VentureBeat has a fascinating interview with Nvidia exec Jen-Hsun Huang which focuses on what Huang asks, “what is the soul of a new PC?”.

For Huang it is not a question of when the recession will lift, getting things back to normal, but what will the landscape look like. Specifically the PC and chip industries.

Better, smaller, faster, more efficient chips and computers.

But the core change: Cheaper computing instruments.

Q: What is the next-generation user interface?
A: I may sound old fashioned. I want a MacBook Air with battery life that lasts forever for $199. I like that big keyboard. - http://venturebeat.com/2009/01/28/jen-hsun-huangs-quest-to-spread-graphics-beyond-pcs/

Bringing up Apple is very interesting. They are off in their own world and if the rest of the world changes, what does that mean for them?

Sales of netbooks are growing.

Maybe it’s better for Apple; Creating more value for them.

I’m often asked, “are those cheap Acer laptops really any good?”; Questioning their intention, going ahead the purchase no matter what my answer.

Honestly, as long as PCs and Laptops start coming stripped down, no unnecessary 3rd party software, all will be good.

But I really want one of these: TechCrunch Tablet

Twistori > Summerize > Twitter

Twistori presents a flow of common emotions that people twit about on Twitter, pulled via Summerize. What is funny is how removed the viewer is from an emotion that started so intimately.

Created by Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs.

Via http://www.youtube.com/user/boingboingtv

I’ve never been scared of security or identity theft issues before, but this just seems way too easy.

…at least to see where they could lead.

Sure ads suck, but I think marketers will eventually come around and realize what a good ad can be and do for every party.

It is not about doing the same thing that has been done for 75+ years. Twitter offers some really unique advertisement opportunities that could benefit both the users and advertiser. Simple contextual ads would be boring and pointless, other than driving a bit of revenue for Twitter.

(Thought spawned by Twitter Testing Advertising In Twitter Streams)

Imagine taking a snapshot with your camera phone, cropping it, tagging it, maybe even adding a bubble quote, then being able to send it to all your friends without using any built-in software or having to install a 3rd party app - Every piece of software you use can live elsewhere and you can jump around from tool to tool as you see fit.

This is an idea that I was getting at when I wrote The Browser is Dead. The browser is helping remove the need for software to live locally on our systems.

BXP makes a great point:

“The beauty of browsers, though, is that as the Web evolves, the interface stays the same. Remember when browsers were just HTTP viewers? Now browsers can run applications and display dynamic content.” - BXP (The Browser is Dead #comment-69)

It is not only that browsers have changed, but that web servers have changed. Connect-ability is more important than any specific technology or platform. What needs to happen in order for browsers to become better than an OS?

Browsing the internet on my blackberry via an EDGE network is slow. It’s damn slow. But I love it! It actually helps me get more done!

Because of the speed restrictions I think about and question every link I encounter. It is like the anti-stumbleupon. I am more considerate when reading articles and blogs, making them much more enjoyable.

In turn, I actually read more, gather more information in full as I am not skipping, guzzling information, hoarding it as fast as I forget it.

I just get in and get out.

Michael Arrington on TechCrunch writes:

For most early adopters (and all Mac users), the browser is increasingly the only operating system that matters anyway. Windows isn’t really that relevant any more just because of the increasing utility of online applications like Google Docs, which competes with Microsoft Office. - Gartner Says Vista Will Collapse. And That’s Why The Yahoo Deal Must Happen

With the increasing popularity of widgets over the last few years, I honestly believed that the browser was at and end, it had hit a wall. There are even Firefox plug-ins that allow the browser to NOT act like a browser.

The problem is in the general thinking of the OS, as a platform for apps to run. By definition this is true. That’s all it is.

Why the browser is so popular is that it is a tangible interface to the internet. People got the “pamphlet” pitch back when the internet first entered the publics’ conscience.

It is going to take a young mind, someone who sees the OS as something completely different, to bring its next iteration. Not simply as a serving tray for apps.

I think it’s less “the OS is dead” and more that the OS needs to be re-thought. (Windows is ‘collapsing,’ Gartner analysts warn)

Finding newly created folders is cumbersome. Finding re-named folders and files is a pain. File and keyboard actions are not carried across all tools, such as the save dialog. Files are re-associated to different apps too presumptuously. There is also a real lack of built-in file and folder actions.

These are the things I do everyday, not just once in awhile headaches.

Of course, the act of renaming filenames is fantastic.

Great interview with Steve Wozniak:
Steve Wozniak on Apple, Steve Jobs and the Value of a Good Prank

Woz on Artificial Intelligence:

Could you build a robot that could make a cup of coffee?

First, people say, “Well, that sounds simple.” And the answer is: It’ll never happen.

You could come into my house and you might be able to make a cup of coffee. I could go into your house and I might be able to make a cup of coffee. Think of all the steps a computer would have to analyze — walking through your house, trying to figure out where a kitchen might be. If you have a coffee machine, figuring how it fits together. We’d know to open a drawer and look for a filter, because we’ve used coffee machines. We’ve lived a human life.

[Can] a computer create art? You could write programs that make music that sounds okay — it uses the right notes or the right scales — but it wouldn’t be great art. Because you have to judge it. How could a computer judge art — even a painting — if it’s never experienced the human feeling of a breeze on a beach?

You’d almost have to have a robot that grows up. Maybe it could live life a little faster than a human. But it would have to go through a lot of steps we go through to have the same feelings of what’s important in the world. - Knowledge@Wharton

So, do you give up? Nah. It’s probably way to much fun for the people trying to figure these problems out.

I wonder what the most common blog spam comment is. I get quite a few of each of these everyday:

“Useful site. Thank you!!”

“Good site. Thanks!”

“Good advice!”

Plus several of variations of these.

Good thing Akismet rocks!