Personal Technology

The Modernization of Smartphones

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ February 26, 2011 / Leave a comment

It took me almost two days this week to get my phone working properly in Australia. Voice was easy, simply subbing an Optus (aussie call provider) SIM card for the one from Verizon. Data was an entirely different animal, which required configuring my phone with a few APNs without the...
Is Apple’s Business Plan Self Destructive?

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ February 18, 2011 / 3 Comments

I have been watching closely, the news coming out of Apple concerning their new subscription and content models. For those of you who haven’t, the basic premise is that Apple will be requiring everyone who sells content within their apps (including subscriptions) to sell their content through iTunes (think of...
Where is Netflix Mobile?

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ January 8, 2011 / Leave a comment

Don’t think Hulu and Netflix are competing, you’re dead wrong. Yes, one is primarily TV with only a couple of movies and a revenue model based on advertisements while the other is primarily movies with a couple of TV shows and a revenue model based on monthly fees. They are...
Are Clicker and Facebook together a Netflix Competitor?

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ December 16, 2010 / 2 Comments

When I saw today that Clicker and Facebook are partnering it got me thinking about the future of television and in-home movies. This is a crowded market including companies like Hulu, Netflix, Boxee, Google and many more. While it’s far to early to reliably pick a winner, this is not...
Did The Tech Industry Just Select a Solution to the Cell Phone ID Problem?

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ December 6, 2010 / Leave a comment

he Nexus S has Near Field Communication (NFC) built in — a new feature that Gingerbread adds support for. At this point you probably won’t have many reasons to have it activated (you can shut it off to preserve battery), but NFC is likely to prove very important over the...
Lesson 3: The Internet’s Not Ready for the Experience Economy

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ November 29, 2010 / 1 Comment

This is part of a series of blog posts based on the book Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida. One of the things Dr. Florida points out is the creative class’ preference for buying experiences rather then products. He argues, as many social theorists lead by B. Joseph...
Google TV Looks AWESOME, Except for its Giant Buts

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ November 6, 2010 / Leave a comment

As those of you that follow personal technology doubtlessly know, Google TV officially went on the market a couple weeks ago. They posted a quick tour of it here. At first glance it looks simply stunning. I have, for the last 6 months, been running Boxee (a fairly direct Google...
On The Netflix and Epix Deal

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ August 12, 2010 / Leave a comment

Netflix announced that it has reached an agreement with Epix to have exclusive online (and by online we strictly mean web here, not video ondemand) rights to all movies made by MGM and several other major studios (details). From a personal perspective, I’m a Netflix customer who uses their online...
Creative and Social Design Powers ESPN World Cup GameCast

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ June 26, 2010 / Leave a comment

Like most Americans, I’m not a huge soccer fan. However, also like most Americans I’m getting in to the world cup. Being that I’m a full-time student and full-time employee, I can’t take a whole lot of mid-day breaks to watch soccer. This has required me to rely on the...
We’re So Mobile You Can Buy a Desktop Again

Posted by Burgher Jon
/ June 17, 2010 / 2 Comments

I’m apparently just a little too old fashioned for the modern world. Forrester, yesterday, projected that desktop computer sales would fall to only 18% of the PC market by 2015. Well this ancient just purchased his first desktop in nearly 10 years. For the last several years I’ve owned two...