Brendon Cromwell

A review of Steve Jobs

Brendon — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:51:00 +0000

Chris Rawson does an excellent job sizing up Walter Isaacson’s Biography of Steve Jobs. I like that Chris has a different perspective than most of us, his Masters Thesis examined the concept of truth in biographical works. I won’t spoil his findings but I will pull out my favorite quote from his write up:

Anyone can cut an employee to shreds or throw epic temper tantrums at the slightest provocation, but replicating Jobs’s intuition, perfectionism, dedication, and vision is arguably something that only one person in seven billion can manage to pull off.

Well done Chris.

iOS as a Network System

Brendon — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 06:13:57 +0000

I ran across this old link today and I think it’s applicable to what is going on in the mobile OS space. In this post Kevin Kelly talks about “network systems” need to grow from small systems in order to become large and complex. It’s not possible to just “install” it. iOS and Android definitely fit this model as candidates that have started out as good but small OSes (remember when we didn’t have copy and paste in iOS?) hat have now grown into large and complex OSes that can be viewed as large “network systems”. I believe webOS can become the next large “network system” if it can hold out long enough and come into parity with iOS. That said, the reports are in; the first iteration of webOS wasn’t up to snuff but the latest update brings it closer on par with iOS and slightly ahead of Android 3.0. Within this context Dan Frommer’s comment makes a lot of sense: “it’s better to seed the market than to sit still”.

HTML Select/Options list

Brendon — Sun, 01 May 2011 17:13:52 +0000

I too am posting this for my future self. This is a good list of states and provinces to keep around all wrapped up for future use.

Instagram services

Brendon — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 04:43:15 +0000

I was looking for a way to share my Instagram feed on my About page and I stumbled upon this article. It’s truly amazing how many Instagram services are out there. Sharing goes a long way.

Inventing the Digital Camera

Brendon — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:42:18 +0000

Fascinating! I was struck by how profound and forward thinking Steven Sasson was in 1975. He know in order for the digital camera to take off it had to be similar enough to the current cameras customers were used to working with. He also surmised, correctly, that it would be 15-20 years before digital cameras would have a large impact on the general consumer. Watch the whole thing. It’s brilliant.

Waiting for the iPhone 5

Brendon — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 17:45:40 +0000

If the damaged factories in Japan are holding up the iPhone 5 I’m ok with waiting. Japan get back on your feet and I hope the work Apple is sending your way helps speed the recovery.

Via DF.

What is a book?

Brendon — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:26:10 +0000

Randy Murray on books:

But a book. A book is a weekend stay with a friend. A book is a classroom. A book, a very good book, is a dream that stretches on and on and lingers in memory and experience for ages.

So true. Some day I hope to write a book.

To add to his list of favorite bookstores I would offer Powell’s Books in Portland, OR (their flagship store to be precise).

¶ IM+ is doing it wrong

Brendon — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:16:22 +0000

This is unbelievable! Have you read these contest rules? Go ahead, read these rules. I’ll wait.

It’s almost as effective as asking people to:

Post a video to three social media sites with an excruciatingly specific title with extremely specific tags then email us, tweet us, call us on a satellite phone, text us, stand on your head for 3 minutes, do a backflip, jump up & down while scream IM+ is the best thing in this world!

In all seriousness the contest rules should be:

Post a video to YouTube after March 28, 2011 and before May 31, 2011
The winner will be the person with the most views at midnight EDT May 31, 2011

Let it go viral and get lots of publicity for the price of a 16GB iPad. Instead they are putting so many restrictions on how to enter that people just won’t do it. Good luck with that IM+.

Also, why are they giving away 5 promo codes to an app people need to own and use in order to enter the contest.

Reality doesn’t match expectations

Brendon — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:49:42 +0000

Seth Godin:

Vivid is not the same as true. It’s far easier to amplify sudden and horrible outcomes than it is to talk about the slow, grinding reality of day to day strife. That’s just human nature.

How often has the mundane reality been worse and drastically different then what we expect reality to be? A nuclear disaster is a perfect example. The disaster sells news therefore it’s reported. A scientific study, conducted over 25 years, about how terrible coal is doesn’t even make it to YouTube. Sad really.

Do something worth remembering

Brendon — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 06:54:02 +0000

The monolog in this video is as powerful as it’s imagery.

Some of my favorites:

There’s no sugary cliché. Most folk don’t know who we are…

If I am to scrap a living at least it’s a living worth scraping.

There’s no future in it, just a present worth remembering.

And finally:

Do something worth remembering with a photograph or a scar.