Verge: 10 years of iPhone

January 9, 2017 was the ten year anniversary of the first release of the Apple iPhone. It's strange to think of how much the world has changed with a single product, but I can scarcely imagine a world without smartphones.

From this:

To this:

Here is the link to the full article:

Verge: iPhone 10 Year anniversary

Marketing nostalgia

Original post:  Dec 2, 2015

Several years ago, I remember my reluctance at giving up my BlackBerry. What I missed most about it was my ability to thumb type. Over the years that I had the device, I was able to knock out quite a few lengthy e-mails with only two fingers. It took me some time to gain proficiency with the virtual keyboard on the iPhone. To this day, I don't think I can type as fast on a phone as I was able to on a BlackBerry. That said, the overall experience in most other areas is so much superior that I don't think I could ever go back.

BlackBerry is struggling as a company. They were too slow to realize the threat until their moment had passed entirely. They are now left with one desperate strategy:  nostalgia.

Having tried (and failed) at competing with copycat models, they are now marketing a smartphone with a keyboard.

Nostalgia is a powerful force. It evokes memories of how we used to be. For some of us of a certain vintage, it can remind us of less complicated times from younger days. If it's used well, it can make the retrograde version seem "cool" again. Think of all of the recent revivals of kitchen gadgets or fashion accessories that slide back into popularity with increasing regularity. It is rapidly making its way into technology. From an article on the Verge, here is a scientific explanation:

This nostalgic reaction to an old technology feature that most people no longer use is real. And so is the emotion driving it. "People have nostalgia for lots of things, including their gizmos," says Dr. David Linden, a professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and author of Touch: The Science of Hand, Heart, and Mind.

Linden says that some memories are written more strongly into the brain’s circuitry, like memories tied to emotions and memories for things that we hold every day for years — including gadgets. "Talk to orchestra musicians and they’ll give emotional descriptions of the cello they wrap their arms around, or the flute that they put to their lips," he says.

It might be BlackBerry last, best chance:

Contrast Apple’s subtle nod to its history with the BlackBerry Priv’s physical keyboard: the Finder isn’t driving Mac sales, while BlackBerry’s physical keyboard could be the single reason a person buys the new Priv. Apple can wink at users who are old enough to remember the original Finder, but BlackBerry may need this throwback feature to stay in the game. The Priv’s keyboard works as you might expect a tactile keyboard to work, but it also functions like a mini trackpad, letting you glide your fingers over its keys to control a cursor, making more precise on-screen selections. "We look to the past to modernize elements that created emotion before," says Scott Wenger, BlackBerry’s global head of design.

Here is the link to the full article:  Why BlackBerry is still betting on the keyboard | The Verge

The revolution may be delayed

Original post:  Oct 2, 2015

When I think of robots, I tend to think of these all-powerful machines. While it is true that they are incredibly capable, there are greater limits on their current abilities than you might expect!

One example of that is a story from the Verge. The article details attempts by robots to accomplish what seems to be a fairly simple task:  building a piece of Ikea furniture. The basic idea is that the instructions for Ikea furniture are meant for a global audience. Instead of trying to print different versions in the local languages, Ikea uses pictures to illustrate the key parts and the sequential steps required to assemble their wares. It's something that most people are generally capable of doing--in spite of whatever frustrations might occur along the way.

This excerpt helps explain the project:

Researchers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore decided to test a robot's capabilities in messy environments by having it try and construct an IKEA chair through trial and error, something current bots can't do. It's well known that modern robots are very good at doing one thing and doing it well, like assembling one portion of an automobile. It's a product of the same type of factory programming that lets robots package IKEA furniture, but it fails when those same machines are asked to build it. In the researchers' published paper, "A Framework for Fine Robotic Assembly," they detail how they helped a robot equipped with two grippers, force sensors to measure grip strength, and a six-camera vision setup overcome IKEA's hallmark peg-in-a-hole task.

Essentially, the team had the robot map out the furniture's surface by trying and failing to plug in the peg until it figured out the proper direction to move. So while it can't construct an entire chair, the robot is capable of performing one of the process's most complex tasks that humans happen to find easy.

What makes the Swedish furniture company's standard building process such a good test case is that it's a surprisingly good model of the human brain's sophistication. IKEA instructions use only pictures instead of words, relying instead on the human brain's knack for intuition and prevailing at a task even after you've lost one of those important-looking tall screws and installed the leg of the chair upside down. Roboticists are only just now beginning to marry robotic precision and task programming with vision and motion sensing capabilities. So we have a while to go before robots can build items as well as they can package them.

Isn't it great to know that we aren't obsolete?

At least not yet!

Here is the link to the full article:  Watch a robot have an awful time building IKEA furniture | The Verge

First? No, best!

Original post:  Mar 18, 2015

Technology companies often tout that they are the first to accomplish certain feats. With saturated markets and intense competition, marketing teams from across the tech spectrum are constantly touting every little advantage as some type of "first". This article from the Verge explains that it isn't just about being the first. It's about being the best in class.

Last week, Apple released a new Macbook. PC makers quickly noticed that it wasn't quite as thin as some of their ultrabooks:

The article points out:

All these counter-hype tweets from major PC companies betray an obvious insecurity about their trendier competitor. It’s fine to seek to undermine Apple’s bandwagon by pointing out the limitations of its new product, but comparing minuscule numbers is really not the way to do it. Do you really think zero-point-whatever millimeters of extra thinness will convince people to put up with the worse trackpads and battery life of most MacBook competitors?

It’s a lesson that tech companies should have learned by now. Being first to do something is unimportant. Being best is what counts.

It goes on to discuss first to market innovations like the Dell Streak (5" smartphone) and Intel Mobile Internet Device (Ipad mini precursor). Never heard of them? That's exactly the point. They were first, but they didn't survive. Being first helps you get noticed. Providing usefulness helps you stay on top.

Here's the close to the article.

The emphasis on beating others to the market just seems silly and misguided. When you’re shopping for a new mouse, do you search for the first laser mouse or the best one? Do you care who built and sold the first set of Bluetooth headphones? When it comes to personal electronics, no good idea is left uncopied and, before long, everything good that might once have been unique becomes a matter of choice for the consumer. So even if you’re first to reach a new technological breakthrough, your window for enjoying that lead will be brief.

When Apple cites numbers, one of its favorite data points to bring up is user satisfaction, which is close to 100 percent for all of its products. That’s in spite of the company rarely being the first to do anything. Just take HTC as an example: it had an aluminum unibody phone, a 7-inch aluminum tablet, a plus-sized smartphone, and the Beats brand all before Apple did. Apple’s just doing all these things a little bit better and profiting from it.

Quality matters more than speed. That is especially true in a tech industry where speed advantages perish almost as soon as they appear. I’d love to see the new MacBook legitimately overshadowed by a better competitor. With Windows 10 on the horizon, that’s a real possibility. But as of today, Apple’s best competitors seem lost chasing their spec tails and neglecting what matters. Beat the Mac’s experience, not its numbers.

Here is the link to the full article:  First doesn't matter | The Verge