Thursday, 20 December 2001

• As before, Command-click opens a new window from a link, but now Command-Shift-click opens the new window behind the current one, meaning you don't have to keep switching back to the original.
• Clicking in the address bar can be set not to select the whole field (which has been the only option for a very long time).
• Sending a URL to IE from another program can now open new windows instead of taking you away from whatever you were just reading a few seconds ago.

[VP-Technology Steve Dorner:] "Many people have noticed that new betas of the OS X version of Eudora have not been coming at exactly breakneck speed. I'm happy to announce that we will be resuming the OS X effort immediately, and that we intend to have a final version of Eudora for OS X sometime early in 2002. Thank you for all your patience, and many apologies for the long delay."

Tuesday, 18 December 2001

Customers who ask to see the owner's manual, installation guide or warranty card for any product on display will not be treated as though they have just requested the clerk recite pi to 300 significant digits.

Each customer who makes a purchase will be asked once, at most, if they also wish to purchase an extended warranty. If they decline, the clerk will conclude the transaction and wish them a pleasant day.

[Disruptive technologies'] first incarnations often seem like toys compared to existing technologies.

The Segway takes up about as much area as a person walking, so you can travel in groups much as you would with walking, with all the social advantages. ... Unlike commuting in a car, Segway lets you travel part of the way to a destination with a friend and then go separate ways at the end.

The Segway lets you keep the parking at a distance, but without the concentrated cost of a single people mover. One parking lot could serve multiple destinations, and a single destination could be served by many parking lots.

I hear comments about "what good is it if it doesn't carry anything?", and "I'll get tired of standing up", etc. Well, clearly it will evolve. The Segway web site shows pictures of it holding grocery bags ... their web site says it is designed to pull 300 pounds and I've seen pictures of carts behind one. Don't judge a technology purely by version 1. ... Compare the first Apple II VisiCalc with no commas or dollar signs, equal width columns, upper case only, etc., to Excel even 8 years later. Quite an evolution.

Sunday, 16 December 2001