Kurt Jarchow's Blog

I read some where that there was a problem with using Facebook friends as actual friends.  Many people have well over 200 “friends” on Facebook, and in some cases they may not have even have met the person.  Definitely a problem when determining social relevance.

I was looking through the JSON API results from the photos feed and I realized something.  Now please excuse me if this is a pretty common technique (I haven’t read this before), but I realized you can use the photo tagged results to match “real” friends.  If you and a friend are tagged in the same photo, it’s a pretty good guess you two actually know each other.   You could probably even find likely “best” friends by using the frequency of tagged photos in the result sets.

I’m guessing Facebook has already taken advantage of this obvious technique, but it’s neat to know these new APIs make that possible for us.

Sample of JSON tags ouput:

         "tags": {
            "data": [
               {
                  "id": "820125496",
                  "name": "Kurt Jarchow",
                  "x": 24.4444,
                  "y": 31.9328,
                  "created_time": "2010-02-14T16:09:27+0000"
               },
               {
                  "id": "539581074",
                  "name": "Craig Jarchow",
                  "x": 61.1111,
                  "y": 32.7731,
                  "created_time": "2010-02-14T16:09:27+0000"
               }
            ]
         },

I Hate Computers – this really needed to be reposted.  I’ve argued this with my friends for years, and it’s absolutely true.  Computers are a means to an end for most people, and it’s a needlessly frustrating journey.

This is a great quote from the comments of that post illustrating the other opinion: “I think users expectations are so high of the people like Microsoft and others that they don’t educate themselves since computers should “just work”, well the real world doesn’t work that way”.  That is just a horrible way to treat customers.  When you watch TV, drive a car, or use a blender it should just work.  I think we in technology has just become complacent with things not working that we expect everyone else to think the same way.  Technology is supposed to my our lives easier.

We need to make computers “just work”.  Period.

I’ve  just read through John Gruber’s *very* complete iPad review and I had a few thoughts I wanted to share.  I’ve been lusting for an iPad since the mostly positive reviews starting flowing, but in my head I know the right thing to do is wait.

My idea of the future is in some ways represented by the iPad.  It’s trim operating system can do things quickly using less hardware.  It’s easy to use.  And… it’s native software is locked down (I’ll try and duck a few tomatoes for that one).

Now what is the iPad lacking?  Two key requirements: identity and easy communication.  The iPad really doesn’t know who I am.  Sure it has my credit card number thanks to the app store, but that is just about it.  The key thing Gruber noted in his post was Google’s advantage with the Nexus One.  As soon as I log in, it knows everything about me.  Make no mistake, this is fundamental.

A tablet should be to the home phone what the smart phone was to the cell.   The internet is fundamentally about communication, and that’s where the iPad failed.  Sure, you can load up a chat client, or you can check your email, but I’d argue (and other would too) that the iPad is made for consumption.

My vision of the future electronic household is replacing every home phone with a tablet.  Too expensive? I doubt it.  Think Android.  Now think Google Voice.  Starting to see the picture?  Small screens and camera prices are dropping like a brick.  When will we see sub $100 tablets? Sub $50? (I’m sure advertising will also subsidize some prices like Google already does with Android phones)

What’s even better is that these tablet’s will carry my identity and online “state” from tablet to tablet.  (Hey maybe those built-in camera’s will even add facial recognition in combination with a password for extra security.)   If my wife took the nice new tablet, no problem (deep breath), I can pick up right where I left off on my older one.

I’m not dismissing high-end, luxury “computers”, I still think we’ll have those, but that’s not what I want my tablet to do.  I just want something I can read, browse the internet, and communicate with.  I don’t think this will come from Apple though, and they’ll miss a big chunk of the industry because of it (but I guess commodity items really aren’t Apple’s bag anyway).

I still might be interested in an Apple tablet that was nice and big and played the next edition of the Civilization game and played nice movies, but I’d want the screen about twice as big (accelerometers are lame btw).

I am also in the camp who believes app stores are a fad.  I think we just need web application distribution to behave more like the app store.  If I designed a web application to look exactly like an iPhone app and put an icon on the iPad, would anyone notice?  Not really.  HTML5 will hopefully put the app store to bed.  We just need to create better web applications.

Thoughts?

I’ve finally found the time after the big move to push out my client-focused consultant website, DurhamWebsites.ca.

I’ve been sitting on the domain for a while now trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with it.  I have a confession: I’m a news junkie.  It’s not so much that I read news articles endlessly, but that I love journalism itself.  I am fascinated by the “new news” and how people today are consuming information.

I don’t want this post to be about new media, but about my final decision to focus on my consultant work and not a local news venture.   It wasn’t an easy decision, and I may still change my mind, but for me at this time I think it’s the best decision.

I’ve done a lot of homework on Durham Region.  I’ve spent a great deal of time building the DurhamRegion twitter account.  I’ve bookmarked hundreds of local business sites, news sites, and personal blogs.  I’ve even spent some time aggregating RSS feeds on a website.  One thing has kept me going was the constant notion that Durham Region needs a better method for gathering news.

I really do believe we’ll see a local information revolution soon, and I still hope to be part of it, but I want to gear down this part of my work life and concentrate more on my consulting services.

I really hope to successfully introduce high-end websites to Durham Region.  I am also interested in providing Google Apps solutions to businesses in the area.  I am going to also continue my corporate consulting, mainly because I love the challenges they demand.

DurhamWebsites.ca

Anyway folks, wish me luck!  If you have any feedback for DurhamWebsites.ca please leave a comment or email me at [email protected]  Oh and don’t worry, I still love news and I’ll keep active on @durhamregion Twitter account.

Who in Canada will not be watching this game today?  Go team Canada!

photo credit: TKOwned

photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

I’ve long had the opinion that consumer PC market is due for a major overhaul.  The problem: Normal people hate computers.  They do, it’s a fact, and I don’t blame them.  I hate computers myself sometimes.

Nobody likes having a desk in their house taking up space.  It’s uncomfortable, anti-social, and just play ugly.  We’ve modified people’s natural environment to accommodate for the PC.

PCs were developed by nerds, for nerds.  Windows was not developed for the consumer market, even though they may have marketed it that way.  The iPad was developed for people who don’t like computers, and they will love it.

This is the beginning of the end of computers for normal people.   I’m not saying the iPad will necessarily bulldoze Windows off the map, but it will be known as the product that started the ball rolling.

Unfortunately, Microsoft have painted themselves into a corner by chaining themselves to the desk.  Latching onto Windows is isolating Microsoft to enterprise software (even the Courier tablet is enterprise).  Windows, as it is currently, cannot be their consumer OS.

As hopefully Ballmer understands, Window OS market share is not the only thing that is at stake here for Microsoft.  Losing the consumer market OS also isolates the Xbox.  Make no mistake Apple’s eyes are getting bigger and bigger, and pretty soon they will attack that big screen in your living room.  Apple will offer media, games, and applications that will sync to all devices.  Why buy an Xbox when it can’t play my iTunes movies?  (Also, Mom and Dad would buy an Apple TV, but they wouldn’t buy an Xbox or a PS3.)

Can Microsoft fight back? Absolutely, and I really hope they do.  The worst thing that can happen is that Apple becomes a Monopoly for consumer devices.  (I also really hope Google digs into the consumer market more, but I’ll save that maybe for another post.)

In order for Microsoft to fight back they need media.  Media, media, media.  Music, video, games. How can you sell consumer devices without our precious media?  Invent a new form of media for all I care, just give us what we want.  Break me from my crappy internet media experience, and from my crappy TV viewing experience.  Make it simple and make it transferable to new devices.  Oh, and do it SOON.

That PC in the office is going to start collecting cobwebs in a lot of houses.  The only question is who will control your living room?

(Edit: I just read this post by Techcrunch which explain really well why the iPad will be a success.  I completely agree… but dammit I still want a camera on it)