http://www.e27.sg/2010/06/10/highest-ios-penetration-found-in-singapore-indonesia-among-the-lowest/:

Singapore with it’s tiny 4 million population has 402,992 iPhones, 76575 iPod Touch and 1,453 iPad’s  totaling  480,950 iOS devices. Contrast that to its counterpart, Android devices total up to 32,918. While considering the fact that, iPhone had a head-start in the Singapore market for a year before the first Android device was released, the sheer ratio of iPhone to Android is among the highest across countries.

Find that the regional usage of phones just so bizarre. So the iPhone practically owns Singapore. Then pretty solid numbers for Vietnam and Thailand but get on a one hour plane ride to Indonesia and you see maybe 5 iPhones in all of Jakarta. So if you are a product person dealing with this region you really have to examine your goals country by country. Rough.

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2010/06/18/guest-post-location-based-services-its-game-on/:

As a parting shot dear reader, if you are thinking about being the next Gowalla or Foursquare, think outside the box. The world is a very large, and spherical place, mapped by a long/lat address.

What about developing countries, where the penetration of mobile data usage far outstrips that of broadband, or even dial up modems?

99% of all location services I have seen are targeted squarely at Early Adopters. If you are looking for the next big thing in location, one that attracts people in the millions, look at the developing markets, because connecting people in disparate locations, and giving those people a way to share information is a great start.

My thoughts exactly – there is room for some thinking around emerging markets, non-smartphones and innovation around location with dumb clients. Going to be interesting.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127370598:

Carr admits he’s something of a fatalist when it comes to technology. He views the advent of the Internet as “not just technological progress but a form of human regress.”

I was on one of my walk/runs listening to this podcast and was in total agreement. I find that I just can’t concentrate like I used to. I am always looking to switch stimuli at any moment but I don’t think it is particularly healthy. I am putting an effort into trying to change this. Reading a book with nothing else on. Going the coffee shop with the paper and nothing else. I purposefully bought and iPod classic versus a touch so that I would just use it for music and the occasional video. Seems to be working but I seriously wonder how we are messing ourselves up over the long haul.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html?pagewanted=1:

While he managed to salvage the $1.3 million deal after apologizing to his suitor, Mr. Campbell continues to struggle with the effects of the deluge of data. Even after he unplugs, he craves the stimulation he gets from his electronic gadgets. He forgets things like dinner plans, and he has trouble focusing on his family.

His wife, Brenda, complains, “It seems like he can no longer be fully in the moment.”

This is your brain on computers.

Yup – seems we do have a problem. I hope I never get like that.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5e37eb34-74e0-11df-aed7-00144feabdc0.html:

Though other headphones can compete on quality, what sets these ones apart is that they are gaining mass market appeal, reaching beyond audio geeks, thanks in part to the heavyweight talent behind them.

I would go farther to say that Dr. Dre and Monster took a play from the Apple playbook. The packaging of the product, the case, the accessories, the careful selection of promoters and even the service set these headphones apart into their own league. I am not sure how I can leave without them but maybe my brain wishes I could.