On Friday morning a rocket booster will slam into the moon. 4 minutes later, a space probe will sniff for signs of water.
The interesting part, though, is that NASA and the world’s biggest telescopes are not the only ones who will be able to glean from the event.
The explosive plume rising above the south pole should create a celestial event on Earth visible to anyone west of the Mississippi with a good backyard telescope.
Good article at http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_13507258?nclick_check=1
NASA has set up a “Citizen Science” Web site — apps.nasa.gov/lcross — to help amateur astronomers submit and share their images of the LCROSS impact, and there is also an Internet discussion group at groups.google.com/group/lcross_observation.
The days of the mobile walled garden are coming to an end and Google Voice has been the proverbial straw-that-broke-the-camels-back.
As a modem designer in the early 90’s for Megahertz, USRobotics, and 3Com, I was in the delivery room of the internet and directly experienced the transition from Online Service Providers (BBS ala Compuserve to “Walled Garden Internet” ala AOL) to Internet Service Providers (ISPs ala MSN) to Broadband Providers (Broadband Service Providers ala Comcast).
It was interesting to see AOL forced down the path of openness by smaller players providing more open access to the world wide web… eventually leading to its effective demise in May 2009.
AOL is just one of the many stories of how the internet demands openness and eschews walled gardens or controls on innovation. History is littered with companies that have tried to bridle innovation to meet their profit objectives. Apple should know this.
The mobile carriers have done a better job at collusion than the earlier OSP’s in controlling the release and adoption of the internet. Today, however, their eventual removal from the value chain and subjugation to mobile pipe is all but certain. Apple will be subject to the same rules. Just as AOL tried to control their masses and lost, any attempt by mobile carriers (or mobile device manufacturers) to prevent innovation by the developer/user community, will see backlash in the form of reduced business and eventual death.
Its been really interesting to see the massive backlash by mobile internet users (iphone/AT&T) regarding the Google Voice app rejection… creating a massive rif in the iphone loyalty base. Although the iphone has garnered significant following over its short lifespan, its “fat friend” AT&T combined with the new not-invented-here overtures have tarnished Apples reputation.
It was interesting to note that at AdobeMAX yesterday, Apple’s non-presence and lack of adoption of the “Open Screen Project” (RIM, PALM, Google, and alot more) was again a sign that they have lost the vision of the open internet… adding another black mark to a company that has had one of the most remarkable comebacks in tech history, re-capturing the imagination and passion of the tech community. Now they are leaving huge holes in public opinion big enough to drive a Carrier or Device Manufacturer through.
With todays announcement that Verizon will partner with Google to offer Google Voice on Android phones, my point is proven once again… the market will not stand for “strategic stiffening” of innovation. It produces both medium and long-term impacts (…how is Microsoft doing in the court of public opinion 8 years post-Netscape?)
My recommendation to Apple and AT&T… embrace innovation or die.
