• Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support – I think this is one of Androids biggest failings.
• John McCarthy — Father of AI and Lisp — Dies at 84 – Really not a good month for IT or Computer Science.
• The original iPod, 10 years later: a re-review – The original iPod is ten years old and, actually, stands up pretty well.

• C and Unix pioneer Dennis Ritchie reported dead – It’s a sad week for the IT industry.
• Alma telescope opens its eyes – Awesome. In the original sense of the word.
• Mercury’s Explosive Volcanic History – Both beautiful and fascinating.
• Apple’s iPod: ten years old – Is it really a decade since the first iPod?

• Darwin teaching ‘divides opinion’ – Very depressing. This isn’t hard. Creationism and Intelligent Design is not science and therefore has no place in the Science classroom.
• Share the Memories: Happy 8th Birthday iPod – I didn’t get mine until January 2002 but it was worth the wait. After a series of tape and CD players that never quite lived up to the promise, the first gen iPod really did change the way I listened to music. Plus it still works, which is more than can be said for my fifth gen iPod…

Actually, no. My first reaction was what a cute, almost-square book. My second was to hate it. It’s only a few pages into it and Levy is already discussing his great taste in music and disparaging mine (“… a pathetic Pet Shop Boys tune, the sort of thing that Nick Hornby would listen to on a bad day.”)

It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. But — step back — what was I expecting? Well, the blurb on the back tells you that you can learn how the iPod became the defining object of the 21st century. Having read most of Steven Levy‘s previous books, the obvious point of comparison was “Insanely Great,” the story of the Macintosh. But while the Mac took several years to put together, the iPod took only around six months. In hindsight maybe it’s pretty obvious that it’s not all the trials and tribulations of putting the machine together.