In the 2000 movie High Fidelity, there’s a scene where Barry (Jack Black) receives a response for a poster he’s put up in the store. The poster is a wanted ad looking for “hip young gunslingers”; a guitarist who is “into” four particular bands. Although the scene isn’t foreshadowed, we come to understand that the poster has been up for a very long time, and that this is the first response Barry’s had for it.

Much digital ink has been spilled over the economic and social ramifications of Apple’s App Store. On the face of it, the App Store is a revolutionary platform connecting the users with its developers, doing so with an unprecedented degree of closeness. And while many developers have chafed (to put it mildly) against the fact that a capricious Apple stands part-way between these two parties, there can be no doubt that the vast majority have not suffered for it.

When I mention to most people that I’m a big fan of Twitter, the reaction I usually get is along the lines of “what is it good for?”. And I think anyone who uses Twitter knows that the answer is “it depends”. To me, Twitter is where I go to listen to people who matter to me. As my friend @publicfarley repeated just yesterday: (And yes, I deleted my Facebook account a couple weeks ago.

This morning, Apple made the iPad available for pre-order in Canada. At the same time, Rogers announced their data plans for the 3G version of the device. While they made an effort to match AT&T in terms of pricing (many details are still unclear), they added a third option that, for me, reveals the extent of their anti-consumer behaviour. First, let’s see these plans: 250MB – $15 5GB – $35

I love news. I have always been keenly interested in staying on top of current events, especially in the technology sector. But I get my kicks out of reading everything from the state of foreign economies to the heroic efforts of a dog to save the life of a child. For most of my life, the news has come in the form of ink-on-paper. The newspaper is that daily device which packaged the latest news into a convenient format.