Five Most-Wanted Features of Tech Blogs

  1. Stop putting "X number of…" articles on X pages or slideshows.
  2. Stop putting "X number of…" articles on X pages or slideshows.
  3. Stop putting "X number of…" articles on X pages or slideshows.
  4. Stop putting "X number of…" articles on X pages or slideshows.
  5. Stop putting "X number of…" articles on X pages or slideshows.

A Switcher Switches (or How One Pundit Learned To Milk A Storyline)

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I tweeted the above in response to this article. Today I found out I was right.

Not only has the author not stopped whining about Apple's "creepy" culture, but he's not even switching like he threatened to do.

Does anyone still not believe there are tech pundits who'll write anything to bag readers?

This guy spouted off twice in one week, taking alternate positions while using the same silly talking points each time. "I'm switching from Apple because of X, Y and Z." "I'm staying with Apple despite X, Y and Z." Two articles for the price of one, and he grabs both the Android and Apple crowd.

Welcome "back", Mitch. I'm glad you got an iPhone 4; now just stop writing about it so we can all enjoy your choice.

At Starbucks: AT&T's cheap 3G is great, but their free WiFi is better

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AT&T deserves a lot of their criticism, but their free WiFi hot spot access to iPhone and iPad users is a huge value-add to the "i" ecosystem.

Online Publishers: Other Industries Must Navigate Change, Not Us.

Here’s my point: businesses don’t get to pick the timetable for when their preferred model takes a permanent dirt nap. It’s insane to me that these businesses’ fans see this so much more clearly than their actual stakeholders do.

Merlin Mann is stirring up the online publishing community with this one, but he's spot on, IMO.

Is there some sense of "entitlement" in the content space? Sure. Is that the reason some online publishers can't make enough money, or grow the way they want to? No. This is like the music industry blaming piracy for their woes, which everyone -- even these same online publishers -- calls them on.

Apparently, since online publishers consider themselves "new media" they're free to blame their customers in a way they don't think "old media" can. Bullshit.

If your existing model isn't working, change it. If you can't (or won't) then you'll probably go under, as most businesses do. Blaming your customer is never the answer.

Coffee Break, and Posting.

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The workday done, it's time for a coffee break and some further reading up on today's Apple announcements. Got most of it covered, and have already installed iTunes 9 on three Macs (Home Sharing is awesome!). Also got iPhone OS 3.1 installed on an iPhone and iPod touch. More to come.