Disqus - Latest Comments for bryanlanders

Re: Social Thinking...

bryanlanders — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:59:07 -0000

hey! you found your shoutout. how'd you find this? just curious...

yeah, i bookmarked your site for the next time i have some design/flash work to outsource to you ;)

i'm glad to share anything about the site. it's built on django (check it out if you're building web apps). i've just recently ditched the only part that originated on this site (the blog) and i'm using posterous.com for that now. so everything you see here is from social media tools elsewhere on the interwebz...

glad you got kate's hello :)

Re: Music, Technology, Art, Economy

tdavidson — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:31:52 -0000

dude, digging Luke Wroblewski: http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?877
"I read this quote last week and realized it is symptomatic of a common assertion that in technology (and especially the Web) “completely open” is better than “controlled”.

“But we’ll all know exactly where Apple stands – jealously guarding control of their users [...] And that’s not what Apple should be about.” -TechCrunch

Sorry but Apple makes their entire living by tightly controlling the experience of their customers. It’s why everyone praises their designs. From top to bottom, hardware to software -you get an integrated experience. Without this control, Apple could not be what it is today. "

and

"Most people out there prefer a great experience over complete openness."

via Chris Messina: http://factoryjoe.com/blog/2009/08/26/losing-my...

who also adds:

"I will say this: I’m an advocate for open source and open standards because I believe that open ecosystems — i.e. those with low barriers to entry (low startup costs; low friction to launch; public infrastructure for sustaining productivity) — are essential for competition at the level of user experience.

It may seem paradoxical, but open systems in which secretive design processes are used can result in better solutions, overall.

Thus when I talk about openness, I really mean openness from an economic/competitive perspective."

Re: Music, Technology, Art, Economy

EthanBauley — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:16:13 -0000

wow, powerfully lame!!! my response will be delivered on my behalf by
louis c.k.:

http://vodpod.com/watch/1335606-louis-ck-everyt...

Apple is supernormally profitable because they have achieved amazing
things that no one else had the balls or skill to do (iTunes; iPhone;
etc). There's NO REASON for them to open up their platform until such
a time as it is the right economic move to make.

Of course, that assumes that they will. iTunes has been around the
longest and is the most ripe. However, it's possible that their
contract with the labels precludes a real API. Who knows.

Similarly, I made the point earlier that the iPhone pwnd ATT and that
they will absolutely put it on other carriers, when they get the deals
worked out.

But seriously, the only question is: if you don't like it, why aren't
you using an alternative? Oh yeah...because the alternatives SUCK
compared to Apple's stuff. NOW I remember.

I left him a comment

Re: Music, Technology, Art, Economy

bryanlanders — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:41:28 -0000

Looks like he posted that one on his blog, too.
http://calacanis.com/2009/08/08/the-case-agains...

Re: Music, Technology, Art, Economy

EthanBauley — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:38:22 -0000

can you fwd me the calacanis thingy?

Re: Music, Technology, Art, Economy

EthanBauley — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:38:21 -0000

ya, 100% agree

they have leverage because they have the hottest platform by a
wiiiiiiiiide margin, end of story

i suspect this will be very hot tho:

code.verizon.com

Re: Music, Technology, Art, Economy

bryanlanders — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 18:39:18 -0000

Man, this thread got very informative. Nice links and analysis,
Ethan!

The only other thing I'll add is to mention this growing feeling that
buying or developing for the sexy iThingy du jour is done in spite of
those actions signaling you are supporting or opting into a closed,
some argue monopolistic system. The sentiment seems to be, "if I could find other products (or app platforms) that look and work as well, I would choose not to buy Apple and instead support an open alternative...but..."

Incidentally, while I was typing this comment, Calacanis' latest mailing list rant entitled "The Case Against Apple--in Five Parts" popped up in my inbox!

Re: Music, Technology, Art, Economy

EthanBauley — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:58:22 -0000

addendum: aapl's discipline ("obsession with secrecy") amazes me.
this article is great, but i'm sure there's quite a bit more to it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/technology/23...

clearly they invest a ton in these elaborate schemes. does it pay
off? seems like it does to me. is it sustainable? probably, for a
while. the CIA does a pretty good job, and the total US gov't
intelligence budget, of which the CIA is just a part, is allegedly
only $26B in 1998 dollars.

Re: Music, Technology, Art, Economy

EthanBauley — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:17:06 -0000

ya the aapl blowback intrigues me.

frankly i don't think it's material, for a variety of reasons, but
principally because their hardware is discontinuously better than the
competition's. as long as they don't re-sign with at&t (which they
won't), they will have killed off the carriers with the iphone and
they're only going to get more powerful.

the "competition" with other handset makers is a sideshow, b/c it's
all about the carriers.

is apple's mgmt of their developer community concerning? hugely. esp
these kinds of moves:

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/08/03/apple-ba...

now, i don't want to say "community mgmt isn't in apple's dna" but it
sure seems like it. bryan you can probably weigh in on this, but it's
tough to reconcile rampant fanboyism with some annoyance and have it
net out as a catastrophic for aapl. the dev confs always seem like
pure nirvana for devs. so lots going on there.

(i.e. a move from 99% positive sentiment to 98% is a "doubling of
negative sentiment"...but it's still 98% positive.)

no question that they get the economics of an open platform. itunes,
app store, os x are all open platforms...not relative to linux, for
example, but *massively* open relative to ATT circa 2005. or tower
records circa 2001. they have moved the software platform/network
ethos laterally into other vertical markets, which is what is
disruptive.

anyways it seems like a browser that connects with the hardware api's
isn't that big of a stretch. if that happens, then they won't have to
manage anything.

sorry for all the disconnected thoughts...

tac anderson had an interesting post the other day re: aapl comm's strategy:

http://www.newcommbiz.com/will-apple-finally-ha...

he made the point earlier that if you make incredible products + cust
svc, no one cares about anything else (which i agree with). also made
some points about the "mainstream" distrusting large scale orgs. he
advocates for their participation in soc media.

my first point on that is that you don't have to participate in sm at
all to be transparent.

frankly i could argue either way, but all i can say is to repeat:
their execution of product + svc + retail is SO RIDICULOUSLY GOOD that
none of that other stuff matters.

to that point i think aapl leverages soc media BY FAR the best of any
company out there. they invest exactly zero in it: pure unadulterated
WOM, at scale. as the surfers say: "sick, brah."

tac says "consumers don't trust size" but i think that conflates
"size" and "evil". they're highly correlated, but size doesn't cause
distrust.

it may very well be tac's point that "we don't really know, because
they're not being transparent", which is a great angle. goog instills
trust with their comms and their stated goals. is aapl's user
friendliness + advertising an elaborate facade, masking evil ? i
don't know.

evil is in the dna:
http://www.bubblegeneration.com/2007/11/researc...

Re: Music, Technology, Art, Economy

bryanlanders — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:06:07 -0000

It makes sense for AT&T, but does it make sense for developers and users? I'm not sure everyone's on board with trusting that Apple will ever be good at anything resembling and open system. I should mention that while on the treadmill today, I listened to the latest TWiT podcast, which featured a lot of Apple hating.

Re: Music, Technology, Art, Economy

tdavidson — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:54:16 -0000

Don't assume that every call have an ad, or the ads would necessarily be played at the beginning, or that it's even meant for consumers; granted, mobile operators' prior tests of advert-supported calling (granting free minutes if users accept mobile advertising) have been pretty unsuccessful, I would argue that the execution has been pretty poor.

example of a test (from 2006): http://mobilitytoday.com/news/006530/free_calls...

Re: Music, Technology, Art, Economy

bryanlanders — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:35:03 -0000

Worst idea ever. When I make phone calls, I spend that time preparing my thoughts and emotions for the communication that's about to happen. Imagine a being bombarded with ads before a job interview or announcing the death of a family member. There are some times when distractions are unwelcome, and for me, this proposed ad time one of those.

I just got my Google Voice account and I'm really looking forward to playing with the features. I hope this one gets booed off the stage.

Re: Day 1 @ Mark O’Connor’s Fiddle Camp

bryanlanders — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:20:35 -0000

@caseydriessen blogs fiddle camp! truly a man of our time.

Re: I’m looking for a challenge (and here’s how you can help).

bryanlanders — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:26:21 -0000

Very brave and proactive!

To others reading this: this is a huge opportunity to work with an intelligent, prolific content creator who has fully qualified credentials in the financial space as well as numerous other talents. Take him up on this offer!!!

Re: http://bryanlanders.com/thoughts/2009/may/21/lesson-in-defraggregation-deru/

bryanlanders — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:34:40 -0000

Thanks, Nate! It's a wild ux. Kind of like purposefully overgrowing your lawn.

Re: Casey Driessen’s Full Spectrum Music Giveaway

bryanlanders — Sun, 10 May 2009 19:22:27 -0000

Great idea! Drooling over the prizes :P

Re: http://bryanlanders.com/thoughts/2009/mar/2/free-prius-parking-la-ends/

bryanlanders — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:20:33 -0000

Nice. Hadn't seen holamun2. Looks cool. What did you do there?

Walking to meetup somewhere with friends is something I think I'm looking for in "home", which makes me think I won't be in LA forever. If only I could draw kickass, moody illustrations like you to express myself :)

Re: http://bryanlanders.com/thoughts/2009/mar/2/free-prius-parking-la-ends/

bryanlanders — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:38:07 -0000

I'm jealous! Riding a bike + bus here as the only means of transportation seems far too scary/unfun. I've come to the realization that the hour + long drive to get anywhere in this city is the root cause of people's lack of initiative to get together.

Question for you: do you miss anything about LA?

Re: Social Thinking...

bryanlanders — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:29:59 -0000

Hadn't seen simplifythis.com, so thanks for the mention. My needs are fairly simple, but I have a lot of clients (lots of one-time as well as recurring invoices), so I quickly get into higher price plans. Your prices look good. I'll check it out...

Re: This is SO ten months ago...

EthanBauley — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:12:43 -0000

oh, i've been quite patient over the last couple years ;-) reading
frommer's comment just made me think of my own thing, that's all. i
like my comment...which is obviously a total hagel/haque ripoff

Re: This is SO ten months ago...

bryanlanders — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:30:20 -0000

Sure. Seems to me, the deeper your knowledge gets, the more you'll have to grin and bear the chatter around topics like this...caffeine or no caffeine... ;)

Re: This is SO ten months ago...

EthanBauley — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:01:30 -0000

ya i don't know what it is but i feel more impatient lately

possibly it's because i'm traveling a lot and drinking a cappuccino
every morning, which i NEVER do...very sensitive to caffeine

Re: This is SO ten months ago...

bryanlanders — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 04:31:10 -0000

I'm liking this new edgy tone...feels appropriate here. Dumb pipes shall inherit the web!

Re: http://bryanlanders.com/thoughts/2009/feb/7/social-media-vs-gtd/

bryanlanders — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 03:41:26 -0000

Update - from Mr. GTD himself: http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/ma...

Re: http://bryanlanders.com/thoughts/2009/mar/2/free-prius-parking-la-ends/

bryanlanders — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:00:21 -0000

Hello, The DMV! Thanks for your comment. Sure, as I said, it was wonderful while the incentive lasted. That's a really interesting point you've raised though. One could say that incentives and regulations are two ways of encouraging vehicles with better gas mileage.

I do wonder, however, what the psychological effect of one vs the other has on people. Do they react better to positive tactics like incentives or negative tactics (no matter how necessary and valid) like regulations? For me, one was a gift, and the other is a chore.

As a DMV representative, can you offer and info on parking in Santa Monica? Is metered parking still free for Prius owners there?