Friday, June 27th, 2003
Dell readies Über-Axim
I wrote that i "can’t see a ppc in my future anytime soon" a few days ago, but dell might prove this statement wrong with its upcoming axim which will feature wifi, gsm and bluetooth in one device. I would perhaps miss an integrated digicam, but with an sdio-slot i could just add one of those and go for a megapixel. However, i’m still not sure if i’m ready to deal with the usability-shortcomings of ppc. (via ppc thoughts)
Wednesday, June 25th, 2003
Info and pics of new Sony Ericsson P810
Mobile burn has some photos of what they claim is the sony ericsson p810 and mobile review has some more info: they claim that the p810 will be thinner and have a metal casing, a 1.3 megapixel digicam(!) and a better screen.
Why i don`t support comments on my blog
The reverse cowgirl pointed me to this post where chip rosenthal claims that "[a] blog without comments is wrong" because it demonstrates the bloggers unwillingness to listen to other people.
As you most probably noticed this site doesn’t offer visitors the possibility to comment on posts. I thought quite a lot about the implications of allowing comments on my site from a webmasters and bloggers point of view and decided not to include this feature for three reasons (actually for one of the three reasons, because the other two only apply to widely popular sites, but perhaps i’ll have to deal with these issues some time in the future):
1. If you start a blog that you don’t really promote and that isn’t accidentally linked by an a-list blogger, it’s likely that very few people will visit your site. This usually results in links below your posts that read something like "comments(0)". I personally think that there’s nothing more pitiful than a site with lots of posts on its frontpage drawing no single comment. My current traffic statistics imply that i wouldn’t get many comments, so my site doesn’t feature them.
2. You risk to lose control over your site to some degree and more important, to lose control over your traffic. This happened to kottke.org short time ago and i’m not willing to pay a 10 gb traffic bill just because i allowed comments. It’s not very likely that something like that happens to my site, but you never know, perhaps i’ll get /.ed someday (though in that case my traffic bill will most likely go through the roof even without comments).
3. Comments on widely popular sites tend to become unreadable and useless because people won’t read myriads of comments, but feel obliged to comment on the topic anyway, resulting in constant repetition of already voiced opinions. Just try to follow the comments on /. for a while and you’ll understand what i mean: even though they offer a magnificent community-driven comment-rating system it’s still almost impossible to follow a discussion: if you set your threshold too high, you won’t be able to follow the discussion thread cause you’ll miss a lot of comments, but if you set your threshold too low you’ll be flooded by mediocre comments.
Of course there are lots of weblogs that benefit a lot from comments, but i don’t see that for my site right now. As soon as it seems appropriate, i’ll add them, but even then it’s unlikely that i’ll allow comments on all my posts because there are things that just don’t need to be discussed or should be discussed in a more appropriate place. Therefore i understand perfectly well why some people feel more comfortable without comments on their site.
Tuesday, June 24th, 2003
First thought on Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC
It’s perhaps already a little late for a first thought on windows mobile 2003, but my attention was occupied by apples wwdc keynote yesterday (though i didn’t comment on that yet, either). Nonetheless, my first impression: if you don’t improve it, at least rename it. Interesting to see that there are no changes that would improve pda usability (of course that’s just my opinion as a palm zealot). Can’t see a ppc in my future anytime soon. Let the flamings begin!
Got moblog?
Russell beattie on xeni jardins moblog.
Memorable quote: "If you live in the U.S. and are talking about mobile technologies you probably don’t have a fucking clue. Accept it."
Geeky glasses
Projector glasses in use @cebit america. I always thought they weren’t ready to enter the market anytime soon, but apparently they are. Or they are just fake and should add some geekiness to the show. However, i definitely want those, even if they make me look geekier than ever. Actually i especially want things that make me look geekier, usually they’re the hottest gadgets and the most interesting technologies.
Monday, June 23rd, 2003
WWDC roundup
Plasticbag.org got a very comprehensive overview of the big news.
JVC takes Pocket PCs to a new level
With their new ppcs jvc might have found a way to add great value to pdas beyond pim: by adding features that allow versatile interaction with other electronic devices the pda-market might overcome its recent struggles in its battle with smartphones. I’m surprised that sony didn’t come up with this first (or did they?), i always thought they were all into interoperability.
Btw, the specs are also pretty sweet and it looks great imho, love the black casing, nice diversification from all those silver ppcs that came out in the last few years.
Thursday, June 19th, 2003
Why Palm bought Handspring
Wired got the answer: to get their hands on the treo 600. Must be a great new device if palm is willing to spend millions of dollars for it.
Wednesday, June 18th, 2003
More Treo 600 coverage
Brighthand got a nice article revealing some new facts about the treo 600 like expected pricing, cpu- and ram-specs.