My favourite tech writing of 2011
8 days late, but here's a collection of 9 tech articles in 2011 that were insightful, interesting or just made me go 'spot on'.
Can 17,000 Patents Help Android Win a Legal Cold War? by Jon Brodkin on Wired Epicenter.
Insight into the patent lawsuits situation in the consumer tech scene and Google's motives in acquiring Motorola Mobility. Will 17,000 patents be enough to counter lawsuits from Microsoft and Apple threatening Google's Android OEMS?
Innovation Starvation by Neal Stephenson on Wired Epicenter
The implications of the space race, science fiction and its decline, and how it applies on what Stephenson believes to be America's inability to dream and execute the big things.
Tablet Zero by Devin Coldewey on Techcrunch
Is Samsung copying Apple's design, or is Samsung copying the most logical way to build a tablet? This article just makes everything tick.
The Death of the Spec by MG Siegler on Techcrunch
'Spot On' is what I thought when I read this. The spec in itself is not dead, obviously, but the spec as a marketing tool is dead along with the specs diminishing importance. Ed Oswald of Betanews opposed this article entirely but he seemed to miss the point, see for yourself.
Is Social the New Personal by Nilofar Ansher on Trail of Papercuts
Highlighting something that is becoming increasingly obvious with our social networks, particularly Facebook. Facebook seems to be merging dangerously with our real lives, and particularly with the new Timeline feature, Facebook wants to almost be our lives.
Dear RIM, I'm Your Customer and I Don't Wear a Suit by Jacob Schulman on Engadget
Oh RIM, you're so lost, you don't know where to go, you don't know who your real market is and therefore you can't ever fully deliver. This great article highlights the biggest of RIM's problems from the perspective of someone who wants so much for RIM to make it.
Google+ is not a social network, but it's not a graveyard, either by Jolie O'Dell on Venturebeat
An in-depth look at what Google+ really is below its social network surface. Here's one for the doubters, who think Google+ is just another doomed Facebook 'killer'.
Facebook's New Sharing is Anything but Frictionless by Laura June on The Verge
The real problem of Facebook's new Open Graph and 'frictionless sharing', delving into people's basic inability to be ourselves when around other people, or when we know we're constantly being watched. For the record, I'm not a fan of Facebook's 'frictionless sharing' either.
iSwitched by Colleen Day on Thought Catalog
Now this one's a funny one. A hilarious recounting of someone's attachment to Blackberry and the switch to an iPhone, and then looking back at the whole triviality of the matter.
