Shane's Blog

Wi-Fi is meant for homes and other small spaces with more modest Internet demands, says Ernie Mariette, founder of Mariette Systems, which installs conference Wi-Fi. “You’re asking a technology to operate beyond its capability.”

Conference organizers and the Wi-Fi specialists they hire often fail to provide enough bandwidth. Many depend on the infrastructure that the hotels or convention centers hosting their events already have in place.

Companies that install Wi-Fi networks sometimes have only a day to set up their equipment in a hall and then test it. They must plan not only for the number of attendees, but also the size and shape of the room, along with how Wi-Fi signals reflect from walls and are absorbed by the audience.

In a nutshell, Facebook is better than email unless you’re some kind of email expert. And for email’s successor to support all the expert features of email, none of its myriad problems would be solved.

It’s been a recurring theme this week, but the Pro users of yesteryear’s products, the people with the biggest investment in old technologies, are not the people who should be calling the shots in the design of their successors. These are the people who complain that an iPad can’t have third party software installed from anywhere but the App Store, ignoring the massive convenience and security gains the policy affords average users. These are the people who are still using slotted screwdrivers and Edison light fixtures and manual transmission cars.

elizs:

Most important to note: Most of the drugs used in animal agriculture and in human medicine are functionally identical. That’s one reason why the overuse of antibiotics in animals is such a concern: When organisms become resistant on the farm to drugs used on livestock, they are becoming resistant to the exact same drugs used in humans.

If the MacBook Air were introduced at or near the same time, would I have bought the iPad or the Air or both? Well, I think I would have bought both eventually. The reason: They are fundamentally different devices that have much different purposes for me.

The iPad is the machine I use around the house. I use it for reading eBooks andInstapaper. I use it for playing music to my office speakers via the Airport Express. It is the machine I let my toddler use to play games and look at pictures without fear of breakage. It is familiar in the truest sense of the word.

The MacBook Air is fundamentally of a different breed and usage. I write. I research. I curate. I edit. Increasingly, I collaborate with others and do video and audio conferencing. While all of these things can be done on the iPad, for me they are more appropriately done on a Mac.

minimalmac:

I’ll be using today to step back from the computer and to empty the two drawers on my desk, to review client files, and to pick up everything that’s not nailed down and put it all in my inbox. Then I’ll process everything out. I’m betting a lot of it will end up in the dumpster (or recycling bin, when appropriate).  As I look around my office right now I can see I have a few hours of sorting, but I’m looking forward to it. Oh, and don’t forget to do the same thing for your computer desktop and your email inbox. Be ruthless.

An annual favorite from my friend Randy. This is always a good day to do this because, let’s be honest, no one is really working today are they?

With the book nearly closed on 2010, it’s time to peek around the corner at 2011. Without further ado: eight predictions from the writers of paidContent, mocoNews and paidContent:UK. Read on to find out what next year has in store for Netflix, e-readers, Microsoft’s mobile business, the IPO market—and a whole lot more.