Tech Archive
24 Jun 2018
Universal Basic Income podcast
I just listened to Sam Harris interview Andrew Yang about his proposals for a Universal Basic Income in the U.S. They also touched on Yang’s campaign to become President of the U.S. in 2020! If you don’t know, a the Universal Basic Income proposal (UBI) is the idea that every adult citizen would receive an
14 Aug 2014
Today’s technology patterns will be obsolete within ten years
The most interesting technology developments of the last decade or so, at least from the perspective of the average consumer, have been in computer, internet and telecommunications. These areas of development have come together with great fanfare and significant impact in the development of mobile networks and powerful “smartphones” – essentially portable computers. I follow
04 Nov 2013
Twitter set to go public, but doubts linger as to its profit potential
Twitter is set to go public this week. Some facts about Twitter: – total Twitter losses since 2006: $500 million – total profitable years since inception: none – number of registered users: 232 million – maximum number of characters in a tweet: 140 – revenue to be generated from ads in 2013: $650 million –
29 Oct 2013
Steve Jobs Childhood Home gets Historical Designation
The home in Los Altos, California (Silicon Valley) where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built some of their first computers has been designated a historically significant location. It is currently owned by Patricia Jobs, the late Steve Jobs’ sister. Image credit – Getty Images Related Posts:No Related Posts
28 Oct 2013
BBM network has untapped value
At last there is some good news out of Blackberry. After the Waterloo company finally got the cross-platform version of BBM pumping out to iPhone and Android users, they claim to have had upwards of 10 million downloads in the first 24 hours. Personally, being a BB10 guy, I hadn’t made much use of BBM
24 Sep 2013
Blackberry Management Looks Like They’ve Thrown in the Towel
This has been a disastrous week for Blackberry supporters, loyalists, shareholders and employees. The most recent screw ups stink to high heaven – premature announcements of being up for sale, discouraging news of major losses and sweeping layoffs, a badly bungled launch of BBM, and now a disheartening offer to buy the company at well
21 Aug 2013
Blackberry’s App Problem
Where are all the apps. OK, let’s admit it. Blackberry is in serious trouble. The more bad news we hear about layoffs and bad sales numbers, the more the company’s propsects for recovery are hurt. Even diehard BB lovers like the guys at Crackberry.com are starting to question recent moves the company has made. Unquestionably,
10 Mar 2013
Is Apple serious about its “smart watch”?
Apple is secretive about their watch project, but reportedly have about 100 designers working on it. This buzz about an Apple watch is just slightly puzzling to me. Actually, I am surprised to hear that watches still represent a profitable (and expanding) consumer goods market niche. I stopped wearing mine about 30 years ago because
06 Feb 2013
BB 10 and the Mobile Computing Future of Blackberry
One of the many (formerly) RIM buildings in Waterloo. BB10 was launched last week, and I noticed that very afternoon that the sign people had two new signs on the buildings down the street. RIM logos were gone, replaced by Blackberry logos. Personally I think this name change thing is pretty unimportant. I guess it
17 Jan 2013
The problem with Apple
I recently stumbled on this article callled “Bad Apple: Could the Era of Exploitation Outsourcing Be Near Its End?” in which the author argues that the moral implications of Apple’s use of Chinese labour to cut costs is catching up with them. Apple’s success, he argues, has to some extent been built on the backs
31 Dec 2011
What RIM may be doing right
The Playbook is critical to the development of the new Blackberry platform. Even if it sells poorly (as it has) RIM has to support it and develop it to provide a base for new products. It is very trendy these days to knock Research in Motion and its still ubiquitous Blackberry brand, but I think
20 Oct 2010
Can RIM Survive in the SmartPhone Game?
This week Apple CEO Steve Jobs criticized his main competitors in the smartphone market place – RIM and Google (owners of the Android operating system). Legions of Apple lovers hang on every word from Jobs, and that includes many journalists and bloggers. So it is no wonder that this story got a lot of widely