Positive: Big summertime sale on "artisanal software" for the Mac, with logos above. This includes two programs I use all day every day, Scrivener and Tinderbox. Tinderbox is a powerful but complex acquired taste -- a taste I have acquired. Scrivener is an absolute no-brainer must-buy as a writing tool. But check 'em out for yourself.
Positive: An interestingly improved, and actually interesting, photo-management and -search system for photos on your own computer, from Google. Descriptions at Techcrunch here and here.
Negative: The latest twist on how the Chinese Great Firewall is being reinforced, in this case to re-thwart Wikipedia , in anticipation of tomorrow's anniversary of May 35th. [Look it up.]
Negative, though affecting fewer people. A reader complains about another dropped, niche-audience Google product. This reader says that he and his wife rely on simple, cheap mobile phones that handle text [SMS] messages and can't afford the higher hardware and service costs of fancier smart phones:
Positive, again with niche impact. A very nice though still-in-development mapping app to help you choose your ideal beer and discover new ones you will like. More from Flowing Data and Fast Company, and thanks to reader DP.I know this is a useless cry into the void. I'm sure that Google has the numbers to show that people just weren't using SMS search. But both my wife and I used it A LOT. And we are both really feeling it now that it's gone. At least when they pulled the plug on Google Reader there were ample alternatives to turn to. But for people without a web-enabled phone, SMS search was a critical tool. (You could even get turn by turn directions using SMS search.) And there really is no alternative. Not even a phone book. Seriously. Stop by your nearest shop- pick one- and ask if you can use their phone book.The problem with letting capitalism hold such dramatic sway over society is that there's no one looking out for the fewer of us. Imagine what the landscape would have looked like had phone companies been allowed to build out only the profitable areas of the country.
Routine disclosure, for both Google items: Many of my friends work at Google, and so does one of my sons.
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