November 2009
5 posts
8 tags
Two Stories of Smartphones Stolen
Yesterday someone stole my daughter’s new smartphone from a school locker. On Friday, a good friend’s iPhone 3GS disappeared from a car dealership, while he was talking on it. Both stories, which go oddly together, are cautionary tales about social media, cloud computing and the risks of identities stolen with the hardware.
Stolen phones used to conjure fears of minutes usage overages...
3 tags
Shouldn't Healthcare Reform Reward Accountability?
Barack Obama’s healthcare reform plan is a series of compromises that don’t go far enough, but certainly promise improvements. As I write, a vote in the US House of Representatives looms close, and there is much uncertainty that a healthcare reform bill can pass—or should.
A recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece called so-called Obamacare “The worst bill ever.”
...
7 tags
The Story Carl Rytterfalk's Camera Tells
Before there was Twitter or before Facebook gained popularity, I followed people online directly through their Websites or RSS feeds. I’ve long favored personal blogs over professional news sites. The best stories are told by and are about people.
Fast forward five years, people are what make the social Web work so well, and why my profession, journalism, is in state of chaos. Why read...
3 tags
Former Microsofties, Can I Tell Your Story?
One of my blogging goals is to shift the focus away from dry technology to people, whether they be innovators or consumers. Focus should be the people and the stories they tell. That’s what Oddly Together is really about. Today’s unexpected Microsoft layoffs—800 employees—is good opportunity to tell stories.
This afternoon, I blogged about the layoffs at Betanews; late last night,...
6 tags
iPhone's Chinese Disconnection?
Yesterday, several Wall Street analysts swallowed their pride and iPhone sales projections after the first four days of official iPhone sales in China amounted to 5,000 units. Whoa, 5,000? I’m stunned China Unicom sold that many. At $730 to over $1,000 price range, iPhone goes oddly—seemingly quite badly—together with average Chinese incomes.
Apple’s mobile costs way too much for the...