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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 128

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NEWS

Nestle taps GPS tracking in modern Willy Wonka contest | Crave – CNET
Golden Ticket? I WANT ONE! Now, I definitely want to break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Bar!

Microsoft’s Office 365 Home Premium to cost $99.99 annually per subscription – Computerworld  $99.99 a year for up to 5 machines. NICE.

TIPS:

Duplicati: Interesting back up solution, using a “bring your own storage” aspect to secure, encrypted backup.

LifeHacker’s “Complete Guide to going Paperless”
DocuSign – try it

PICKS:

Steve:  CutePDF Writer
Tony: The WHITE iPhone 5

Tips, Picks, and More!

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 127

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Nerds going off the deep end!

iOS 6

Google Maps

Tips, Picks, and More!

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 126

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Do you still even use voicemail?

Blame Canada!

Tips, Picks, and More!

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 125

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More on Samsung vs. Apple

Facebook – making money?

Shop at the Apple Store WITHOUT getting arrested

Tips, Picks, and More!

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

On a whim, I replied with “Those darn customers…I mean…students.  ;)”

So, it begins…

I have long held the belief that there is something fundamentally odd, and broken, when it comes to the student/faculty relationships on most college campuses.  You see, I believe that students should be treated like valued customers.  Colleges and universities should work hard to attract AND retain students, and basic principles of customer service should be core the student/teacher relationships.  After all, for nearly all of us, our education is likely to rank as one of the top two investments we will make in our lifetime, right up there with buying a home.

Curiously, however, I struggle to think of a customer-like situation where the customer is demeaned to the degree that the undergraduate college student is.  I have been on many college campuses, and all of them are riddled with signs that say “No Student Parking!!”.  I have yet to see even one sign that says “Student parking only. No faculty/staff allowed”.  Has anyone?

Compare this to almost every other consumer scenario that we are familiar with, and doesn’t it get interesting?  In a retail setting, such as Target, Best Buy, or any mall, can you imagine if all of the store managers got the premium parking and there were a bunch of signs saying “No shopper parking!”?  At an airport, when you are trying to rush and make that flight home, could you imagine if the pilots, gate agents, and flight attendants got all of the prime spots, and there were a bunch of signs saying “No passenger parking!”?    Unfathomable!

Yet, the above customer relationships are trivial compared to what should exist when a student is paying many, many $thousands to attend a university. Still, the norm persists.

This debate is much, much deeper than parking norms, though.  The parking situation is just a surface symptom of something far more strange.

I assert that most of today’s major colleges and universities are in denial.  They refuse to accept that they are not only paid to teach students about business (and other things, of course), but that they actually ARE businesses as well.  You see, large companies routinely pay for college professors to come on site and educate employees.  In this scenario, would one of these professors dare to complain that the company’s employees and executives took up all of the premium parking spots, leaving them to walk a few blocks to paydirt?  NO!!  But, when their own students are investing years of their lives and even larger sums to partake of that same professor’s knowledge, they are treated as pests.

I should be careful not to paint with such a broad brush, I guess.  I always showed my professors respect, and I feel that I was treated quite fairly.  In fact, I remain pretty good friends with a number of those professors to this day.  But, broadly speaking, I feel as if the system is fundamentally in need of a mind shift.  Students should be more highly valued, in general.  They should not be viewed as pests.  Medical doctors and other highly valued knowledge workers in our society show their customers and padawans similar respect.  We need more balance in the university construct.  Surely, both sides would benefit.  Students would more highly value the valuable time invested by their faculty, and faculty would come to more highly value students.

We are fair and balanced here, so below is a rebuttal provided by the author of the Tweet that sparked this debate:

I feel like I need to defend myself. Yes, I am the professor who wrote that tweet. And yes, I was furious and I still believe I was justified in my anger. I pay $55 a month (it just increased) to park in that parking garage. Floors 1-6 are faculty and staff parking. Parking is only supposed to be sold to graduate students IF there are available spaces after faculty and staff have been sold parking. Students pay $125 per semester and can park on levels 5 and 6. The Parking department oversold to students this year. With the beginning of a new academic year come new students who push the limits. They don’t know whether the Parking department tickets in the garages, so they park on all levels. This creates a situation where faculty and staff have no parking.

Now, my university is an urban university with very generous student parking. If you look at the map below, the star is my garage, the P represents all student parking lots, and there is free or metered parking on most streets. Where I had to park on Tuesday is actually off the map to the right at 11^th Avenue and 19^th Street. My building is the Learning Resource Center (I’ve tried to cover up any identifying buildings).

There are several reasons why I was furious. One is that there are rules. For the most part, I like rules (except speed limits).  Rules help us live together in society without spiraling into chaos. Students broke those rules, causing many faculty members and staff inconvenience. Second, I pay for those spots. Therefore, I am a customer of the Parking department who is not getting the product for which I paid. And I had to pay for a metered spot and make sure I got back to it within two hours or risk a ticket. Also, it was one of my teaching days, which meant I was wearing a dress and high heels. I had to walk the six blocks in 87 degree heat with very high humidity. That makes us glisten in the south (a word for sweat for women). I like to look nice when I teach. I like to look professional. Having my hair ruined because it is wet with sweat and having my makeup melted off is not a professional look. So yes, I was furious.

Now, to get to the issue of students as customers, I think that sells the relationship between faculty and students short. I teach undergraduates, graduates and executive students in health administration and all are different and have different needs. Teaching styles must adapt. But undergraduate education is about so much more than a customer/supplier interaction. It is about guiding young individuals to develop their skills and character and become responsible citizens and productive members of society.

I have an open door policy. I don’t have office hours, but I’m in my office or on campus usually at least 50 hours a week. Students can stop by any time, but I tell them they may want to email me first to make sure I don’t have another appointment or meeting. But if I’m available and a student stops by, I’m happy to meet with him or her.  Some of the students I work most closely with get my cell phone number, in case they need to cancel or reschedule regular meetings on short notice. They often keep my number and text me for years after they graduate. To me, that’s not treating students as pests.

For the most part, I love my students. Of course, there are some that you love less than others and gripe about, but most parents occasionally gripe about things their children do. I get great joy out of seeing these young men and women grow and then go on to become successful in all aspect of life. I get excited when I get an email from them following up with me years later to tell me how they are doing or asking me for advice. I love going out to lunch with them after they have graduated and chatting with them on Facebook. I get concerned when they start slipping up and I want to know what’s going on. I get mad when they cheat, or don’t turn in work or take a quiz, because they can do so much better. That is not treating students as pests.

Saturday morning I went to PetSmart with my dog Shadow. She’s friendly and she went over to this woman to get petted. I was wearing a school shirt. The woman said, “You look familiar, do I know you?” I didn’t recognize her, but told her where I worked. She worked in a nearby building, so I said, “We must pass each other all the time.”  We chatted awhile. Then she asked my name. When I told her, she said, “You taught my husband, John (not his real name).“  I remembered then that he had brought his wife to meet me, long after he had graduated. John was in one of the first groups of students that I taught here and I will always remember him fondly. He worked as a patient tech at the hospital while getting his degree. He was an older student and he wasn’t the smartest guy, but he worked very hard. After class, he would often walk back to my office with me and talk about things related to health care. He was just so eager to learn and to improve in his career. He wanted to go to grad school here, but he didn’t have the grades. His wife informed me that he’s now working on a Masters in Engineering. I was so pleased to learn that he’s doing so well.

So, no, I don’t think of my students as customers because I think that suggests the relationship is far less than what I have with many of my students. I think of them more as my colleague in learning and teaching; people I have an influence on, and who have influenced me, and we hopefully go on to help people live healthier lives or have better health care experiences.

The medical model that the author mentioned has moved to a customer service model, but is still very flawed. How many of you have had to wait 30 minutes or an hour? How many of you have had a doctor be condescending to you? Not all medical doctors show their patients the respect that the author asserts. If you’ve ever stayed a night in a hospital, you will know that customer service is lacking in many respects. As health administration professionals, we are trying to change that, but clinicians don’t take health administration.

More importantly in health care, the patient as a customer model also ignores the true outcome of the health care encounter: quality. Not patient satisfaction and amenities, but outcomes such as adverse events, length of stay, readmissions, and hospital acquired infections, etc. The data show that while many, many patients are pleased with the “customer experience” in health care, hospitals and providers continue to make mistakes and kill tens of thousands of patients every year. The customer can’t evaluate these effectively. But health care professionals must work continuously to reduce these while still addressing patient satisfaction and providing amenities. Sometimes those things are hard to do at the same time.

I felt that I was misrepresented in this blog post. Just because the parking situation upset me, doesn’t mean that I treat students as pests. Just because I don’t treat them as customers, doesn’t mean that I don’t value them. Quite the opposite. These are the people who are going to be running the health care system when I’m old. I want the best taking care of me.

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YouTube: This author of this video does not allow playback on iPhone

Flash is dead…really!!

Microsoft Surface RT for $199?

Tips, Picks, and More!

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 123

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Dropbox Security Breach.  Experts respond.  

Apple Care – Security issues?

Curiosity’s Mars adventure.

Tips, Picks, and More!

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 122

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Real life backup horror.

Cut the cord.  Time to dump traditional cable TV?

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 121

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Is the media intentionally distorting reality in order to get us to click on links?

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 120

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NEWS:

DIGG sells for $500K.  Once valued at $160M, the mighty have fallen. What killed them? Recommendations from people you know not “the crowd” (among other things)

Microsoft says to disable Sidebar and Widgets.  Apparently a security concern…

Kill Shot?  You may or may not remember Steve ranting Consipracy Theory style about the “kill shot” from the sun… but hey, we have a big storm heading our way!  It’s the biggest one of the summer, and bigger than the one last week, but not the kill shot.

Would you recommend buying a PC?  PC Sales Are Flat-Lining

Unlock-PDF Ever find the need to pull a quote (or quotes) from a PDF but it isn’t OCR’d?  And when you go to OCR it, you find it is protected?  This website helps with that. http://www.unlock-pdf.com/

Hello Fax:

• Free, (sort of) PER MONTH.  Here’s the “small print” 5 Fax pages free (total)Then 99 cents / fax, No fax number, Unlimited Signed emails, 5 Signature requests free (total)
• For $4.99 a month you get a fax number (to receive faxes) and can send 50 faxes a month–and a 30 day free trial!

PICKS:
Steve: PhotoIRMote  Control your DSLR camera remotely, using IR signals. (The IR Transmitter has to be built yourself, but it’s crazy-simple.)
Tony: CSR Racing – Fun. But, can get expensive!  (Free, but in-app purchases “required”)

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 119

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Google IO: Keynote:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuC0i4xTyrI

Chrome, Google Drive coming to iPhone and iPad today

YouTube for Android Lets You Watch Videos Offline Totally awesome.

Josh : WAZE for IOS

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Josh’s info: @joshfink

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THIS IS GOING TOO FAR!!! http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-patent-prevents-students-from-sharing-books-120610/

Tony: Instacast for iPhone…but *NOT* for iPad.
Steve:  Go Launcher for Android

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

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Steve’s Pick:  Wordpress’ JetPack
Tony’s Pick:  Algoriddim’s VJAY  $9.99 Video D-Jay solution for iPad  

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 115

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GVOICE–Still Rocks it!  Reasons to like Google Voice?  Spam Filtering, and now the feature to force “UNKNOWN” callers to say their names. BTW, it’s always had the ability to “BLOCK” callers, which essentially gives the caller the tones and message that the number is disconnected.

Steve: Chrome Extension “AddThis-Share and Bookmark”  Think how great sharing is on the Android, but now available in your browser. Great

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 114

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News:

Police buy your phone records, and no one knows how often?  And my blog entry on this.

Tips:

• Security Scam: Don’t fall for this:  “Hey, we know you care about security, and so do we! Don’t click on links is emails–that’s not secure. We recommend for security purposes that you cut and paste this link into your browser to avoid contracting a virus–or worse!”
• Ummmm…. ouch.

• Google Search.  Are you surprised by how many people don’t know how to search?  Apparently Google is working to help that with an educational program.  IT’s geared for educators, but that doesn’t mean every day, Real People” can learn from the lessons they provide.  It’s called “Google Search Education” and is available here: http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/index.html
• Four (plus) quick tips:
• Every Word Matters
• Order Matters
• Capitalization does NOT matter
• Punctuation does NOT matter
• with exceptions… $ # C# C++ Google+

• LifeHacker highlights the stupid things you do on Facebook, and how to fix them.  The main article has LOTS of great points (including don’t friend everybody!) but I want to highlight the ones they list at the END of the article:

• You’re not using HTTPS.
• You’re friending people from the office.
• You’re oversharing.
• Your password is insecure.
• You let Facebook track you.
• You keep falling for scams.

•  Let’s talk LinkedIn.  It kind of flies under the radar, and so we (I) don’t give it the critical glance, but it has its own quirky UI problems.  A few questions from a listener:

·         I hate that the entire world gets an email with any edit I make. Never my intention. Is there a way to do so without it sending a “So in so made an update to their Linkedin acct…”?

·         When I am trying to send an invite sometimes it is difficult or am I slow?

·         Edits sometimes seem cumbersome.

Picks:

Tony:  Tango – Free video calls.  All platforms.  All networks (4G, 3G, Wi-Fi)

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 113

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News:
Viewing not the same as downloading?
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/05/10/138205/ny-ruling-distinguishes-downloading-viewing-child-pornography

Picks:
Tony – Track 8 Music Player for iPad
Steve – IFTTT (I mentioned it before–but LOVE it!)

Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 112

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Growing Evidence of Football Causing Brain Damage

Microsoft Is Killing the Windows Live Brand

Facebook To Go Public On Friday, May 18

Space:  Moon closest to Earth Saturday… just like every year…

US Senate Sergeant at Arms listens to Real Tech…  or at least checks on websites that quote Senators.

Picks:

Tony – Hyperjuice Mini
Steve – Juice Defender – http://www.juicedefender.com/

Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 111

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NEWS:

AND… GOOGLE DRIVE is official.  Is it a “Wow!” or an “Uh?”

TIPS/SUGGESTIONS:

Google Searches made easier:  A couple “quick hits.”  Want to search using speech? Simply click on the microphone and talk (assuming you have a microphone).  Want to find where an image came from?  Go to the “images” tab, and copy and paste a URL into it.  OR–find out what other images your image looks like:just drag your image from your computer into the image search block.

Virtual Disks “In the Cloud” – Gladinet. Gladinet lets you map your existing cloud storage sites as if they are drives on your machine.  Now you can edit Word, Excel, or other documents right in the cloud, and not take up space on your hard disk.  Of course, you have to be connected to the internet.  Possible sites to use include Google Docs, PicasaWeb, Amazon S3, Microsoft’s Live Storage, and much much more.  The free version only connects to one, but there are other options as well.

Managing your PDFs: This one can be a real challenge.  You have hundreds (maybe thousands?) of PDFs on your computer, but do you a) know what you have, and b) know how to get to the one you want?  Enter a few choices, courtesy of this article from Digital Inspiration.  I personally prefer Mendeley (these are windows choices) because it is specifically designed for PDFs.  Even still, I would like something with a little more “intelligence” that can sort the files for me based on general content anaylsis.

PAMFAX:  A new problem these days is “How to send a fax from home, when you don’t have POTS any more?”  Well, I have settled on a solution that works for me.  Pamfax.  It’s made by the same people that make the call recorder application for Skype, “Pamela Recorder.” It’s not free, but it is affordable.

“The House approved Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act with a 248 to 168 vote today. CISPA allows internet service providers to share Internet ‘threat’ information with government agencies, including DHS and NSA, without having to protect any personally identifying data of its customers, without a court order. It effectively immunizes ISPs from privacy lawsuits for disclosing customer information, grants them anti-trust protection on colluding on cybersecurity issues and allows them to bypass privacy laws when sharing data with each other.”

PICKS:

Steve: Paper Camera for Android
Tony: Nike Fuel Band

Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 110

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com [twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 109

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The Amiga returns….for over $2k.  Are you Serious?

Problems dealing with $100B in cash.  AAPL…are you serious?

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com[twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

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Has the internet now crushed all business models that depend on for-pay content?

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com[twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com[twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 102

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com[twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 101

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USB and Electrical Outlet : Two 10 volt USB ports AND two regular power outlets. Or, you can make your own (USB only) wall outlet.

How Publishers Are Cutting Their Own Throats With eBook DRM

LEDs in Contact Lenses

PICKS:

Steve: Lapse It! Time Lapse photography for your Android. Supports front and rear facing cameras, as well as numerous other features. Just remember, for long duration shots, keep it charging.
Tony: Living Earth World Time and Weather 

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com[twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 100

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PICKS OF THE WEEK:

Steve: CamCard for scanning Business Cards. QUITE good OCR, and can assign to categories. I used it to put different cards in groups in Google Contacts.

Tony: Logon changer for Windows 7 

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com[twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 99

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com[twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 98

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com[twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 97

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Is hope lost at Best Buy?

An iPad surprise?

TIPS

IF THIS THEN THAT. http://ifttt.com Define your social interactions on the ‘net in terms of what you could do…

DLVR.ithttp://dlvr.it/  Distribute your blog to twitter, facebook and more. Actually, works with ANY RSS feed–including Google+

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com[twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Chris’s info: [blog] http://targuman.org  @targuman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 96

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PICKS:

Tony: Motor Trend Magazine App

Steve: Galaxy Tab 10.1. Yup–Jenni has hers. And loves it. Of course this is as much an endorsement of Android honeycomb 3.1 as it is the hardware. Of course, the hardware is a beautiful device as well.

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com[twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 95

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Google gets more focused.

Solid State Drives – Worth it! 

Excel: Have multiple sheets and Windows Open.  http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/open-spreadsheets-in-completely-separate-windows

PICKS:

Tony: Aperture 3 Slide Shows 

Steve: WinDirStat (http://windirstat.info/) WinDirStat is a disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool for Microsoft Windows

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com[twitter] @scmprofessor

Tony’s info: [blog] http://getthenext.com [twitter] @tonypittman

Click Here to listen to Real Tech 94

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PICKS:

Tony: Slickdeals.net

Steve: DoubleTwist AirSync

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Steve’s info: [blog] http://theprofessornotes.com[twitter] @scmprofessor

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Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England).

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England).

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Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull, England), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla, Mexico).

On April 17, 2010, This Week in Tech chief, Leo Laporte expressed  concerns about colleague, and friend, Jason Calacanis’ push to rapidly develop and grow his own podcast network site, titled “This Week In”.   Leo runs a very successful podcasting network, based on the flagship show entitled “This Week in Tech”.  The address for the network’s website is http://TWIT.TV .  Jason has been a guest on Leo’s network many times.  In fact, I hadn’t even heard of Jason Calacanis until he started appearing on TWiT.

Not many would argue that “This Week in…” prompts those in the technology media space to think of Leo’s flagship show and his network.  Still, Leo did acknowledge that he does not own the “This Week In” trademark.  In fact, he has made reference to “borrowing” it from a show about baseball.

So, when Jason, a friend and colleague of Leo, came and asked about doing some shows that carried the title “This Week In…” in front of them, Leo allegedly said “yes”.  I believe Jason started out doing “This Week in Startups”, a show about how to start up new tech ventures – a topic not too similar to what is normally covered on Leo’s TWiT network. So, things were going swimmingly, it seems, until Jason took things too far and started launching This Week In shows that got more and more similar top topics covered by Leo, including “This Week In Android”, “This Week In iPad”, and “This Week In Gadgets”.

To me, the analogy  is like a good friend or relative asking if they can borrow your car.  In most cases, the answer would be “yes”.  But, if a friend was to ask me to borrow the car, and then take my “yes” as clearance for them to drive it on a 3,000 mile cross-country excursion (taking advantage of my openness and trust), then I would have a major issue.

So, I feel for Leo in this situation.  Does Jason have the legal right to do what he did?  It appears so.  Should he have done it? I don’t think so.  Personally, I don’t think he should have even asked Leo about the use of “This Week In”, putting Leo in the position of having to tell a friend and colleague “no, don’t do that”.

Disclaimer: I don’t know Leo or Jason personally.  This position is based entirely on outside observation. Jason defends his position here.

By: Tony Pittman [ tony@getthenext.com ]

Apple’s iPad arrived, as planned, on April 3, 2010. Some analysts estimate that as many as 700,000 iPads were delivered to customers on launch day, making iPad one of the most successfully launched consumer products of all time. Prior to launch, some pundits panned the iPad, calling it nothing more than an overgrown iPhone, without the phone.  Well, in some respects they turned out to be correct.  iPad is larger than iPhone.  iPad can’t make phone calls.  But, wow…it can sure do a lot of things well.

First, the most unexpected surprise: iPad’s speaker.  I wasn’t expecting much in this department.  I figured that Apple would include the obligatory speaker – a plain, unimpressive component that would just be enough to get by with.  Wow, was I wrong.  iPad’s speaker is very robust for its size.  I was honestly astounded by the loud, clear, and dynamic sound.

Next, you’ll be amazed by iPad’s battery life.  By making the device so much bigger than iPhone, Apple was able to do wonders with battery life.  So far, I have no reason to doubt Apple’s claim of 10+ hours of continuous use on one charge.  After a day of hard use, I’ve hardly been able to make a dent.  The battery life is impressive, to say the least.

The on-screen keyboard exceeded my expectations. I was mentally prepared for a new experience, remembering what is was like the first time I used an iPhone keyboard.  iPad’s keyboard does not disappoint, especially in landscape mode.  Granted, I wouldn’t want to use it to write a novel, so I did pick up one of Apple’s $69 bluetooth keyboards.  But, for short bursts of text, the on-screen keyboard is more than adequate.

Finally, the muli-touch IPS display is nothing short of mind-blowing. Prior to iPad’s launch, I was thinking more and more about how great it would be to be able to use my Kindle DX as a truly connected, dynamic device.  I found myself wanting to touch the Kindle’s display and try to manipulate the connected internet world.  But, everything was just beyond my, and the Kindle’s, grasp.  Well, no more.  iPad’s multi-touch display not only produced brilliant images, but it’s responsiveness is off the charts.  It responds to your touches instantly, allowing you to truly escape into a world that I thought to still be years and years away.  Many had said that you can’t appreciate iPad until you have a chance to hold it in your hands and feel how it works.  They were right.

]]> http://getthenext.com/archives/479/feed 0 http://getthenext.com/archives/479 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GetTheNextRealTech/~3/WtDLN1QKtoU/425 http://getthenext.com/archives/425#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:14:12 +0000 tony.pittman@gmail.com (Tony Pittman / Steve Brady) http://getthenext.com/?p=425

(Image courtesy of www.redmondpie.com)

No matter what you think of the recently announced Apple iPad, it’s clear that no other company gets the attention Apple gets when announcing a new product.  For Apple, this is generally a good thing.  But, they need to make sure they get everything right: the product itself as well as the product positioning.

When it comes to the iPad, they got the product right, but they botched the positioning a bit.

The iPad is a Kindle killer, no doubt about it.  In June, 2009, I paid $489 for my Kindle Dx.  The Kindle Dx is roughly the same formfactor as the iPad, which starts at $499 .  However, the Kindle Dx can’t hold a candle to the iPad.  The Kindle can’t play video, doesn’t have a color screen, can’t run apps, and can barely (and I mean BARELY) browse the web. No bones about it, Apple did just as Steve jobs said in his presentation. They stood on Amazon’s shoulders and took the Kindle Dx form factor to much higher heights.  Had Apple stuck with this positioning, is there any way the iPad could lose? Now, the Kindle does come with always-on 3G and no monthly fee.  But, for $629 and $14.99/month, most prospective iPad users would still say there is no competition; the iPad is the better play.

The mistake Apple made: asserting that geeks will be able to replace their netbooks with iPads.  This is clearly not going to happen. This assertion reminded me of when Steve said he replaced his high-end audio system with the failed Apple Hi-Fi.  No way.  Netbooks are cheaper, they run Windows, Linux, and some even run Max OSX illegally.  Users can choose what apps run on them, and they can multi-task, though usually to their detriment.  Why fight this battle?  Let the netbooks run their course.

So, the bottom line is pretty clear.  Apple should have positioned the iPad as a revolutionary device that builds in the initial success of the base eReader.  It adds rich multi-media capabilities, gaming, app-store access, and it can even help you get work done in a pinch.  For some, with the added keyboard dock, it can even serve as their complete mobile computing solution.

Strangely, I have not heard anyone complain about the fact that the Kindle Dx can not multi-task, has a worthless browser, and can only run apps that Amazon allows it to run.  Apple is re-discovering that it’s tough to be on top.  Shouldn’t they have learned this from their 1980′s experience?

]]> http://getthenext.com/archives/425/feed 2 http://getthenext.com/archives/425 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GetTheNextRealTech/~3/VX1wxjJRThA/386 http://getthenext.com/archives/386#comments Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:00:05 +0000 tony.pittman@gmail.com (Tony Pittman / Steve Brady) http://getthenext.com/?p=386 Is it the end of the decade, or not? Seems to be a big debate.  I THINK the decade ends after 2010, not 2009.

What gives?