thomas fitzgerald.net

Chris Breen over at Macworld talks about Macworld Expo which starts this week without the participation of Cupertino:

“…it’s a particularly significant episode of Expo because Apple will not be counted among the participants. You know what this means: No Apple announcements or booth, no Steve-led keynote, fewer vendors, and little front-page coverage.

Yet when I put my selfish desires aside, I care very little about Apple’s absence. Because, for me, what Apple does and doesn’t do at Expo makes up a small portion of the value I derive from it.”

There’s an interesting article and video up on the BBC website about some hardcore Lego Modellers. I’m a big lego fan although I am not nearly as extreme as these people. It’s worth a look if you like all thinks brick and minifig! Incidentally, if you are a lego fan and you haven’t seen it already, check out “The Brothers Brick”. It’s a great site with lots of great models built by people.

Charlie Rose discusses the iPad with Walt Mossberg from the Wall Street Journal, David Carr from the New York Times, and Michael Arrington from Tech Crunch. It’s an interesting discussion and devoid of any outlandish expectations or bashing you usually get from a post apple launch discussion. Worth a watch. (Via TechCrunch)

I had wanted to wait a little while since the iPad was launched to let the implications sink in a bit before trying to write about it. I have had so many thoughts flying around my head about Apple’s new device over the last week that I haven’t really known where to start. The more I read about it the more enthusiastic I get about the iPad. I also get equally annoyed about some of the stupid things that are being written. One thought keeps resonating with me though: the iPad isn’t really a computer. At least not in the traditional sense. (I know that technically it is a computer) Instead you should think of it more as a device that happens to do computing tasks. Let me explain.

And the winner for best product placement goes to…

(Via C-Net)

The New York Times has a good piece on why the iPad doesn’t have flash

Numerous developers and executives that I interviewed for my story said there was a trend toward offering users an alternative to Flash video, the predominant video standard online, in the form of HTML5, an open standard.

Senior-level managers from many of the top video sites online, including YouTube, Vimeo, Blip.tv and Flickr, all agreed that video online is starting to splinter, and as some test out HTML5 for video distribution, many will begin offering both formats as the iPad makes its way onto the market.

There’s so much I want to say about the iPad but I just haven’t been able to get my thoughts together yet. Mainly because I’ve been battling a nasty virus which has left me drained, but that’s a whole other story. I think a lot of the complaints from people are eerily reminiscent of when the iPhone launched and a lot of people were to preoccupied with moaning about what it doesn’t do that they forgot to take a good look at what it does do.

I just came across this incredible CG animation of the remains of the Space Shuttle after a mythical disaster, floating in orbit. What’s incredible about this is that it’s all done in 2d. There’s no 3D animation here other than what I presume is the use of 3d layers in After Effects.

(Via Gizmodo)