Archive for 2012
Adobe is making the right moves
Dec. 21, ‘12: Its latest purchase: Behance, a well-regarded design community. Add this to Typekit, which it bought last year, and seems to have supported well so far. Adobe makes money — a $833* million profit this past fiscal year on $4.4 billion … Continue reading →
Try To Find Samsung’s Logo In These Japan ‘Galaxy’ Ads
Dec. 21, ‘12: Sony’s downfall is a depressing, embarrassing topic in Japan. Almost as bad, I’d guess, is the idea that Samsung — a Korean company, and previously the RC Cola of electronics — is now more successful at gadget-making than Sony. It’s … Continue reading →
How Google Maps Saved My Tokyo Trip, Exhibit A
Dec. 20, ‘12: Not to pile on a week later, but the difference in information between Apple Maps (left) and Google Maps (right) isn’t even funny. Even more useful than this simple (built-in) subway map overlay: Search actually finds the place you want … Continue reading →
Announcing City Notes, A New Mobile Travel Startup By… Me!
Dec. 12, ‘12: Short version: I just launched a new company, City Notes, which I’ve been working on for several months. We are making what we hope will be the best and most interesting travel guides for iPhones and iPads. Our first iPhone … Continue reading →
AOL’s history, as told through NYT crossword clues
Dec. 5, ‘12: This Quartz article by Zachary M. Seward is pretty awesome. Here’s 1999: Apr. 11, 1999: “You’ve got mail” co. Aug. 3, 1999: Prodigy alternative, for short Sept. 2, 1999: “You’ve got mail” co. Also interesting: The data were compiled from an app for searching … Continue reading →
The One Lesson From The Thousand ‘Lessons Why The Daily Failed’ Articles
Dec. 4, ‘12: People care about this stuff. A lot. Enough to write articles about it. Like, a shitload of them. The Daily didn’t work as a tablet publication, obviously, because of a mix of problems — it cost too much to produce, … Continue reading →
The Atlantic: ‘Mr. China Comes to America’
Nov. 29, ‘12: There’s a lot of talk about a new hardware renaissance, thanks to things like 3D printers, Kickstarter, etc. Here’s an interesting article by James Fallows about manufacturing opportunities and challenges in China and America. (Via Brooke Hammerling.)
BuzzFeed’s history of Pong
Nov. 29, ‘12: I love the way BuzzFeed put thought and resources into how an individual story should look. Most web publications don’t even seem to care about how their site looks, never mind a single article. (The Verge does this well, too. It’s … Continue reading →
Let’s Take A Moment To Appreciate The Nook
Nov. 29, ‘12: Think about it this way: A bookstore chain — Barnes & Noble — has developed, successfully executed, and iterated a computer hardware and digital media business — the Nook — into something that should generate well over $1 billion in sales … Continue reading →
The Awl’s new iOS app, ‘Weekend Companion’
Nov. 28, ‘12: The Awl’s new app delivers smart, longish articles on Fridays to your iOS device’s previously useless Newsstand folder. It’s a similar concept to Marco Arment’s “The Magazine,” which launched last month. The app isn’t quite as polished, but for these … Continue reading →