TV: The Shadow Line, Episode Five

No spoilers ahead.

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Who Knew? Hitler Owns A Nook!

Herr Hitler is not at all pleased with the upcoming DC Comics reboot.

In his rage, he also reveals that he owns a Barnes & Noble Nook!

See the documentary video after the break.

Three Simple And Effective Book Covers

This is a companion post to: Overthinking A Book Cover: Disaster!.

Microsoft Could Exploit The Steve Jobs Blind Spot

Someday, someone in tech will understand this:

History Repeats

Everybody’s door is closed. You don’t have permission to reach them. Only their friends do.

Raging red boldfaced emphasis added by me.

With Steve Jobs’ current blind spot, we await someone with brains and guts to enter the arena.

Twitter is not that gladiator.

Now I wonder if it could actually be Microsoft. They once had a clue…

… even though they were handcuffed by the RIAA.

Even Palm once had a clue: IRDA in its PDAs.

But Microsoft has the incentive. It’s drowning.

Yet given that company’s track record … I have a feeling we need someone outside of all of these loops.

And with this post, I’ve added a new Category: Socialtech. I’ll add that Category to past relevant posts later on.

Friends Don’t Let Friends Buy Print Books

The Oatmeal has been there: Moving!

Barnes & Noble: Personally Frustrating

It was really, really, really stupid of them to break the universality of Adobe DRM. They could have had me in their eBook camp, but they’ve lost me to the Kindle. As a native New Yorker who has used B&N for years, this is personally frustrating.

I still have to give them credit for their thoughtful attention to detail with videos such as this one:

Additional:

nookBN YouTube channel

Windows 8 Demo Video

I’m sure everyone else has seen this by now. I’m dropping it in here so I can find it quickly without having to wrestle with YouTube.

I’m not sure what to think of this. Seeing it drop into the “classic” Windows UI designed for a mouse made my hair stand on end in horror.

And that makes me wonder how “classic” Windows features will be handled with this new UI; things like listing, moving, copying, and renaming files.

I also wonder if they’ve considered how that UI can tie in with Kinect? I’m sure some people will still want an upright screen and reaching up to do touching will be an RSI nightmare. Using Air Gestures would be great.

This Is What Corporate Stupidity Looks Like

Stephen Elop’s Nokia Adventure

In one of his first meetings with employees, Elop recalls, he complained that there were different keystrokes required to mark an e-mail unread on the various Nokia phones he used. When an engineer in the crowd stood up and said Elop was wrong, the CEO invited him on stage to prove it. After some tapping, the engineer sheepishly backed off. “You’re right,” he admitted.

No one looking at everything. No one to ensure consistency. No one to overrule any group going rogue. No one taking a stand. No one there to make the final decision. No goddammed courage to say, This is just wrong! Fix it!

Smells Like Nokia Death Spiral To Me

When the iPhone was introduced, I said that Nokia’s death spiral had begun.

Apple is gonna kick Nokia’s smug and incompetent asses. Welcome to the tar pit, baby! Join the rest of the fossils, Nokia! Your death spiral began January 2007. Good riddance!

People laughed and laughed and laughed at me. All the around the world.

Apple App Store eBook Armageddon Is 28 Days Away

June 30th is the deadline for eBook apps to contain in-app purchasing and fall into compliance with Apple’s demands to hand over 30% vig for the privilege.

Will Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble — to name just the biggest three — comply?

Or will they go the way of iFlow Reader?

Or will Apple come to its senses and relent?

Previously here:

Apple’s 30% Vig Begins To Kill eBook Apps
The Apple 30% Vig Loophole Lives — Again!
The Apple 30% Vig Loophole Appears
Three Lessons Steve Jobs Has Forgotten
Apple Is Now Dead To Me
iOS Developers: You’re Next In Apple’s Sights
Apple’s Content-Creator Recruiting Poster
What Apple Looks Like Today
Apple’s Greed Will Keep This Going
All Devices Should Access Everything. Period.
The Day Apple Became Nathan Myhrvold