Bringing Back the Dinosuar

Microsoft's Internet Explorer has long since been disregarded by tech savvy users, spawning the phrase, "the only thing IE is good for is downloading other browsers," a phrase that Microsoft has now chosen to accept. Though IE still claims the majority percentage of the market share, that share is largely due to its coming already installed on all Windows computers.  Rather than admit defeat, Microsoft has launched a spoof campaign ridiculing their own product and committing to revolutionize it at the same time. This coincides nicely with their pre-release of the Windows 8 OS, which will utilize the new IE to allow internet apps such as Facebook and YouTube to be installed directly on the W8 desktop. As a huge gamble to reclaim their dwindling claim in the OS market, they have to impress consumers as well as developers in order to stave off Apple's continuing domination.

Square

There are a lot of apps destined to fizzle and die in the market, but one that I think will continue to gain ground is the Square Register. It can take an iPad and make it a portable cash register (provided there is wi-fi nearby) that will record and submit any transactions. One of the biggest small-scale problems today is that nobody carries cash, so how am I supposed to pay two dollars to that cute little girl selling lemonade? Square Register comes with a free card reader - no more than a few square inches in size - that can allow the user to swipe credit cards and charge the money right to their account. Despite the obvious credit card percentage takeaway, this presents a simple solution to those that can't pay because of a lack of cash. Cab drivers, salvation army reps, burrito trucks, and all sorts of small/medium scale businesses could leverage this app to great effect.

Sonar

Yet another social networking app is gaining ground in an ever-increasingly competitive market. Sonar, an app that shows you other users that are nearby, touts its ability to "uncover the hidden connections you miss everyday, in real time, in the palm of your hand." The problem with these social apps is this: the whole experience depends on other people in your area using the app often enough for them to show up on your radar (or sonar, if you will). Foursquare has had considerable success encouraging user adoption, but unlike sonar it doesn't focus on meeting the other users present. I just got accepted to the Sonar beta test for Android, so i'll soon see if it's worth sticking around for. Downloading an app in its early stages is a bit like going to a party right before it starts - odds are you'll get bored and leave before anyone else really shows up, which makes those that show up later feel like the party is a bust when they see nobody is there. So as to whether or not Sonar will become a dominant force in the social arena is yet to be seen, but one thing is for sure: the competition is only getting tougher.

http://www.sonar.me/

Innovation vs. Impatience

There is a fine line between innovation to improve upon what exists and innovation for the sake of innovation itself. The technology sector is becoming inundated with new programming languages and different ways to write web sites, many of which are handy, but not necessary. Choosing what to code a project in is becoming more of a shopping trip - what do I think is easiest and fits me best - than defaulting to the established and tested system. When applying for web programming jobs last summer, I discovered that just because I can write web pages in a certain language doesn't qualify me at all. Can I do Ruby, Ruby on Rails, JQuery, Javascript, Node.js, MySQL, or Drupal? Some, but not all. And the qualifications differ from job to job. At some point, the programming community needs to come together to refine and perfect a few good languages, rather than create new ones just to suit their current needs.