Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Google

Submission + - The dumbest moments in tech 2012 (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "Over at TIME.com, I compiled a list of 2012's most notable tech-related bad decisions, misbehavior and just plan weirdness. There are 57 items, including a bunch which go beyond obvious contenders such as Apple Maps."
Apple

Submission + - 1976 Polaroids of an Apple-1 resurface (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "In 1976, Paul Terrell, owner of the Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, placed an order for 50 Apple-1 computers, becoming Apple's first dealer. Over at TIME.com, I've published three Polaroid snapshots of the Apple-1 which Terrell shot at the time. They're fascinating history, and it's possible they're the oldest surviving photos of Apple products."
IBM

Submission + - IBM to kill the Lotus brand (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "In the pre-Microsoft Office era, Lotus was the biggest name in productivity software — mostly for the 1-2-3 spreadsheet, but also for a bevy of other applications, including innovative stuff such as Magellan. IBM bought out Lotus in 1995, but has kept the brand alive, mostly on its Notes and Domino workgroup products. But now Big Blue says it'll be removing the Lotus name from the next versions. I wasn't even positive that the Lotus branding was still around — but I'm wistful to see it going away, and wrote about it over at TIME.com."
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows 8: the seven roads not taken (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "With early reports on Windows 8 sales indicating that the new operating system is off to a slow start, it's worth pondering what Microsoft could have done differently. Over at TIME.com, I considered several different scenarios, ranging from one in which it released a much more conventional Windows upgrade to one which would have been much like like the Windows 8 we got — except with the ability to boot directly into the desktop, complete with Start button."
Apple

Submission + - A year later, the iPad is still my favorite computer (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "In late August of 2011, I started using an iPad with a keyboard case as my primary computing device. At the time, a lot of people were mystified — even irritated — by my decision. Some still are, but increasingly, I also see other folks doing what I'm doing. Over at TIME.com, I shared some thoughts at the one-year mark."
Microsoft

Submission + - Confessions of a left-handed technology user (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "Over at TIME.com, I wrote about my trials and tribulations as a left-handed person who uses technology products. An awful lot of them have clearly designed with the right-handed majority in mind, even when they claimed they weren't. But the good news is that modern smartphones and tablets are very lefty-friendly compared to the devices that preceded them."
IBM

Submission + - The Computer Store Signage That Never Changed (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "The Santa Clara, California branch of electronics retailer Micro Center recently closed its doors. The thing I'll miss most about it is the signage on the outside. The place apparently put up logos of major tech companies in the mid-1990s — and then never changed them. So in 2012, it was still touting no less than three makers of dial-up modems, plus companies such as IBM and Lotus which long ago stopped making consumer products. (It also still sported the rainbow logo which Apple killed in 1998.) I paid a final visit and snapped photos of the signs for posterity."

Submission + - Radio Shack's TRS-80 turns 35 (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "On August 3, 1977, Radio Shack announced its TRS-80 microcomputer at an event in New York City. For the next several years, it was the world's most popular PC--but it never got the respect it deserved. (I still wince when I hear "Trash-80.") Over at TIME.com, I'm celebrating the anniversary with some reflections on the machine and why it was so underappreciated."
Apple

Submission + - Prof says that Mountain Lion is a horrible mistake for Apple (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "Marty Anderson, a member of Babson College's faculty, like Apple. But he hates Mountain Lion. In a new blog post, he says that the new version of OS X is an AOL-like, hubristic attempt to force social networking down the throats of billions of people and businesses around the world, as if they were American teenagers--and could prove a catastrophic mistake for Apple. I wrote about the post--large portions of which baffle me--for TIME.com."

Submission + - Thirty years of clamshell computing (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "2012 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Grid Compass 1101, the first portable computer with a briefcase-like case with a keyboard on one side of the interior, a flat screen on the other, and a hinge in the middle--the "clamshell" design that eventually became standard for all portable PCs. It's proven to be a remarkably useful and durable design, and only with the advent of the iPad has it faced serious competition. I took a look at the Grid and its offspring and rivals for TIME."
Games

Submission + - Atari turns 40 today (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "On June 27, 1972, a startup called Atari filed its papers of incorporation. A few months later, it released its first game, Pong. I celebrated the anniversary over at TIME.com by chatting with the company's indomitable founder, Nolan Bushnell, who also started Chuck E. Cheese and more than 20 other companies--mostly unsuccessful, but often visionary--and hired and influenced Steve Jobs when he was an antisocial Reed College dropout."
Apple

Submission + - 20 years later, a new Newton review (time.com) 1

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "20 years ago this week, Apple announced its first Newton PDA. It didn't end up shipping it until more than a year later, and when it did, most of the initial excitement quickly fizzled. But since I never used the original MessagePad in the first place, I recently bought one — new and in the box — and used it. I talk about the experience in a story over at TIME.com"
Chrome

Submission + - Chrome is the new #1 browser. Unless it isn't. (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "New data from StatCounter that shows Chrome passing Internet Explorer to become the #1 browser is getting lots of attention. But a bevy of organizations track browser share, and they don't agree on much of anything. Depending on who you want to believe, Chrome is either on top, narrowly behind IE, or a fairly distant #2. Or maybe it's behind both IE and Firefox. I looked at some of the scenarios for TIME, and have no idea which one to believe."
IBM

Submission + - Remembering Andrew Fluegelman (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "Back in the early 1980s, Andrew Fluegelman had a radical notion: Why not give away PC-Talk, the excellent communication program he'd written, and ask for donations? It was a hit, initiating the shareware phenomenon and foreshadowing the now-pervasive concept of "freemium" software and services. Fluegelman was also the first editor of PC World and Macworld, and did numerous other interesting things. Sadly, he disappeared in 1985 and his car was found next to the Golden Gate Bridge with a suicide note. But a recently-rediscovered video tribute produced in 1987 lets us see the man himself, as well as friends who speak of his importance. I've written about it, and the Andrew Fluegelman Foundation, for TIME."
Apple

Submission + - Fact-Checking Digitimes' Apple Rumors (time.com)

Submitted by
harrymcc
harrymcc writes: "Taiwan's Digitimes publishes Apple rumors. Scads of them. And other news sites take them seriously and repeat them. But Digitimes' record for reliability is truly crummy. Over at TIME.com, I reviewed 25 of its stories from 2006 to the present and found far more ones that involved stuff that never ended up happening — such as Apple releasing touch-screen Macs and iPhones with built-in projectors — than ones which panned out. Why do other tech journalists continue to pay attention?"

Slashdot Top Deals

An Ada exception is when a routine gets in trouble and says 'Beam me up, Scotty'.

Close