Category: Columns & Opinion
Has iPhone mania gone too far? Scams and speculation rife
I’m looking forward to the imminent release of the iPhone, even if it is taking place thousands of miles away from the UK, but it seems that every day someone has a new theory as to exactly when the iPhone will start being sold, and an utterly convincing reason for why they’re right.
The latest date is June 29th, and that’s true because a local manager in one of the AT&T mobile phone stores saw an email telling her. Apparently, they’ll all arrive in the dead of night (or maybe, mid afternoon) on June 28th, ready for packs of hungry iPhone fans (and not the occasional eBay scammer) to swoop in and sign up.
That doesn’t necessarily negate the “official letter” from AT&T telling staff that annual leave during this period would be discouraged.
IPPA: Just thinking of infringing copyright could be a crime…
Will Head writes… Given the carey, sharey internet world we live in, some are arguing that the copyright legislation that we currently have isn’t working. That it’s preventing creativity and stifling innovation. Then there are those that seek to strengthen…
Will ad-funded TV streams kill off the video download market?
Stuart Dredge writes…
There’s no shortage of big firms trying to sell us video downloads, including Apple and Microsoft. In theory, they should be pushing at an open door. Faster broadband connections are more widespread, devices like Apple TV make it easy to watch these downloads on our proper TVs, and more people have video iPods or PMPs to watch these vids on the go, too.
Microsoft called – it wants its patents back
Will Head writes… Free software? Brilliant thought all big corporations. We can get all those lovely programs, without having to pay a penny for them and we even get the source code to mull over and tweak here and there….
Ten ways the government will spy on us using technology
Did you know that every time you walk down the high street, your movements are logged by 16 CCTV cameras? And the footage is transmitted directly to MI5 headquarters, to be tagged and analysed. By robots. This is the Big Brother nation we live in, etc etc.
But the government won’t stop there. For most of us, new technology is just a new way to listen to our music / manage our working lives / record every episode of M*A*S*H ever made to view on our watch. But for The Man, new technology offers a myriad of ways to spy on us. Here’s ten of the most nefarious.
Is IPTV ever going to take off?
Will Head writes… BT finally managed to get its much delayed BT Vision IPTV service out the door at the end of last year and then it all went a bit quiet, with barely a peep heard about it since…
Are we ready for digital switchover?
Will Head writes… We’re going to start seeing analogue TV signals being turned off across the country soon, but the rather worrying news is that half of UK tenants aren’t ready for it. There is still time to fix the…
Want to see the world through your favourite celeb's eyes?
Will Head writes… If you’re celeb obsession is getting too much for you, you may soon be able to get your fix of their lifestyle 24/7 if the rumours about Natalie Portman’s attempt to get funding for her own lifecast…
Does the Hotmail name mean anything anymore?
Will Head writes… Hotmail was a revolutionary service when it first launched – and for a while with ordinary (read: not uber-geeky) internet users it was synonymous with email. We’ve come a long way since then and it seems Microsoft…
10 things I hate about lame "10 things we hate about Apple" articles
Well, the over-hyped “10 Things We Hate About Apple” article (that caused a few staff changes at PC World) has finally aired.
The ranting of two ‘veteran Mac users’ – who are obviously not true Mac zealots – have inspired me to write:
Ten things I hate about lame “10 things we hate about Apple” articles