The Ping - MobileMe Defibrillator

The latest iOS 4.3 beta 1 includes some interesting hints at what might be coming in the future. For one, there is a feature called “Media Stream,” and another called “Photo Streams.

One way to instantly make both Ping and Mobile Me relevant, useful and not complete utter failure - streaming media. Dig this, homes -->

Mobile Me becomes your online media library. Upload your music, movies, etc. Plug in Ping so you can actually share + like the music/movies/etc. you own. Add links back to iTunes so you can buy crap your friends like (which loads automatically into your Mobile Me library).

Damn I'm good.

Microsoft Surface is a Tech Unicorn

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I like the future. There's going to be some neat stuff there. Unfortunately I'm not, nor will I ever be, immortal. So I'm primarily concerned with the near future. That's why things like this irritate me. The chances of us ever seeing, let alone interacting with, a Microsoft Surface device are near zero. Which makes me instantly hate it and question it's existence. Stupid future.

How your tablet can compete with iPad - Chicago Sun-Times

Users won’t care that your slate doesn’t run Android or iOS if you can provide them with a surprisingly short list of apps that turn a slate into a useful tool. Office apps, Netflix, Pandora, book readers, apps that plug the user into their cloud storage accounts, and a handful of media apps will cover most of a user’s need

People don't care about 100,000 apps or how "open" your tablet is if it doesn't cover these, and cover them very well. Nail the basics, and I mean nail them not just half-ass them (Google Docs), and you're in the game.