I thought RIM’s Playbook was a game changer?

by ilamont.com

RIM PlayBook will ship without email, calendar; not a fully standalone device, requires BlackBerry
[Via MacDailyNews]

“One of the more unusual aspects of the upcoming tablet from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is the fact that users need to synch their BlackBerrys to it to fully access their email, calendars and memos,” Elizabeth Woyke reports for Forbes.

[More]

So, the only way to use the tablet for many things people want is to already have a Blackberry?

Wow. Just Wow! How can it be a great standalone tablet if it can not read new email? It is coming out a year after the iPad with fewer features. That is an iPad killer?

Yes, my iPad has to be synced also but it can be done with ANY PC that I choose for my own purposes. I am not required to buy an Apple computer to do so. Thus I can us the iPad for MY purposes, not having to ask RIM for permission to use it.

And I can read new emails as they come in. Without being synced.

I can do everything I need with just my iPad. I do not require paying for my iPhone in order to use my iPad and I can pretty much use any computer I want to sync. How does RIM requiring people own their other devices actually help the user? And, if this is really only geared for those who already have a Blackberry, how do you leverage this to grow the market?

Where is the strategy here? What advantages does it present to any user, advantages that make them want to buy it? If it is going to get these features as the platform evolves, then why not just wit?But if people wait, then there will be no platform to evolve to.

Apple is a genius at getting a first generation product that is so compelling that people are willing to overlook some holes. But not having PIM functions, well, calling it a quirk is like calling the San Andreas fault a trench.

This looks to me like they needed to rush something out and hope to add this in the future. But what makes this device compelling without the ability to check email, see up to date calendars and such? Why should I have to go and buy both a tablet and a new cell phone in order to use it?

There already are questions about battery life.

iTunes jackpot: Billions and billions

[Crossposted at SpreadingScience]

iTunes jackpot: Billions and billions
[Via Brainstorm Tech:]

Apple has paid out more than $2 billion to developers, $12 billion to music labels

Source: Asymco

Sometime in the next week or so, the zeros on the App Store countdown odometer will roll over and Apple (AAPL) will announce that 10 billion apps have been downloaded since the store opened two and a half years ago.

Asymco’s Horace Dediu has used the approaching milestone to run series of analytical charts. The first group, posted Sunday, showed that the number of apps downloaded per iOS device is accelerating and has grown from about 10 per iPhone and iPod touch in the fall of 2008 to more than 60 per iOS device today. Sometime later this year, the number of app downloads since 2008 will overtake the number of songs downloaded since 2003.

Of course, we pay for the music we buy from iTunes, while most of those apps are free. But there is money to be made supplying both kinds of content, and on Monday Dediu took a crack at estimating how much.

His conclusion: Apple has paid more than $2 billion to third-party app developers and about $12 billion to the music labels. To see his math, click here.

[More]

I wrote about the app economy a few weeks ago. Here we have another example. Just from Apple – $2 billion to developers for products that did not exist 3 years ago. How many markets go from zero to $2 billion in that time?

The ability of groups to generate capital with rapid creative cycles drives this. It is not built on monolithic applications that take years and hundred of man-hours to develop. Quick, rapid and fast are the hallmarks of this economy.

Focus on Jobs’ health. Apple will be fine.

by Ballistik Coffee Boy

Too much has been put on Apple and Jobs but Jobs’ other company, Pixar, has the longest run of hits  ever and it is not due to him anymore. I agree with John Gruber:

It can be argued, Gruber maintains, that Steve Jobs’ most important product — the thing he’s spent the better part of his energy building since he returned to Apple — is not the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone or even the iPad. It’s Apple Inc., the company. The pessimistic dig on Apple, says Gruber, is that it’s a supremely well-organized company organized around one irreplaceable guy. The optimistic view is that Jobs has structured it to run like his other company, Pixar, which manages to turn out hit after hit, year after year, without a charismatic celebrity leader.

It may be fashionable to think that Jobs is responsible for every decision at Apple but that is flatly impossible. Just think of the ability to make sure the supply chain works to produce millions of devices, for example.

He has already demonstrated that Tim Cook can keep the hits coming. Jobs has put together a team that can continue making magic. Perhaps his final disruptive innovation will be leaving behind an organization that can maintain its creativity after he is gone.

Winnie the Pooh meets the Chronicles of Narnia in French

Adorable French girl recounts astounding Winnie the Pooh plot
[Via Boing Boing]

 

This adorable French girl has direct and vivid personal experience of a far more interesting Winnie the Pooh than I ever saw. I want to read this book!

[More]

With the wide angle lens of the camera, her eyes are enormous, making her even cuter. And the free association ramblings of small children are always great.

It is nice to be reminded just how creative kids are around the world. With cameras everywhere now we can all document just how amazing kids are.

CRAP!

Steve Jobs to take medical leave of absence but remain Apple CEO
[Via AppleInsider]

For the second time in two years, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs will take a medical leave of absence from his company, but the company co-founder will remain CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions, he said on Monday.

[More]

I hope he gets well soon. He has many more marvels to show us.

Currently playing in iTunes: Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby (Bonus Track) by The Steve Miller Band from Bingo! (Special Edition)