So, it’s been almost a year since my last post (again!). Reading through the archives of the site, which has been up for a little over 3 years now, I’m tempted to post an update to some of the older posts. What better way to restart blogging?
In November 2007, I wrote about the iPhone and the hype surrounding it. I suggested looking at alternatives. Since then, Apple has released the iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4. Some of the issues I had with the 1st iPhone version were that it didn’t support 3G, corporate sync and 3rd party apps. The next iPhone release (iPhone 3G) addresses all these, and so I went out and bought one. I owned it till recently. I now have an Android device – the DroidX on Verizon. As an engineer (a Java one at that), I absolutely love the Android OS. Also, Verizon is so much better than AT&T. I hope Verizon’s networks don’t get clogged when the Verizon iPhone comes out next year. I am waiting for the 2nd generation of iPad though.
Fast forward almost a year to September 2008, when Google Chrome was first released. I posted an initial review of the browser (within minutes of it being available for download). A couple of days later, I discovered that my laptop was randomly BSOD-ing when Google Chrome was playing a video. [BSOD = Blue Screen Of Death]. A lot of other users faced the same problem, and that post is, till date, the most commented post on this site.
Apple was dominant then (PC manufacturing and iPhone apps among others), and Apple is dominant now.
In September 2008, I had a look at the initial draft of HTML5 and decided it was a game changer for the whole web experience. HTML5 is becoming more common with Apple deciding to shun Flash, and more internet-enabled devices (Google TV, for example) appearing on the scene.
One day before we rang in 2009, I wrote about why Wikipedia should stop appealing for funds and place text ads to generate revenue. This post was slashdotted and brought in over 5000 visitors that week, which was pretty impressive considering it was the holiday season. It’s almost time to ring in 2011, and guess what? Another campaign appealing for funds – and this time, there are bigger banners, more people and more money. They were looking for $6 million back then. They’re looking for $14 million now. Wikipedia is an amazing resource and I would hate for it to close. There are a lot of people out there who would like to help, but cannot afford $50 or $100 (this is like a months salary for the labor class in developing countries). These campaigns are becoming more frequent and more intrusive (even more than a simple text ad display).
That’s pretty much a current update on some of my past posts. It’s interesting to observe that technology is advancing everyday and is become more and more ubiquitous and unified. And then, there are some things that don’t change.
I took to Chrome pretty late, in fact, not until their latest version. I remember getting the BSOD once when I tried Chrome initially. And I was a complete Firefoxer for about 2 years. But this latest version of Chrome is a killer.