commodity

Is it OK to have a boring laptop?

Here's a question for you: Are laptops becoming the ultimate commodity products? And, as such, does sexiness simply not matter anymore?

I say this because of the overwhelming response I got to a piece I wrote on why the 13-inch MacBook Pro needs to go away. I argued in favor of the Air's sleek design and equivalent everyday performance; many readers argued fiercely that the 13-inch Pro has features and functionality--more hard-drive capacity and more robust RAM, not to mention an Ethernet jack--that still make it a strong favorite.

I also say this because, at CES 2012, sexed-up laptops--aka "ultrabooks"--were the Theme of the Day. Everyone seems quick to come up with a New, Cool Laptop.

I've been encouraging forward-thinking laptop design, and yet I understand that laptops, in an age of ever-smaller, ever-cooler smart devices, just might for many be destined for a role as a reliable commodity device. Yes, I've been bored by laptops...and yet, maybe boring laptops are just what many people need. … Read more

Build your railroad routes across the country

Ticket to Ride is another solid iPad adaptation of a classic board game, which has the same name, in which you race other players to build railroad routes across a map of the U.S. and southern Canada.

Fans of the board game (and its online version) will find this a satisfying reproduction of the original--but, of course, with the added bonus of not having to fumble with all the little pieces, cards, and bookkeeping. You can play a solo game in about 15 minutes, with no cleanup. If you don't know the game already, it's pretty easy … Read more

Bid for cargo to fill your ship!

Medici is the iOS adaptation of Reiner Knizia's classic bidding game, a board-game simulation of a dockside auction over the course of three days, in which three to six merchants bid to fill the cargo holds of their ships.

As with adaptations of similarly complex, European-style board games, existing fans of this popular game will have a much easier time with this app--but thankfully, comprehensive rules (perhaps overly so) along with nine different AI choices (each with varying skill levels and tendencies) help to make the learning curve a little less steep. Gameplay is actually very simple once you'… Read more

Totorobo reminds us to flush green

The idea of having one's toilet bowl suddenly grow legs and walk off because you've used up your ration of loo water is, to say the least, disturbing and awkward. But Japanese toilet maker Toto, which manufactures those amazingly high-performance commodes that can do everything but make you coffee, has just unveiled its latest outing, the Totorobo.

Fortunately, the Transformer bowl is really a robot mascot on a mobile strap meant to promote the company's eco-friendly Greenmax 4.8 toilets. As part of its water-saving feature, only 4.8 liters are used in a flush, compared with … Read more

Cloud computing and 'commodity'

One of my favorite bloggers (and long-time cloud pundit), Simon Wardley, once wrote a short post that clarified the meanings of two words that are key to understanding the value of cloud computing:

I thought I'd just re-iterate the distinction between [two] terms that was first identified by Douglas Rushkoff:-

Commodification (mid to late 1970s, Word) is used to describe the process by which something which does not have an economic value is assigned a value and hence how market values can replace other social values. It describes a modification of relationships, formerly untainted by commerce, into commercial … Read more