Category: Gravity Medium

I had 2/3 of Apple cycle right on 3/3

Previously I predicted that the iMac and Mac mini product cycle would come around in March/April. It was March 3 this year. Nailed that prediction, thank you very much.

But I also predicted Mac Pro cycle would center on the traditional WWDC timeframe of June. Well, those were seriously changed up on March 3 as well, so that one I screwed up.

I also suggested, though not too strongly, that AirPort products might go along with laptops, but that’s not what happened this time. On second thought, the AirPort stuff probably won’t have a regular cycle anyway — update when there’s something worth updating (a new IEEE standard, a new feature worth touting, etc.).

One prediction I’m toying with… the WWDC slips to July or August. That would offer more iPhone prep time each year, in the midst of other product launches and revisions.

In any case, I’m delighted with the revised products. Sure could go for an 8GB iMac!

gravitymedium.com site updated

Just wanted to point out I’ve updated gravitymedium.com with a fresh new theme, cleaned up the sidebar, rewritten some of the pages, removed the IntenseDebate plugin (didn’t need it) and so on.

I’m planning to do more writing here in the coming days, especially as I’m starting to put some of my new public media notions into action at the office and would like to report back. In general, I’ll get back to focusing on public media matters rather than general technology.

Upcoming topics (off the top of my head):

  • my Tweetup hosting experiences in Anchorage, including a station Tweetup and the creation of alaskatweets.com
  • our experience with creating on-air and online listener interaction to help plan a major broadcast schedule shuffle
  • the challenges of explaining the “streams” notion to employees and partners

Anyway, that’s the news for now. Follow me on Twitter for daily updates.

A new Apple product calendar

From here, at the end of Apple’s participation in the Macworld conference entirely, I suspect we will see them develop a revised annual cycle of product updates and announcements in various categories. What might that calendar look like?

Well, first off it won’t be a rigid calendar — it will have a give-and-take that’s more helpful for software development projects. Dumping Macworld gives them control over both the size and timing of each announcement, rather than being tied to venues, dates or formats dictated by a third party. That said, Apple would be well-advised to bite off projects in 12-month increments. Projects that run much longer than 9 months can easily start to lose focus and experience endless scope creep.

In any case, I’m betting on a roughly annual product cycle that might look something like this…

Continue reading “A new Apple product calendar” →

My own Macworld 2009 predictions (updated)

Hey, you don’t have to be a paid pundit to play the Apple prediction game — anyone can play. Here are my own predictions for this year’s Macworld, as I tweeted them a few hours before the keynote.

Please note that, unless specifically called out in the prediction, I am not predicting any ship dates or prices, though everything will be out before September 2009.

Now updated with my results.

  • 17″ unibody MacBook Pro, sealed battery. Battery must be sealed for structural integrity of a super-thin/wide body.
    PREDICTION: People will bitch about the battery thing, but the thinness and sexiness of this model will shut most people up. And please — how many times do you really change batteries on your laptop each day? If multiple batteries are that important to you, then get the 15″ model and be done with it. Or get an outboard battery. Clearly you are an unusual case.
    RESULTS: Nailed it! Sure, they didn’t talk about structural integrity, focusing instead upon space constrictions. But I consider that close enough. And don’t take this away from me — I’ll need this win later as I lose on several more predictions!

Continue reading “My own Macworld 2009 predictions (updated)” →

WiMAX vs. Cable Modem in Anchorage

Right now I spend about $150/month for high speed Internet service combined with cable TV, phone, long distance and so on. I’m not happy about this, partially due to the price, partially because I don’t want all those extra services. So I’ve started looking for “pure Internet” alternatives, and given the choices in my area, it appears the best option is a relatively new wireless Internet service available from AT&T Alascom (sort of related to AT&T) in Anchorage, Alaska.

AT&T’s offering is a WiMAX service, the new long-range wireless Internet infrastructure touted as the Next Big Thing by several players, including Sprint / Clearwire / Xohm, Intel, AT&T (at least the Alascom part of it) and other smaller developers, especially those serving rural and smaller markets.

If WiMAX works well, I can dump my cable modem service, save money and cut my copper ties at home. But any way you slice it, the service will be slower. Can I accept slower service to get just the features I want and save money — or will the siren song of copper speed keep me from straying?

Below, I share my findings — so far — in a video presentation. If you’re considering a switch like this, you might be interested. The video runs about 16 minutes — or you can download the presentation slides via PDF (link below).

[flashvideo image=video/pres-cover.jpg height=380 width=480 filename=video/wimax-cable-modem-pres.flv /]

Got comments or questions? Share them below. I’d be curious to hear about other WiMAX experiences out there.

The New New Advertising

If you want to get your product noticed going forward, you may just have to do something bold, original and — surprise! — long-form. No 30-second TV ads here.

The gift is predictable. Even mundane. But the delivery of the message is innovative, entertaining and hilarious.

Going viral is hard. But when people have the power to banish ads from their content, it may be the only solution.

Huge citizen journalism win in Detroit

Man, I wish I was in the Detroit area now, despite the auto manufacturing disaster. This looks promising.

By the way, don’t dismiss The Oakland Press as some tiny suburban paper. It’s a pretty big paper, given the size of the communities they cover. Detroit is “big,” but the areas north and northwest of the city proper are huge.

Don’t miss it. Thanks to Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) for the find.

PBS Pledge, Simpsons-style

Our station in Anchorage is currently in the traditional December PBS pledge drive and now that I’ve seen the Simpsons clip below, we’re looking to hire actress Betty White to help us on the air. And we want some of those umbrellas, too.

[flashvideo filename=video/simpsons-pbs-pledge.flv /]

Celebrity “cameos” include…

  • Betty White (yes, it’s her)
  • Fred Rogers
  • Yo-Yo Ma
  • Garrison Keillor
  • the Teletubbies
  • Big Bird
  • Oscar the Grouch
  • Elmo

As the male pledge break host says, “Outstanding.”

IntenseDebate commenting system installed

Hey, if it’s good enough for Change.gov, it’s good enough for me. Very slick setup and operation.

And I consider this a bit of a test ahead of installing it at APRN, KSKA, KAKM and other sites I manage at work. I definitely would like a superior commenting/discussion system there.

Learn more at intensedebate.com.