From Wired:

It’s easy to think of our digital revolutions—the desktop computer, the Internet—as purely technological achievements. Cheaper microprocessors let everyone have a PC at home. Internet protocols allowed computers to talk to each other. But that doesn’t capture the reasons these breakthroughs mattered so much to us.

At their core, these were also creative revolutions. The PC didn’t truly touch us until the rise of desktop publishing, followed by the rise of multimedia development tools, followed by the rise of web development tools. Its emotional power arrived with the ability to create amazing things on it. Likewise, the Internet revolution really took off when we used it not just to download facts and figures but as a platform to share music, writing, movies, and pictures. The number one site on the web may be Google, but number two and three are Facebook and YouTube, respectively—both primarily outlets for personal expression.

We created the desktop computer and the Internet as tools for efficiency, productivity, and communication. But they came to have real meaning for us when our natural creative drive took them over.

Now it’s the phone’s turn.

Finding a good iPad case has been quite a challenge for me. I don’t tend to like Apple’s overly minimalistic smart covers. On the other hand, many cases overdo it.

However, I found out the hard way that it is very important to have a good case. Last fall I bought a new case, only to discover a few months later that the thing that holds the iPad into the case was not very durable. As a result, it quickly broke and my iPad would no longer stay in the case.

So I decided to go without a case, at least for a while. Would you believe that shortly thereafter my screen cracked from falling — of all places — off the side of my bed? It hit the bed frame just wrong and cracked right in the corner.

This was frustrating. It is also an example of actually doing good quality work and creating products (in this case, iPad cases) with good design. Sure this was my fault. However, the fact that it is so hard to find a decent iPad case was a major contributor to the situation. If the case I had obtained hadn’t broken so quickly, for example, this likely wouldn’t have happened.

A poor quality product, in other words, caused harm to come to another product. This is annoying.

I’ve finally found an iPad case that I like, and the interior-thing that holds the iPad in place seems to be based upon a new design that looks robust and relatively unobtrusive. I think they may have hit the mark here. Here’s the case:

And, if you prefer a case that is able to hold business cards, this one looks good:

With Google Reader shutting down on July 1, here are the best alternatives in my view.

• Feedly
• Digg Reader

If you read this blog by RSS, thanks for subscribing and don’t let the Google Reader shut-down get in your way with keeping up! So here’s some info on how to make the switch to a good Google Reader replacement.

Feedly

It is super easy to switch to feedly. It easily transfers all of your Google Reader feeds, and the interface is very similar to Google Reader. Just go to the feedly site and it should be self-explanatory.

Digg

Digg has also launched a new reader that looks like it has a lot of potential. It looks like they are adding users in batches, so if you enter your email they will notify you when they are ready to add you.

Here’s more info on the Digg Reader.

General Info

And here’s a very helpful article from Tech Crunch giving an overview of Feedly and Digg Reader and some other alternatives.

This is really cool.

Here’s how.

Walt Mossberg has a super helpful article in the Wall Street Journal on what is coming for laptops later this year — both Windows and likely Macs — and why you should hold off on buying one now so you can take advantage of these improvements in the late summer or fall:

If you’re thinking of buying a new laptop this spring, my advice is to think again. Unless your laptop is on its last legs and you have to move quickly, there are compelling reasons to wait until at least the summer, and probably the fall, to buy a new machine, especially if you are looking for a Windows PC, but even if you are in the market for a Mac.

That makes this annual spring buyer’s guide a bit different. People always worry that buying tech products today carries a risk of obsolescence. Most of the time, that fear is overblown. But this spring really is a bad time to buy a new laptop, because genuinely big changes are due in the coming months.

Here’s a quick summary of what’s coming.

For Windows Users (if you must!…)

• Windows 8. Windows 8 is scheduled to be out in the fall and will be a major redesign. It will likely be oriented to tablet-like touchscreen navigation, and many PC makers are “planning convertible Windows 8 models for the holiday shopping season that can act as tablets or regular clamshell laptops.”
• Touchscreen laptops. Here’s a simpler way to put it: sounds like touchscreen laptops are coming. Current laptops will be able to upgrade to Windows 8, but won’t be able to take advantage of all the features.

For Mac Users

• Mountain Lion. Mountain Lion will likely be out this summer. Of course, this will run on previous Macs as well (unless Apple does something really strange). But:
• Redesigned MacBook Pros. As most know, “Apple is overdue for redesigned laptops, especially in its MacBook Pro line.” I think Mossberg is right that “it is a good bet that new, possibly heavily redesigned, models will begin appearing later this year.” I would expect the new MacBook Pros to be closer to MacBook Airs, without sacrificing performance. However, I don’t know if the spring refresh will do this, or if the spring will see another small refresh with the more major redesign coming in the fall. See MacRumors’ buying guide for more.
• What would be best of all. My wish, though I have little basis for this hope right now: 500 GB solid state drives becoming standard on MacBook Pros. Spinning hard drives should no longer exist. Enough with them. They crash, they are slow, and solid state drives are awesome.

If you do need to get a new laptop this spring, at the end of the article Mossberg gives some helpful guidelines on choosing.

Other Interesting Things (Not From that Article)

• The iPad Mini. Apparently Apple is considering an iPad mini. My first reaction: this should not exist. If someone wants an iPad mini, they should just get a regular iPad so they have the full experience. Cost should not be taken into consideration when getting iPads.
• The iPad Mini, part 2. But, my more measured reaction is: I see a place for this given that it will likely be priced between $249 and $250. That’s a big savings over the regular iPad (typically at least $600 if you do it right), and that level of costs savings just might make it a good idea for it to exist.
• The iPhone 5. It looks like the iPhone 5 will probably be out in the fall.

Finally. This sounds great.

Nice.