David Lidsky's Blog, page 4764

Mac vs. PC Ads Finished? Justin Long "Can't Say Definitively" (But It's About Time)

Justin Long, the floppy-fringed star of the Mac v. PC ads, revealed that he heard it from a good source (er, a PC, actually) that the sweet-natured, yet passive-combative ad campaign run by Apple is coming to an end. In an interview with The A.V. Club, he remarked, "I think they might be done. In fact, I heard it from John [Hodgman,:] I think they're going to move on. I can't say definitively, which is sad."

The campaign was all about Apple vs. Microsoft and, given yesterday's share prices...

iBooks vs. Kindle: Battle of the iPad e-Reader Apps

Enough time has gone by now to get a sense for what the iPad can handle. I've had time to digest its offerings from the higher-resolution screen to the nuances of having a full-screen map to manipulate with my hands. Yet the major difference I wanted to explore right out of the gate are the reader applications. Device comparison and business strategy aside, I'm not seeing enormous difference in the app designs between the Apple-produced iBooks and Amazon's Kindle app--and that can mean...

Foursquare Vows to Stop Those Cheating "Armchair Mayors"

[image error]

There are a couple incentives to cheat at Foursquare. Maybe you sit at home all day, because your couch is comfortable and the fridge is right there, but you don't want people to know that you sat there and watched Ocean's 11 twice in two days. So you pick up your phone, "check in" at that hip bar in which Ocean's 11 is never playing, and now nobody thinks you're a recluse obsessed with heisting.

Or, even worse, you might be trying to wrangle coupons or other ill-gotten gains out of...

Kindle and Nook to Go Retail: Can it Save Them From the iPad?

It's a hard time to be a traditional (if something about two years old can really be "traditional") ebook reader. Both Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook gathered plenty of their own buzz, and by all accounts Amazon is quite pleased with the Kindle's sales--but Apple's iPad has pretty much obliterated them in mindshare, making them look outdated and overpriced.

It's not entirely fair--after all, the e-ink readers both sport huge libraries (Amazon has about 450,000 titles, Barnes &amp...

Nike's Tiger Woods Ad: Too Soon?

Here's one we didn't see coming: The first Nike ad to feature Tiger Woods since his post-scandal return to golf aired tonight during the Masters. And it features the voice of Woods' father. His dead father.

The ad was created by longtime Nike collaborator Wieden + Kennedy. It was shot on the golf course in Woods' Windermere, Florida neighborhood. And we're pretty sure the only direction given to Woods was this: "Look sad. Look really, really sad." In case you can't hear exactly what Earl...

Product-Design Startup Quirky Gets $6 Million in VC Funding

Against the odds, Quirky has quickly evolved from a weird (but good) idea into a viable business.

Quirky is probably the most interesting experiment in how products are designed and produce in recent memory. But when they launched, they seemed like a bold but ultimately wild-eyed idea. No more: They just secured an impressive $6 million in Series A venture financing.

[youtube jogQT7ijlA8:]

Quirky turns the standard product design process on its head--think of it as collaborative product...

Arkansas Teenager Sues Mom for Facebook Harassment

Denise New, of the improbably named Arkadelphia, Arkansas (improbable to a Philadelphian like myself, at least), is being sued by her 16-year-old son for harassment, largely due to actions taken on Facebook. It's funny and it makes you think, in a fleeting, smirking sort of way: just what kinds of rights do parents have over their children's online identities?

The story has big gaps missing, but seems to start with the young Lane New's Facebook postings. Some of his commentary is, according...

Tech Edge: Is Geolocation the Next Social Empire?

[image error]

Illustration by Frank Chimero

Everyone from Google to HBO thinks 2010 is the year we embrace geolocation and tell friends and marketers our every move. Farhad Manjoo locates the problem with that idea.

[image error]

Is "checking in" the next tweeting? So say the tech cognoscenti, adherents of a new breed of online social service called "geolocation." When members visit their favorite restaurant, bar, or laundromat, they use their smartphone (in most instances) and a site such as Foursquare or Gowalla to...

Using Legos to Explain the World's Toughest Challenge, in the Next 50 Years

[image error]

Dr. Hans Rosling is a legendary TED presenter: He's appeared there a half-dozen times, using stats in ingenious ways to dispel common myths about the developing world. A professor at Karolinska
Institutet in Stockholm, he's got a way of making complex forces intuitive, in stunningly short order, using infographics.

For example, check out this short video, where he uses a few Legos to illustrate the problems of population growth--and the central misconception about the so-called developing...

Carbon Disclosure Project to Big Companies: Report Your Water Use

Water is one of those resources that is both wasted and undervalued--according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 47% of the world's population will live in "areas of high water stress" by 2030 if conservation policies aren't implemented. And climate change (read: unpredictable weather) will only increase the problem in the coming years. That's why it makes sense that the Carbon Disclosure Project, a U.K.-based nonprofit that has the largest database of...