As a PC enthusiast, I refuse to be content with the state of the industry at any given time. That isn’t to suggest that I cannot be pleased with a product, but the critic in me is constantly wondering how we can make what comes next better than what came before. Indeed, the PC industry’s relentless march of progress reveals that–at some fundamental level–I am not alone; by the transistor and the megabyte, others too are asking, “how can we make this better?” Given the centrality of that question, it would be irresponsible if I did not ask it of even the most polished product, and lately I have taken to doing just that in the context of Windows 7.

Microsoft has worked hard on Windows 7, and its polish has been acted out in the adoption trends of users on Icrontic and abroad. Not only have a surprising number of users embraced the operating system in its formative stages, it continues to attract those who characteristically sit the fence on new OSes for months or even years. Our product review team, which adopted Vista only after DirectX 10 proved unavoidable, has already migrated to Windows 7 as the platform of choice. Ditto our news team that provides coverage to answer the ultimate existential quandary: Is this awesome? Given the amount of coverage we have lavished upon Windows 7, the answer is clearly yes.

Now that Windows 7’s finalized code is on the slow boat to some Chinese disc factory, it seems we have come to the point where we must ask that critical question: How can we make this better? Today I’ll be doing that by talking about ten changes I would make if I were in charge of the next version of Windows.

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In only a year of existence the iTunes App Store has garnered tremendous praise as well as plenty of criticism as the central hub and application marketplace for the iPhone and the iPod Touch.  There’s no question that the App Store has been a big success and that applications have been a huge part of why we iPhone users love our Apple-designed and unicorn-blessed mobile devices.  Yet, some of the policies Apple have adopted have given some users and many developers a pause.

There are several contributing factors to frustration among developers and some hurt both developers and users alike.  The biggest issue is Apple’s official and not-so-official rules for what is and isn’t acceptable on Apple’s mobile platform.  We probably all read about the e-book reader Eucalyptus getting rejected from the app store due to the ability to download the Kama Sutra from the public domain repository Project Gutenberg and, while the issue was eventually resolved, it delayed the release of the application until long after the app was originally submitted.  More recently there was a mixup with the GNU user dictionary iPhone app because it contained “urban slang” definitions not appropriate for the iPhone.

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These haven't been pulled out in years

Today Ars Technica is reporting that Apple may be working alongside the music industry in an attempt to revive interest in complete albums vs. single tunes.

It is no secret to any digital music fan that the convenience of being able to download a small portion of new music on a whim is instantly gratifying.  The days of going to the local Sam Goody to thumb through a rack full of albums are over.  The new model is to go to your favorite digital music download site (which, for the vast majority, is iTunes), proceed to download the latest single for $0.99-$1.29, sync to portable player, and listen to your personal mix of singles.

To illustrate how far this trend has progressed, let’s examine a direct quote from Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan from a December 2008 Chicago Tribune interview. “We’re done with that (making full albums). There is no point. People don’t even listen to it all. They put it on their iPod, they drag over the two singles, and skip over the rest. The listening patterns have changed, so why are we killing ourselves to do albums, to create balance, and do the arty track to set up the single? It’s done.”

Think about this for a moment.  Billy Corgan is the same artist that, just fourteen years ago, gave us the sprawling conceptual double disk titled Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, by far his biggest success to date. Corgan, a man obviously inspired by the great full length conceptual rock masterpieces of the 70’s, has given up.  His plan? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.  Corgan says Pumpkins releases henceforth will be singles only to cater to the shortened attention span of the iTunes generation. (more…)

The events and happenings for the week of June 14th.  In this episode: iPhone: ready for gaming?, Iran elections, and Expo Icrontic 2009.

While not everyone on Icrontic is as big an iPhone fan as I, some of the recent moves by AT&T — the only iPhone carrier in the US — has soured the experience for me and disappointed countless other iPhone users eager to receive the improvements to their favorite platform.

When iPhone OS 3.0 was announced earlier this year, iPhone users got some great news: MMS and tethering would finally be coming with the new upgrade.

The iPhone was considered one of the leading devices in terms of its media capabilities, iPod features, iTunes integration, and app expandability.  Yet, the iPhone was missing one of the most important media components: Multimedia Messaging (MMS) for sending and receiving media files like pictures, music, and video the same way you send a text message.

MMS, or Multimedia Messaging Service, was first used commercially in early 2002 and is now available worldwide as part of 3G and developing 4G networks. AT&T has stated that we’ll get our hands on MMS late this summer, but until then we’re left wondering: Why the wait when other cell phones on the AT&T network already have this capability?

Tethering is another useful feature that many been very excited about.  We don’t always have access to a solid WiFi network when we’re on the go with our laptops, and sometimes we need to do something that requires firing up our trusted netbooks (like downloading a file).  Problem solved: Plug your iPhone into your laptop and you can access the web via your iPhone’s 3G network. (more…)

Tech blogger Michael Arrington recently insinuated that TV personality Leo Laporte was predisposed to giving the Pre a positive review as he freely received a one-week evaluation unit from Palm Corporation. As you will see in the following video, Laporte does not handle this kindly; he is infuriated by an allegation that calls his reputation and journalistic integrity into question. While the Laporte’s ensuing language is strong, the video is worth watching.

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A new change that has been proposed and accepted by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will allow wealthy buyers to register any top-level domain they can imagine. Are you prepared for www.myspace.music? www.goldengate.sf? www.superhedgehogs.whatareyouthinkingICANN?

What about www.razors-suck.gillette? www.google.blows? What about something a little more sinister: www.paypal.copm. Malicious users can now capitalize on common typos for common TLDs. These are just some examples of the chaos that could ensue when TLDs become a free-for-all.

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It is a mutually-parasitic relationship between tech sites and the PR companies that represent the firms we cover. Online publications — like Icrontic — are made or broken by the ability to create compelling new content enticing to the reader. In a similar respect, PR firms are sustained by the ability to widely disseminate material on the topics we write about.

These interests seemingly put the parties at odds: PR firms live to create a raft of press for their client, and publications dream of the traffic that results from being the only press for a sensational new product. Even with ostensibly disparate goals, the governance of mutualism binds and drives both parties forward in their goals. And as with any delicate ecosystem, a tremendous shift in the equilibrium threatens the welfare of everyone.

To that end, TechCrunch’s recent decision to violate any embargo to which they agree is both disingenuous and an insult to readers.

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Charging an establishment with the dissemination of child pornography should not be done lightly. Pornographic material containing minors is a despicable and reprehensible tack that should be snuffed out with the strongest beatstick the law can muster. The serious implications that such an allegation carries notwithstanding, the UK-based Internet Watch Foundation recently decided to level just such an accusation against Wikipedia. Rather unfortunately for the IWF, the grossly misappropriated charges were both unreasoned and telling of a systemic flaw in the IWF’s processes.
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Twitter is, as you probably know, a very popular microblogging service that asks one question that you can answer in under 140 characters: What are you doing right now?

There are various tools that help make Twitter much more useful, and then can turn it into a powerful platform for sharing content, PR work, keeping in touch with friends, and more. Creative programmers have come up with a variety of applications, both web-based as well as desktop software, to utilize the Twitter platform for some cool tricks. (more…)