Wishing for Others in My Top 10

As put together yesterday’s post, I started looking back over a number of posts which would have been nice to make it into the top 10. Sure, some of that has to do with my writing – I’m not always so clear, ideas are raw, my timing is all off, etc. – but man, these are really some good pieces (IMO) and also worth revisiting.

Peeking at My Top Posts of 2010

Well, I can say that this year was truly a transitional one. I went to doing MMM full-time, haven’t changed my primary mobile device, lost and regained the use of a mobile web server, got an iPad, and have traveled to the west coast a few times. Its been busy, and none of that has stopped the amount of writing that I do here. So, I looked back to see what gets your attention since I write so much.

Will Next Year Be the Subscription Shift

I’ve thought about this a few ways, and have bantered here a few times on similar topics, but I think that 2011 just might become the tipping point for subscription services – just not everywhere.

A Thought to Shift

 This Christmas, my mom became an owner of a Nook Color.  While excited about the gift, she is challenged at the appeal of access. There is  an openness to information she had not ordinarily had despite having both a PDA and smartphone previously. Environments where you attach a device and retail activity to one’s credit card is uncommon practice for her. For me, it’s darn near normal. Is this a good shift, even in light of the implications of connecting this data just for access?

A Thought to Wonder

It seems that today, the success of an object is equated to how much people or media talk about it openly. What if success also meant that something wasn’t as talked about? That, because that item just worked well enough to blend in, that success wasn’t because it made you talk about it, but enabled your life to talk about the things you should. If that were also success’s measurement, is much of what products/marketing looks for in terms of conversation simply hollow to its actual value?

A Thought to Wrap

If its true that God determines the results
Then why am I surprised at the text messages
The songs on random
The horns that threaten to beep
And the snow that remains
If I consider the work that is here
Then the gift is the present
Not what I want or what I hope to receive.

A Thought to Correct

All I can say to this is amen, amen.

Let me address my first and most important point: 99% of the earth’s population cares not a whit about Android, iOS, OS X, Windows, Honeycomb, Tegra 2, Sand Hill, or SSDs. They want to turn on their computers, tap out an email to a friend, and turn it off. They want to get orders through their Blackberry, email their employees, and go back to their job as florists, carpenters, and bank tellers. To paraphrase Louis CK, they own a landscaping business, they’re respectable, why do they need the “hot” device? They sure as heck don’t have time to meander through spec sheets let alone give a damn what those spec sheets say.

I should probably poke others with this, but am too busy taking the mote out from my own eye.

A Thought to Disrupt

What would happen if in Apple allowing in-application purchases on the iPad/iPhone, that the makers of Flipboard inadvertently killed most niche publishing houses because Twitter and Facebook just became very much the best way to view personal magazines in a profitable manner? Something to think about, as this isn’t the only disruption like that to come in 2011.

Or Maybe Just One Is Good Enough

For a good bit now, I’ve opined about refreshing the mobile devices that I carry. This is something that’s become a bit more of a pressing concern with a boo-boo to my N97. I’m in the market for something new, but I think that I need to look at the market differently.

Carnival of the Mobilists No.244

Just in case you might have missed this before the weekend, the Carnival of the Mobilists has moved to a monthly format (versus weekly). Kicking off the new format is Volker on Mobile hosting the 244th version. Roll on over and check out some selected views and conversations on mobile that have occurred over the past month.

Palm Addict: Living a Mobile Year with Nokia and Apple

Sure, its good to write those year-end posts here, but I thought it better to get into the action and share how I’ve been living this year with my N97 and iPad over at Palm Addict. Here’s a snippet:

This year has been pretty decent in terms of living almost completely by mobile devices. While the beginning of the year had me sitting primarily on a Nokia N97. I now split time between the N97 and an iPad (16GB, Wi-Fi only). Between the two of them, I’ve got this really interesting and productive meeting of screens and content that only now am I seeing as optimal for how I want to live in and with mobile.

Read the rest at Palm Addict.

Is the “PC as the Platform” Age About to End?

Had a thought while reading the various opinions from those people who have been given an opportunity to use Google’s ChromeOS product (and the hardware that it was delivered with), for an extended period. While the opinions vary, and there are more questions about it in respect to “whom is the ChromeOS for” vein – I think what we are seeing is something a touch more disruptive, and the incumbents are having a hard time agreeing with their behaviors.