Dave Caolo

When I was at Berklee, we had a joke.

Q: How many Berklee students does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: 10. One to change it, 9 to say, “You’re doing it wrong.”

Joshua Blankenship is right when he says, “…will everyone just STOP thinking they have the market cornered on how I’m supposed to use the web? You don’t.”

Whether your goal is to make per-click dollars or produce ad-free, killer content, you’re right. Define what you want to do, how you’re going to do it and then do the best job possible. That’s the only real rule.

Beautiful. $3 each. Purchase here.

This will arrive on Tuesday, according to CNET. It requires a Wi-Fi signal (chat will work over AT&T’s network) and iPod touch users must use a headset with a built-in mic. The UI resembles a native iPhone app, as opposed to Skype for Playstation Portable, which looks like the desktop version of Skype.

This will do two things. First, generate a boost to Skype, as iPod touch users will gain telephone functionalilty. Consequently, apps like Fring will struggle to compete with Skype’s well-established user base.

Kudos to Apple for approving this, in spite of the Wi-Fi limitation.

Lego Fail Whale

I’ve tried to get people to use Evite and Upcoming with limited success. The former is too cutsey, while the latter is cluttered and requires a Yahoo! account. People resist completing a registration when they fail to see the value in whatever they’re signing up for. For many, an online RSVP service is questionable.

Mobaganda is as simple as can be. All you must do as the organizer is list your event. All participants must do is enter an email address and select “Will Attend” or “Will Not Attend.” Couldn’t be simpler.

[Via Shawn Blanc]

Apple updated their iApps today, including iPhoto ’09. While looking for changes, I noticed an improvement to Faces right away.

Previously, when identifyng an unrecognized face, iPhoto would present you with the names of previously identified faces only. Now it finds contacts in Address Book with the same first or last name or similar spelling. These are labeled with an Address Book icon. Nice.

From Spike Jonze. Max, his PJ’s and the monsters themselves all look fantastic. Can’t wait.

From Microsoft’s press release regarding their upcomping mobile app store:

“Ultimately this enables developers to devote more time to writing innovative applications, and less time trying to navigate the approval process.”

Touché.

I awoke this morning to find a bulging TUAW tipline email folder. It seems the Oopma-Loompas at Apple have created a new iPod shuffle.

It’s tiny — just 1.8″ high, 0.7″ wide and 0.3″ deep (45mm x 17mm x 7.8mm). What’s most striking is its feature-less face. The controls have been moved to the headphone wire. It looks odd, and users who despise Apple’s earbuds are out of luck, as the shuffle can’t be controlled without them. I’m sure the folks at Griffin and Belkin are already working on an adapter.

Of course, the flashy new feature is VoiceOver. Through a series of clicks on the wired controller, you can prompt your iPod to “speak” the name of the current track and artist, current playlist or even scroll through playlists. Pretty neat. It’s interesting that the voice on a shuffle that’s been synced with a Mac differs from one synced with a Windows machine (it’s Leopard’s Alex High Quality on the Mac).

I’m disappointed that it doesn’t work with Apple’s Nike + product for runners. It’s true that the shuffle has never worked with Nike+, but this model ought to be the exception. Being able to control the song selection, playlist and volume while receiving audio performance updates via the headset controller would be great. Reaching to click the buttons of my nano while it’s in my armband is a hassle, and I never refer to the screen while I’m running. It’s just too difficult to read while moving.

Still, it’s a snazzy little device. The VoiceOver features are clever and I do like the controller on the headset wire (though I know it will be an area of contention). The convenience of simply reaching up to make a click or two is great. There’s no need to stop walking, pull it from your pocket, fiddle with the hold switch, etc. Plus, it’s smaller than its predecessor yet has twice the storage capacity (4GB) at the same price point ($79US).

Best of all, my geek girl crush — Hannah — is back with the Guided Tour.

I’d react to this dialog box with hostility if I hadn’t helped countless people “fix” iTunes by simply turning up the volume.