Tag: <span>google</span>

Question 340 of 365: Do we hate paper?

The yin: I can now print from my iPhone. The yang: Google Books is ready to serve up more free ebooks than I could ever hope to read in my lifetime. I printed something that wasn’t a contract to be signed for the first time in months. I did it …

Question 272 of 365: What are we not paying for?

In thinking about budgets in tight times, it may be easiest to think about all of the things that we are paying for and then see exactly what it is that we can cut back on. It makes sense that we wouldn’t spend much time at all agonizing over what …

Question 268 of 365: Can we take everything with us?

Image by bigcityal via Flickr We have preferences and we have workflows. We know where things are in our offices and on our devices. We don’t have to relearn every keystroke on a daily basis. We establish comfort zones all around us so that we can rise above the minutiae and …

Question 244 of 365: Why do users revolt?

Image via CrunchBase Over the past week, something strange has been happening on Digg. Ever since they changed over to a new format for the website and a different submission process, an absolute torrent of users have decided that this site no longer has their best interests in mind. Whether …

Question 238 of 365: Why is everything a phone?

I just got the message today that I am now able to call domestic phone numbers from gmail. In one fell swoop, Google has become my default phone service. I can use my computer to call any cell phone or land line for free over the web. It essentially has …

Question 237 of 365: Is the username dying?

Image via Wikipedia I remember Hackers, the awkward mid-90’s movie, fondly. It represented a do-it-yourself future in which those who understood computers could game everyone else. And, for the most part it got that right. It also figured out that the hacker culture was going to drive an open source …

Question 216 of 365: What are the right triggers?

Image via Wikipedia I’ve been thinking a lot about if-then statements. Those little representations of causality that seem to crop up everywhere. If one thing happens then another will transpire. It is the easiest relationship to understand, far easier to get than the complex political or emotional relationships that populate …

Question 209 of 365: What is the difference between a leak and a link?

Image via Wikipedia The wikileaks papers are exquisite. In their scope and its specificity, they are immense. I don’t fully understand all of their implications, but I know that they are not ordinary. They represent sharing on a magnitude that we have not seen for years. Or, at least that …

Question 206 of 365: Where is the open book?

Image via Wikipedia Every time I put my son down for bed, he sees fit to be totally uninterested without a good amount of singing of songs and reapplying blankets. In between each one of these tries at sleep during which he may or may not actually close his eyes, …

Question 167 of 365: When does the game change?

Image via CrunchBase I wrestled for 2 years when I was in elementary school. I was never all that good at it, but I did manage to win a few matches. Mostly, I only remember trying to sit against a wall in an invisible chair. We were supposed to put …