The Uptake

iPanel? Analysts make me want to puke

Remember that thing about stupid naming conventions? Apple doesn't usually do that.

Smartphones are still too difficult for normals

I'm watching a friend of mine on Facebook who just got her new iPhone. She's talking about trying to figure the thing out, and considering taking a course at her local Verizon store on how to use it.

What can we do about this? Obviously, with iOS, it's more difficult. Apple's restrictions on the OS would make it insanely hard to create a simplified overlay. Is that the same for Windows Phone? I really don't know.

Android and Android developers have a prime opportunity here. I've seen a couple of “grandparent-friendly” OS overlays in the past few months, but most of them simply complicate matters more by using unfamiliar terms.

Who wants to take the challenge and run with it? Android phones are cheap, carriers would love to be able to sell data plans to more people and chances are that there's an OEM who's willing to play ball.

HTC Evo 4G LTE

Why not just Evo LTE? Why muddy the waters between Sprint's old and busted WiMax network and its forthcoming, new and shiny LTE one?

Terrible naming conventions…technology is absolutely full of them.

Gruber on Project Glass

Google’s transition into the new Microsoft is now complete

He's referencing (I think) this video which, while incredibly cool, brought about the sore fact that Microsoft is very good at showing us concepts, but not always successful in making them happen.

Let's hope, for the good of the technology ecosystem, that Google is better at execution.

The Genesis of Google’s Project Glass

Rumor has it, and I don't have time to go digging to confirm, that Google Glass is actually a spawn-off of a project called SixthSense, by Pranav Mistry.

Not a difficult leap to go from one to the other, though I have to say that I actually like the idea of SixthSense more than Google's version of the same.

Next-Gen Mobile Apps

God I hope so.

Paper, to me, is the app that finally made me have my “ah-hah” moment about the iPad.

More on Google’s Project Glass

Viticci brings up 10 great questions, in the link above. Ultimately, however, I'm really excited about the potential of what Project Glass could bring.

I remember seeing the original iPhone, then commenting to my (now) wife:

Yeah, that looks really cool, if they can actually make it work.

And Apple made it work. It worked just like it did in the commercial. I was blown away. While the iPhone is now ubiquitous and not quite as amazing as it once was, what we saw then was positively one of those “living in the future” moments.

That's what Project Glass looks like to me. Now the question is whether or not Google can partner with Warby Parker to make glasses that look as good as they work.

The PC industry keeps screwing itself

I don't get the follow-on mentality. Over the past few weeks I've tested the rather lovely Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook and an HP Envy 17 laptop. While I like both of these machines a lot, I can't help but think of a MacBook Air every time I touch the XPS, and the Envy 17 is a near-clone of a MacBook Pro.

I want to use Windows Phone as an example of how something can break from the status quo, yet still be great. Unfortunately that's talking about software. Windows-based PC makers, right now, are all copying hardware and they're almost all doing it by making things that closely resemble Apple products.

When I look at the options right now, it feels like I'm viewing a stall at a Chinese knockoff market. The only people who seem to be doing anything different are companies like Razer, with its Blade laptop. Reviews of the Blade are mediocre at best, but at least the company tried to do something different.

At CES this year, it was a veritable parade of follow-on PCs. There were very pretty offerings from Samsung, Dell, Toshiba and the other usual suspects, but not a single one of them offered anything truly unique. Ultrabooks were a hand-tailored way for the industry to do something different, and yet we're already seeing a race to the bottom as the OEMs try to cut prices by cutting corners.

It's the same story that we've seen in the PC market for years, where customers are going to have a hard time telling the difference between a high-end laptop and something that they bought for $400 from Best Buy. But worse than that, it's an assault on those people who truly enjoy the Windows platform and just want an incredibly good laptop on which to work with it.

Someone, please do something different. Find a way to make something that doesn't look like you rifled through Apple's trash bin. Make it slick, make it pretty and make it worth the money it will take for you to turn a decent profit for once. Your industry needs you to do this. Your customers want you to.

Why I Joined Svbtle

2 years and a few posts ago, I started this site on WordPress. I always wrestled with themes, ideas and the workflow of the site, and I never found anything that actually felt right to me.

Then I saw Svbtle. Suddenly the way that my brain worked was sitting in front of me as a blog platform. I applied, got accepted and today is day 1 of the new journey.

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I talk about tech, marketing, entrepreneurship and a myriad of other things. Consider this blog my version of TwitLonger, where I'll go more in depth with the stuff that comes into my head.

Yes, I do the same thing sometimes on TNW, but there are always topics or trains of thought that aren't necessarily fitting to be on there. That's where this site will find its niche.

But back to the topic at hand, I think what Dustin is doing with Svbtle is potentially huge and definitely ground-breaking. I'm pretty thrilled to be a part of it, so thanks for taking the time to read this stuff I write.