Posts

On April 14, 2014, App.net initial backers will have to decide whether to renew their accounts for $36 a year or downgrade to the limited free version. For background, App.net is an ad-free online social network that appeared as a reaction to Twitter’s policies changes in 2012. Created by Dalton Caldwell and promoted inside a technically-oriented community, App.net was crowd-funded as a Kickstarter project, raising over $800.000 and 11.000 backers. Read more...

The One Laptop Per Child Project (OLPC) is closing, according to OLPC News. This was probably a good intentioned initiative. There are several factors about OLPC and its failure that I won’t discuss here. But anybody who thinks that the best way to deliver help to a third-world country is to establish an exclusive distribution channel through its government is, at least, naive, even if he is a genius in other matters. Read more...

The Rolling Stone magazine interviews Bill Gates. Read more...

Enrique Dans writes about Popcorn Time, the great movie application created by a group of Argentinean hackers that allowed users to search and view torrent movies, according to Time, in an interface better than Netflix’s. Basically, it’s the version of Netflix that you’ve always wanted — and maybe have been willing to pay extra for — but that Hollywood may never allow.1 Popcorn Time gained an incredible traction in a short time and challenged the movie establishment. Read more...

Seth Godin about Pricing (The New Business Toolbox): The only reason to be cheap is because you have figured out how to do something cheaper than anyone else. If you haven’t, being cheap is a race to the bottom. You are in the business of creating value, not in the business of being cheap. (…) Artificially low prices is the last refuge of the marketer that isn’t particularly good at his job. Read more...