Category: Digital Lifestyle

Society by Joe WilcoxNov 8, 20108:25 pm

Toilet Training

If you’re one of those offensive people who talk on the cell phone in bathrooms—particularly public loos—your behavior stinks more than your poop. There may not be more appropriate place to assert that you’re on my shit list, bud. Bathroom phone calling is bad etiquette by just about any measure.

I cringe when walking by a public toilet stall and hearing someone talking into their cell phone. I’ve heard men taking what clearly are business calls. Oh, please! I’d fire your ass, for sitting it on the toilet seat and talking to me (your client or boss). Could toilet talking be the real reason for noise-cancelling cell phones or Bluetooth earpieces? Surely someone will hear you doing your toilet business—or that of the person in the next stall—while you’re taking the call.

Leica by Joe WilcoxJul 14, 20104:59 am

Ken Hansen: Mr. Leica

Since late February, I looked to buy the Leica X1, but the camera is unavailable most everywhere. Steve Huff’s review turned me onto the X1, which, aside for price, is exactly what I have been searching for: A compact digicam with high IQ (image quality). In early March, I got on the Pro Shop for Photographers Leica X1 waiting list and waited and waited. The call came in late June when I was too cash poor; I had to pass on buying one of the two cameras the Leica dealer received that month.

Apple by Joe WilcoxJul 8, 20103:02 am

The Old Man and the 3G

Who says that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks or that older people can’t adapt and change? Not me, or at least not any longer. This afternoon, I got the most amazing shock from my father-in-law, who turned 88 in December. He wants to make some changes, by going all 3G wireless.

Living by Joe WilcoxJul 5, 201011:59 pm

Slower Reading on iPad is Good Thing

I got caught up in the U.S. Independence holiday and forgot to post (three days ago) about Jakob Nielsen’s “iPad and Kindle Reading Speeds.” Jakob is a user experience (UX) expert, who has published usability column “Alert Box” since 1995.

In the July 2nd column, he explains about usability testing comparing book reading to Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPad. The results are based on 24 participants.

Digital Lifestyle by Joe WilcoxJun 18, 20103:41 am

From the Depths of 'The Shallows'

It is our intellectual technologies that have the greatest and most lasting power over what and how we think. They are our most intimate tools, the ones we use for self-expression, for shaping personal and […]

Society by Joe WilcoxJun 14, 20108:46 pm

Of Course, Technology Changes You

Over the weekend, I unexpectedly read New York Times Op-Ed “Mind Over Mass Media,” by Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker. Professor Pinker rallies for the status quo, argung that “new forms of media have always caused moral panics…but such panics often fail basic reality checks.” He talks of a panic, but I don’t see one. However, there is a new book generating some debate—Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. The Op-Ed is rebuttal without reference.

Society by Joe WilcoxJun 12, 201011:20 pm

Internet Attention Deficit Disorder

Nicholas Carr’s book, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, may be the defining manuscript of the World Wide Web era; so far. I haven’t read the book yet, but I have followed Nicholas’ writings leading up to The Shallows. I get his point, because I’ve experienced it. He merely wraps research around the experience. The point: Interaction with the Web changes how we think, in part by rewiring how we consume information. Attention spans are shorter and tasks like reading a long magazine article or book are harder.

In June 2008, I read a short post by Nicholas linking to his Atlantic story “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”

Apple by Joe WilcoxApr 1, 20109:52 am

The Most Natural User Interface is You

It’s April Fools’ Day, and I’m not joking. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun, by comparing and contrasting Apple old with Apple new. 🙂 Last night I posted to Betanews: “What 1984 Macintosh marketing reveals about iPad,” which is based in part on my April 2006 post “When Magazines Mattered,” about Apple buying all the ad pages—39 of them—in the Newsweek 1984 election issue. Magazines mattered to Apple for promoting Macintosh during its launch year. Now iPad matters to magazines, for which some publishers hope to turnaround sagging readership (and ad revenues). Ha, who’s paying whom now?

Gear by Joe WilcoxMar 4, 20106:53 pm

Desktop PCs are What?

In three years time, desktops will be irrelevant. In Japan, most research is done today on smartphones, not PCs. John Herlihy I believe five years. But three is definitely possible. As I explained in June 21, […]

Gear by Joe WilcoxMar 3, 20102:23 pm

Why the PC Era Is Over

My smartphone changed my life. Serious. It has my calendar, all my contacts and is an easy and intuitive communication tool. Danielle Warby

Web by Joe WilcoxMar 2, 20102:52 pm

State of the Internet

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/9641036] Jesse Thomas’ “The State of the Internet” video is chock full of data, data, data. You want Net stats, Jesse has got them: Percentage of e-mail that is spam, number of Facebook […]

Journalism by Joe WilcoxMar 1, 20106:00 pm

Journalists Must Socially Publish or Perish

News has gone social, claims Pew Internet. LOL, tell me something I don’t know. 🙂 Pew’s report, “Understanding the Participatory News Consumer,” is an informational treasure trove for journalists or would-be journalist bloggers. But it would be much better had Pew surveyed Americans under 18. Instead, the organization surveyed 2,259 US adults, ages 18 or older, between Dec. 28, 2009 and Jan. 19, 2010. Crucial demographic “Internet users” is 1,675. Why did Pew ignore the most important socially active demographic group? Teenagers?