Information Manager Journal

10 reasons I'm buying my first iPhone

1. There's a critical mass of cool new apps that can't be ignored for sheer productivity.
2. I would stick with open standards if phones based on them offered all these cool new apps, but they don't.
3. People who insist on dissing the iPhone now remind me of people who rejected the IBM PC in favor of S-100 bus systems running CP/M. They said standards were better, but they lost that argument.
4. My wife River has let me see all the good and bad of the iPhone as one of the earliest adopters, and I like what I see, mostly.
5. Apple fixed some things that needed fixing, such as: now you can invite people to meetings from within the iPhone's calendar, instead of having to do it from Apple iCal or (shudder) Microsoft Outlook.
6. AT&T offers cheaper service for two under the Family Plan.
7. Google's Android promises more freedom but less privacy.
8. I can now lobby hard for a more open iPhone; before, I was just an outside heckler.
9. I don't have time to roll my own solutions to the extent I would have had to without the iPhone.
10. My existing phone is a piece of worn-out junk that barely makes calls anymore!

Link rot in the blogsphere

Link rot used to be associated with Web 1.0 and the dot com bubble. But as I resume daily blogging based on the research I conducted from 2002-2008 for a book project I abandoned, it's clear that the blogosphere has its own link rot, and it may be a more pronounced case. Vast amounts of useful stuff has disappeared already, and the trend may be accelerating during the latest economic downturn.

Hack of Sarah Palin's account shows security questions can be a joke

Those questions so many Web sites ask us to answer -- the ones that let us recover a lost password -- can be a joke. Especially if the person answering them is a public figure. In recent years, at River's suggestion, I've taken to using nonintuitive and/or false answers to as many of those questions as I can.

London Stock Exchange outage blamed on Microsoft

This September 9 story hasn't been fully explored by the press, and with the collapse of Lehman Brothers yesterday, is now in danger of being forgotten. But in the midst of rocky financial times, to have your institution relying on Microsoft technology for high-volume trading has to be seen as risky behavior.

Literacy Bridge: Building a really cheap digital audio device

Cliff Schmidt is leading an effort by Literacy Bridge to build a very inexpensive MP3 player for the developing world. I spoke with him for my latest Opening Move podcast.

Google Chrome: Yep, there's a catch

Maybe Matt Asay makes more of Google's evil intent than he ought to, but for now it'll keep me on Firefox.

Google Chrome shows how bad things have gotten

Three thoughts about Google Chrome:

1. Regarding security and performance, come on! What on earth have the other browser makers been doing for the past five years? This is work they should have done. Especially Microsoft, which had the money to do it. Now Google's done it first and Microsoft will be playing catchup not just in search, but in desktop software -- supposedly its core competence.

2. When I was floundering around trying to finish my book, I jokingly suggested to some that I frame it as a comic book. Turns out that was the right medium to explain the pickle we're in, regarding the future of browsers. Well it wasn't the first time I thought of something first!

3. Chrome sounds pretty good, and although I don't jump to adopt things first the way I used to, I'm going to need some powerful reasons not to try it out once it gets traction. Like some new intrusion into my privacy. But Google's already there (although I didn't let the company index my hard disks.)

Opening Move returns: LinuxWorld Installfest for Schools

After nearly a year's hiatus, my IT Conversations podcast Opening Move returns today. I talk with Andrew Fife, organizer of LinuxWorld Installfest for Schools, which starts next Tuesday in San Francisco.

Ed Foster: the customer's champion

Few technology journalists fought as tenaciously or consistently for so long for the average IT customer as Ed Foster. It was my privilege to work with him at InfoWorld in the 80s and 90s. Ed was one of the best, and the comments pouring in for him at InfoWorld's Web site, in the wake of his death last Saturday, are a lasting testament to the impact Ed had in an industry that needs to be reminded that customers are more important than vendors.

P.S. Ed deserves his own Wikipedia page. I'm always startled by the lesser tech journalists and would-be tech journalists who somehow have gotten this recognition.

P.P.S. The Wikipedia page now exists.

Virtual battle

At last, the fundamental technology battle of our time is at hand. Will you want a virtual version of your Web stuff on your desktop or your handheld device -- the way Google will serve it up -- or will you want a virtual version of your desktop or handheld device on the Web -- the way Microsoft will serve it up?

I'm betting on Microsoft's approach, but only because Google's privacy assurances aren't very convincing, and the Web is subject to reliability problems, as anyone who's ever tried to watch a Netflix movie online can confirm. But millions of others will opt for Google, because of the continuing headaches of deploying and patching desktops like Windows.

Finally, which side will Apple take?