Thoughts
Update on the non updates
Jun 1st
Lots of things going on at the moment. Just got an office space in Strijp-S here in Eindhoven. Started a new company with 2 friends and am working on our own CMS under my web development company. Fun fun fun… busy busy busy… Hope to be able to post some thoughts on the upcoming elections some time soon, maybe it will have to wait till after… we’ll see…
Busy, busy, busy
Mar 12th
I’ve been busy with several projects lately which will be done at the end of the month. Then it’s off to the UK for a week of hanging out with friends. It’s great to see so many random thoughts come together and actually amount to something tangible. Be it websites, applications, organizations or events. What follows is a collection of sources of inspiration I’d like to share;
Articles
- The Facebook Imperative
- The Facebook Imperative cannot be stopped
- Physorg.com (too many articles to list)
- TED
Movies
- Crazy Heart
- Precious
- Food Inc.
- Boy A
- Zombieland
- Capitalism, A love story
- The Big Lebowski
Plays
- Sluitertijd
- Fast Car
Music
- Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
- Bombay Bicycle Club – I had the blues but I shook them loose
- Broken Bells
- Fink
- OK Go
Books
- A whole bunch of Kurt Vonnegut books
- Dave Eggers – Zeitoon
- Geert Mak – De eeuw van mijn vader
And my friends.
Busy, busy, busy is what a Bokononist whispers “whenever [he] thinks about how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is.”
Social Consolidation
Jan 17th
I have been thinking about Social Consolidation these past few days, following a conversation on Facebook. There are several projects in development which strive to gather all the information and communication streams of several social networking sites and tools into one place. I first began to think about this when I was irritated about having to update my profile picture at all the different sites and apps every time I thought I had a better image of my mug. Now, with Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Foursquare, Yelp, etc. it’s becoming more and more of a chore to keep track of information and people.
I also see these sites and apps taking on more and more ideas of one another. Latest is Yelp adding a “Check in” function to their iPhone app, basically competing with Foursquare. Then I think about the fact that Yelp canceled their deal with Google. What are they planning? Or could another party have a better offer and be more suited? Could Facebook be interested?
Could there be a social consolidation wave coming? Where Facebook will go on a buying spree and thereby add more social functionality and consolidate the information stream? Or will they buy one of the social consolidation apps and provide a concentrated place for all your streams?
Social Consolidation Projects
Threadsy
Raindrop
More developments towards gadget consolidation
Jan 15th
A new Apple patent points towards using your iPod (and I think iPhone) as recording and playing device for TV media. Basically creating a great portable DVR. This falls nicely in line with my Gadget Consolidation thoughts. Just add streaming to the mix and we’re halfway there.
Apple Patent Shows iPods Capable Of Receiving and Recording Live TV (Gizmodo)
Gadget Consolidation
Dec 1st
One gadget to take control of it all. Probably the size of a phone (iPhone or Google Phone), able to handle everything.
From communication (actual phone calls, emailing, sms, twitter) to information and media sharing (Social Networking, Web, News, Tickets, Music, Movies, Shows, Calendar, Navigation, Augmented Reality, Geo-suggestions, Games, Payments, Planning, Scheduling, Wiki). Showing you the way to your destination with GPS Nav, streaming your HD movies where you want when you want, connecting it (wireless) to your flat panel TV or projector, keeping track of your daily planning and scheduling, order your food in a restaurant, pay your bills, push sync with all your other devices, including the kitchen sink. All this wireless, no dock. I think the iPhone was the first step in this direction, the Google Phone will be the second. I think we need a couple more steps (real wireless broadband, faster cpu’s) before we’re there.
And here’s an app that falls in line with the above thought:
Twitter Co-Founder Begins Trial On SquareUp iPhone Credit Card Payment Service – apps – Gizmodo
Will the phone and firmware/OS manufacturers take over these core apps? Or will they let the app community develop them?