rant

Twitter needs to deal with the Twitter Accuracy Problem

Twitter's had a bad couple of weeks.

First, the Boston marathon bombings and subsequent manhunt led many (including me) to question the role of fast-moving, potentially inaccurate real-time Twitter reporting and its effect on mainstream news.

Then today, a false tweet from a hacked Associated Press Twitter account claimed that the White House had been bombed and that President Obama had been injured. The news caused a sudden plunge in the stock market (and, one can probably assume, some massive profit-taking by the hackers).

Twitter has always had an accuracy problem. It's a lot of voices, its information … Read more

Samsung GS4 launch: Tone-deaf and shockingly sexist

Dear Samsung: What just happened?

In the middle of a red-hot conversation about women in technology, the resurgence of the equal-pay discussion, and Sheryl Sandberg reigniting the very concept of feminism in America, Samsung delivered a Galaxy S4 launch event that served up more '50s-era stereotypes about women than I can count, and packaged them all as campy Broadway caricatures of the most, yes, offensive variety.

To be fair, everyone in Samsung's bizarre, hourlong parade of awkward exchanges, forced laughs, and hammy skits was a stereotype. The kid was lispy, tow-headed, and tap-dancing (the little girl did ballet, of … Read more

Want to unlock your phone? Fix the DMCA

This week, a new federal mandate kicked in that makes it illegal for you to unlock a phone that you bought locked from a carrier. The rule states that unauthorized unlocking of a phone you bought -- even if you paid full price for it, minus a carrier subsidy -- is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Specifically, it violates a portion of the law enacted in 2000 that makes it illegal to bypass technology designed to restrict access to a certain product. And that provision has bedeviled consumers, researchers, and lawyers for 12 years -- it's … Read more

The new 'new iPad': Lightning strikes again

I told you the new dock connector change was awful.

Apple unexpectedly unveiled a new fourth-generation iPad today, just six months after the birth of the cheekily dubbed "new iPad." That's the shortest planned obsolescence window I've ever seen from Apple, and CNET's Roger Cheng is not alone in feeling burned at spending $500 (or more) on a gadget that's just been significantly upgraded at the same price.

Make no mistake, though -- the suddenness of the iPad update has nothing to do with the faster A6X processor, expanded LTE support, and 10-hour battery … Read more

Apple's dock connector change is awful, don't kid yourselves

With this week's iPhone 5 announcement, Apple confirmed many rumors about the new phone, both good and bad. The most disappointing confirmation of all, though, is the resized, redesigned, and still proprietary new dock connector.

Apple calls the new connector Lightning, but giving it a clever name doesn't mean it adds anything but dollars in Apple's bank account.

The company has legendarily built a strong business on licensing its proprietary connection technology to accessory makers, and in selling its own premium cables for a handy $19 each, plus $29 for adapters. But as the rest of the … Read more

Is Apple fragmenting the iPhone?

Way down in the fine print about Apple's upcoming iOS 6, you'll find a little note that says new features like Flyover and turn-by-turn directions are only available on the iPhone 4S, or the iPad 2 or higher.

A note immediately below that says Siri is only available on the iPhone 4S or third-generation iPad.

Since the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPad 2 are all actively for sale and still being marketed by Apple, I have to wonder: is Apple on the road to fragmenting the iOS experience? Could there come a future when not only do … Read more

Video game violence at E3: Too much, yet still not enough

I'm no shrinking violet when it comes to video game violence. I cut my teeth on Unreal Tournament, and I am a machine with a shotgun in Halo. But the bloody displays at Microsoft's and Sony's press conferences here at E3 left me horrified -- and depressed that an industry with so many challenges chose to offer so little to its existing and potentially new audiences.

Microsoft's Splinter Cell: Blacklist trailer was a mano-a mano murder fest (you need to enter your age just to watch it online), featuring multiple headshots that were helpfully slowed down, … Read more

How to make money on mobile, in three easy steps

Earlier this week, I wrote about how Facebook is in danger from a new kind of social network, one that's born mobile and figures out how to make money on that mobile usage.

I figured, in response to many questions and comments, it was only fair to get a little wonky for a moment about who actually is making money on mobile, or how a site or startup might try a mix of potentially successful strategies in the future. Here are my guesses.

First, the only apps and companies making significant money on mobile right now are making most … Read more

If Facebook dies (and it might), its killer will be born mobile

Is Facebook a dead social network walking?

By now you all know the sad tale of Facebook's sinking IPO and the ongoing questions about who is to blame for pumping up the social network's stock valuation and then skittering away at the first sign of actual trading.

Regardless of who got played in the deal (read: small investors, as usual), the market is actually responding appropriately to Facebook's current situation: the site is a behemoth of traffic and attention, a platform underlying the very fabric of the Web, and an indispensable part of the lives of millions, … Read more

Pay-per-use bandwidth? Not without some ground rules

Update: May 17, 2012 Do I get results, or what? Less than a day after this column posted, Comcast announced it would ditch its 250GB data cap in favor of a 300GB cap with the option to buy additional 50GB chunks for $10 each. Not bad, although it's amusing timing given their current fight over Net neutrality and cap-free Xfinity on-demand streaming.

Bandwidth caps, the death of unlimited data plans, throttling, "data hog" accusations...I get it. Pay-per-use bandwidth is inevitable: the end of unlimited Internet access is at hand. Bandwidth is a limited resource, especially on … Read more