Scott's Thoughts

This is what LA feels like.

Fri, 10 May 2013 16:19:37 -0700

This is what LA feels like.

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Sat, 04 May 2013 16:04:46 -0700

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Sat, 04 May 2013 16:04:22 -0700

The troubling things I learned when I re-reported Bob Woodward’s book on John Belushi.

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 01:50:59 -0700

The troubling things I learned when I re-reported Bob Woodward’s book on John Belushi.

An awesome way to look at the world. laughingsquid: 2013...

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:20:00 -0800

An awesome way to look at the world.

laughingsquid:

2013 Submarine Cable Map Depicts Communications Cables That Traverse the World’s Ocean Floors

The Anthologists

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 18:08:31 -0800

The Anthologists:

Frank Chimero:

I think the web is heading toward an age of anthologies, where users gain new ways to select, sequence, recontextualize, and publish the content they consume.

Post-turkey

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 19:12:08 -0800

Post-turkey

Giving The Lime Truck’s restaurant a go in Westwood....

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 22:36:54 -0800

Giving The Lime Truck’s restaurant a go in Westwood. Humulus Lager from The Bruery

Here we go

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 07:15:41 -0800

Here we go

Why Sprint Doesn't Deserve the iPhone 5

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 14:43:31 -0800

The iPhone 5 is a magical device. When you pick it up, it feels like it’s barely there. Inspecting the construction, it’s hard to believe it’s a mass manufactured device. With its faster processor and LTE connectivity, everything feels instant—load those tweets, download that page, check your email. Stuck in traffic? Hold down a button and talk to your assistant, get an answer in a few seconds.

Unless you’re on Sprint. Then none of this happens. Siri doesn’t work in traffic because you’re bouncing between cell towers. There’s very little LTE¹ in the US. In a major city there are dead zones hundreds of yards in diameter.

I had a Sprint iPhone 5 for exactly 30 days², and it was awful. My acquisition of the phone coincided with both a personal and business trip, so I got to use the phone all across Los Angeles (Santa Monica, westside, downtown, Culver City, and more), in several San Francisco neighborhoods, in Berkeley, and across Austin, TX. The data coverage in these locations generally did not work. I’m not joking. And the killer is that the phone often showed 3G and several bars in the upper left, but couldn’t access the Internet. I have the Speedtest screenshots to prove it.

My Plea

Apple, you really shouldn’t let Sprint be a carrier in the US for the iPhone 5. Your goal has always been to create devices that feel like magic to the end user. The technology gets out of the way and things just work. Sprint isn’t enabling that—in fact, they make users frustrated with the phone. I’m a geeky guy, so I know the issue really lies with Sprint’s network. But what of customers that get a Sprint iPhone as their first phone? They’ll think the experience sucks—because it does. It’s little surprise that every person in line with me buy an iPhone 5 on release weekend, when only Sprint phones were left at the Century City Apple store, was part of a cartel going around the Los Angeles area buying phones with gift cards to resell overseas.

Do consumers a favor—don’t let Sprint sell your beautiful, amazing phone. I’m back on AT&T, and the phone really is magic. Keep up the good work.

The first and only time my iPhone 5 picked up Sprint LTE was on a runway at LAX. ↩
According to my contacts at the Apple Store, Apple has a 30-day return policy arrangement with all carriers for the iPhone but Sprint is still trying to charge me a $350 early termination fee despite returning the phone in this window. ↩

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Sat, 27 Oct 2012 20:28:01 -0700

"Villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are..."

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 02:31:31 -0700

“Villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well camouflaged.”

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Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:04:39 -0700

Celebrate

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:12:32 -0700

Celebrate

Current status

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 14:32:44 -0700

Current status

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Sat, 13 Oct 2012 23:26:06 -0700

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Sat, 13 Oct 2012 21:19:34 -0700

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Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:18:02 -0700

"If Romney has a foreign policy strategy, he still has not told us what it is. The governor is very..."

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 22:50:49 -0700

“If Romney has a foreign policy strategy, he still has not told us what it is. The governor is very fond of saying hope is not a strategy, but that cuts both ways. He didn’t answer two key questions: what he would do differently and why we should expect what he would do to work.”

- James Lindsay of the Council on Foreign Relations. - POLITICO.com

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Mon, 08 Oct 2012 11:29:40 -0700