So Imgur is reimagining the GIF format with Project GIFV:

The above GIF started at a whopping 50MB. After conversion, the final file is 3.4MB and loads at warp speed. Pretty sweet, right?

The cornerstone of Project GIFV is a platform-wide upgrade to automatically convert uploaded GIF files on the fly into the MP4 video format. The converted MP4s are significantly smaller than their equivalent GIFs, which allows them to load at lightning-fast speeds with better quality. By lowering bandwidth consumption, the change also optimizes Imgur for users on mobile. Rejoice!
Pretty cool.
I’ve said this before and it may sound silly to some people, but I think the animated GIF is one of the most important mediums for artistic expression in the 21st century,

Co.Design headline: Microsoft Can Now Turn Any Space Into The Holodeck
How about this, how about Microsoft make an operating system worth a shit?
It’s is easy to solve problems for the future but it’s the present that needs the most help.

MG Siegler on Microsoft and Windows 10:

Such a strange, yet predictable response to Windows 8 by Microsoft. Windows 7 was the de-Vista-ing of Windows. A return to Windows XP. Windows 10 is the de-8-ing of Windows. A return to WIndows 7.

How many development years has Microsoft collectively wasted on these OS boondoggles? It’s the epitome of a company that wants to change, but can’t.
Bingo.
Windows Phone and Windows 8 are really, really trying to be fun and useful and everything they need to be, but they’re having a bitch of a time.
Getting rid of Ballmer isn’t going to be a band-aid on everything.
In the same way that there’s an underlying culture keeping Apple on track well after Steve Jobs has died, so too does Microsoft have an underlying culture holding them back from making great software that doesn’t have a ton of baggage.

For all that BlackBerry has done to make the Passport a productivity tool, its design felt like it was fighting me more often than it was helping me. Between the awkward dimensions and odd keyboard layout, I never felt comfortable with the Passport in my hands and never felt comfortable getting work done on it. Being comfortable with your tools is essential for a Power Pro: it should get out of my way and just let me get done what I need to get done. Too often, the Passport didn’t get out of my way.
—Dan Seifert, The Verge

via snap snap snap
[image taken from The Verge]

According to this chart, iOS 8 penetration is already over 30% among Apple users in 5 days. My question is, how the hell have all you people been able to download this thing? I’ve been trying since Friday.

via ParisLemon

Buzz has been building since the new iPhones were unveiled on Sept. 9 at an event near Apple’s headquarters, with pre-orders topping 4 million units in the first 24 hours and surpassing earlier releases. A third of Android users polled by Boston-based Gazelle said they’re likely to upgrade to the iPhone 6, with 39 percent saying the bigger screen was driving the decision. Last year, a 10th of the smartphones traded in when the iPhone 5s and 5c went on sale were Android-based devices, according to Chris Sullivan, Gazelle’s CEO.
—Tim Higgins, Bloomberg

It’s no coincidence that Apple announced their hiring of Marc Newson on the Friday before last week’s event. But I don’t think his hiring is about the Apple Watch in particular. Nor do I think Apple Watch in particular is what Apple thinks was “historic” about last week’s event. Rather, I think Apple Watch is the first product from an Apple that has outgrown the computer industry. Rather than settle for making computing devices, they are now using computing technology to make anything and everything where computing technology — particularly miniature technology — can revolutionize existing industries. Newson isn’t a watch designer, or a fashion designer. He’s a designer of anything and everything. He’s designed everything from watches to cars to chairs. Apple Watch isn’t merely Apple’s foray into the watch industry — it’s their foray outside the computer/consumer electronics industry. I think they’re just getting started. At the close of his Apple Watch unveiling video during the keynote, Jony Ive said, “We’re now at a compelling beginning actually designing technology to be worn, to be truly personal.” The watch just happens to be first.
—John Gruber, Apple Watch: Initial Thoughts and Observations
A great and lengthy (over 4,500 words) post. A must-read.

[When I first thought about the title for this post, I wasn’t sure “gilded” was the right term, but after reading the description on Wikipedia, I realized there are a lot of parallels between the Gilded Age and the time we’re in right now.]
As I sit, read and absorb (what I can handle of) the news and reactions of Apple’s September 9th Keynote I can’t help but think of a clip I saw a few years ago of Louis CK as a guest on the Conan O’Brien Show. The clip starts out with Louis sadly admitting,
“Everything is amazing right now and nobody is happy.”
During the Keynote Tim Cook & Company announced two new iPhone models as well as a brand new Apple Watch. Many of specifications for the new iPhone models were leaked way in advance of the event, but little was known about the Watch. No one knew what the “wearable” would look like or what did (the press had been calling it the ‘iWatch’ for the last year).
Everything about the new 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus was as expected to nerds (myself included): bigger screens, a better camera, more storage capacity and the new iOS 8 operating system, pre-installed. Meh, no big deal. Status quo. Phones with technical stats—mind you—better than the original (desktop) iMac.
Then Cook announced “one more thing…” and we got to see the Apple Watch for the first time.
The Apple Watch is a device that works in conjunction with your iPhone. Some of it’s features are extensions of what the iPhone does: you can view maps/directions, push notifications from email, texts and notifications from other apps you choose.
Then there are other, brand new fitness tracking features only the Watch can do like monitor your pulse, elevation and distances you travel. It then aggregates all this data so you can track your progress. Oh, and you can wirelessly and securely pay for things with it as well.
What you’re able to do with the new iPhones and Apple Watch (as well as all the other smart watches and smartphones) is amazing. Forget going back in time 50 years and showing people an Apple Watch (or even the flat-tire Moto 360). If you just went back in time 10 years people would be blown away.
But in 2014? Not so much.
“Yeah, that’s kinda cool, but the battery only lasts for a day. Weak.”
“The screen is so tiny. I can’t read anything.”
“The watch is HUGE. I can’t wear that on my wrist.”
“I wish it read my mind.”
“Why can’t it start my car?”
Now I don’t think the Apple Watch is for everyone and I don’t expect everyone to get excited about it. What irritates me is the disappointed and negative reactions to the Apple Watch. Many people have been so conditioned by the day-to-day advances in technology they’re numb to even amazing—albeit incremental—advances.
I also acknowledge the tech press has a long track record of being critical of new gadgets, but in last 5-7 years though, they seem to have become increasing critical of the king of the hill, Apple. Forget the fact every other smart watch on the market lasts a day on a charge, but for Apple’s Watch, lasting just a day on a charge is a disaster. Add to this the psychology of the human brain and its tendency to focus on the negative more than the positive (loss aversion comes to mind).
Here’s a some of the many negative headlines that have passed through my RSS stream (I know what you might be thinking, maybe stop reading BGR):
BGR: The iPhone 6 feature that’s great, but hardly good enough: Wi-Fi Calling
PCMag: 5 Wearables More Interesting Than the Apple Watch
The Verge: Apple Watch will likely require nightly charging
BGR: It’s confirmed: You’ll have to recharge your Apple Watch every night
BGR: The iPhone 6 feature that’s great, but hardly good enough: Wi-Fi Calling
Reuters: Fashion world divided on first look at Apple Watch
ZDNet: Apple’s appalling iPhone 6 camera compromise
Telegraph: Apple Watch ‘too feminine and looks like it was designed by students’, says LVMH executive
Everything is amazing right now and nobody is happy.

Yes, this is a real screen shot.

Were you like me this morning? Hearing the audio of the Chinese translator for Apple’s keynote alongside the audio of the actual white dudes in Cupertino? Maybe you got a few dozen error pages in Safari after numerous page refreshes?
Well, here’s why:

Unlike the last live stream Apple did, this time around Apple decided to add some JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) code to the apple.com page which added an interactive element on the bottom showing tweets about the event. As a result, this was causing the page to make refresh calls every few milliseconds. By Apple making the decision to add the JSON code, it made the apple.com website un-cachable. By contrast, Apple usually has Akamai caching the page for their live events but this time around there would have been no way for Akamai to have done that, which causes a huge impact on the performance when it comes to loading the page and the stream. And since Apple embeds their video directly in the web page, any performance problems in the page also impacts the video. Akamai didn’t return my call asking for more details, but looking at the code shows there was no way Akamai could have cached it. This is also one of the reasons why when I tried to load the Apple live event page on my iPad, it would make Safari quit. That’s a problem with the code on the page, not with the video.
Fuck me.
Apple, you need to step it up.

If the awesome tie I wore today wasn’t enough to kill The Mondays then this little bit of Microsoft news is:

In among the larger-than-life humans on NFL sidelines this season, you’ll notice a slew of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2 tablets helping out. Used by players and coaches to review photos of plays, the tablets are encased in chunky cyan protective cases and have been attracting the attention of the broadcast commentators when put to use. The only problem is that the announcers don’t seem to have been briefed on the name, leaving them to describe Microsoft’s slates as “iPad-like tools.”
Hahahahahahaha.
Oh boy. Nothing like a nice cup of schadenfreude in the morning to get ya going.

Analysts and trend-spotters agree that a major shift in teenage trends, and in teenage spending, is underway. John Morris, a retail analyst at BMO Capital Markets, says that his regular focus groups with teenagers about what trends they find most appealing often stray from clothing.

“You try to get them talking about what’s the next look, what they’re excited about purchasing in apparel, and the conversation always circles back to the iPhone 6,” he said. “You get them talking about crop tops, you get a nice little debate about high-waist going, but the conversation keeps shifting back.”
—Elizabeth A. Harris and Rachel Abrams, Plugged-In Over Preppy: Teenagers Favor Tech Over Clothes