Natali Del Conte - Latest Comments

Re: My Holiday Wish List

Patrick — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 11:01:38 -0000

You could always have me welcome you home every day, telling you that I love you, in case the imac wish doesn't come true.
Just tell me and I'll wrap myself up and mail myself to you :)

Re: Technological Determinism Is False

agherrr — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:02:19 -0000

Nataly del Conte fan club should exist

Re: Technological Determinism Is False

agherrr — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:57:59 -0000

can i join ur fanclub? is there any? ill join!

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

beckcpo — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:39:08 -0000

Natali,

Great post! I haven't used MobileMe, but I hear you on Wave, Windows Mobile and the Nook. I'm getting the same point with Facebook, but I don't think I'm in danger of not being able to add new friends. HA!

Tech letdown for 2010? The iPad and 3D televisions...Just my guess.

Re: Don’t Mess With A Latina

Rob Canedo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:58:33 -0000

Wow, this is a year later so I doubt if Natali or anyone else will read this. The reason I'm here is that I was reading Natali's Wikipedia page and it lists her ethnicity as "Eurasian". I was pretty sure she is Puerto Rican so I came to this site, did a search and found this post.

Natali, I'm probably about your mother's age (48), grew up in Texas and remember when teachers would tell Hispanic parents not to speak to their children in Spanish because it would confuse them and retard learning. So I've been in the same boat linguistically. Taking Spanish courses in school helped a bit, but I've never felt that I was a fluent speaker. Learning languages is easier for some people than others. I'm one of the others and do not speak it often but can understand most conversational Spanish. I stopped beating myself up about it when I realized that both Spanish and English are originally European idioms and my direct ancestors probably spoke Nahuatl (Native American language spoken in Mexico). In other words don't ever be ashamed of making a mistake in your non-native language. Most people will love you for even attempting it!

Anyway, just wanted to say that and let you know that you're doing a great job for the tech industry. I love you in Loaded, and BOL. Don't listen to the idiot naysayers. As the Scarecrow said to Dorothy "But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking... don't they?"

Adios Chulita,
Rob

Re: Giving Back Just By Shopping

top christmas gifts — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:39:42 -0000

I'm really glad you've posted this... there are really many people who need serious help.

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

The One Electronic — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:01:25 -0000

You rock Natali, you really do. I just agree with all of that. And Facebook in particular. It's become a planetoid made of crap -mostly. I'd like to tear it down like Tallahassee with a Zombie in Zombieland

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

Jed — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:33:27 -0000

Natalie, always enjoy your broadcasts on the today show. Intelligent information delivered in a pretty package. Kudos to you, keep it up.

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

Simon Applebaum — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:15:47 -0000

Hi, Natali!

Double congratulations on both Loaded's second birthday and you chairing CEA LineShows this year. It's always a pleasure to watch your work and get your thoughts on the tech scene.

You are always welcome to guest on Tomorrow Will Be Televised, and the CEA LineShows role would be a nice inflection point to a show segment in June. Please keep that in mind.

Celebrate your accomplishments this week to the max, and have a wonderful weekend!

All the best,

Simon Applebaum
Producer/Host, Tomorrow Will Be Televised
(Mondays/Fridays at 3 p.m. on BlogTalk Radio)

Re: Don’t Mess With A Latina

cuzitsthere — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:38:57 -0000

You are my favorite Tech reporter because of the enthusiasm you convey when you speak. I don't speak a lick of Spanish, I'm actually French but it takes some guts to report in a second language where maybe you feel you do not have all the nuances, inflections, etc down pat. The more you do it, the better you get. Many people won't even try to speak a second language publicly if they don't feel 100% comfortable with it. I think the fact you are doing it says a lot about your willingness to learn and expand your knowledge and experience base. Forget about the haters and the jealous types. Don't even waste your breath on them again. They probably sit at home in their basements and never venture into a new restaurant, never mind learn a new language, or travel to another country. So what if its not your first language and it "skipped" a generation. I'm sure you will master it soon enough!

Re: Technological Determinism Is False

Gebeleizis — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:55:36 -0000

Sure you remember East of Eden and the Adam's idea, "REFRIGERATION". He thought it could change the world. ANd what a failure. And he became the town's idiot...
As always, technology only makes an impact when it hits the critical mass. Ships didn't change the world when used by fisherman as much as they did when they were used for commerce. Same with planes.
Just give it time

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

Ray Scott — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:20:21 -0000

This is what I'm talking about: http://grab.by/1Ck4

I'm now sans stereo using my Sennheiser in-ears. Luckily I still have my Sennheiser HD 25 II reference headphones.

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

jth — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:58:43 -0000

So, your list would be more accurately titled your 2009 list of iPhone grievances for Festivus...plus a few non-iPhone items for kicks.

(My sentiments exactly on MobileMe. BusySync is great and all, but why in the hell do I have to pay another $50 to finish Apple's job? And why hasn't Apple just acquired BusySync already?)

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

wsb — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:19:42 -0000

Facebook: I find it very creepy the way FB goes through your email address book and "suggests" who you should be friends with. It keeps telling me I should befriend my ex-girlfriend and that is not going to happen. It's just none of FB's business and I want this to stop.

Re: Blooper Reel Time

MQC — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:52:20 -0000

As we accumulate all of this techno material, what will we do with it when it is time for it to go to the landfill. There is something counterintuitive with paying $300 for a device that is nothing more than a telephone that we can now buy for $20. The capabilities created at more work sorting out than it does if he did not happen at all. In other words, we use these conveniences because they are they are not simply because we need them. We have convinced ourselves that we need them, when in fact life is perfectly okay and less stressful if we do not have that. There is something innocent about using a typewriter, although I would never use one again. Of course this posting is from one of the members of the herd of the unwashed who is simply on the fringes of sanity as I look at a pile of USB cables,SCSI devices, 10 external drives, and years of software that have become "outdated", even though they function quite well. I started in this arena with the Timex ZX81, so my perspective is understandably not progressive and I began to sound like John Dvorak and Molly would instead of Steve Jobs.

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

oculos — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:19:23 -0000

Oh, come on... Apple rumours are what give meaning to life... ;)

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

John McMillion — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:55:54 -0000

Happy belated Festivus Natali.

1) Batteries/Electric Infrastructure: I read about breakthroughs all the time out of MIT, Lawrence Livermore, etc..., but little has changed after the most recent energy crisis. Where is our government?

2) Home/Kitchen/Surface Tech: I see amazing demos from Microsoft labs about technology integrating into everyday surfaces, but it all seems like vaporware so far.

3) Tech Time to Market: In general, so many concepts are shown, but very little seems to ever materialize in the marketplace.

4) Discs: Why can I digitize my music collection, but not my movie collection? Why are we still using discs at all?

5) Netflix streaming: Why doesn't Netflix have every movie available for streaming yet, in HD too.

6) Repealing/ammending DMCA: When is fair use going to be fixed?

7) Natali Del Conte: I wish we could really hear Natali go to town on issues, like a good Molly rant, or Rafe, or Cooley, or even Tom. Maybe she's just too nice and polite and professional, but it seems like she holds back her personal point of view most of the time on substantive stories and policy discussions and such. When it's "just the facts", it's like we get to smell something good cooking in the kitchen, but the chef doesn't want to bring out the main course for us all to sink our teeth into and enjoy the wonderful dish. On the positive side, of course you're an exceptional journalist with terrific charisma and personality. And like John Travolta says in Pulp Fiction, "personality goes a long way." =)

Anyhow, onto the feats of strength!

Hope you have a really happy New Year, and wish you the very best success in 2010. =^)

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

petergarner — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:03:54 -0000

The earbuds gripe is the most interesting to me of the list. If you're thinking it, a lot of other people must also be thinking it; I am certainly thinking it.

My New Year's resolution is to never pay more than $20 for a set of earbuds, since they last no more than 6 months whether I pay $20 or $220.

Now, will earbuds become to Natali what printers are to Molly?

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

rubbergoat — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:53:41 -0000

-Google Wave: Agree entirely. Boring!

-Earbuds: Have become a commodity rather than a luxury purchase. Been through 4 pairs of headphones in a year - cans, small speakers, apple buds and in-ear buds all got destroyed from wear and tear. Probably cost me about $300 US!

-Facebook: I've fallen out of love with it too - it's so full of spam it's ridiculous. The last straw came when I noticed that my sister had posted a message on my wall and I missed it for a week because of all the crud that gets posted. And the layout changes drive me crazy!

-Apple rumours: Glad to hear your opinion, I like Apple stuff but it's the one thing about Buzz Out Loud that bores me to tears is the endless reporting of Apple rumours. I know you gotta do it and people want to hear it, but I don't!

Hope you had a great holiday season and a happy new year to you!

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

Blair — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:36:38 -0000

I can see Mr. Kruger enjoying the list as he chugs from his flask....Wave will be good once it integrates with Youtube, Docs and Video, sucks now though you're right...AT&T is miserable but the new Google phone is better so you can switch carriers, but you know that....Gotta put up barriers on FB and good luck getting away from Apple "rumors" aka "we want our stock to jump and have Jim Goldman help that happen"

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

techpops — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 10:20:04 -0000

And to think I posted many moons ago about how you were just going from strength to strength as a tech journalist and then I go and read this. I'll put this down to a festive glitch.

Re: My Festivus Grievances: 2009

Robert Campbell — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:35:47 -0000

Oh, Facebook. Double-plus on that ungood. Social networks are supposed to allow its users to communicate more effectively with each other, yet Facebook hasn't been so useful on that front. Some wall posts don't show in the livefeeds, while some posts in the feed don't show on their respective walls. Confusing! Moreover, I have a thread in my inbox that's been temporarily unavailable for the past month. I'd be better off corresponding via the seemingly archaic IM, or email, or phonecall....

Re: Blooper Reel Time

gucci bag — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 01:56:32 -0000

I will ask Santa for a more social life in 2009. That and maybe a hairdresser in New York. My hair is really quite ridiculous.

Re: Getting Kicked In The Butt

Marcelo — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:04:58 -0000

Natalie, there is something very special in just looking at you. I wish you the best this year. Take care Marcelo

Re: Technological Determinism Is False

Carl Ferkinhoff — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:48:44 -0000

This really is an interesting topic. Thinking on it now, I think I would agree with technology determinism; technology does create a change in the social structure. While it seems the book is focused on computers and the internet from its title, there is no reason that Yochai Benkler’s definition of technological determinism cannot have broad application. In fact to properly understand the role of social networking, new media, etc. has on society it is vital that one looks at technological advances of all kinds. After all, how long has the internet been around? Heck, the iPhone is still less than 3 years old.

Expanding ones view beyond the realm of the internet it seems to me that technological determinism is pretty relevant. The issues that must be addressed are the scale of this social change and if this change will be positive. New technologies will have an impact on society, but a belief in technology determinism or determinism of any type doesn't dictate the size of that change. For instance, the development of the transistor has had a huge impact on our society and has helped motivate serious social changes since its invention and first implementation until it has given us the social structure we have today. However, for a significant part of the world, the transistor has had absolutely no impact, namely the 3rd world. So this one example has resulted in a social change but not equally for all parts of the world, or even I would say all aspects of US society. A look at pretty much any technological development would result, I think, in a similar result. I would also say that any new web technology has similarly resulted in a social change. The issues of the size of the change, and if it could be called "positive" depends not so much on the technology itself, but the implementation, marketing, early adoption, etc. The recent diversity data released by Facebook, is in my opinion an interesting realization of how the social change can really be limited in scope. Luckily it seems the FB's social change has recently been acting on a larger more diverse scale as it has opened itself to folks besides college students.

So, has Web 2.0, new media created a social change? Yes, and it still is, however its change isn't as wide spread or as grand as one thinks. For certain segments of society--the segment that we are part of--these technological advances really has created, in my opinion, a very positive social change. But is it going to upset the entire social structure of the US? Probably not, but it does provide an interesting avenue of eventual change. It can also equally allow individuals to become more entrenched in their social and ideological strata. Ultimately the amount of change, and what the change will look like will be up to us. As another commenter pointed out, government regulation can have a huge impact on the social changes realized by any technological development. In that regard discussing these topics is vitally important because we need to actively shape the change we seek and not leave it up to chance otherwise, which in my mind means we are leaving it up to large corporations and those with financial influence.