Category Archives: Technology

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When it comes to product offerings, Apple’s approach to business is a lot like that of a Basketball coach. Would you rather have a smaller team comprised of only 7 All-Stars, or a full 12 man roster with 1 All-Star, 2 above average players, 3 mediocre players, and 6 benchwarmers. The Dream Team wins every time, baby.

From: Why a Simple Product Line is Integral to Apple’s Success – Edible Apple

Umm, Dream Team doesn’t win every time. See, e.g. the 2004 NBA Finals. Detroit Pistons vs. LA Lakers.

Detroit won in five games.

LA’s roster:

Kobe Bryant
Shaquille O’Neal
Gary Payton
Karl Malone
Slava Medvedenko
Devean George
Derek Fisher
Kareem Rush
Rick Fox
Brian Cook
Horace Grant
Bryon Russell
Jamal Sampson
Luke Walton
Ime Udoka

Detroit’s roster:

Richard Hamilton
Chauncey Billups
Rasheed Wallace
Tayshaun Prince
Mehmet Okur
Ben Wallace
Corliss Williamson
Mike James
Elden Campbell
Lindsey Hunter
Darvin Ham
Darko Milicic
Tremaine Fowlkes

Okay, I don’t want to get into an analysis of who was past his prime or who made (or deserved) the 2004 All-Star team. But I think it’s more than fair to say LA’s squad was a little more stacked then Detroit’s. (I know Malone was hurt and that was a big deal, but still.) But Detroit’s team play beat out the Hall-of-Fame filled roster of the Lakers.

And let’s not get into the thrashing the US has been getting in international basketball until this past Olympics. Mind you, the only reason these All-Stars killed was real team play versus a collection of stars. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to say all the USA Basketball teams that lost all those games and tournaments had better talent top to bottom than the national squads of the teams the USA lost to.

Though I think the base point of the article makes sense. Apple paring down the lineup is a good thing for them. Just a poor basketball analogy.

Cataloging apps

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I just gave Delicious Library 2.0 a shot and it’s a mixed bag.  Importing via the iSight is nice and it sure is a pretty program, but I wish it was a little more database focused.  I might give DVDpedia a shot, but I think DL2.0 is good enough.

I really miss the program I used back in my Winny days, DVD Profiler.  It relied on user to input information into it’s database which was then used to fill out the information when you typed in the ISBN or UPC number or put the DVD in the drive and let the app recognize it automatically (though I always found it easier to just type in the number).  For a tiny few titles, it was crazy, but for the most part it was spot on.  Of course you’d run into issues with spelling every now and then, and the use or not of “Jr.” or other end of name things.  What I loved most about the program though, was that it acted like a real database app.  What I mean is I could sort the info however I wanted.  I could click a movie and it would bring up all the info, including full cast lists.  And for most/all of the actors I could click on the name and it would bring up what other movies the actor appeared in within my collection.  Or director or etc etc etc.  It was great.  Admittedly it’s not the most useful/necessary feature, but it was something I loved.  Sometimes I would go on a movie run where I tried to connect the next movie with the movie I just watched and it was very useful.

I loved this app so much, that I considered installing VPC and windows JUST for it in my PPC days and to this day think about running a virtual XP machine to use it.  Though it might suck now, I used it many many years ago.

Delicious Library

DVDpedia

DVD Profiler

McCain is loved and hated by me

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Did McCain screw himself when he promoted speedy adoption of HDTV? – By Timothy Noah – Slate Magazine

McCain as the cause of HD penetration is a reason I’d like him.  Though I’d just as likely have HD now without him.  And due to SDV and TiVo I don’t get many of the HD channels.

But funny that HD might be downfall.  And I could totally see it doing so.

I don’t need it (yet)

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Monty’s a spry 4 years old (and I mean spry, everyone thinks he’s still a puppy given his energy level, etc).  And some crazy guy with barbeque sauce all over his chin (I so incredibly wish I had taken a picture), while petting Monty for an uncomfortably long time, at the Taste of Arlington 2008, said Monty would live an additional 23 years.  Or maybe it was until he was 23.  Either way that’s WAY longer than miniature schnauzers live on par.  I’m not looking ahead to life sans Monty, but no way I’d get this (maybe, I am a sucker for such things):

digital pet urn

That’s a digital pet urn.  Available from pet-urns.com.  Product description:

With a 7” diagonal screen you can display literally hundreds of your favorite pet and/or human memories. Each digital frame includes a battery operated remote control, a large 256 megabyte internal memory, power supply cord, and USB computer cord for transferring photo’s or audio files from your personal computer to the internal memory.

This urn has two compartments which you access from the removable bottom. The 1st compartment holds the digital frame while the 2nd has 95 cubic inches of space inside, accomodating pets from 0-75 lbs.

Maybe if they added video I’d consider it.  But pics and audio only.  Who has audio recordings of their dogs?  Do they expect people to demux their video for audio and upload that? 

via Gizmodo.