The Week’s Tech News in Review and the Information R/evolution

April 16, 2010 - By Justin E. Gehrke

We’ve reached yet another Friday in Techville. Each week brings us new developments, products, and announcements that serve as fodder for endless speculation, rumors, and, occasionally, an actual, factual story or two. This week was no different and included the normal share of techy drama.

So, what filled our screens and browser caches this week? Let’s wrap the important stuff up into a delicious, burrito of tech news goodnesss guaranteed to be consumable in 3.5 minutes.

The week began with talk of Twitter’s acquisition of Atebits. Tweetie customers complained. Third-party Twitter application developers feared for their future, and Twitter reassured everyone that Twitter for iPhone would make everyone happy. In other Twitter news, Chirp, the Twitter Developer Conference was held. Twitter founders took the opportunity to unveil, among other things, their plan to begin integrating “Sponsored Tweets” into search results, as part of the new Monetization Philosophy. In other Twitter-related news, the Tweet-happy Library of Congress also announced it would acquire and archive the entire body of tweets posted, since March 2006, for “historical” purposes, which, turn, made many privacy experts “hysterical”.

In less upbeat news, it became public knowledge that the Palm Inc. was actively seeking someone with loads of cash and firehose, in an attempt to rescue and restore the smartphone maker to its former glory. In other smartphone news, HTC and the Android OS continued their active assault against Apple’s iPhone and the freshly announced iPhone OS 4.0, with details of news devices designed to gain ground in the competitive smartphone market. The possibility of real competition was stepped up with the confirmed specifications, pricing, and availability of the Droid Incredible.

Of course, a week in tech wouldn’t be complete without Apple iAnything news. Steve Jobs didn’t disappoint the rumor and fearmongers. The company’s perceived Anti-Adobe (and Anti-Anyone Else, for that matter) was only exacerbated by Apple’s increased restrictions on third-party iPhone and iPad developers. Apple also announced the unfortunate delay of the iPad release to the international market, which kept many eBayers hoping for a quick profit happy. In happy Apple news, the new Macbooks Pro debuted, sporting brand-new Intel i5 and i7 processors. Finally, Apple’s App Store made a long-awaited decision regarding whether or not the Opera Browser for iPhone would be approved. To the joy of many, the app became available for download on April 13, 2010. The little company that could, aka Opera, reported over 1-million downloads on the first day.

Was their more news than this? Of course there is. As usual, though, we promised to review what every technophile needs to know, in a 3-5 minute burrito of tech goodness. Hopefully, this keeps you full until Monday, when the news and rumor-mills will begin to churn out all new and exciting information. Until then, Geek Shui Living bids you adieu and administers your weekly dose of tech entertainment and inspiration, in the form of a wholesome YouTube video.

This week’s pick is a motivational one. Most people reading this are undying fans of technology. You work with it, read about it, and probably sit in the bathroom with it (if your significant other will allow it). Created by Mike Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, as part of his teaching curriculum, it reminds us just how far we’ve come in a few years. Entitled, Information R/evolution, it is certain to increase your Geek Mojo and get you pumped up for the week to come.

You can find more information about the innovative Mike Wesch on the Digital Ethnography website. A complete list of his inspiring, geek-related creations is also available on Wesch’s official YouTube Channel.