Category: Tech

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 6, 201111:30 am

Fujifilm X100 Review

Few digital cameras have caused as much stir as the retro-styled compact now available in the United States on a limited basis. The Fujifilm FinePix X100 joins the Leica X1, Sigma DP1x and DP2x, Sony Alpha NEX-3 and NEX-5, and micro four-thirds cameras like the Olympus PEN E-PL2 and E-P2 or Panasonic DMC-GF2 in a newer class of mirrorless digicams. I used or owned the DP1, DP2s, E-P2, GF1, and X1.

However, like the Leica X1 or Sigma DP series, the X100 is eccentric—the lens is fixed and cannot be changed. Who on earth would buy a digital camera without telephoto? I, for one. Many professional photographers for another. I’m no pro, but I have specific needs as a journalist for which the X100 is ideally suited. The Fuji is the only camera I own. Whether or not it will be sufficient for my needs, or possibly yours, is question answered by continuous use. For now, I offer my first impressions and explain what are this camera’s major benefits.

Apple by Joe WilcoxFeb 3, 20112:31 pm

Apple's Gang of Four

Ten years ago—that’s right, 2001—Apple made four investments that bore fruit in a 21st-century success story. Everything that came afterwards, even iPad and iPhone, traces back to what I call the “2001 Four”.

Apple made these investments during difficult times. The dot-com bust rippled disastrously through the tech industry, the United States was gripped in recession and Apple’s stock value had collapsed. Shares opened at $343.72 today about four bucks off the 52-week high. Apple’s market capitalization was $317.21 billion at yesterday’s close. Going back in time, Apple shares traded for less than $10 a decade ago. As I explained last month, Apple’s fortunes have dramatically changed.

Apple by Joe WilcoxJan 25, 20117:57 pm

Why iPad is Successful

Two reasons stand out: iPod and iPhone, and the ecosystem supporting them. Apple launched its tablet with huge manufacturing, distribution, and third-party support, something it didn’t have with iPod and less of with iPhone. Purely from that perspective, and discounting design or technical merits, Research in Motion and Samsung are strategically in best competitive ecosystem positions to release viable iPad competitors. But will they?

Some Apple fans will disagree, arguing that iPad’s size, design, and user experience make it far superior to other tablets. I won’t debate those points here but only observe they would be meaningless without the supporting ecosystem created by iPod and iPhone. Apple didn’t launch iPad into a vacuum but with lush sales and distribution environment.

Apple by Joe WilcoxJan 10, 20114:16 pm

Apple goes from Rags to Riches in Just Eight Years

This afternoon, I searched the CNET News.com archives to see if I had written something about Apple launching iTunes in January 2001. Hey, it’s the 10th anniversary. But another story caught my attention: “Merrill Lynch to Apple Investors: Sell“, from Jan. 7, 2003. On the eve of Macworld, with Apple shares at $14.85, analyst Michael Hillmeyer reinstated Apple coverage with “sell”.

“Although Apple makes great products, in our view the new product pipeline looks skimpy and we expect continued market share losses”, Hillmeyer wrote in a note to investors. “A product differentiation strategy is difficult in a business increasingly commoditizing”.

Web by Joe WilcoxDec 8, 20109:05 pm

Freely Available doesn't mean Free

I am used to my stuff being stolen, not that I like it—ideas, analyses, blog posts and news stories. Probably my Flickr photos frequently get lifted, too. I’m no great shakes photographer, so it pains but a little. The writing hurts more. But for good photographers like Thomas Hawk, Flickr theft is a bigger deal. Some people see Creative Commons, even All Rights Reserved, as license to steal; if it’s on the Web and freely available, it must be free.

News Media by Joe WilcoxDec 6, 201011:30 am

Why I Gave Up Tumblr

It only seems like I’m kicking Tumblr when it’s down, quite literally. But I’ve been planning to write about giving up Tumblr for some time. The microblog’s service outage, now going on for more than 17 hours as I write, is just the news hook. TechCrunch gets my headline of the week award, partly stated: “Tumblr Redefines The Concept Of ‘Back Shortly‘”. I’ll say. TechCrunch is a WordPress.com VIP; not Tumblr.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 3, 20108:55 pm

Itsy Bitsy Etsy Shop

On December 1, my wife started selling handmade bead necklaces at Etsy. It’s something we discussed for a long time. She’s new to Etsy, but not me. I have long been early adopter of online services. For example, I opened my Yahoo account in 1996, I rented my first Netflix DVD in 1999 and in 2006 I joined both Facebook and Twitter. I opened an Etsy account in July 2006 to purchase for my daughter the Amigurumi Flowery pink bunny rabbit with matching bag. It’s pictured below without the bag; photo taken today. My teenager still has the handmade animal four-and-a-half years later.

Society by Joe WilcoxNov 23, 201011:50 am

What iTunes Really Means to The Beatles

This morning I tweeted: “I put Beatles albums in my daughter’s iTunes library years ago. Suddenly, now that Beatles are top iTunes downloads, she’s listening.” That succinctly explains what The Beatles get from the exclusive distribution deal with Apple. There are millions of Millennials who aren’t acquainted with Beatles music, and they might never be with their parents listening to it. But everything changes if their friends are Beatling.

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.

Apple by Joe WilcoxNov 5, 20107:54 pm

MacBook Air is Netbook Enough for Me

Last week, at the suggestion of Betanews founder Nate Mook, I asked question: “Is MacBook Air a netbook killer?” I first posed it to Betanews readers who responded by email to an earlier post and then to some analysts. The majority of folks emphatically said, “No”. I was surprised because my answer would be something like: As a pair iPad and 11.6-inch MacBook Air are netbook killers. I put aside my own opinions and let the reporting lead the story. As I explained later, in “MacBook Air will redefine personal computing“, Apple’s little laptop—and its itty-bitty tablet, too—are category redefining products because they share so much in common with consumer electronics devices.

Web by Joe WilcoxOct 4, 20104:18 pm

‘The Social Network’ ignores the Network

On Friday, I wrote a review of “The Social Network“. Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig did one better for The New Republic: “Sorkin vs. Zuckerberg—‘The Social Network’ is wonderful entertainment, but its message is actually kind of evil“. Lawrence is insightful as always, although he expects too much of the film’s writer and director. Nevertheless, he makes spot-on observations about what Facebook represents for future entrepreneurs like co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. The film is seemingly a morality tale about moral ambiguity. What’s lost is Zuckerberg’s ingenuity and the network that allowed it to flourish.

Gear by Joe WilcoxSep 17, 20109:46 am

Windows Phone 7—Another Spec on the Wall

If either Bloomberg or CNET is to be believed, U.S. carriers Sprint and Verizon won’t offer Windows Phone 7 handsets before 2011, and none of the quoted spokespeople are saying when next year. Oh yeah? It’s a helluva way for Microsoft to launch the new mobile operating system.