I have mixed feelings about the iPad.  I love my iPhone, Kindle and my HP Netbook but I'm not sure if I have a need for another small computing device. Of course, who couldn't use a huge iPod Touch to have on the coffee table to check email and Facebook statuses. I could see replacing my Kindle with one because I'm sure that it is going to be a better book reader. However, I'm not paying $500 to $700 for a book reader.  I waited until the Kindle came down to $250 before I pulled the trigger on that. 

I do have a feeling that the iPad will be successful because the mac boys and tech heads will flock to it. It will be the next must have gadget. I also see this device becoming very popular in educational circles.  If it gains a lot of traction in these markets then I assume the mass market will eventually follow unless a competitor like HP or Dell can deliver comparable product with a good UI and a lot of marketing.

I just read an interesting article by Steve Gillmor on TechCrunchIT and it made me think about something. If the iPad is successful does that mean the beginning of the end Flash?

Take Flash. Please. When Jobs quarantined it on the iPhone, we all felt it was a tactical thing, more political than technical. Of course, it’s never been technical, even now when it’s kept off the iPad because it is responsible for such a great percentage of crashes in Safari or whatever. Actually, Flash is being kept off the iPlatform because It Sucks. Google’s HTML 5 liturgy is another contiguous example of how to sell the same message, but enquiring minds still want to know why we need a plug-in from a company that makes its real money from Photoshop.

via http://www.techcrunchit.com/2010/01/29/left-out/ 

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This is an amazing article on Wired with Steve Jobs opening up in public about going after Google and Adobe. 

After a big public announcement of the sort Apple had this week for the iPad CEO Steve Jobs often takes time in the day or two afterwards to have a Town Hall at One Infinite Loop, making himself available for questions from employees bold enough to stand up and take one right between the eyes.

This time, the big topics included Google and Adobe — no surprises there. Google recently unveiled its own Android-powered handset, the Nexus One, whose release Jan. 5 prompted Jobs to perhaps over-react by announcing on the same day that the iTunes store had served up three billion apps and that “… we see no signs of the competition catching up any time soon.” Apple’s billionth iPhone app download was greeted with great fanfare, but the two billionth not so much, so it felt a tad like Jobs was feeling some heat.

And the absence of Adobe Flash support on the iPhone for three years and counting, and now on the iPad, is either celebrated by users as a poke in the eye of one of the web’s most dextrous tools, or the most over-rated and overused crutch for decent design.

Jobs, characteristically, did not mince words as he spoke to the assembled, according to a person who was there who could not be named because this person is not authorized by Apple to speak with the press.

On Google: We did not enter the search business, Jobs said. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them, he says. Someone else asks something on a different topic, but there’s no getting Jobs off this rant. I want to go back to that other question first and say one more thing, he says. This don’t be evil mantra: “It’s bullshit.” Audience roars.

About Adobe: They are lazy, Jobs says. They have all this potential to do interesting things but they just refuse to do it. They don’t do anything with the approaches that Apple is taking, like Carbon. Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy, he says. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash, he says. The world is moving to HTML5.

The world, of course, includes Google, which last week in a somewhat more modest development bypassed Apple’s iPhone app blockade by unveiling an html5 version of Google Voice, which takes full advantage of mobile Safari on the iPhone. Wired.com found it to be an impressive variation of the app Apple has neither approved nor officially rejected.

And it is, of course, in keeping with Google’s stated view (Android app marketplace notwithstanding) that the future is really in web-based applications and not in mobile apps at all. Web-based applications of the sort html5 makes much more viable.

So, great work rallying the troops, Steve — but be careful what you wish for.

via. http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/01/googles-dont-be-evil-mantra-is-bullshit-adobe-is-lazy-apples-steve-jobs/#ixzz0eAH4tDef

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Fun doesn't necessarily convey plot though, so here's a quick rundown. It's 2008 and Gordon Gekko has just been released from jail. There's definitely a bit of culture shock, but Gekko is still a money whisperer and can tell which way the financial winds are blowing -- towards a stock market crash. 

Unfortunately, no one will listen to his warnings, so he finally gets help from his estranged daughter's (Carey Mulligan) fiance Jacob (Shia LaBeouf), who is looking for revenge after his mentor was killed.   

via http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/01/wall-street-2-trailer-gordon-gekko-is-back.html

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I tried to embed this video but it didn't work. Click here to view the video on CNN's website. Make sure you click through the 3 pages on the site because there are 3 separate videos to watch.

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via michaelvandaniker.com

 

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The American Red Cross is sending money, supplies and staff to Haiti to support relief efforts there after yesterday’s earthquake, which caused catastrophic damage and loss of life.

According to reports, as many as three million people may have been affected by the quake, which collapsed government buildings and caused major damage to hospitals in the area. 

The Red Cross is contributing an initial $1 million from the International Response Fund to support the relief operation, and has opened its warehouse in Panama to provide tarps, mosquito nets and cooking sets for approximately 5,000 families.

$1.2 Million in Donations for Haiti, via Text Message

By JENNA WORTHAM

Update | 6:51 p.m. Adding more information about the campaign and updating the total raised.

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday, thousands of Americans are sending financial support — through their mobile phones.

Anyone with a mobile phone and an account with a major wireless carrier can text the phrase “Haiti” to the number 90999 and donate $10 to the Red Cross. That amount is charged to the donor’s cellphone bill.

The texted donations are being handled by a company called mGive, which started the campaign in a joint effort with the State Department and the Red Cross late Tuesday night. Thanks to a mention on the White House’s blog and lots of word of mouth onTwitter and Facebook, the campaign had raised more than $1.2 million by Tuesday evening, mGive said. 

via http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/1-million-in-donations-for-haiti-via-text-message/?src=tptw

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I follow Rick Warren on Twitter because he appears to be the leading evangelical pastor in America. He recently made some comments that made me think and tonight I found a video of a Ted talk he gave about his ministry and his book: The Purpose Driven Life. I also found a video of Dan Dennett giving a rebuttal of some of the assertions that Rick made in his book. 

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