Why Won’t Computers Do What We Want Them To?

(Post updated 2020-07-15 07:37 to include postscript on JK Rowling’s planning technique.)  Computers and the software that runs them have long denied us the basic right of dictating to them — not letters and grocery lists, but of what they should actually do for us – most importantly in the first step of thinking: the… Read More »

The Changes A-coming

Covid-19 has reminded us, if we needed reminding, that people behave in unpredictable ways. We are not, it turns out, rational beings. Our leaders lead from the front, the back, not at all, or just feather their own nest first. People defy curfews; they cough on others, smear their saliva on lift buttons, and fight… Read More »

How do subscriptions fare in a recession?

Source: App Annie, State of Mobile 2020 The subscription model (‘subscription economy’ was a term apparently coined at least four years ago) is becoming de rigeur in many zones. App Annie’s recent State of Mobile report found that In App subscriptions contributed to 96% of spend in the top non-gaming apps. As an overall proportion… Read More »

Swiss to Cheese: Apple Transforms Another Industry

Another Apple product I’m unlikely to purchase — a smartwatch. I don’t need more screens to look at frankly, but I doff my smartcap to the company for the way they’ve usurped an industry that already existed and then doubled it. This approach has some parallels to the AirPod strategy, which I looked at before :… Read More »