablets and especially smartphones, are more personal than my desktop is. My phone is the most personal computer I’ve owned to date.

Alex Knight:

Apple simply can’t make enough of them as we speak to even fulfill demand. So how is it that anyone can believe more users are going to care about the platform’s restrictions?

It seems true that most people don’t care that much about the restrictions. I’d say its similar to how many people don’t care about the privacy issues with our browsing the internet. Go ask a random person is Starbucks if they’re concerned that Google records their searches, or has their email. Many will say they’ve never thought about it, and shrug and continue to use Google.

What is important, though, is that there are people who do care, and fight, for all of us.

Samsung, regarding upgrading the Galaxy S software to Android 4:

A full update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for the GALAXY Tab(7-inch) and GALAXY S is not practicable due to hardware limitations.

This, as the Nexus S (which is the same internal hardware) is running Android 4 right now.

If an OEM were to release less phones a year, but provide excellent support for them for more than a year¹, I could strongly recommend to my friends to only buy from them. But I can’t recommend Samsung, since they don’t.

I can only recommend Google’s Nexus brand, now.

John Gruber on the threat of Google:

A different perspective would be that Google is the bigger threat, and that using Apple products is a way to better protect our privacy and personal information.

This was in response to Dave Winer suggesting why he uses Android:

If there is no alternative to iOS then Apple will have exclusive control over what makes it to market. That is a future none of us should want to live in.

I agree that both threats are very real. Which is why I hope neither wins, but that they continue to compete, forcing each other to be less evil.

When people ask me why they should use Chrome or Firefox, I tell them that feature-wise they’re pretty competitive. This sums up the difference greatly:

This is a Google product and it has to benefit Google. It isn’t merely about making the web better, it is also about promoting Google products and giving them an advantage over competing services. […] Even if it requires violating your privacy.

Firefox wants the web to be better, and Chrome wants Google to be better.

Me, 18 months ago:

As money: Paper money and even credit cards can be a hassle. Credit cards especially suck at letting us split the bill at a restaurant with 20 people. It’d be to everyone’s advantage if a vendor could broadcast a bill (or a money request), and we could accept on our device. Or if a friend needs to borrow a couple hundred or a thousand dollars. Sure, here you go [press button]. It will happen.

It is happening.