Monthly Archive: April 2010

Adobe Upgrades Software to Help Defend Against Apple (Update1) – BusinessWeek

The article linked at the bottom of this post is a more balanced version of what I’ve read on sites like boygenius report, which was much more anti-Apple.  I will look for the little tidbit that Adobe’s CTO wrote later, too, which is quite interesting.

The two quoted sections below frame the entire discussion, I think.  Both companies are basically trying to work within closed systems on a single, dominant platform.  The iPhone and iPad block out Flash, which is an established, dominant media option.  Adobe needs to have Flash work with iPhones and iPads.

The resulting issue, then, is whether “people,” whether Adobe or independent developers, start working on more open platforms.

Narayen said Apple’s criticism reflects an attempt to protect its way of doing business. “This has nothing to do with the technology,” he said. “It’s not a technology decision, it’s a business model: a closed, proprietary business model, with complete control, as opposed to having open innovation drive what happens across devices.”

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris disagreed. “Someone has it backwards,” she said in an e-mailed statement. It’s HTML5 and other standards supported by the iPhone and iPad “that are open and standard, while Adobe’s Flash is closed and proprietary.”

via Adobe Upgrades Software to Help Defend Against Apple (Update1) – BusinessWeek.

Conan O’Brien to Host Talk Show on Time Warner’s TBS (Update1) – BusinessWeek

Conan O’Brien to Host Talk Show on Time Warner’s TBS (Update1) – BusinessWeek.

I am still upset with NBC for the way they handled the entire Conan situation, and will not watch any episode of Leno ever.  So while I am sad to see Conan go to TBS (they don’t yet have a established record for late-night shows…), I’m glad to see him get a show.  And that it’ll go head to head with Leno (with a head start, actually).

the GroupWise to Google Experiment (Part 1)

So the university at which I work uses Novell’s suite of applications for e-mail, calendaring, systems management, and storage.  For a while now, I have been contemplating how to stop using the GroupWise (e-mail and calendar) client, which is terrible on a Mac, and move to a different set of tools.  At the same time, I have been seeking a bit more freedom with my choice of phones…

GroupWise is not very integration friendly.  Yes, I can IMAP into the mail server, but that’s just mail.  If I want calendars, the ability to propose meetings, etc, then the best solution on campus is to use a blackberry connected via the Blackberry Enterprise Server IT has hooked into GroupWise.  This is a very nice integration – e-mails come very fast, calendar changes are pretty smooth (though sometimes I run into problems with recurring meetings) and the address book synchronization is great.

However, I won’t lie and say that I wouldn’t mind a phone that gave me a big touch screen rather than the traditional thumb-punching keyboard (and no, I am not interested in a Storm).  So I have been looking at Android smart phones (ATT coverage is very bad here, so I have not seriously considered the iPhone).

So, how do I get GroupWise e-mail, calendar, tasks, and contacts all into an Android phone?  Well, that’s why this is called the “GroupWise to Google Experiment.”

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