Archive for February, 2013
Thinking About A Post-‘House Of Cards’ Netflix World
Feb. 25, ‘13: Netflix’s new “House of Cards” series — almost halfway in — is worth watching, and could prove to be an important — or at least memorable — point in television history. It’s better than it needs to be. It’s certainly … Continue reading →
Inside The Red-Hot Sriracha Business
Feb. 22, ‘13: Bloomberg’s Caleb Hannan profiles David Tran, the guy who brought delicious sriracha sauce to America: The first thing you smell at the Huy Fong Foods factory in suburban Los Angeles is the overwhelming aroma of garlic, a key ingredient in … Continue reading →
Maybe The Big iPhone Is The Cheap iPhone
Feb. 22, ‘13: Pardon the idle speculation, but finishing up the next version of our City Notes travel guide got me thinking. In the lull between iPhone releases, there seems to be chatter about two possible new additions to the line: A “big … Continue reading →
Smell Test! Are 23% Of Netflix Subscribers Really Cord Cutters?
Feb. 19, ‘13: Peter Kafka tweets: “10% of Netflix’ 33mm subs have watched 6 eps of house of cards, and 23% are cord cutters? Both seem too high” This is based on a TechCrunch article by Ryan Lawler, citing a survey by Cowen … Continue reading →
Tesla vs. The New York Times: Everyone’s A Media Company Now
Feb. 14, ‘13: This post was first published at LinkedIn. Please follow me there for more commentary. Tesla CEO Elon Musk shreds* the New York Times review of his Model S, using data to argue the writer is telling the wrong story. I won’t pretend … Continue reading →
Amazon’s $35 External DVD Drive Will Make You Feel Young Again
Feb. 13, ‘13: The optical drive in my iMac is getting moody, and there have been a few times when I wished I’d had an external disc drive around to use with my MacBook Air. So I added the $35 AmazonBasics DVD drive … Continue reading →
Today’s Entry Into The Forgotten Tech Gadget Hall Of Shame: The Slacker Radio
Feb. 13, ‘13: In the era of the fast-fail startup, it’s kind of impressive that Slacker Radio even still exists. Especially considering the always-lousy business of streaming music. Especially considering that its name is “Slacker”. But sure enough, Slacker is still alive, launching yet … Continue reading →
Watch this: The Verge’s Tesla Model S video review
Feb. 13, ‘13: Easily one of the best-produced video packages I’ve seen online, and better than most of the stuff on TV — on, I assume, a fraction of the budget. Really, really impressive. Related: ‘Rise Of The Tech Bandits’
AOL Dialup Dashboard: Hanging In There With 2.8 Million Subscribers
Feb. 8, ‘13: AOL reported its fourth quarter 2012 results today, posting its first growth in 8 years (!). Below, an updated version of my decade-of-AOL-dialup chart, a new look at how AOL (sorta) makes money, and one of my favorites, the AOL … Continue reading →
Foursquare Dream Date
Feb. 8, ‘13: A simple, one-off site that Foursquare made for planning Valentine’s Day stuff, which plugs into its powerful Explore service. The broad, public perception of Foursquare still seems to be that it’s all about being the mayor of some bar, or … Continue reading →