Linked List: January 10, 2014

Friday, 10 January 2014

‘Geared Up for CES’ 

New episode of my podcast, The Talk Show, with special guest star Dan Frommer. We discuss the news from CES this week — 4K TV sets, wearables, phone integration with car dashboards, and much more. Also: Pappy Van Winkle.

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‘Although, It’s Shown Being Deleted So I’m Not Sure That Really Counts.’ 

John Moltz on Network, another promising new iPhone podcast client. Seems like podcast clients are the new Twitter clients.

The Penalty of Leadership 

1915 ad from the Cadillac Motor Car Company, written by copywriter Theodore F. MacManus:

The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy — but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant. There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as human passions — envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains — the leader.

The Wirecutter’s ‘Realist’s Guide to CES 2014’ 

The Wirecutter:

After plenty of research, input from experts and old-fashioned shoe leather reporting, our team identified about a dozen items that they think could be reflective of tech in 2014. This isn’t a list of the flashiest or most obscure products of 2014, but rather things that could actually hold up to critical scrutiny, and possibly even challenge the leaders in their respective categories. Things that actually make sense in our daily lives that we’re excited to see pan out over the next 12 months.

I love The Wirecutter’s approach.

Got to say, though, nothing in this list other than the Oculus Rift makes me go “Wow”.

Apple Wins Appeal in Motorola’s Smartphone Patent Case 

Susan Decker, reporting for Bloomberg:

Google, based in Mountain View, California, inherited the case when it bought Motorola Mobility in 2012 for $12.4 billion. The purchase was made in part to get Motorola Mobility’s trove of more than 17,000 patents, which Google hoped would be used to counter attacks that its Android operating system was infringing Apple and Microsoft Corp. patents. Thus far, the strategy hasn’t resulted in a significant legal victory against either company.