Updated As the time for Apple's next generation iPhone 4 to be unveiled at the company's WWDC event approached, something curious began to happen. AT&T started moving up existing customers’ eligibility to upgrade by six months or more so that even many of those who bought the iPhone 3GS last year under a carrier subsidy can upgrade again this year. What’s going on?
Early Wednesday, AT&T (NYSE: T) announced a dramatic revision to its data plans for cell phones and other Internet connected devices, most notably affecting the Apple iPhone and newly released iPad WiFi+3G. While some new limits have appeared, the attractive low-end iPad plan remains unchanged with a slight advantage over other devices on the network.
All the time we hear about it: the “race for a cure” or a “walk” for this or that illness. When it is explained why the event is being held, the phrase “raise awareness” is always included. Money is always raised, too; it’s never entirely clear what the money is used for. Perhaps it is used to purchase awareness from those who do not give it away.
The key to teaching anyone anything is having some clue what it's like not knowing. If you can't guide someone across that barrier, you can't actually teach much, because the whole process then relies entirely upon the abilities and inclinations of the learner. The best teachers don't simply put it where you can reach it, but make you want it.
The free software movement, which in many respects means the Linux operating system, is a puzzle to those accustomed to paying for things. Software is expensive stuff — how good can the stuff be if it doesn't cost anything?
Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds was so omnipresent during the 1990s that I’m sure many fans of pop and R&B were sick of him. The soundtracks, the monster hits for every artist from Boyz II Men to Madonna to Toni Braxton to the 1996 Olympic theme song – he owned the music world. So, why did some of his best work ever end up never being released?
It was bound to happen, sometime. Indeed, two-thirds of the way through my sixth decade, with most of it spent near them, it surprises me it didn’t happen sooner.
OFB's Ed Hurst continues his quest for the perfect UNIX or Linux operating system by looking at a recently released beta of Red Hat's upcoming Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. Is it the Linux nirvana? Read on to find out.
Six months ago, Verizon Wireless launched the Droid, built by Motorola, as its flagship Android device. At the time, it was a formidable device, but development of the platform is moving rapidly and the Droid was eclipsed in capabilities, albeit not sales, by Google and HTC’s Nexus One, which was not available for Verizon. With the Droid Incredible, Verizon seeks to take the Android lead again.
In mid-April the President of the United States announced his “space program.” It purports to move us toward sending human beings to Mars in a quarter century or so. It won’t do this. Instead, it merely the throws enough money at NASA and space contractors to keep their respective congressional districts happy. It’s a small amount by this administration’s standards of spending. It won’t take us to Mars or anywhere else.