Author: Carrie

  • Not Nokia-ing on Heaven’s door

    Nokia’s keynote this morning wasn’t quite what I was hoping for.  “Our ambition is to surprise you at every turn,” said Kevin Shields, a man whose job title – senior vice president of program and product management for the smart device – is longer than many people’s lives. And then he started shouting. “It looks…

  • An e-petition worth signing

    I know e-petitions tend to bring out the green ink brigade – “bring back hanging for immigrants”, “repeal the law of gravity”, that kind of thing – but some are more worthwhile. I think this e-petition, which wants financial education for kids in schools, is worthwhile: Companies spend billions on marketing and teaching their staff…

  • How to sell a tablet

    “Gary Marshall,” writes Amazon.com, “are you looking for something in our Tablets department? If so, you might be interested in these items.” It’s almost as if Amazon wants you to look at one tablet in particular, isn’t it?

  • The iPhone 4S: “the best thing Apple has ever made”

    My friends at Techradar like the iPhone 4S, it seems, and they’ve put together a typically exhaustive review. Executive summary: if you have an iPhone 4, there’s no real need to upgrade once you’ve installed iOS. If you’ve got an older iPhone, however, the 4GS is a huge upgrade. I’d like to get my hands…

  • “Here’s to the crazy ones”

    I hadn’t seen this before: the famous “here’s to the crazy ones” Apple ad with a different voiceover artist. The version that aired was narrated by Richard Dreyfuss, but this version was voiced by Steve Jobs. Naturally it’s all the more poignant now.

  • Bye, Steve

    Steve Jobs’ obituary on Techradar. I was getting a bit teary as I was writing the end of it. We’ve lost a giant.

  • An indieview with yours truly

    The most excellent Simon Royle publishes what he calls indieviews, interviews with indie authors. And today it’s my turn to talk bollocks. I’ve lost track of the number of times a supposedly smart, glass ceiling-shattering female character suddenly becomes a simpering idiot thanks to Captain Exposition. This kind of thing: Him: We need a laser.…

  • The next iPhone needn’t be fancy

    Me, at Techradar: It’s Apple’s new iPhone event tomorrow, and we know what that means: most of the internet is publishing “ten things Apple will announce tomorrow” articles, most of them split into eleventy-nine pages to rip off advertisers.

  • Kindles and iPads are the Tescos of tech

    A wee Techradar piece about something that’s been nagging at me for a while: As a gadget fan, I’m well aware that closed ecosystems such as iOS or the Kindle deliver the best possible end user experience. But I can’t shift the nagging feeling that when we welcome our new retail overlords we’re buying into…

  • “Imagine Coffin Dodgers unfolding as a movie”

    Yes, imagine! And then make it, and give me cash! Chris at Adarna SF has posted a thoughtful review of Coffin Dodgers, for which I’m very grateful. I think the criticisms are spot-on too. Despite these hiccups, I really commend Gary Marshall for coming up with a well-written (and well-edited) debut mystery. There are moments…