Kin

If you haven’t heard of it already, Kin is/was Microsoft’s attempt to make a phone for the young, connected crowd. The ones who use facebook and twitter but doesn’t need a smartphone. A few days ago rumors said that the phone sold only 10.000 units and had been canceled. The truth was even worse.

People inside Microsoft have reported that they’ve sold only 503 Kin phones since release. That is 0,01% of iPhone 4′s first weekend sales. It is a disaster. Microsoft purportedly spent over $1 billion on the project. Most other companies would be bankrupt by such a failiure. How could this happen? Most of the tech pundits I listen to said this when Microsoft first showed of the phone. I too didn’t think it would sell great, but not this bad.

But in hindsight I can see where it all went wrong:

• The Kin wasn’t done. Many features were missing or buggy
• It wasn’t a smartphone, but it had smartphone plans, costing as much a month as an iPhone or an Android phone
• The marketing was bad
• The target market is small or non-existant. I can’t imagine who would choose a Kin before an iPhone
• Microsoft doesn’t understand it’s customers

When you look at it this way, it may even be surprising they sold any. Of course, some of them was sold to people who try new stuff, blogs and others who doesn’t get review units.

What does all this lead up to?

I will go on record saying that Windows Phone 7 will also be a flop. Not as bad as the Kin, but still a flop. It will sell a few units in the first days, until people understand the weaknesses of the system and the reviews comes out. Word of mouth will also slow down adoption. Some businesses will pick it up, if they are 100% Microsoft shops already. Then they too will see where it comes short, and go back to Blackberry or whatever they were using before.

Microsoft simply can’t produce a product that is good enough to compete with iPhone and Android in such a short time. Just read interviews with the Windows Phone 7 team leader. They know the product won’t be done. It won’t have all the necessary features. They will be playing catch-up for years to come. Maybe they can get back in the game, but not this year. Not yet.

I’ve been busy lately. Here is a summary of my future plans:
- I will wrap up the visitor experiment soon.
- I will not be blogging as intensively in the coming weeks, but probably about twice a week.
- I will be forking the tech part of the blog to a separate and more professional site.

Check back for more details on the new tech blog soon. I will also write a couple of tech posts before the transition, as it will take some time to get the design done.

Light Peak (image from Intel)

Intel recently showed off their new I/O technology Light Peak. It is supposed to replace every data connector today present in computers, phones, MIDs and more. It consists of a 10Gbps optical link which support multiple protocols at once.

The advantages and possibilities are obvious. You can have extremely fast data transfer, you can use the same connector for both your monitor, speakers and other devices. A single hub can replace today’s docking stations for laptops.

Is Apple behind Light Peak?

Engadget says they have trusted sources telling them that Apple made Intel develop this technology. They believe that Apple will launch computers with Light Peak connectors around fall 2010.

My thoughts

This might be a breakthrough in computing, vastly simplifying the digital life for the consumer. There are a few things that might go wrong still. Intel will have many enemies on this one, notably cable manufacturers and companies developing competing standards. I have a couple of ideas how Light Peak might get it’s breakthrough though:

• Light Peak universal hub/adapter: Make device that has a Light Peak connector to connect to your computer, and has USB, HDMI, minijack and more outputs. This should give people a good reason to buy a Light Peak enabled computer, and will make up for the lack of Light Peak devices early in it’s lifetime.
• Partner with Apple. Light Peak enabled iPods and iPhones might be just what this new tech needs to get of the ground. Faster syncing and more functions (share speakers, Ethernet, monitor through same cable) should make upgrading attractive.
• Keep a low price. Sell at production cost in the first months to drive adoption.

I really wish this technology good luck, as it will make everything easier. It will also be a big help in the fight against global warming, as cable production can probably be cut in half when (almost) every device uses the same cables and connectors.

Read more about Light Peak

Norwegian article

I bought a large pack of frozen pork steaks (cheaper than fresh ones), and picked out a couple of them. The French fries was also of the cheaper sort, and we used half a package. The salad was leftovers from Monday, when we ate taco. Really simple and tasty. Took about 40 minutes to make, mostly because of the fries.

If you wonder what I ate from Monday to yesterday, I was in Trondheim picking up the rest of my stuff, and ate with my family.

Today’s meal: Chicken wraps

Chicken wrap

This was also a fast, cheap and easy meal. I still had leftovers from the taco, so I just bought some ground chicken meat. I used the taco wraps, lettuce, pepper, maize, garlic dressing and cheese I already had. Short recipe:

Ingredients

• Ground chicken meat
• Iceberg lettuce
• Onion
• Red pepper
• Maize
• Garlic dressing
• Taco wraps
• Cheese

Fry the ground chicken meat until it is brown. While you fry the chicken, lay the wraps on plates, and cut the vegetables and distribute evenly on the wraps. Add some garlic dressing and cheese topping on top. When the chicken meat is ready, just ad it to the wraps, wrap them and eat.

Of course you can add or remove ingredients at will. Cucumber and carrots are great options.

Estimated time: 15-20 minutes.

Comments
I know this is not the cheapest meal you can make, but if you have lots of vegetable leftovers, this is a great way to use it. The ground chicken meat was really cheap, and I used only 1/3 of a 400g package for 1 person. The rest i froze for later. It is also easy and fast to make, and it tastes good. I would love to get comments and suggestions on the recipe.

Tomorrow I will probably make something out of only leftovers, but next week I will try to get some more meals up here. Maybe something with fish or other seafood.

Healthy stuff

Cheap, good, healthy food
This morning I figured I should Google around after some cheap meals, since I will be relocating to Bergen by the end of this week if everything goes as planed. What I found was really inspiring, and I figured that I should try to document my best meals here.

I will be taking pictures and adding the recipe whenever I make something I like. This will be cheap-but-good meals, and hopefully quite healthy also. I might not start with this immediately, since I will be eating a lot of easy meals while I get settled in.

Some of the links I found (norwegian): link 1, link 2, link 3

If you have any other tips, please feel free to add a comment.

A new website project
I am also working on a new website, which should be ready in about 4 months when it is done. For now it is secret, but I might be adding some beta-keys here

Back to reality
Now it is about time I get back to practicing for my IT apprentice exam tomorrow. If all goes well I will be traveling to Bergen Wednesday morning, towards a new apartment, a new job and much closer to my beautiful girlfriend.