Easy to see why BlackBerry share is dropping
In the past 18 months, I’ve had the opportunity to move among smart phones using three different operating systems — Windows Mobile (I used an HTC Mogul), Android and BlackBerry. My move to a new job has landed me with a BlackBerry. I’m grateful for the company-supplied phone and the service from Sprint; now three weeks into using the phone, I’m just disappointed with the operating system.
It’s a BlackBerry Bold and, as far as I can tell, the advantages to the BlackBerry operating system have nothing to do with what the user wants or needs and everything to do with what the company can control and protect. I grant that protecting company information and property is important and it’s something Android hasn’t locked down yet.
But if we stipulate that mobile is the future of the web — we agree on that, right? — we’re going to need something better than the BlackBerry to carry us forward. Using my BlackBerry, I feel like I’m stuck in the past, using Nintendo 64 in an age of 3-D gaming. It’s easy to see why BlackBerry’s market share is plummeting (from 55 percent to 41 percent in a year). And with my Droid, I could see the future. Read more
Mapping the extended auto service contract firms
Mapping the extended auto warranty companies.
One of my colleagues, Matt Hathaway, has been doing a great job for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch covering the industry that provides extended auto service contracts to consumers. The industry has been under fire by state and federal regulators, as well as consumer-protection agencies such as the Better Business Bureau. Certain firms within the industry have been accused by those agencies of unfair or deceptive marketing practices.
I’m Matt’s editor. He’s done a great job covering the story. About 10 days ago, he suggested mapping the companies in our area. Our region is “ground zero” for the industry. There have been more than 40 companies in our area that market the so-called “extended warranties.” You might be familiar with companies that advertise heavily on television such as US Fidelis and Mogi.
I set Matt to work on a Google Docs spreadsheet with a bunch of information about all the firms he could find in the area. I took the data and threw it onto this Google Map, which is a work in progress. Read more
How Google has invaded my life in just 11 years
Yesterday’s Gmail outage inspired a stunning tidal wave of Twitter activity, demonstrating how thoroughly Google’s e-mail service has wedged its way into people’s lives. It reminded me of a post I’ve pondered for awhile: How many times does Google touch my life in a day?
Ultimately, I decided not to write it that way. Google touches my life too many times in a day. It would be a pretty boring narrative to describe a day in the life of Google and me. But I am still compelled by the idea of how many ways Google has become entwined with my life. Just 11 years ago (to the month), Google was incorporated. We’d never heard of it. It was just another search engine. And now, I can’t imagine getting along without it. Read more
Liskula Cohen case reminder: Consider the source
Liskula Cohen
Recent developments in the Liskula Cohen/anonymous blogger/”skank” case have launched a round of comment in traditional and new media sites over the value of anonymous comment, whether the right to be anonymous is under attack and even whether courts should somehow tame the Internet.
Ultimately, I see the case as a reminder that increasingly, the web means readers must be discerning about the source. That doesn’t mean anonymous speech should be dismissed, ignored or banned.
In my own newsroom, at least one reporter has engaged me in discussions over the case, forwarding me “The Moral of the Story” blogger’s take on the case in The New York Times, which calls the kind of vile anonymous commenting we’re all familiar with a malignancy.
The importance of anonymous speech in our democracy has already been widely discussed. That the right to be anonymous would ever be at issue is ridiculous, though I will confess this right now: It’s very easy for me to don the rose-colored glasses on the subject. I’ve never been the victim of an anonymous attack on my character or my livelihood. I’ve not been denied business or opportunity because, unknown to me, someone made a flawed judgment of me based on a scurrilous, anonymous attack.
So anonymity isn’t going away. The fact that anonymous speakers can be help liable for their violations of law isn’t going to change; anonymous speakers always risk being exposed. That’s why John Doe cases are filed.
It seems to me that the biggest value of this case for the rest of us is a reminder to consider the source. When readers are faced with an anonymous comments, they have two choices. Read more
Fish fry map: Great reader-created journalism
I woke up this morning to find the embodiment of what reader-generated journalism can be on the home page of my company’s web site: On the morning of Ash Wednesday, I found a reader’s Google map showing where the church fish fries will be — and inviting other readers to contribute.
If this doesn’t demonstrate the power of the community in the conversation about news, nothing does. Read more
Kurt's Tweets- Realizing how woefully out of touch I have been with this part of the county. (@ Saint Louis Bread Company) http://4sq.com/5z5Bfh
- Just had my first Gmail phone call -- with my parents -- and the quality was fantastic. Wow. http://tcrn.ch/a8GndI
- Another day, another interview. Fingers crossed. (@ Saint Louis Bread Co) http://4sq.com/avGImL
- Helping my son learn the first 20 elements on the periodic table. Disturbed by how many more elements there are since I studied this stuff.
- Giving blood. (@ St. Martin's Episcopal Church) http://4sq.com/aiWuEk