In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss Google Chrome OS Flex and Neverware CloudReady; the awful Amazon/Comixology iOS app upgrade.
Neverware (Google) CloudReady Home Edition
iFixit: RIP CloudReady, but Chrome OS Flex Can Still Save Older Computers
Gizmodo: Amazon’s Comixology Overhaul Is Here, and It Sucks
AppleInsider: Amazon’s Comixology migration is a disaster – here’s what you need to know
I should note that I was such a fan of the app and its service, that I invited Comixology’s founder and CEO to the Thinkmobile West conference that I organized in San Francisco back in September 2010. It was my good fortune that David Steinberger accepted the invitation and was able to meet him and watch his presentation.
When the iPad launched in 2010, one of the best apps for it (IMO) was the Comixology comic book reading app. It made it easy to search for and buy comicbooks. It provided a great reading experience. And, of course, it solved the problem of storing physical comic books. After Amazon bought the company, it refused to pay Apple’s 30% in-app purchasing fee. That eliminated the ease to browse and buy. Android users could still do so, however. It remained a great reading experience. And, I remember wishing that DC Comics used the engine for its DC. The recent Comixology for iOS update is, as others have written, a disaster. It deletes anything that was previously downloaded which means you have to download the comic books again. The reading experience, which was very very good, is now unsettling. Why “improve” something no one was complaining about for years and years?
Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.