Technology

Sometimes the Big Ideas Are Closer Than You Think

by Chip Griffin on November 27, 2011

As I was perusing the November 2011 issue of Popular Mechanics (via the Zinio app on my iPad, of course), I came across a brief item about the British Antarctic Survey and the discovery of some active undersea volcanoes in the South Atlantic Ocean. “New species have been found nearby,” reports the magazine. I have [...]

The Web Platform Fallacy

by Chip Griffin on September 22, 2011

In recent years, we have heard much talk of services like Facebook, Twitter, Salesforce and others being “platforms.” The implication is that they are much like operating systems like Windows, Linux, or OS/X where developers can build applications on top of them. And that’s true, at least in a technical sense. The problem is that [...]

Products that Sell and Products that Work

by Chip Griffin on September 20, 2011

The other day I found myself telling someone that a company I know of has “a product that demos well, but it doesn’t work well once you buy it.” We all know the type, right? At the extreme end are some of the gimmicky items you find sold on TV infomercials. Some of them actually [...]

Surfing Back in Time

by Chip Griffin on June 1, 2011

I had a conversation yesterday that spurred me to think back to the “old days” of the World Wide Web. You see, I’ve been at this game long enough to remember Yahoo before it was at Yahoo.com. Most of you probably don’t know that it used to live at http://akebono.stanford.edu. In any case, I took [...]

Glue-ing Together the Cloud, API’s, and More

by Chip Griffin on May 27, 2011

I spent the past couple of days in some pretty lofty atmosphere. Not just because I found myself in the Mile High City, but because Eric Norlin put together another fantastic conference. Glue 2011 brought some really smart geeks to Denver to talk about the latest tools, tricks, and tactics that can be used to [...]

I Wish I Really Could Watch TV Anywhere

by Chip Griffin on May 26, 2011

Last night I ended up at the bar of a mass production restaurant in Broomfield, CO eating unhealthy food of marginal quality while drinking club soda with some of the saddest looking pieces of lime I have seen in a while. No, I’m not a down-on-my-luck recovering addict, just a guy who really wanted to [...]

There’s Nothing Wrong with Apple’s 30 Percent

by Chip Griffin on February 21, 2011

Much electronic ink has already been spilled over Apple’s decision to make in-app subscription purchasing available — at a 30% fee. I’m about to spill some more. Today’s open letter from Readability re-stokes the controversy as it claims that Software-as-a-Service providers are now ensnared in the new policy, not just media publishers and content providers. [...]

For Me, CES About People

by Chip Griffin on January 19, 2011

The sheer size of the annual Consumer Electronics Show makes it a spectacle to behold. Company “booths” can cost millions of dollars to create and seem to consume as much floor space as a football field. One can spend hours walking the show floor only to discover that the surface has barely been scratched. For [...]

Now Hiring Director of Web Development

by Chip Griffin on October 25, 2010

At DCI, I’m looking to hire a Director of Web Development. I need someone who can provide solid leadership to a team of excellent developers. The DCI Digital Team put together an informative and entertaining video describing the job. It’s a great team of people I work with, and we’re looking for the right person [...]

New York Times iPad App Comes Up Just Short

by Chip Griffin on October 17, 2010

I really want to like the New York Times iPad app. You see, I have taken to really liking the iPad as my primary reading tool. I read books on it (mostly with the Kindle app). I read magazines (mostly with Zinio, but also a handful of publication-specific apps). I read newspapers (like the Wall [...]