You’ve probably heard about the Deep Web; it become more well-known circa 2013 when the FBI took down the Silk Road drug marketplace. This brought widespread attention to the level of underground activity that goes on in this place on the internet that’s not accessible to anyone using a standard browser.
When Apple announced it was creating an Internet radio station called Beats 1 to go along with its Apple Music service, I was dismissive.
Ever since the move away from skeuomorphics in version 7, iOS has been in a state of flux -- one that many iPhone and iPad users and reviewers noted came at the expense of stability. With iOS 9 due out in public beta next month and to the general public this Spring, Apple continues refining the appearance and behavior of the software that powers the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. And just as it's doing with OS X 10.11 El Capitan, Apple is adding a variety of under-the-hood improvements and new tricks that focus on proactivity, UI refinements, and best of all, stability and performance.
It's come a long way since its humble beginnings, but the iPhone has yet to go through a truly radical transformation. While the iPhone 6 was certainly a significant upgrade from the 5s, each biannual revision has mostly brought expected design changes--larger screens, higher resolutions, thinner chassis--and for the most part, the iPhone hasn't strayed too far from its original concept.
I'm a huge fan of newspapers. I've been subscribing to the print edition of The New York Times since I was in college.
The chat room and social network religious wars between Apple and Google demand that you take sides. But I've always felt that the best experience includes a cherry-picking of Apple hardware, Google services and apps from both.
The road to Contently Summit is lined with the homeless who live in the shadow of City Hall's towering dome. Along Market Street, the sour stench of urine and feces and unwashed bodies closes in. I turn west on Mission Street making sure to avoid eye contact with the forsaken outliers cursing at the world. Two giant, yellow construction cranes stain the skyline, and I feel a sense of dread at tech gentrification's Second Coming. Skirting iron-barred liquor stores and smoke shops, I finally arrive at Contently Summit, which I recognize by the "private party" sign out front. It is like an island resort serving free drinks and selling timeshares in the midst of a polluted, roiling sea of poverty.
In 1865, the English economist William Stanley Jevons published The Coal Question, a book with a prosaic title that contained profound implications. Jevons set out to establish the size of England's coal reserves, a critical question for industrial and naval power. During his research, he stumbled upon a curious paradox: As coal use became more efficient due to the advent of better quality steam engines, coal consumption rose rather than fell.
We all love to take pictures. Smartphones make it easy.
Weird as it may sound, I'm still using iPhoto.
Some of my colleagues still type on keyboards designed by Apple in the 1980s. What I'm saying is, some people really care about keyboards. But whether or not you have opinions about keyboards, they're important tools to help us get written language into our digital devices.
"Is that the iWatch?"
Touch your pocket. If you're like millions of Americans, your smartphone is inside it. Can you do the same with your notebook? No, and you probably never will. And that's OK.
Some things are just so predictable. A retailer is told about a mobile security hole and dismisses it, saying it could never happen in real life -- and then it happens. A manufacturer of passenger jets ridicules the risk posed by a wireless security hole in its aircraft, saying defensive mechanisms wouldn't let it happen -- and then it happens.
You can do almost everything online. Most people spend most of their web time doing just three things: communicating, buying things and consuming content.
I recently attended an event celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Moore's law and was entranced by some of the old stories from Intel's founding. Part of what I found fascinating was the virtual passing of the torch from the passionate founder Gordon Moore to Intel's current CEO Brian Krzanich.
My first week of wearing the Apple Watch has transformed my thinking about the direction of mobile and wearable computing.
It's a cliché to say that in the past few decades "everything has become computerized" and that the power and quality of our computers has increased massively.
Now we know why Facebook ripped Messenger out of the mobile version of the Facebook app last April: Messenger was destined to become a "platform" in its own right, complete with an API and developer program to help and encourage software companies to make Facebook Messenger-specific apps.
If I were Tim Cook right now, I wouldn't be worrying about Apple Watch sales potential. Oh, it will sell. The new TV spot is inspiring, and the stainless steel polish on these watches looks fan-frigging-amazing. Add in Apple's trademark surprise-and-delight, and all signs point to long lines on launch day.
