November 2011
1 post
“I find it ironic that Republicans have such disdain for the lazy, and yet their...”
– BILL MAHER, Real Time (via inothernews)
October 2011
5 posts
AirPlay TV - Joe Hewitt →
Neven Mrgan's tumbl: iOS on the desktop →
mrgan:
The overwhelming majority of Apple’s earnings, product sales, and new customers are now based on the iOS platform, which consists of:
A 3.5”-display pocket computer/phone
A 3.5”-display pocket computer
A 9.7”-display computer
These are excellent and wildly successful products. They cover…
A Strange Sort of Prison, a Strange Sort of... →
1 tag
Steve Jobs lives on.
I’m sitting in my car in a parking lot, writing this post on a device I still can scarcely believe exists in my lifetime. I’m 57 years old and I’ve been a science fiction fan pretty much my entire life. Now here I am routinely using a marvelous blending of hardware, software and infrastructure that was a far-out crazy pipe dream in my youth. It isn’t just as good as I...
September 2011
4 posts
4 tags
8 tags
Apple’s Four-Year Product Rollout — Shawn Blanc →
minimalmac:
The iPhone, iCloud, iPad, iTunes, OS X Lion, iOS, Apple TV, the MacBook Air, and the iMac are all Apple products. But they are more than that. In aggregate they are one single product. Apple’s product lineup is, in and of itself, a single product.
Shawn nails it with this one.
2012: Apple v. Samsung for the future of TV -... →
3 tags
CouchGuy Conundrum: Could a "Kindle Color Killer"...
I love Amazon. I think the Kindle is very cool. I really think Amazon is the only company capable of leveraging something that could successfully compete with the iPad. MG Siegler just revealed that he has seen and touched and used a device intended for that purpose – a color Kindle touchscreen device with a 7 inch screen running an Amazon-developed fork of Android. It won’t support the existing...
August 2011
4 posts
3 tags
MacRumors: Apple quietly ends 99¢ TV show rentals →
Personally, I’m sorry to see this program go…
Minimal Mac: Disruptive →
minimalmac:
You should know by now that I normally do not get into much “news” around here. Especially when it’s not specifically Mac news. There are a ton of great Mac news sites out there and I leave that job up to them. That said, Chairman Gruber linked to a highly fascinating Wall Street Journal…
What They're "Protecting" Us From →
mrgan:
There’s almost no chance that you haven’t already read Anil Dash’s brilliant insight regarding Steve Jobs’ background and values. But just in case, I am linking to it here.
AppleInsider | Apple TV update adds support for... →
The update also apparently adds Vimeo to the Apple TV menu. Hmmm… Downloading it now.
July 2011
7 posts
3 tags
An Ode to DC's New 52
(to the tune of the Phineas and Ferb theme song…)
There are 52 titles with number one issues
DC tells the fans they will thrill ‘em
So the writers and artists are wrackin’ their brain cells
To find enough cool stuff to fill ‘em
Like maybe…
Hex is in Gotham
And Hal’s not Green Lantern
And Wally West has disappeared
Martian Manhunter signed up with Stormwatch (Hey!)
Three Justice Leagues...
Dear Apple, Can You Just Buy Hulu? Please? |... →
I second the motion.
Nerd Worlds Collide: Lego Announces DC AND Marvel... →
I am giggling like a schoolgirl! I want a whole LEGO Justice League! And LEGO dudes, if you want a superhero LEGO game designed like Heroica, etc., call the CouchGuy!
Is Netflix killing DVDs like Apple killed... →
Some good insights on Netflix and their move to separate their DVD and streaming businesses. I agree that this is a direct shot at killing the DVD — and about time, too.
1 tag
DC digital comics not favorably priced | TeleRead →
Important pullquote from the article linked above, a commentary by Chris Meadows about the Websnark piece reblogged below:
And there’s an elephant in the room that Burns didn’t address: Internet comic book piracy. Comic piracy is rampant on-line, and it’s easy to see why. You don’t have to OCR comic books; you just scan them, zip them, and you’re done. Anyone with a scanner can do it, and many...
1 tag
Economics, Comixology, and the New 52, coming...
websnark:
We have spoken about what we know so far about the DC Universe slight shift in occasional continuity around the stuff that Dan DiDio misses from when he was ten years old, the bits Geoff Johns and Jim Lee have found the perfect people to remake ever so much better than anyone has done before in the past seventy years — namely, Geoff Johns and Jim Lee — and the bits Grant Morrison has...
1 tag
Praise for the Planetary Digital Omnibus... and a...
Comixology and DC Comics have released a limited edition treasure that displays all that can be right and good about digital comics.
The Planetary Digital Omnibus collects all 633 pages of issues #1-27 (plus an 8-page intro story) of Warren Ellis and John Cassaday’s stories of Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner and Drummer — the Archeologists of the Unknown. They are tasked with tracking down evidence...
June 2011
11 posts
Changing the Paradigm: Why Digital Comics Need to... →
This excellent article specifically shows areas where Comixology’s digital comics selection & purchasing functions fall down. I love Comixology, but the author is correct — we need better ways to find and purchase digital comics.
4 tags
How Cult of Mac is right - and wrong - about how... →
Click the headline above for Cult of Mac’s take on how and why Apple should use it’s billions to crush Hollywood, then come back for my take.
Ready? My take is “Yes, but…”…
I agree that Apple should use some ofnthe money they have tucked away to stomp on the dimwits who have held back the video entertainment industry for better than a generation. But build a...
1 tag
I had some friends but they're gone...
I had some friends but they’re gone,
Somethin’ came and took them away.
And from the dusk ‘til the dawn
Here is where I’ll stay. “Friends” as sung by Bette Midler
Theme song from “The Last of Sheila”
Dan Didio of DC Comics has decided to “rest” the Justice Society of America, per a Facebook post quoted today by Newsarama.
This...
Tilting at Windmills: #1 Could be the Loneliest... →
This is a very realistic look at the kind of choices comic book retailers will have to make regarding DC’s relaunch with # 1 issues of 52 titles — and is also a good example of one of the pressures driving more casual fans to digital comics.
If you are a casual fan, lapsed fan, or just someone who is intrigued by the publicity surrounding the DC event, the chances are good that you...
AppleInsider | Apple backs down on in-app... →
Hmm… Is this an opening for comics companies to offer lower-price digital subscriptions to comics titles? @Comicxology and DC please take note…
TV, movie industries futilely fighting future |... →
Macworld’s Dan Moren assesses the untenable position the TV/movie industry has left themselves in.
Daring Fireball: Ice Water Enthusiast →
Gruber nails it in the final paragraph. Once again, Microsoft backs the wrong horse.
iPad's Days Are Numbered, Says Adobe CEO |... →
Adobe’s CEO continues to be clueless. Will someone beat these lazy folks with a clue stick?
Had Adobe not clung so desperately to outdated & clumsy Flash, they could have been THE graphics program HQ for the iOS as they were once the only viable graphics platform for the Mac. Now, independent smaller developers are on the verge of being able to displace Adobe’s overpriced...
2 tags
DC's new digital pricing structure: WRONG!
WRONG!
Just when I was rejoicing about DC Comics going to same-day digital releases on all titles, they drop the other shoe — right in the chowder.
DC slipped pricing information into their blog posting today about a comic book/digital copy combo pack for Justice League #1, and the news fell like a stinky wet fish that even Aquaman would have a hard time tolerating.
According to David...
Does the JUSTICE SOCIETY Have a Place in the DCNu? →
Newsarama asks some good questions here in their article/poll about the place of the WWII-linked JSA in the revamped DC Universe. The CouchGuy is a big JSA fan, and I kept buying and reading titles featuring them even when the rest of my comic buying dropped to nil at one point. I love the concept of a group of elder-statesmen heroes acting as mentors for younger heroes carrying on their legacies....
DC Comics Number One Stunna: The Ballsiest Move of... →
3 tags
DC Comics wants my money on the iPad. Happy to...
On the occasion of the DC Comics announcement today that they will be going to day-and-date releases of all their DC Universe comic titles starting in September, I thought it might be interesting to take a look back at my “wish list” for digital comics written in March 2010.
The original piece was written prior to Comixology coming out with digital sales apps first for Marvel and...
May 2011
14 posts
Newsarama.com : The DC Universe reboots in Sept.... →
I’m not sure which news the comics world will find more shocking — that DC Comics is rebooting the whole DC Universe (yes, again) with #1 issues of every title, or that starting with Justice League #1 on August 31, every DC title will be released as a digital edition simultaneously with the print issue. As a DC comics fan for 50 years, I am certainly pleased to see simultaneous digital...
iCloud Predictions — Shawn Blanc →
I was going to do an iCloud predictions piece… butt honestly I don’t think it would look much different than this one from early May by Shawn Blanc. (Yes, I know I linked this before. I’m linking it again. Read it, already.) I suspect that iCloud will be Apple’s answer to getting things in and out of iOS devices wirelessly, as well as providing the music service and app...
Chiangland: Don't give a damn 'bout my bad... →
cliffchiang:
Inspired by a late-night viewing of The Runaways, and partly an exercise to see if I could make star-spangled pants and Wonder Woman go together. The idea started with Wonder Woman (I briefly entertained using an Ian Curtis Batman) but the idea of an all-girl rock band with Black Canary,…
Daring Fireball: Apple Announces WWDC 2011 Keynote →
…featuring iCloud!
Jonathan Coulton » On Snuggies and Business Models →
I couldn’t agree more with JoCo here! As John Hodgman points out, this essay applies to writers, filmmakers or any other sort of creator using a new distribution and promotion method. I went through this myself, pioneering online sales of face-to-face Roleplaying game products via PDF files for download. What works, works.
Thank you, Google & Amazon. Love, Apple. |... →
Did Google & Amazon just open the door for Apple to dominate music streaming as it has music downloads? Could be.
Despite The Hype, Just 5 Percent Of U.S. Owns A... →
“Just” 5 percent? That’s AMAZING for a category that, in essence, didn’t exist 2 years ago. Add to it that the overwhelming majority of those tablets are iPads, and you have an INCREDIBLE success story. I wish I could sell anything to 5 percent of US households, let alone an expensive and major-league profitable item like an iPad.
Hot Wheels Racers, Now With Driver’s-Eye Video... →
Want!
Apple needs to get its head in the cloud | Web |... →
Chris Breen’s look at a truly integrated iCloud has me hoping Steve Jobs is on the same wavelength.
iCloud Predictions — Shawn Blanc →
This sounds like a reasoned, likely scenario.
Publishers' choice: Will the iPad be the hero or... →
An excellent opinion piece on the choice faced by comics publishers today.
Why Every Child in America Needs an iPad | Cult of... →
April 2011
22 posts
No. Not Google. Apple will slay Microsoft. | brian... →
Your iPhone knows where you are but here’s why not... →
Uncle Andy Ihnatko explains it all for us! Thanks, Andy!
Riffin' on Mr. Zimmerman: a song parody for the...
(Okay, I’m no Al Yankovic. But I am increasingly frustrated with how long it is taking the entertainment and information industry to wake up and smell the napalm. Your old world is in flames, and you can’t fight the fire by spitting on it. Get with the program or get the hell out of the way. Here’s a familiar anthem to keep the ball rolling.) —CouchGuy
Come gather...
Hulu Plus update blocks iPad 2 video mirroring,... →
This kind of crap is why I say no to Hulu. If I watch the ads and pay for the premium service, why can’t I watch on whatever device I want to use? It is the essential flaw in Hulu. God forbid you should watch a TV show on a freakin’ TV set! Clue up! The old business models for presenting video entertainment are not divinely ordained. They no longer serve your paying customers well....