the "oh no" post
I want to write.
I need to write.
I need to write something to get some stuff off my chest, if that's even the correct phrase. Because it has been building up to a certain level. That of the throat, I guess.
So, there's been some news in the tech world and the mobile tech world.
I will destroy it all here, in this post.
But first. There really needs to be a mobile/tech podcast with people who actually know what they're talking about on it. There are a few of those around, but they're usually very niched (no idea if that's a word, but I hope you get the point) - to, say, just a certain OS -or company. Or something like that. Which is fine, they provide quality content, but a lot of time less context than I would like.
I have this dream, of getting together with a few people I've noticed (mainly on Twitter and Friendfeed), people whose writings I enjoy reading and opinions I may agree or disagree with, but all people who cherish fact, not marketing stunt-fiction. Getting together for a podcast. That should cover mobile and general tech. No reason to exclude anything. Just another general thing no one will listen to.
But a thing that I can point people to for my opinions on stuff. And sometimes, even for facts on stuff.
Because this is getting out of control.
Of course, that was just a dream I was telling you about, it will probably never happen.
Back to news.
Nokia announced the much-leaked (by them, make no mistake about this) N900 and the not-leaked-at-all Booklet 3G netbook.
So let's see. N900. I wrote a couple of lines about it here.
Since then, it's become official. So what? Nothing new. Except we now have semi-final pricing, at 600 euros including taxes contract-free.
People are getting excited about this.
Let me say that again: people are getting excited about this.
Why?
Because it doesn't run Symbian.
See, people hate Symbian right now. Because it's not new. And you can barely love something that isn't new. You can, however unconditionally love anything that is new. That's the paradigm here.
When you read "people", please read "bloggers", by the way. Normal people have no clue what the N900 is. And they probably will continue to have no clue into November.
So Symbian is old and ugly, and people love to whine. This, I don't know why. But they do.
So OMG this Maemo thing is great and beautiful and...
You get the point.
But this Maemo thing is not new. It's been on 4 devices already (the 770, the N800, the N810 and the N810 WiMax edition). This is version 5 (FIVE) of this presumably new thing. Five.
This is not Nokia's iPhone killer, because such a thing did not, does not, will not and should never exist. This is their next Internet Tablet. It's just that it has become a phone too.
That really is all. Since the 770, people have been complaining (see a pattern yet?) about the lack of phone radios in the tablet line. So, Nokia gave you phone radios. And a 2007 camera. By that, I mean the fact that the N95's camera, probably the most re-used phone camera module in history, has been brought to the tablet line. Which would have been wonderful, well, in 2007. Now it's just 'meh', as some people would say.
So you get your camera and your phone. And naturally, your 'pretty' UI. And a faster processor, let's not forget. What else? Whatever it is, all of these improvements, are, in Nokia's thinking, worth about 200 euros. Which is the approximate price increase compared to the N810's release price.
Go. Buy 10. Heck, buy 20 for me too. Because I won't be buying any.
It is funny in a way. The tablet line was probably, over the years, one of the most misunderstood and under-hyped efforts in Nokia's history. Until now, when they change a few things here and there, and all of a sudden this is the next best thing since sliced bread.
It's not. It is a capable smartphone, with loads of apps, a Linux-based OS which is very easy to develop for, and all that. But, funny, at this price point, its niche will continue to be that exact same niche of the other tablets: some geeks.
Some geeks bought 770s, N800s, N810s because no one except them could figure out what these devices were meant for.
And some geeks will buy the N900 because, well, it's first and foremost the best tablet yet, and also because they think this is Nokia's great comeback. It isn't. There's nothing to come back from. Sorry. Not yet, at least.
My view of the mobile world? The iPhone should absolutely dominate the mid-tier of the market. It's made for that. Can't compete on price with the Nokia 1209s of the world. But it's usable by grandma. That's its only USP. Oh, and no porn means grandma won't be offended either.
But geeks, power users, digerati, the knowledgeable in the tech world, using iPhones? That is a joke. They're the exact people that should appreciate freedom of choice. Supposedly, these people know enough about technology that they don't need a curated application store where they only get what the Master says they can. Such people should know how to multi-task. And their devices should too. Stuff like that.
LMAO. Really.
How did this happen? I honestly have no idea.
Steve Jobs? I think he's leading a religion more than a company, if I judge by the type of irrational behaviour of his fans.
If Apple had launched a 20mm-thin, 1.25kg, 12 hour battery life, aluminum chassis, glass HD display netbook...
But they didn't. Even though that sort of rumor was all the rage before the rumor-focus shifted to a tablet.
Nokia launched said spec netbook. And nobody cares.
Nokia announced what has great potential to become the best selling netbook, and nobody cares.
Why best selling?
Because their strength is in their distribution. Through operators, no less. So if you'll see the Nokia netbook for free on a 24-month mobile Internet contract in time for Christmas, will you buy it?
And by the way, it's beautiful.
If you haven't bought a netbook already, or even if you have last year and are thinking of a change, you'll buy it. Well, you'll buy the Internet contract. Trust me.
Of course, this is all a hunch. Backed by hard data, but still a hunch. Nokia can still fuck this up. They can still decide to sell it only un-subsidized for $700. And that won't work.
Not for them. But strip that Nokia logo off it, put an Apple on, leave the specs unchanged, price too...
Guess what the next best thing in computing just became?
Kudos to Apple's marketing department for sleeping throughout the past few months. I mean that. They don't have to do anything at all. The fans will do it for them. That's exceptional.
For Apple. See, they're making the money off of you, my dear fanboys. And you're working for Apple, for free.
Fun!
More info on the Booklet 3G (horrible brand, imho) will be available starting September 2nd. I hope they will do what they have to. It won't matter to the Apple-tablet-rumor tech-bloggers, but it will to the, you know, real world.
If you think this is another Apple-bash, turn your Mac off. Now. And get some air.
Oxygen level back to normal? Good. Let's go on.
I'm a big fan of podcasting, podcasts, vidcasts, netcasts and everything that ends in "casts" really. And is on the internets. And is somehow connected to new technology.
So I listen to a lot of podcasts and I try to watch a lot of -casts. Live is best.
Or should I say, that is how I was. I'm beginning to think I need to rethink this whole thing.
Let's take the leading tech podcasts of this world. I won't name names, because then people will whine for yet another reason.
On each episode, I can spot at least 2 (two) instances when the leading 'voices' in the tech world state things as fact when they in fact aren't. Or when said voices are just wrong. Or they get confused about things they cover. You know, things they make a living out of.
Or, my favourite, they just don't know. And say this out loud like it's some kind of a prize they just won.
Sick. And tired.
Yes, I am now whining. Congrats to you who first spotted that I hate whiners but really, what is it I'm doing now...
You will be awarded an award. And thus, you shall be award winning from this point on.
And the "just don't listen and stop writing this post now" argument? Well, I care. I want to continue to listen. I want it not to be a waste of time, though. I want people to have opinions based on facts. I want to hear those opinions, because, well, I enjoy that. In real life and in virtual internet life.
But I also want these people to get out of Silicon Valley more. And see the world. Perhaps even understand it. I don't know.
Where are all the European tech geeks? And by European, I mean the continent, not necessarily the EU. And not necessarily Great Britain, although if I think about it, there aren't so many there either. Again, I don't mean niche-type affairs. The generalist blogs, bloggers, people of influence. Where are you?
Do you even speak English? If not, are you insane? If yes, then where's the tech podcast that looks at things from the European perspective? Where's that?
When's the last time you've heard of a startup that's not based in the US or UK? I can tell you, this year, I think I've heard of only one. Remarkable, I mean.
Out of the hundreds of millions of Europeans, nobody is doing anything in tech except in the UK? WHY?
Perhaps there are answers to all of these questions and I have just been ignorant. Please show me the way then. The light, if you will.
And now, Twitter.
Quick thoughts. Robert Scoble needed pageviews. Not for money, but to boost his status as an online celebrity. Ashton Kutcher may be coming to Rackspace (rumor).
Is Twitter worth a gazillion billion? Twitter isn't worth anything right now, and we all know that. All this babble is about projections of future worth based on wishful thinking and, in some cases, disappointment with FriendFeed.
On to its brevity. Yes, that's a strategic asset of value. But 140 characters is insane, stupid and dumb. First of all it's dumb that anyone running a tech company in this century can claim that the limit of one SMS is 140 characters. It's not. It's 160. Then, it's stupid that people have not yet heard of concatenated SMS. And I don't care about SMS.
But anyway, my perfect Twitter limit? 160 characters, but links aren't counted. Nor are @usernames.
With that, I think we could manage. And what about SMS users? What about them? They'll just have to cram everything up into 160 characters. Including my above exclusions. One small difference between SMS use and anything else but this can boost that insane projected value of Twitter by a lot.
One last thing about Twitter: stop saying it's about conversations. It isn't. Stop dreaming. It has always been about self-promotion. It doesn't matter if you're an average Joe or some corporation, that's its best value.
This isn't a conversation:
user1: I just used this tool it's cool.
user2: @user1 Wow, yeah, I do too, very cool.
user1: @user2 Yeah, it is.
user2: @user1 Definitely.
And my hunch is that my example above is actually longer than your average Twitter "conversation".
You can't have a conversation based on multiple 140-character chunks. Sorry. Call it whatever you want, just not this.
This has been an experiment.
One post to cover a lot of things.
Less pageviews, less Google juice, less AdSense dollars or BananaBucks(TM).
I was aiming for something as close as possible to a stream of consciousness.
It's a written podcast.
With just one guy talking/writing.
Because hearing that is crap. Reading it might not have been (but who really knows, you're not still reading, are you?)
I might just go on with this experiment and then brand it something nice, like Lifestrea... sorry, something else. I hear that's already hype...sorry, taken.
Till then... thanks for reading.
