Author Archive | Harry McCracken

TechReads for July 8, 2014

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 8, 2014 at 9:00 am

Technologizer TechReadsSamsung’s lousy quarter: bad news for every phone maker? (Eric Blattberg/VentureBeat)

The company is blaming it on industry trends which (theoretically) affect everyone.

BlackBerry–yes, Blackberry–is a hot stock. (Matt Burns/TechCrunch)

Maybe it’s fallen as far as it’s going to fall.

BlackBerry defends its squarish new smartphone. (Jon Fingas/Engadget)

It looks cool to me!

Startup 3D prints custom earphones. (Liz Gannes/Re/code)

I hope they’re more comfy than the do-it-yourself custom-molded Eers I paid almost as much for.

The man who built Silicon Valley. (JP Mangalindan/Fortune)

Once upon a time, before tech companies moved in, it was full of orchards.

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TechReads for July 8, 2014

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 7, 2014 at 9:13 am

“Let’s Ask the Audience” (This Week in Tech)

I guested on this episode of TWiT with Father Robert Ballecer and The Business Insider’s Steve Kovach..

What it’s like to use a Razr for a month. (Ashley Feinberg/Gizmodo)

2004’s coolest phone, revisited.

Independence from Facebook, Apple, and Google. (Dan Gillmor/The Guardian)

I’m not trying to declare it myself, but it’s fun to read about someone else declaring it.

Technologizer TechReadsMore than ever, Android and iOS are diverging. (Benedict Evans)

Android is treating the Web and apps the same; iOS is making the web less relevant.

Smartphones may boost 4K video. (Dawn Chmielewski/Re/code)

…which would be good for adoption of big 4K TV sets.

The latest in ATM skimmer technology. (Brian Krebs/Krebs on Security)

Fiendishly innovative.

Rumor: Microsoft will release Surface Mini after all. (EvLeaks)

The missing iPad Mini competitor will allegedly show up before the summer is over.

The NSA stored info on innocent Americans–badly. (Conor Friedersdorf/The Atlantic)

Whatever you think about the legitimacy of the agency’s actions, it’s tough to argue that it acted competently.

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This Just In: Apple Hiring a Swiss Watch Salesman Has Nothing to Do With the iWatch’s Country of Origin

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 4, 2014 at 3:51 pm

Swiss watchWhen I read reports on unannounced Apple products, I often come away confused–but I don’t think it’s because I’m a numbskull.

Case in point: CNBNC has a story up by Jenny Cosgrave reporting that Apple has hired an unnamed sales director from Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer as it gets ready to roll out the wearable gizmo which Cosgrave, and most everybody else, is calling the iWatch.

(Update: 9toMac’s Mark Gurman reports that the TAG salesguy in question is Patrick Pruniaux, VP of sales and marketing.)

Fine. Interesting scoop. But here’s the part where I get confused:

Apple’s plans to hire Swiss watch experts are an attempt to market its product as “Swiss made”, which senior luxury goods analyst at Bernstein, Mario Ortelli, said is a label that is synonymous with quality when it comes to watches.

Um, hiring a sales director from a Swiss company doesn’t mean your watch is Swiss made. Actually, hiring an infinite number of employees of Swiss watch companies wouldn’t let you make that claim. Unless those employees stay in Switzerland and, you know, make your device. I can’t imagine why anyone would believe otherwise.

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TechReads for July 3, 2014

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 3, 2014 at 8:52 am

The mysterious woman who keeps Twitter safe. (Kashmir Hill/Forbes)

Who knew that Twitter and Dateline NBC had something in common?

Amazon’s Fire Phone is a mobile-shopping experiment. (Michael Mace/Mobile Opportunity)

Mace blogs only sporadically. But when he does, he often has the best take on a subject.

Technologizer TechReadsMicrosoft is doing a fitness band, too. (Paul Thurrott/SuperSite for Windows)

Will it debut before or after the wearable from you-know-who?

Facebook Messenger comes to the iPad (Josh Constine/TechCrunch)

Probably just me, but I prefer my Facebook messaging to be part of the main app, not an “unbundled” experience.

Love books? Root for Amazon. (Mathew Ingram/GigaOm)

The big publishers aren’t lovable underdogs.

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TechReads for July 2, 2014

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 2, 2014 at 9:45 am

Technologizer TechReadsSheryl Sandberg apologizes for Facebook psychological study. (Jared Newman/TIME)

Sort of. Well, not really.

The optimist’s view of Facebook’s study. (Farhad Manjoo/NYTimes)

Maybe it can help curb abuse on social networks.

We may be maxing out on the number of mobile app we use. (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

A study says the average is 26.8.

Apple signs up more auto makers for CarPlay. (Ina Fried/Re/code)

Some of which are also supporting Google’s Android Auto.

Samsung to end plasma TV production. (David Katzmaier/Cnet)

A once-futuristic technology is now officially obsolete.

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Hey, I’m Joining Fast Company!

A few words about what's next for me and this site
Posted by Harry McCracken on July 1, 2014 at 6:08 am

Fast CompanyJust over a month ago, I resigned from my job at TIME and rebooted this website. I wrote at the time that I didn’t expect to do Technologizer full-time indefinitely–which was another way of saying that I was looking for my next big opportunity as a technology journalist.

I’m happy to say I’ve found it: On July 21, I will join Fast Company as technology editor.

Why Fast Company? Well, I’ve been a fan since its first issue appeared almost two decades ago. But what I’m excited about is its future.

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TechReads for June 30, 2014

Posted by Harry McCracken on June 30, 2014 at 9:14 am

Technologizer Reach ReadsPsychological study no biggie, says Facebook. (Kasmir Hill, Forbes)

Seems obvious that the company is going to have to come up with a much better response to this kerfuffle.

Google is finally shutting down Orkut. (Paulo Golgher/Google)

The social network which had a shot at being Facebook before Facebook was Facebook.

Windows “Threshold” preview due this fall. (Mary Jo Foley/ZDNet)

I still can’t believe that Microsoft got rid of the Start menu, or that it’s only now restoring it.

How software will cure information overload. (James Fallows/The Atlantic)

Every time Jim Fallows or anyone else raves about Lotus’s legendary, long-defunct Agenda information manager, I want to try it.

Google using crowdsourcing to improve Google Voice transcription accuracy. (Mariella Moon/Engadget)

I’m relieved to hear any evidence at all that the company isn’t planning to abandon Google Voice.

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This New Google Project Proves Humans Are Better at Animation Than Computers Are

Sorry, Android L, Android Wear, and Android Auto: This may be the best thing which got announced at I/O.
Posted by Harry McCracken on June 27, 2014 at 10:49 pm

I had a good time attending Google I/O, but I somehow missed out on the premiere at the conference of something which means a lot to me: Duet, a new short film by Disney veteran Glen Keane, one of the finest animators of the past forty years.

Fortunately, I just caught up with it on YouTube:

The movie is part of Google’s “Spotlight Stories” project, and will be available in an interactive mobile version for Android phones later this year. But the thing which makes it interesting and moving isn’t the technology: It’s the fact that it consists of a series of drawings by a human being who happens to be a master draftsman, rather than the digital stop-motion puppetry that is computer animation.

Keane may have used more modern tools than his counterparts at Disney did in the 1930s and 1940s, but the basics of his craft haven’t changed at all.

There’s lots of computer animation I like, and some I just love–but the medium has a long way to go until it can match the charm, grace, and emotional depth of something like this. How said it would be if traditional animation–which is clearly an endangered artform–ever goes away altogether.

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