New York Times Magazine Profiles Heather
Armstrong

post from Daring Fireball on 28 February 2011 11:03:47 PM. © Daring Fireball

Speaking of successful indie writers, this weekend’s New York Times Magazine featured a long profile of Heather “Dooce” Armstrong, by Lisa Belkin. I’ll tell you what I don’t like about it. The title: “Queen of the Mommy Bloggers”. I think “mommy blogger” is a term intended to be dismissive. Belkin writes of Dooce.com:

By talking about poop and spit up. And stomach viruses andwashing-machine repairs. And home design, and high-strung dogs,and reality television, and sewer-line disasters, and chiropractorvisits. And countless other banalities of one mother?s eclecticlife that, for some reason, hundreds of thousands of strangerstune in, regularly, to read.

You know what that mysterious “some reason” is? Armstrong is a fucking great writer, that’s what.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/magazine/27armstrong-t.html

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E-Books and Successful Indie Writers

post from Daring Fireball on 28 February 2011 11:03:47 PM. © Daring Fireball

Speaking of buying lots of Kindle e-books, here’s an interesting story from Eli James:

Amanda Hocking is 26 years old. She has 9 self-published books toher name, and sells 100,000+ copies of those ebooks per month. Shehas never been traditionally published. This is her blog. Andit?s no stretch to say ? at $3 per book/70% per sale for theKindle store ? that she makes a lot of money from her monthlybook sales. (Perhaps more importantly: a publisher on the privateReading2.0 mailing list has said, to effect: *there is notraditional publisher in the world right now that can offer AmandaHocking terms that are better than what she?s currently getting,right now on the Kindle store, all on her own.)

Disintermediation, disruption, and independence.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.novelr.com/2011/02/27/rich-indie-writer

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Expanding the iPhones Market Share

post from Daring Fireball on 28 February 2011 10:03:31 PM. © Daring Fireball

Eric Savitz, reporting on a research note from analyst Toni Sacconaghi, who had an interview with Tim Cook last week:

The analyst says Cook ?appeared to reaffirm the notion thatApple is likely to develop lower priced offerings? to expand themarket for the iPhone. Cook said the company is planning ?cleverthings? to address the prepaid market, and that Apple did notwant its products to be ?just for the rich,? and that thecompany is ?not ceding any market.?

The hard thing, as I’ve said in the past, is getting the monthly service bill for smartphones down. Virgin Mobile is the leading the way, at least here in the U.S. — imagine a $149 iPhone with one of those plans. Anyone who thinks Apple won’t expand from the high-end down, price-wise, isn’t thinking about how the company captured the media player market with the iPod a decade ago. Cheaper iPhones are inevitable.

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Read The Full Article:
http://blogs.forbes.com/ericsavitz/2011/02/28/apple-plots-move-to-expand-iphones-
market-share/

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Tim Bray: Making Money in Mobile

post from Daring Fireball on 28 February 2011 09:03:44 PM. © Daring Fireball

Interesting overview of the nascent mobile software world. I thought this was an interesting juxtaposition, though. First:

Having said all that, I deeply believe that the app-sales businesssucks. Selling anything on a one-time basis at a price below $10is historically the kind of business that?s been owned bycompanies like Walmart. I acknowledge that it?s working for somepeople, but it?s just not where I?d want to be.

Then, later in the piece, Bray writes:

The other free app that sends my money to its provider is Kindle(and we?re talking serious money, I just spent $8 for a bookthat went across my radar while I was writing this piece).

Why isn’t selling apps for under $10 as good a business as selling books for under $10? I don’t think the app-sales business is easy, not by a long shot, but Apple is proving that it doesn’t have to suck.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2011/02/26/Mobile-Money

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NZ Developers Supporting Christchurch Quake
Victims

post from Daring Fireball on 28 February 2011 09:03:44 PM. © Daring Fireball

Great apps for a great cause:

Until 5 March, 100% of the proceeds of these 38 apps from some ofNew Zealand’s top software developers will go directly to the NewZealand Red Cross.

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Read The Full Article:
http://appappeal.co.nz/

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Random House Will Adopt Agency E-Book Pricing
Model

post from Daring Fireball on 28 February 2011 08:03:48 PM. © Daring Fireball

Carolyn Kellogg, reporting for The LA Times Jacket Copy blog:

Apple encouraged the agency pricing model for ebooks sold throughits ebook store for the iPad. Up until now, books published byRandom House — including Dan Brown’s massive bestsellers — havenot been available for Apple’s iPad. Instead, users have purchasedthem for the Kindle.
Random House is set to begin using the agency model Tuesday, March1 — perhaps not so coincidentally, the day before Apple’sexpected launch of the second-generation iPad.

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Read The Full Article:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/02/random-house-will-adopt-agency
-ebook-pricing-model.html

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Getting Notified

post from Daring Fireball on 28 February 2011 08:03:48 PM. © Daring Fireball

Sebastiaan de With on the notification UIs for iOS, Android, and WebOS.

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Read The Full Article:
http://blog.cocoia.com/2011/notify/

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Space Shuttle Launch, Viewed From an Airplane

Amazing perspective.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE_USPTmYXM&feature=player_embedded

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Innovative iPad Music App Lets Anyone Play Solo
Jams

Stealth Bee Studios has announced the release of their first product, Stealth Bee Jam 1.0. Designed exclusively for the Apple iPad, Stealth Bee Jam lets anyone, with or without musical proficiency, play solos or "Jam" with songs created especially for the app. Stealth Bee Jam puts the user at center stage by letting them play solo jams on songs whether they know how to play musical instruments or not. Songs in Stealth Bee Jam are original compositions created specifically for the app.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-22280.htm

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App Store Features You Gotta See This! 1.4

Boinx Software releases You Gotta See This! 1.4, an update to the company's popular panography photo app for the iPhone. You Gotta See This! gives users the ability to choose between two built-in cameras, hit record, point, and capture their surroundings in an arbitrary, 3D fashion for eye-catching results. The new transparent theme allows users to more easily integrate images into their creative workflows, while high-resolution viewing lets users admire their panographs in all their glory.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-22361.htm

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