Jorge Quinteros
Blogger, web enthusiast & avid photographer based in Brooklyn.

9th January 2010

CNBC Planet of The Apps

With the explosive amount of awesome Apps available on the iPhone, it’s no wonder you see people walking the streets oblivious of anything else around because no one just checks emails or makes phone calls on it anymore. It’s all about the Apps and always will be.

CNBC has created a one-hour program entitled Planet of the Apps that aired on Jan 7th where it explores how the device gave birth to this popular and profitable App revolution -

In less than two years, the app craze has taken over. These small applications – or apps – that fit on our mobile phone do everything from helping us accomplish mundane tasks to keeping us entertained while we wait for the bus.

In this hour we’ll look at how apps have changed our lives, meet some of the creators behind them, and figure out just how big a business they really are.

In case you missed it, I found it on YouTube. It’s been segmented in to 5 pieces:

5th January 2010

The Blogging in Julie & Julia

Reverse back 7 years ago and people would have characterized you as either a loner or just completely weird if they found out that you kept a blog. The concept was new and generally viewed as a self-indulgent effort executed by people with too much time on their hands but I like to think that perception about the craft has changed now and even more so when I saw that there was a movie made around that very concept.

My wife and I watched the other night the film Julie & Julia with Meryl Streep. In case you’re not too familiar with the plot, it’s based a woman (Julie Powell) who idolizes Julia Childs cooking and takes on the challenge of working her way through her cookbook during the course of a single year while blogging about her progress.

The story was beautifully told and well structured in recounting how Julia Child first began and eventually introduced French cuisine and cooking techniques to the American mainstream. Without going into a typical movie review rant, I wanted to talk more on what piqued my interest the most which was the “blogging” aspect.

If you’ve read up to this point I’m assuming it’s because you’re not interested in the cooking portion and instead you run a blog of your own and have spotted a closeness with Julie (blogger). I’ll be honest in saying it’s difficult not to if you’re an active participant already in the cultural phenomenon that blogging has become.

In fact, it’s a must see for any blogger because the film clearly lays out all those thoughts you first had when you began blogging: is someone really going to read this, I wonder if people will comment, how will my family react if they came across it, will people like what I’m writing and will I be able to remain consistent with my postings.

I admire how the film shows how blogging can present up a whole new range of possibilities to anyone who has the desire to be heard and in return hearing from extraordinary people who have something to say.

Julie herself says in the movie, “I can write a blog. I have thoughts!”, which is true and it’s all about setting time to sit down and write about it.

With so many successful stories about people who blog for a living or people that have made a name for themselves doing it, it would be great to see this film push blogging even further to the point where people who see it will get inspired to create their own and write what’s on their minds.

Eventually Julie Powell published her accounts in a book and later got made into the film I’m talking to you about but whether there’s gold at the end of the rainbow or not, in return the whole “blogging thing” has made me a better writer, a more selective reader, a more perceptive person and more willing to meet people who equally enjoy the process and avoid those who don’t understand it.

I’ll leave you with some friendly blogging tips from Julie Powell herself.