Walt Mossberg:

I think it’s time for Google to start making its own hardware, at least for smartphones, and at least for the Nexus line and for a class of low-priced phones aimed at developing markets.

Yes, I know that Google briefly owned, and then sold, an entire phone manufacturer, Motorola. Yes, I know that Google has dabbled in hardware with products like the Chromecast and the Chromebook Pixel, and had to kill another internal hardware venture, a home media player called the Q.

But it’s perfectly possible for a company with Google’s clout and resources to hire more hardware engineers and designers, create unique devices, and outsource its manufacturing.

Really, Walt? Fucking brilliant. How did you possibly come up with this idea?

So original.

Update: I’m not saying Walt Mossberg got his idea from Tim Bajarin, or anyone else. I’m saying the idea of a software company making it’s own hardware (or vice versa), is not a new or insightful idea. It’s obvious because we see it working so amazingly with Apple.

Hindsight is 20/20.

Star Wars Trilogy Redub had me dying.

via Coudal

Good advice.

Excercise is good for your brain.

PuzzlePhone is a new project on Indiegogo. It’s a phone with modular parts. It runs Android. And they claim it lasts up the 10 years? No way. Apple just introduced 3-D Touch on the iPhone 6S. There’s no telling where Android is going to be in 10 years (or the smartphone market).

James Vincent at the Verge also notes their flexible funding structure:

Flexible funding can be something of a warning sign on Indiegogo as it means that the campaign organizers will keep the money they raise no matter what happens. Obviously this doesn’t mean that all flexibly funded campaigns are scams, but it’s not always a good look. Puzzlephone says it was “forced” to go with flexible funding as Indiegogo only allows payment via PayPal for fixed funding campaigns. The company notes that it has also already raised funding for R&D, so the Indiegogo money is only for manufacture, shipping, and the product itself.

There’s no way I would give them my money to be a guinea pig. Their goals of being ‘upgradable and sustainable” are admirable (if they’re genuine) but they’re not realistic.

Amazon is selling those olde tymey books:

Amazon got its start as an online bookseller, and now — over 20 years later — it’s decided to sell books the old-fashioned way. On Tuesday, Amazon will open a store in Seattle called Amazon Books. Not only is it one of Amazon’s first physical locations, but it’s also Amazon’s first physical bookstore. Amazon says that it won’t entirely be doing things like a traditional store, however; it’ll be relying on Amazon.com data — including customer ratings, sales totals, and Goodread’s popularity — to decide which books to stock. Curators will have some say, too.

Well how about that.

Amazon dries up retail competition with their portfolio of features, making shopping easy as pie, and now they jump into selling physical books.

Makes me wonder what Bezos has in store for his Washington Post.