Fanboys. Bite me

Image by Pocheco (Creative Commons).

I've been going to write this post for a while. It's about fanboys. As someone who's always been into gaming and tech, I've had long exposure to fanboys.

I remember just before Christmas when I was a young teen (thirteen or fourteen), I had asked my parents for a Commodore Amiga -- which subsequently, they kindly bought for me. I was looking forward to Christmas morning, but every evening on the way home from school, my friend Adam would run-down the Amiga, and list all the reasons his Sega Megadrive (AKA Sega Genesis, which he had asked for) was going to be so much better.

I never challenged Adam. Not because the Amiga was inferior (it wasn't), but because even then I knew it was a waste of time. I don't enter debates when someone is fundamentally unwilling to compromise. This is why I no longer write a politics blog.

There was no-way I could say anything that would make Adam concede even the slightest point in any discussion, so why bother? To Adam the Megadrive was the dog's dangly bits, and nothing I could say could make him think otherwise. Adam was a fanboy.

A year later and Nintendo's SNES had been launched, and the second console wars had begun. If you're a man of a certain age, you know all about the SNES vs Megadrive hostilities. I got a SNES the following Christmas and Adam switched to Nintendo, and somewhat ironically, we were "allies" for a short time. This certainly made the walks to school less combative.

I imagine the N64 vs PlayStation debate was similarity bloody, but by that time I was at Uni and more concerned with getting laid. I did get an N64 though, and we had a shared PlayStation in the digs.

As regular readers will know, I've been an Apple Mac user for many years. Naturally I've also had significant exposure to the Mac vs PC debate. At work I use Windows, at home a Mac. I prefer a Mac, but I don't have any appetite whatsoever to get into an argument about it.

Probably the most vicious debate these days is about smartphones. You read the most ridiculous bullshit about smartphones. Most of the comments and tweets I read about the iPhone, are by people who've clearly not spent more than a few seconds in an O2 store with one. Likewise the idiots who claim that Android phones are over-complicated, or that there are no good apps available.

I use Macs, Windows and I have a Linux netbook. I have an iPhone 4 from work and my personal phone is a Samsung Galaxy SII rocking Android. They're all really good devices and great operating systems. And for a long time I totally loved BlackBerry.

If you like your phone, games console or computer operating system, then great. And by all means tell people how much you -- personally -- really enjoy using it. But if you're going to spend your time on Twitter or in the comments of a popular tech blog, commenting on devices or software you've never actually used seriously, then you Sir, are a moron of the highest order.

Fanboys are like the X-Factor or tabloid newspapers, they're diverting but ultimately pointless.

We're all capable and guilty of prejudice. But if you allow your loyalty to a brand (think about how stupid that sounds), to consume your ability to have a rational discussion, then you really should find a better outlet for your repressed insecurities.

This is not a blog for fanboys, this is a blog for rational geeks.

Google Maps now uses WebGL in Chrome

It's awesome. Kick-ass vector graphics, just like on Android :)

via. Google's blog

[Proper] Avengers Trailer

Thank me after...

Now reading: Seth Godin's "Poke The Box"

I have just finished Seth Godin's excellent Lynchpin, which is essential if you're looking to make the difference in an organisation (especially poignant in today's dicey economy). Terrific stuff. Definitely worth a read, and in my opinion, a re-read.

Anyway, today I started his 2011 book, Poke the Box, which is aimed at a more entrepreneurial reader, and asks what's holding you back from taking a risk? I especially like Seth's line: "What's better than soon? Now."

Get them both.

Apple investors demand dividend

Businessweek:

[Apple VP & FCO Peter] Oppenheimer had heard the request before and explained that Apple is keeping its powder dry for “strategic opportunities,” without elaborating on what those could be, Rao said. The stock had almost doubled in the year before that meeting, and Oppenheimer argued Apple has been a good steward of its cash and investments, currently worth $76.2 billion.

Unsurprisingly, an investor is looking to tap into Apple's vast cash reserves following Steve Jobs' demise. Personally I think Steve's greatest legacy, will be just that: his legacy. Apple will not forget Steve Jobs.

There will be no rash acquisitions. Whatever Apple does with its cash will be consistent with the roadmap Steve and the board will have committed to before he stepped down as CEO. Fear not, Kishore Rao, you can be confident your money is safe.

"Echo station 3-T-8, we have spotted Imperial walkers."

By artist Katie Mello.

via. Super Punch

Autobot. Literally

Well this is ace. It's made from old car-parts.

via. Reddit

Moon rocks, baby

CBC Books:

On July 20, 2002, star NASA intern Thad Roberts stole a 600-pound safe, which contained moon rocks from every moon mission since 1969, from the organization's headquarters. He brought the rocks to a cheap Orlando hotel, scattered them out on the bed and had sex with his girlfriend on them. He eventually tried to sell the ill-gotten goods on the internet and was busted by a Belgian mineral collector.

I guess took her to the moon and back.

via. Reddit

Marco Arment on Screen Size

Marco Arment on Screen Size:

As a four-year iPhone user, I’ve never thought, “You know what I don’t like about this phone? The screen’s too small. I’d like to reduce my battery life, and I’d like my phone to protrude from my pocket in a larger and more conspicuous rectangle, to achieve a larger screen that I cannot comfortably use one-handed. That would be completely worth it.”

I dunno. I've made my thoughts clear. I think a 4" screen is the sweet-spot for a phone. But it's a personal thing, I guess.

(Via The Brooks Review)

The Web's Best Tributes to Steve Jobs

A round up over at Popular Science.

This may explain Nadine Dorries...

Found: The Particular Brain Fold That Helps People Distinguish Between Imagination and Reality:

A fold in the front brain called the paracingulate sulcus, or PCS, can apparently help people more accurately remember whether something was imagined or really happened, or which person actually said something. It's one of the final structural folds to develop before birth, and its size varies greatly in the general population, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge. People with the fold were significantly better at memory tasks than people without the fold, the researchers say.

(Via Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)

The free 3GS was Tuesday's biggest news

Hard to write about Apple today and it not be about Jobs, but something occurred to me as I sat at work waiting for BT to restore our Citrix connection. Is the free iPhone 3GS actually the biggest story out of Tuesday's keynote?

Let me explain...

Last month my brother-in-law bought his very first smartphone. He's not a nerd, so one of the biggest factors was price. He got an Android phone -- a Samsung Galaxy Ace. I had a look at it and it's pretty good and excellent value for around £20 a month (the handset was free with the contact). He had the choice between the Ace and the HTC Wildfire; a phone I'm no fan of (it's slow and the screen is terrible).

The phone the Ace reminds me of is my wife's 3GS. Same 3.5" screen and I'm pretty sure a similar resolution. It's a little laggy compared to the latest Android handsets (but not slow), and it's very similar in design to Apple's previous form-factor. The only major difference was the OS and that the Ace had a 5MP camera.

I wonder, if my bro-in-law could have had a free iPod totting iPhone 3GS on his low-price contract, would he still have plumped with an Android?

The 3GS is now the best deal if you're looking for a low-end smartphone. You get a good phone with a great OS, and the best media software available -- the integrated iPod.

Apple also wins big with this move. It gets to squeeze even more value out of an existing model. This is no new low-end SKU. There is no R&D; development and no new components to source. It can squeeze its suppliers for even lower costs. And Apple can smash into the low-end market without scuffing its brand by launching a "cheap" iPhone. Genius.

Everyone wins.

Bye, Steve.

Thank you for being awesome.

Via. Merlin Mann. Read this.

Shocker: Football fans have no financial nous!

From a reader's comment on (The Guardian's) David Conn's piece on Man City's purchase of land around east Manchester:

So...the council leased a publicly owned asset worth £40m annually for £2m pa plus some baksheesh?

Is that even legal?

"Baksheesh" is of course a backhander (or charitable tip, depending on translation). Why would £2m per-year, on a £40m asset, be considered any sort of fraud/gift? I'd be glad of any sort of Basksheeth to sweeten that deal!

We should pay down our debts

From Channel 4 News's early evening Snowmail shot:

...the day started badly for the PM after his speech was briefed to journalists. It contained a dramatic passage apparently telling the nation: "The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with your debts. That means households - all of us - paying off the credit card and store card bills."

When economists left, right and centre attacked the idea saying it would take demand out of the economy and could make things a lot worse the press was told it was all a big mistake. A "sloppy draft" had been misinterpreted. And by the time the speech was made the passage had been changed to "The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with your debts. That's why households - all of us - are paying off the credit card and store card bills".

It is now not clear whether the PM thinks we should pay off our credit card bills or not.

We absolutely must reduce our personal indebtedness, regardless of the outcry from (Keynesian) economists' who are terrified of a reduction in demand.

It's terribly damaging that so many people are in so much debt. Debt reduces an individual's freedom to innovate and take risks, which in turn, is just as damaging to an economy's future, as any marginal reduction in demand. Fewer people willing and/or able to be entrepreneurs, is not a good thing.

See my article from 2007.

On iPhone 4S

Of course I write this now with 20/20 hindsight, but I genuinely didn't think there would be an "iPhone 5" this time around.

The iPhone 4 was launched as a whole new redesign, rather than a spec boost. The new phone, a la the 3GS, is an internal upgrade, not a cosmetic one. And the iPhone 4 design is a classic, so why change it? It's still the classiest looking phone on the market. And I write this as a longtime and very happy Android user.

Apple doesn't ditch classic designs prematurely. Take the legendary aluminium Powerbook (G4). My wife had one of these, and several years later, I bought a MacBook Pro that was the same design, albeit a bit thinner. Also see the white iBook and the polycarbonite MacBook -- essentially the same classic style.

Can you think of a phone on the market right now that is better looking than the iPhone 4?

*taps finger* (okay, maybe the new Nexus Prime, due in a few days...)

So with no reason to change the exterior, Apple has reserved the "5" moniker for its next big overhaul. And you can guarantee, the "iPhone 5" when it comes, will be the sexiest handset available. That's Apple.

So what about the new iPhone? I think it's pretty cool. I have no idea how good the implementation of Siri voice recognition is. But voice is the future for vehicle use, and I'm sure Apple's implementation is excellent. Likewise, any improvement on the iPhone 4's genuinely brilliant camera, must be awesome.

Faster processors and vastly improved graphical performance are par-the-course for an iPhone rev, and the 4S doesn't miss the target. And while I prefer Samsung's Super AMOLED screens for their punchy vibrance, the iPhone's crisp Retina Display is by far the best for reading Instapaper.

All in all it's a great phone and a decent upgrade. But for me at least, Apple still comes up short on one key factor -- a 3.5" screen is a little too small. I'm not sure what the sweet-spot is. My HTC Desire had a 3.7" screen, and my current handset, a Samsung Galaxy SII, has a pretty hefty 4.3" screen. The Goldilocks in me reckons 4" would be just about right.

To make me move from Android (at least on my personal phone), Apple has to budge on the screen dimensions. 3.5 is just too dinky. I know that Apple will fiercely protect its Retina Display resolution, so we may have to wait for the right screen to be manufactured, and for Apple to eek out the issues with multiple iPhone screen sizes, but it has to happen eventually. Because once you've gone big, you can't go back...

Laters

The best RSS client on the Mac, just got better

Silvio Rizzi's adds essential MarsEdit support to his brilliant RSS client, Reeder.

Reeder is also my iOS reader of choice, too.

The Topolsky Spin

The Topolsky Spin:

The Topolsky Spin

– The act of claiming that your shitty rumormongery was correct, even in the face of reality proving you false. The most common variant is to claim that Apple (it’s always about Apple) was totally going to announce the product that you predicted, but they changed plans at the last minute.

(Via The Angry Drunk)

Sore losers

El Reg's Tony Smith on why the tech hacks are so bent out of shape by the iPhone 4S:

Journalists being journalists, there's no hint of an apology that all their breathless prose devoted to iPhone 5 rumours proved to be wrong.

[...]

Apple has been criticised in the past for merely making cosmetic changes to unchanged internals yet announcing the result as new product. Today, it's been slapped down for doing, effectively, the opposite.

You think a company not doing what the pundits hope it'll do - without any hard evidence that it will - is bad? It's nothing compared to pundits pouring scorn on said firm because they were caught out.

Passed over? Don't be a "Bob".

We all get passed over at times. Sometimes it's your turn for the promotion, other times it's not. But what is hugely important, is how you react to a setback.

Respond with petulance, anger and/or resentment, and you're proving your manager right: you don't have the resilience, professionalism or character for the role. You've reinforced to your manager that she was right to pass you over (and right to discount you next time, too).

Your goal should be to force them to second guess their decision -- starting by handling the rejection in a positive and professional manner.

Self-awareness is incredibly important to the professional. Know the limitations of your skills, and understand what it is you can best offer your manager. Use rejection as leverage to gain the skills or experience that have held you back.

Show your disappointment at missing out, but channel your response in a mutually beneficial direction. Ask what the other candidate had that you didn't, and ask for a development plan that will fill in the gaps in your skill-set -- and don't drop the conversation without a commitment to a meeting to discuss it (however if you're utterly crushed by the decision, it might be best just to say thank you, and wait for a later date for this discussion).

Of course there are some people who have a complete and utter lack of self-awareness. These are the people who are oblivious to their own shortcomings. They think they are better than everyone else; and without them, the business would crumble into dust.

This person, let's call him Bob for the purposes of this post, is constantly resentful of other people's success. We all get visited by the green monster now-and-again, but Bob is seething every time someone gets a raise or a new role. He cannot, for one moment, consider that this person might be better suited to the promotion than he is.

Bob doesn't know the limits of his own skills. Bob never notices the parts of the job spec that would instantly rule him out. And Bob always thinks he works harder -- and it's always politics, sex or favouritism that have prevented his advancement.

Bob is usually quite good at his job. He generally puts in the hours and completes the tasks given to him to a reasonable standard. But Bob isn't a team-player. He doesn't pick-up unfinished jobs, unless it's an opportunity to show that someone else has dropped the ball.

So when Bob gets passed over, he doesn't ask what he can do to improve his chances next time, and he doesn't use the experience to grow as a professional. No, for Bob rejection is a purely negative experience. He takes the news petulantly -- but never aggressive enough to step out of line.

Bob will work to rule for a few days or weeks. He'll never miss an opportunity to let everyone know he's absolutely fuming about the decision. And of course he will channel his resentment into a campaign to undermine the person who did eventually get his job.

I do hope if you're reading this blog, you're not a Bob. But I'm sure if you've spent any length of time in industry, you've come across a few of them.

Getting passed over for promotion is rarely welcomed, but it should always be an opportunity to grow as a person. I hope next time you're passed over, you embrace the slither of opportunity that's usually there.

Laters.