How To Survive the New Black Friday

Black Friday ain't what it used to be. In the past three years, it has devolved into a kind of "Gray November," with retailers angling to profit from Black Friday hype by violating the traditional timing of the event and fleecing customers with Big Deals that are really no big deal.

That doesn't mean you can't find a really great prices. You can. But you’ve got to know what you’re doing.

Black Friday is supposed to take place the day after Thanksgiving, and serve as the official start of the holiday shopping season. For years, most major retailers have opened early in the morning and offered incredible discounts. Black Friday officially takes place this year on Nov. 26.

But retailers aren't waiting. Some have launched "pre-Black Friday" events -- Black Friday discounts offered before Thanksgiving. Some of these, including at Wal-Mart and Best Buy are already in effect -- these stores are offering 32-inch HDTVs for under $300.

Target is offering steep "pre-Black Friday" discounts on electronics and other goods starting on the Sunday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 21). Additional savings are available with coupons that will be published that Sunday.

Many other retailers started offering prices marketed as "pre-Black Friday" discounts as early as the first weekend of November and in some cases even late October. They're trying to beat the competition by attracting the customers who can't wait.

Retailers might be playing a game of wait-and-see. They may advertise actual Black Friday deals at the last minute that are lower than "pre-Black Friday" sales. Or they may not. We’ll have to wait-and-see as well.

There are several ways major retailers can trick you into wasting time and money. Here's how they do it -- and how you can beat them at their own game.

Mike Elgan
http://elgan.com

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Why We Don't Need the Word 'Mobile' Anymore

During any product bifurcation, when one product category forks into two, an adjective emerges to describe the new product type. For example, when radios that used transistors emerged in the 1950s, we started to affix the word "transistor" to radio to distinguish "transistor radios" from regular radios, which were vacuum tube-based radios.

Around the same time, when color TVs came on the market, TV manufacturers, TV studios and the general public added the word "color" to TV to differentiate from mainstream black-and-white sets.

In the early 1990s, when most PCs had no CD player and could only make beep and buzz noises, a new type of PC that offered massive-storage media (CDs) and rich sound and video was called a "multimedia PC" to set these new computers apart from the older kind.

We no longer use "transistor" with radio, "color" with TV and "multimedia" with PC. And, for the same reason, we no longer need to use "mobile" with computer or phone.

Five New Solar Gadgets for The Green And/Or Lazy

Solar gadgets add convenience and cut costs. That means you don't have to be motivated by a guilty conscience to embrace them. They're also great for lazy cheapskates. Here are five awesome new solar gadgets that charge themselves (so you don't have to!).

Why Microsoft Is a Friend, Not an Enemy, To Apple

When PC platforms were the central battlefield for technology, Microsoft was Apple’s big threat, hated enemy and all-purpose nemesis. But those days are gone. Yet some Apple Faithful rage on against Redmond like abandoned Japanese soldiers on remote Pacific islands long after the end of WWII. It’s time for those Apple fans to come back to civilization understand what’s really happening now. Microsoft is more a friend than an enemy to Apple.

Why 'nPad' is a Losing Name For an iPad Competitor

Because Apple is already using the brand name iPad, two companies have tried to name their competitive tablets something completely different: The nPad. Not recommended. Here's what happened.

Google Says Apple Is "Closed." But So Is Google Itself!

A war of words between the CEOs of Google and Apple makes for great headlines, but does little to illuminate reality. Google says its Android OS is "open," while Apple's iOS platform is "closed." Apple, on the other hand, claims Android is "fragmented," while iOS is "integrated." They're both right about Apple, at least with their respective spins, but wrong about Google. Google, in fact, is at least as "closed" as Apple.

Why Facebook Places Is Going Nowhere

Facebook Places has no mojo. No juice. No momentum. In still other words -- from the Facebook movie "The Social Network" -- Facebook Places isn't cool. So why are they trying to monetize it? And why is that monetization scheme itself so uncool?

Why Microsoft's Mall of America Store Will Fail

Software giant Microsoft plans to open a new retail store Nov. 6 in Minnesota’s gigantic Mall of America — directly opposite from the Apple Store. Microsoft’s Mall of America store will be much larger than the Apple Store across the walkway — reportedly 8,600 total square feet and 5,200 of which devoted to public showroom. And it will be a lot bigger than Microsoft’s existing retail stores in Scottsdale, Ariz., Lone Tree, Colo., and Mission Viejo and San Diego, Calif. (Apple has 310 stores.)

The new Microsoft store will mimic Apple’s shiny modern industrial wood, metal and glass architectural style. Employees will high-five customers as they stream in on Day One. There will be computers and tablets and smart phones displayed.

Microsoft’s strategy for competing technologies has always been to “embrace and extend.” The strategy for retail appears to be “copy and outspend.” Here's why that strategy will fail.

Let's Stop Comparing the HP Slate to the iPad!

HP released its Slate 500 tablet this week. Immediately, everyone is comparing it with Apple's iPad. But the two devices have nothing significant in common. They can even be thought of as opposites. The differences are of class, interface, generation, usability, market, application model and vision. Read my case here for why it's absurd and misleading to compare the Slate with the iPad.

Original Apple for Sale

You can still buy the original Apple computer. No, I mean the ORIGINAL: The very first Apple computer Steve Jobs sold, built by Steve Wozniak in Jobs' parent's garage, is going to be auctioned off at Christie's in London on November 23. Powered by 8k of RAM, it originally cost $666.66, but is expected to fetch $242,000.

Neologasms

iPod separation anxiety
n. A psychological disorder characterized by anxiety over being away from an Apple music player.

box exhaustion
n. The feeling that there are just too many "boxes" attached to TV sets -- Blu-ray player, cable box, Apple TV, laptops, etc.

discount seduction
n. When you enter a store for one thing, and end up spending a lot because everything is so cheap.

Found Video

It's a really bad idea to text while driving. A motorcycle. While lying on your back. You won't believe how relaxed this Indian motorcyclist is about texting on the highway.

Unfortunate Ad Placement

This is an outrage! I happened to know that the Queen of England is NOT Spanish.

Wacky Web Sites

A web site that tells you exactly how many people are in space at any given time is called -- what else? -- HowManyPeopleAreInSpaceRightNow.com

Zombie Reports tracks zombie sightings and incidents.... so you don't have to.

Can't find your phone? You need ICantFindMyPhone.com.

Urban Ghosts Media is a site dedicated to "abandoned places, hidden history and alternative travel."

Remember the arcade classic Organ Trail? Now it's online.

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How Microsoft's 'Windows Tablet 7' Could Rule Business Prediction: Microsoft will ship a tablet OS based on the Windows Phone 7 platform. This belief is not based on statements by Microsoft, inside information or even wishful thinking. It's based on what Microsoft has done in the past. Here's the standard Microsoft pattern: 1) Some innovative competitor launches a new platform. 2) Microsoft takes a wait-and-see approach rather than jumping in. 3) After years of Microsoft doing nothing, the competitive platform grows a new market too big to fail. 4) Microsoft then launches a huge initiative resulting in a more powerful, feature-rich and backward-compatible alternative (which is also far more expensive and bloated). 5) Microsoft tries to outspend its competitor with marketing and promotions. 6) Once it is clear that Microsoft's approach has been rejected by the market, Microsoft comes around and 7) After a few version tweaks, Microsoft finally ships a great product. Unfortunately, by this time, it’s too little, too late. Even with a great product, Microsoft can’t achieve its original goal of being a dominant player in the market. This pattern has been followed by Microsoft in music players, search engines, cloud-based office suites, ultra-mobile computers and multi-touch smart phones. The same pattern is also playing out in the tablet business. But it might not be too late for tablets. Microsoft's great-but-too-late multi-touch smartphone, Windows Phone 7, went on sale this week. It's not clear that Microsoft is even working on a Windows Phone 7-based tablet. All noise from Redmond indicates that Microsoft intends to continue slogging on with expensive, bloated desktop PC-based pen tablets. If Microsoft's history is any indication of its future, Microsoft will admit failure and launch a multi-touch tablet based on a cell phone operating system in about two years, which will be too late to make a serious dent in the market now dominated by Apple and very soon to be two-horse race between Apple and Google. But Microsoft is in a unique position to enter and win the business touch tablet market -- but only if the company ships soon. Here's why. Mike Elgan http://elgan.com Is Facebook Security an Oxymoron? Facebook announced recently a new list of security features. One of these features may do more harm than good. By texting 32665 on your cell phone, you get a temporary Facebook password that can be used only within the next 20 minutes. It doesn't change your regular password. It just creates a second password. This feature will gradually become available to users over the coming weeks. Identity thieves will love it. Here's what you need to know. Google's Open Or Apple's Integrated: Whose Side Are You On? Apple CEO Steve Jobs slams Google Android as "fragmented." Then the Google empire strikes back via a dorky tweet by Google mobile strategy chief Andy Rubin (pictured). Who's right, and who's wrong? Why Book Publishing Needs the Silicon Valley Way The book publishing industry is in trouble. Book sales are declining, and the quality of books is in a precipitous freefall. The reason is that the industry is clinging to an obsolete business model. And the whole process of discovering new talent is broken beyond repair. What the stale, gloomy New York book publishing industry really needs is a blast of California sunshine. How Facebook Could Rule the World Facebook got huge by offering the benefit of exclusion as the default mode. Until recently, if you set up a Facebook account without changing any settings, nobody could see your posts, nobody could send you messages and nobody could see your personal information. The default was to exclude every human being on the planet. Now *that's* exclusion. Today, Facebook has tweaked these settings to make more information public by default. But excluding people is still very easy, while elsewhere on the Internet it's very difficult or impossible. Exclusion remains by far the biggest benefit of Facebook. Exclusion is valuable because we all suffer from information overload, spam, scams and not enough time to do the things we want to do. Anyone and everyone can steal our precious time and attention. Facebook exclusion gives us control. Here's why Facebook will leverage exclusion to roll out new services everybody wants and needs -- and thereby become the dominant player on the Internet. 10 Things I Don't Understand About Consumer Technology We live in an age of invention and scientific discovery. But there are things about some inventions that science simply cannot explain. Here are 10 things that I simply do not understand about consumer technology. Movie Reviews: The Social Network and Catfish Two of the best movies currently in theaters are about Facebook: one you're going to hear a lot about, Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network, which opened this week nationwide; and one that you may never hear about outside this column, an indie documentary called Catfish, which had a limited theatrical release Sept. 17 but most people will watch on DVD. While most technically inclined people such as IT professionals, developers, gadget freaks, power users -- you know, you and me -- usually dread mainstream blockbusters that center on technology and computers, both these movies are brain candy for geeks.  It's Like Google TV and Twitter Were Made For Each Other You may have heard that Twitter announced a Google TV app. That means you'll be able to tell the Twitterverse that you're watching Google TV -- from Google TV. The opportunities for promotion, cross promotion, and platform cross-pollination are enormous. And this one Twitter example is why Google TV has such an incredible advantage over Apple TV, at least so far. Analyst Says Android Tablets Will Beat iPad. Is He Right? Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster (on right) predicted last week that the tablet market will play out much like the cell phone market has: Apple will lose its early lead to Google. Microsoft Steals Shtick From SNL. Really, Microsoft? Really? Microsoft's new ad has people saying "Really?" just like in the recurring skit on Saturday Night Live. This isn't the script for the upcoming Weekend Update segment of SNL. But it should be. iPads Going To Bed With Users I spend a lot of time at Starbucks using my iPad. It has been interesting to see the evolution of questions and comments I get from strangers waiting for their lattes. (This is one of the disadvantages of using an iPad in public. People interrupt you.) For the first month or two, I got a lot of questions like “Is that an iPad?” and “How do you like it?” Gradually, questions about the wireless keyboard have become more common. I’m often surprised by how many people don’t realize that you can use an iPad with a keyboard. But most people who come up to me at Starbucks really want to know: “What would I really use it for?” I can see they want one. They know it’s the new hotness. They’ve heard everybody talking about it. They just don’t know what it’s for. And answering that question is surprisingly difficult to do. Go here to read the rest of this post. Big Brother Software Reads Your Documents, Decides What to Print Canon unveiled an evil document management system called the Uniflow 5. The software enables your office Big Brother to centrally manage all the office's printers, scanners, copiers and multifunction devices. It not only tracks everything printed or copied, but it will actually refuse print or copy documents containing certain words banned by the administrator. It gets worse. If someone tries to print or copy something with a banned keyword, the system immediately e-mails a copy of the document to the admin. USB Gadget Hall of Shame Just in time for Halloween, ThinkGeek is selling $25 USB hubs made from the molds of actual skulls. From the catalog: "The top has been hacked open and the brains scooped out, but at the jaw line are 4 USB 2.0 ports just waiting to be connected to your keyboard, mouse, thumb drive, or USB powered corpse-reanimation device. In the hollow of the brainpan, keep your keys, paper clips, or rusty scalpels." Proof You Can Buy *Anything* Online Tommie Smith's Olympic Gold Medal Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's first Harvard web site A car that goes 800 MPH Neologasms Information obesity n. When people are overwhelmed by information because they crave it and because so much is available online. Laptop thigh n. A rash caused by the heat of a laptop. Social nicheworking n. Social networking sliced into smaller, compartmentalized mini social networks, as with Facebook's new Groups scheme. News You Can Lose Young Americans would rather give up coffee than Wi-Fi Lying with Photoshop Lad rag Maxim magazine was so eager to emphasize Avril Lavigne's skinny waist that they hacked off half her arm. Found Photo Gmail cookies! Found Video German scientists have created a way to make people in videos look skinnier or fatter. This charger cable created by interactive media artist Mio Izawa starts twitching and pulsating when connected to an iPhone. I don't want one. Cell Phone Follies Tony Curtis was buried with his iPhone. Weird Numbers 300: The value of one share of Apple stock in US dollars. 600: The value of one share of Google stock in US dollars. 3,339: The average number of text messages sent each month by teenagers. 2,000,000,000. The number of Internet users that will be reached sometime this year. Gotta-Get-It Gadget The Parrot AR.Drone is a $300 quadrocopter with two cameras, an onboard Linux PC that you control wirelessly with your iPhone. Do I want one? Oh, yeah. Wacky Web Sites Strictly No Photography is a web site devoted to pictures taken in locations where no photography is allowed. TV talk show host Conan O'Brien has a giant orange blimp, apparently. This web site lets you track its every movement. If you like hamburgers, you'll love the Everything Burgers blog!   Mystery Pic What is it? Post your guess in the comments area below! If you're first with the right answer, you'll earn the dubious honor of getting your name in the next issue of Mike's List! (You must include your name and city to "win"!) Note: The answer will be revealed *exclusively* in the next e-mail subscription version of this newsletter. Go here to subscribe!

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'Pre-crime' Comes to the HR Department In the Steven Spielberg movie Minority Report, police belonging to a special Precrime unit arrest people for crimes they would do in the future. It's science fiction, and it will probably never happen in our lifetimes. However, the pre-crime concept is coming very soon to the world of Human Resources and employee management.  Following the current trend lines, social networking spiders and predictive analytics engines will soon be working night and day scanning the Internet and using that data to predict what every employee is likely to do in the future. This capability will simply be baked right in to HR software suites. In fact, Google is already doing this. The company has software that knows who is going to quit -- even before that person knows.  When the HR software off the future decides that you're going to quit, steal company secrets, break the law, post something indecent on a social network or lie on your expense report, the supervising manager will be notified and action will be taken -- before you make the predicted transgression.  You could actually be fired one day for something software thinks you're going to do in the future.  Here's what you need to know.  Mike Elgan http://elgan.com (Like Mike's List? If so, share the joy! Forward to a friend!)  Why Do Tech CEOs Have To Be Nice? Mark Zuckerberg's charm offensive has begun. The Facebook CEO "showed off a softer side" to Oprah Winfrey and announced a donation of $100 million to New Jersey public schools. I'm all for empowering the Snookys of tomorrow, but the whole thing is obviously a publicity stunt designed to preemptively humanize Zuckerberg before he's demonized in a movie called "The Social Network," which opens Friday. Why does anyone care how virtuous the CEO of Facebook was in college? Why do tech CEOs have to be nice? (Pic props) Why Paying Attention Is Getting More Expensive There's nothing new about a company seeking new ways to get the attention of people whose attention is scarce and valuable. That's what all innovation in advertising strives for. The problem is that while marketers know how valuable the public's attention is, the public apparently does not. We gladly choose "free" online services over paid services supported by advertising. Here's why we may want to rethink that.  New Service Follows Up (So You Don't Have To) I've whined and complained several times about Gmail's limited features for time-delaying e-mails. I've told you about two third-party services that help a lot: Hit Me Later and Boomerang. Now I'm going to tell you about an ingenious third service called FollowUpThen. You're going to love this.  Google's New Data Center to Be Cooled With Sea Water Google representatives told the magazine Computer Sweden that its Hamina, Finland, data center (now under construction) will be cooled with water from the bottom of the Baltic Sea. This will probably be the first data center in the world cooled by sea water. BMW Kills Rear Seat DVD Player, Installs iPad Cradles BMW's new iPad cradle, which replaces rear-seat DVD players, made their debut at the Paris Motor Show. The cradles will become standard options in all BMW models starting in the Spring, and compliment the company's full line of Apple-friendly accessories.  USB Gadget Hall of Shame Harris Corporation is selling a USB thumb drive product that boots in under three seconds, runs a user-defined search for any files that meet any criteria then copies those files to the thumb drive. Called BlackJack, the product is supposedly designed for "military, intelligence, and law enforcement cyber security missions, where speed, stealth and accuracy are paramount considerations." Why is it that every product that's perfect for bad guys is marketed as something for good guys? Whatever. I want one.  Neologasms Computer face n. Saggy jowls, 'turkey necks' and deep set wrinkles as a result of spending too much time on a computer.  Dr. Google n. Google when used for medical research as an alternative to going to an actual doctor.  Facebook narcissism n. The use of Facebook not to socialize, but to brag about how great one's life is.  News You Can Lose iPad owners are dumber than Kindle owners. Why, Japan? Why? A new Japanese Wii game called LovePress is like Wii sports -- except instead of bowling or playing tennis you give massages to a virtual girlfriend. No, you don't actually massage a real girlfriend, but a Wii Balance Board (sold separately). The on-screen virtual girlfriend even gives you feedback, such as "Yes, that's the spot," or "Stop! Where are you touching!" Here's a little advice: When your Wii Balance Board starts objecting to sexual advances, it's time to re-examine your life. I'm just sayin'.  Found Video 80s muscle villain Dolph Lundgren returns in this TV commercial or viral video advertising Norton Internet Security 2011. The unanticipated tag line? "Protect Your Unicorn from Dolph Lundgren." ‎ The Art Gallery I'll just quote the site: "Data Stream is a sculptural addition to the USB key, which protrudes from the side of the iMAC. A physical reminder to remember your data." Uh, whatever you say, art guy.  Weird Numbers Texting while driving killed 16,141 people between 2002 and 2007 Half a billion people will use Android by 2015. Google has bought 23 companies this year -- and it's only September!  Hollywood Spy George Lucas reportedly intends to release all six Star Wars movies in 3D, starting in 2012, one per year. He also plans to release the lot on DVD next year. Here's an idea, George Lucas: Why don't you make a new movie?  Crazy Car Peugeot is building this Peugeot EX1 concept car, which is a two-motor electric car that goes zero to 60 in 3.58 seconds. The car will top out at 162 mph, which it can achieve from a standing start in 6.6 seconds. That's faster than a Telsa Roadster and even faster than my Toyota Prius. Peugeot says the car will go 280 miles on a charge if "driven sensibly." But why would anybody want to that? Wacky Web Site The YouTube Time Machine lets you set a year and enjoy video and music culture from that era.  Mystery Pic What is it? Post your guess in the comments area below! If you're first with the right answer, you'll earn the dubious honor of getting your name in the next issue of Mike's List! (You must include your name and city to "win"!) Note: The answer will be revealed *exclusively* in the next e-mail subscription version of this newsletter. Go here to subscribe!

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Say It With Me: Voice Is Ready For Prime Time Talking is the best user interface. But is the technology there yet? Language is natural to people and universal to all cultures. Language is a spoken medium. Written language is merely the symbolic representation of spoken language. It's an abstraction, but a necessary one. In the future, we'll talk to our computers and they'll talk back. We know this is true because talking is the most natural way for human beings to communicate. The evolution of the human-machine interface always moves the workload of interaction from the person to the computer. The perfect UI would be a natural conversation, just like you have with other people. So what are we waiting for? There are two primary technological hurdles to overcome, and one cultural one. The first technological hurdle is the creation of software (supported by powerful hardware) that can understand spoken language. This is a particularly difficult problem because even the most basic conversation requires computers to know what humans know and think the way humans think. The second is that content must be searchable. Text can be indexed, and we've grown addicted to the ability to search for and find the things we've written. The cultural barrier to voice-based computer interaction is one of habit. We've grown used to typing on keyboards. Although speaking is natural, speaking to a computer feels a little weird at first. And people generally don't like learning a new way to do things. Still, I've been curious about just how far it's possible to go with voice interaction. To test how much of my work I could accomplish with voice, I embarked on a two-week project to use voice for everything I possibly could. My aim was both to test the technology and to try to understand how difficult it is to make the transition to primarily voice-based input. Here's my surprising conclusion. Mike Elgan http://elgan.com Why I Still Believe In Google Me Google announced this week that it won't launch a Facebook-killer social network, but would instead add a "social layer" to existing products, right? Well, no, actually. They didn't. Three Strikes and You're Out, Michael Arrington! TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington took issue with my post from last week about recent condescending remarks by top Google executives. Arrington's criticism is one of the weakest I've ever encountered. Here's why he's wrong on all counts.   Why Apple Will Never Do A Real iWatch Ever since Apple CEO Steve Jobs casually mentioned the idea that Apple’s new iPod nano could be used as a wristwatch, well, I’ve wanted one. And so have a lot of people. A nano wristwatch aftermarket has quickly emerged to satisfy demand. But what about Apple? Cnet’s Gordon Haff wrote a blog post this morning called “Why Apple will do a real iWatch” in which he predicts that Apple will get into the wristwatch business. I say they won’t. Here's why. When Online Ad Placement Goes Awry (Props to Fred Langa) Neologasms Pedobear Panic n. The mistaken belief that the "Pedobear" is a "mascot" rather than an Internet meme. Instantize v. The transformation of online services to mimic the new Google Instant feature of Google Search. News You Can Lose Intel is selling the new Pentium G6951 processor deliberately hobbled, then wants to charge an extra $50 to enable the processor to work at full power. Here's an idea. How about if we don't buy systems with Intel chips? * * * iPads have 'cannibalized' laptop sales by 50% at Best Buy. * * * Joaquin Phoenix's disastrous career crash-and-burn was all an elaborate hoax, a ruse maintained for a year and a half during which time Phoenix pretended to be addled by drugs while pursuing a rap career. The stunt was launched on the David Letterman show in February of 2009. Phoenix will return to the show this Wednesday. Lying with Photoshop Egypt's state-run newspaper has been caught altering a photo to make President Hosni Mubarak look like the host of White House talks over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Found Photo Everybody likes public error messages. Cell Phone Follies A free new iPhone app called Snoring U helps you with that nasty snoring problem. You leave it running all night. When you snore, it wakes you up with the phone's vibrate function. It also records when and how often you snore. Pointless Trivia Bill Gates once earned a Boy Scout merit badge in basket weaving. * * * Carrier pigeons are faster than broadband in some UK areas. Gotta-Get-It Gadgets The Looxcie (pronounced "look-see") is a $199 Bluetooth headset for your cell phone, with a conspicuous difference: A video camera. The camera is designed to record constantly in the background, capturing everything you see at 480×320 resolution and 15 frames per second. Once the camera reaches its 4-hour maximum, it starts deleting old footage to make room for new, and just keeps recording. If you happen to witness an alien abduction, zombie attack or sasquatch orgy, simply press a button and the last 30 seconds of video is zapped to your Android phone over the Bluetooth connection. On the phone, you can edit it down to the crucial moments and post on YouTube or wherever. Mystery Pic What is it? Post your guess in the comments area below! If you're first with the right answer, you'll earn the dubious honor of getting your name in the next issue of Mike's List! (You must include your name and city to "win"!) Note: The answer will be revealed *exclusively* in the next e-mail subscription version of this newsletter. Go here to subscribe!

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The Wristwatch Will Rise Again

People don't wear wristwatches anymore, according to the conventional wisdom — especially young people. The story goes that people have been wearing wristwatches for ages, but now that we have cell phones. We no longer need to lash anything to our wrists.

But that's not what's going on. Wristwatches have been coming in and out of fashion for centuries, driven by technology. And soon, technology will bring the wristwatch back to an arm near you.

It's true that high school and college students don't wear wristwatches anymore. In fact, something called the Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014, which each year lists "cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college," identified a small cultural difference between incoming college freshmen and those of us over the age of, say, 25. Young people don't recognize the pointing-to-the-wrist gesture as having anything to do with time, as sign language for "what time is it?" Because young people grew up with cell phones as timepieces rather than wristwatches. They don't associate the wrist with the time.

Much has been made of this cultural difference, prompting some even to declare that "the wristwatch is dead."

Even among people over the age of 25, the trending is definitely away from the wearing wristwatches.

And it seems to make sense. After all, you're carrying a cell phone anyway – and all cell phones tell the time — so why lash another clock to your wrist? I'll tell you why.

Mike Elgan
http://elgan.com

(Got Twitter? If so -- or even if you've never tried it -- follow me and get my breaking tweets every day: http://twitter.com/mike_elgan)

New iPod nano: More Than Just A Pretty Wristwatch

Steve Jobs launched an insta-meme last week by suggesting in his keynote that Apple’s new multi-touch iPod nano could be worn as a wristwatch. The meme becomes a fad this week when the nano arrives in stores and people start actually wearing them on wrists. It’s going to happen, especially when third-party companies begin offering special-purpose wristwatch straps for it. I know it’s going to happen because I’m going to do it. But serving as Apple’s first-ever foray into the wristwatch racket isn’t what’s ground-breaking about the device. Here's what is.

Found Photos

In that same issue of Rolling Stone, the editors published these photos showing the cast of Mad Men using Apple products (it's Hollywood – they all use Apple products). The show is so successful at depicting the early 1960s it's a bit shocking to see these characters using 2010 gadgets.

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What is it? Post your guess in the comments section below. Make sure you give your whole name and the city you live in! If you're first with the right answer, you'll earn the dubious honor of getting mentioned in the Mike's List newsletter!

Note that the answer will be revealed exclusively the next e-mail subscription version of Mike's List. Go here to subscribe!

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What is it? Post your guess in the comments section below. Make sure you give your whole name and the city you live in! If you're first with the right answer, you'll earn the dubious honor of getting mentioned in the Mike's List newsletter!  (The answer will be revealed in the next issue of Mike's List. Go here to subscribe now, and you could win a USB-controlled rocket launcher!) Here's the current issue for your reading pleasure!

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(The answer will be revealed exclusively in the next issue. Go here to subscribe now, and you could win a USB-controlled rocket launcher!)

In the current issue:

• Facebook Places Lets Friends Kill Your Privacy (so You Don't Have To)
• Finally: E-mail Scheduling Coming to Gmail
• Why Starbucks Will Win the Wi-Fi Wars
• Google CEO's Solution to Privacy: Change Your Name
• Why Does Google Like Like.com?
• Lying With Photoshop
• Don't Try This At Home
• Found Video
• Cell Phone Follies
• Hollywood Spy
• Awful Actions
• Mystery Pic

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What is it? Post your guess in the comments section below. Make sure you give your whole name and the city you live in! If you're first with the right answer, you'll earn the dubious honor of getting mentioned in the Mike's List newsletter! 

(The answer will be revealed exclusively in the next issue. Go here to subscribe now, and you could win a USB-controlled rocket launcher!)

In the current issue:

• Google vs. Facebook!
• The Web is Dead? Gimme a Break!
• Is Augmented Reality just a Cheap Gimmick?
• PCs Can Kill. Here's How to Survive
• Apple's 'Summer of Discontent' Takes Toll
• Why the $35 Tablet will Never Exist
• Hooray! Google Fixes Dictionary Disaster!
• Here Comes Gmail... the Game!
• Geek Fashion
• Awful Auction
• Chinese Counterfeiters Beat Apple to Market with White 'iPhone'
• The Lego People Must Be Stopped!
• Gotta-Get-It Gadget
• Wacky Web Site
• Mystery Pic

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(The answer will be revealed exclusively in the next issue. Go here to subscribe now, and you could win a USB-controlled rocket launcher!)

In this issue: Google's "searching without searching"; the coming "event" that could kill the location revolution;  the "five stages of Facebook grief"; hoax of the week; bad robot; cell phone follies; found photo; gadgets; Mystery Pic and more!

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What is it? Post your guess in the comments section below. Make sure you give your whole name and the city you live in! If you're first with the right answer, you'll earn the dubious honor of getting mentioned in the Mike's List newsletter! 

(The answer will be revealed exclusively in the next issue. Go here to subscribe now, and you could win a USB-controlled rocket launcher!)

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(The answer will be revealed exclusively in the next issue. Go here to subscribe now, and you could win a USB-controlled rocket launcher!)

In this week's Mike's List newsletter:

• How To Live (And Die) By Gmail
• Are You A Social Networking Mutant?
• Why You'll Use Foursquare
• Make Google Calendar Appointments Faster
• Google CEO Blames Wi-Fi Fiasco On Rogue Hacker-Employee
• Sony Lets Your Cat Use Twitter
• Gamers Run the Government In Upcoming Novel
• Pork group threatens ThinkGeek over Unicorn Meat
• Win a free Wi-Fi Detecting Cap!
• Crazy Car
• USB Gadget Hall of Shame
• Found Videos
• Cell Phone Follies
• Wacky Web Sites
• And of course, the Mystery Pic!

Go here to subscribe! (It's free!)

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What is it? Post your guess in the comments section below. Make sure you give your whole name and the city you live in! If you're first with the right answer, you'll earn the dubious honor of getting mentioned in the Mike's List newsletter! (The answer will be revealed exclusively in the next issue. Go here to subscribe now!)

In this week's Mike's List newsletter:

• Why Google TV Will Succeed
• Google? Facebook? Who Do You Trust?
• Why iPad owners need a Kindle, too
• Why we need a Facebook Hide button on everything
• Google offers opt-out for Google Analytics
• Google has the world's best reputation
• Why Is Google censoring its Google I/O keynote?
• News You Can Lose
• Made In China
• Proof You Can Buy *Anything* Online
• Cell Phone Follies
• Gotta-Get-It Gadgets
• Found Video
• Wacky Web Sites
• And the Mystery Pic

Go here to subscribe! (It's free!)

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In this week's Mike's List newsletter:

• Why We Need a Real iPad Killer

• Netbooks? Ha! iPads will replace desktop PCs

• Can Microsoft Beat Facebook?

• Will Apple Crash AT&T?

• Dispatch from the Google Fringe

• Google, Verizon Working on iPad Killer

• Google Counter-Screws Scroogle

• Google Announces that it will Sell Books. But Should It?

• Computerworld Column Sparks iPad Rage

• New iPad Ad is a LOT like Old Newton Ad

• Wi-Fi Key-Cracking Kits Hit China

• Annoy Your Co-Workers, Just Like In Iron Man 2

• Gotta-Get-It Gadgets

• News You Can Lose

• Cell Phone Follies

• And the Mystery Pic

Go here to subscribe! (It's free!)

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In this week's Mike's List newsletter:

• Why Apple Won't Own the Touch PC Market
• Why Are Cell Phone Companies Suing Each Other?
• The Pundits Are Wrong: The iPad Is a Creativity Machine
• New Chinese Law May Force Microsoft, Yahoo to Follow Google Out
• Do You Want a Google TV?
• Should Google be Broken Up Into Several Companies?
• Google Search Gets Smarter. But Is it better?
• Microsoft Cancels Courier Tablet (As I Predicted)
• Cell Phone Has a Built-in Electric Razor!
• If Regular Cell Phones Don't Cause Cancer, These Will!
• iPhone Cradle Looks Like an Old-school Landline Phone
• Hollywood Spy
• And the weekly Mystery Pic!

Go here to subscribe! (It's free!)

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