The Latest from CoreEcon

Posted: 03 Sep 2008 06:28 PM CDT

OK so here is another idea for the killer iPhone application: a real shopping list program. There are some of these available but they are just lists. Some have pictures and re-orderable categories but they aren’t there. Here are some features you would want:

Ability to synchronise data across iPhones so that lists can be shared and sent.
Integration with recipes so that you can automatically add ingredients to the list. This exists for desktop programs but you need it on the phone.
Automatic learning of regular items and the ability to add to the list automatically. So you could check an item as purchased but also whether it should be checked as unpurchased next time.
Ability to tailor the list order to the order in which the items come by in the supermarket. It could be done manually but which is OK but as it should be. This one is something an entrepreneurial supermarket chain could do. You write your list and then tell the program which store you are in and it orders them by aisle. You would never miss anything as it could give you directions. A supermarket could also highlight specials along the way.
While we are at it, why not provide the pricing information too? You could provide unit pricing. If this was a government run thing, the prices could be downloaded and, using the list on your phone, you could then choose the cheapest location for that list! Tell me I’m dreaming here but that is what we want.

I’m sure there is even more that could be done but let’s start with this.

Old iPhone prices rising

Posted: 03 Sep 2008 06:09 PM CDT

Somewhat unexpectedly, prices for the original iPhone are rising on eBay and from resellers. Why? Because it is easier to unlock than the new one and so can be transferred around the world more readily. Of course, at some later time, they might be valuable on the vintage IT market; a collector’s item.

Google Chrome, Google Fast

Posted: 03 Sep 2008 04:15 PM CDT

So I installed Google Chrome on the Windows virtual side of my Mac. It doesn’t look pretty — nothing on the Windows side does because XP has no font smoothing. But it is fast. Really fast. The Parentonomics website (which is image heavy) loaded in about quarter of the time, 0.25 seconds rather 1 second and noticeably so. The Google stuff is instantaneous. I am on a high-speed broadband connection and so won’t really care about it enough to switch from Firefox (at least until a Mac version of Google Chrome comes along). But if you are on a slow connection, give it a go.

merda

Quinta-feira, 4 de Setembro de 2008