Google Wave invites
So I received my invite to Google Wave today, and have 20 invites to pass out. If you're interested either shoot me an email, or leave a comment here or on Facebook. First come first served.
Update: To be more clear on this. What I have are "nominations", and not invites. I assume that means they won't be instant like the invites for gmail were. We'll have to wait and see I guess. 1 nomination sent so far.
Things that do not exist, according to Apple
Windows 3.1, Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. I mean, they've either forgotten about them completely, or are choosing to ignore them in their latest smug-filled ad.
Sure Microsoft has laid it's share of eggs in Windows ME and very early Vista, but to suggest that Mac OS has been anything close to on par with Windows in the 90s and early 2000s is just inane. It wasn't until Vista was released, and received with horrendous reviews, that Apple became a real "competitor" in the home PC industry.
Now I don't personally have any issues with OS X, I use it on occasion for Photoshop and Flash work. Not that these things couldn't be done on a Windows box, it's just what I have at work. It's a good OS, if a bit counter-intuitive. What I do have a problem with is their pricing, use of proprietary hardware, and half-truths / outright lies their marketing department spouts. That, and the whole "I like to play games" thing.
Anyhow, I got pulled away from the computer and completely lost where I was going with this. So I'll just end with this: If Apple wishes to stay "competitive" in the home PC market, they need to seriously rethink their marketing strategy. Windows 7 is here, and it's probably the strongest OS MS has ever released. They can no longer fall back on the tired "LOL VISTA SUCKS RITE GUYS?" line.
Innovation for the sake of innovation
I'm all for new shit. New shit is cool. New shit is fun. But making new stuff for the sake of it being new is stupid. Take Microsofts new book styled tablet prototype, the Courier. Looks sweet right? My first thought was that I definitely need to get one of these when they're released. My second thought was "When would I ever use it?". I honestly can't think of a time where this would be more useful to me that either a laptop or a smartphone.
And what is with this fascination with writing on a screen with a stylus? Not only does my handwriting fucking suck, but I can type a whole hell of a lot faster than I can write. Hell, I can text on my phone faster than I can write. Why would I want to scribble on the screen only to have to go back and type what I meant anyway, because the computer can't understand what I'm writing?
Let's be honest, this will be used by almost nobody for anything productive. You won't see these at work. You won't see these at school (or at least in the hands of a sane person). And you won't see these out and around in public. The only place you'll see these is in Starbucks, in the hands of some smug douchebag wannabe writer.
Then again, maybe not. Apple has that market cornered.