The adult thing would be to act responsibly in the first place. Simplicity describes that spirit best: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Or another sentiment is: would you do/show that to your grandmother (any beloved elder)?
So if it would in the slightest bother you, then don't bother doing it.
The MG criticism is over the top, as expected, since G+ is far more "public" out of the gate than previous networks it needs to be more proactive rather than reactive. As FB becomes more public they will begin to grapple with the same issues, it's only a matter of time...
Does anyone else find it interesting that they plan to restructure with the intention of keeping ~3000 brick & mortar stores? Then they will try to re-enter the ring and compete with the same digital, by-mail, on-demand, and kiosk players that squeezed them out in the first place.
I feel like they would need to do an impressive reinvention of space use or turn their real estate inventory into a revenue stream instead of the bloated cost that is ends up being.
One great engineers contributions last forever, assuming they become part of a product that is stable enough to be reverse engineered (so software and physical both count) and is proportionate to Contribution*product. One great teachers contribution rots due to reversion to the mean.
The average teacher almost certainly has a greater marginal effect than the engineer. The 90th percentile engineer kicks the teachers ass.
Right now Google would have to offer at least 2 different handsets (GSM/CDMA) and would need to strike a deal with Verizon/Sprint
Curious if that becomes a non-issue once Verizon rolls out 4G next year? Sprint is the only provider not behind that platform (WiMax).
Verizon will flat out refuse your money if you want to use an unapproved, unlocked, phone
They've never had pressure from a 800 pound gorilla...could be interesting.
their design is a serious mistake that makes me question the vision behind the entire operation
IMHO, you're in the weeds about the vision of this device, the true disruptive potential doesn't have to do with out-designing Apple.
I also got to see a few of these throughout the weekend...there are ~15,000+ and they are unlocked. If Google goes to market (direct-to-consumer), priced above true cost & free from contract - instead of the absolute BS games that wireless providers have been stringing out - that is seriously disrupting the market.
To be honest, buttons are the last thing I would be worried about if Google turns the market on it's head. That said, they might, they might not, but the possibility has me curious until the actual release.
There is a reason why all the carriers in the US subsidize phones with long contracts. The reason is that Americans like to spread out their purchases. Offering the opportunity to not do so isn't going to have a major impact because too few people want to buy their phone outright for it to matter.
In any case, the vision I'm questioning is the design vision. If the sales method were the only novel thing about this device, Google could as easily have paid another company to release their newest phone through Google's portal instead of directly through the network.
A large portion of revenues for social games/worlds (Zynga, Playdom, Second Life, IMVU, etc) are gotten from users so passionate about the game they pay directly for credits - that is as clean as it gets and a solid revenue stream even if you cut out the bottom-feeder lead gen offers...
Music professionals have also noticed how easy it is to sample their work in the iTunes Store, and argue that these samples count as public performances.
They should test out that theory in public: Offer a concert where they only play 30s cuts of all the songs...see how many people buy tickets.
I would be surprised if Arrington wants to continue with TechCrunch50...he seems to have no regard for entrepreneurs. Explains why he wasn't at the TC50 awards...
Case in point:
During this video (see link below) Arrington was extremely disrespectful and insulting during this interview with Garry Tan (posterous)... he interrupts Garry repeatedly and walks out at 24:01 w/o even acknowledging Garry is there.
Just watched the video. Arrington is seriously disgusting in this video. Do we not know how to interact respectfully in real life anymore? Calacanis actually saved the day and kept the interview on point as much as he could.
