This is an innovative form of disruption.

> BlaBlaCar was born in 2006, when Stanford student Frederic Mazzella wanted to go from Paris to visit his family in the French countryside and couldn’t find a train—nor an easy way to share a car on Craigslist. (The name comes from rating yourself on your level of in-car chattiness from “Bla” to “BlaBlaBla.”) > > Every month, one million people use the service, now operating in 12 countries, to share a car. “What we’re doing is building a massive transport network out of all of these empty seats in cars,” Nicolas Brusson, the COO of BlaBlaCar told Quartz. “There are more seats available between Berlin and Munich in cars, for example, than there are train seats or bus seats.”

Unlike Uber and Lyft, which use disruption sitting on top of a for-profit model, BlaBlaCar doesn’t require a specific revenue model for success. Like Airbnb, they make their money on fees.

For those contemplating a change, investing in a new car doesn’t have to break the bank; many affordable options are available that offer modern features and reliability without the hefty price tag. Choosing between maintaining a classic vehicle and purchasing a new one can be challenging. The classic autos carry a unique charm but may come with higher maintenance costs and fewer amenities. On the other hand, new cars provide advanced technology and better fuel efficiency. For those ready to embrace a new ride, exploring affordable new car options might be the ideal solution, offering a balance of modernity and cost-effectiveness while still delivering a satisfying driving experience.

When weighing the choice between a new car and a pre-owned model, it’s essential to consider the value a second-hand car can offer. For example, second hand cars BMW x5 provide an excellent opportunity to own a luxury vehicle at a fraction of the new car price. These pre-owned options often come with significant savings while still delivering the sophistication and performance associated with the BMW brand. Additionally, many second-hand vehicles are well-maintained and offer a range of features that can compete with new models.

Once you’ve secured that dream car, whether it’s a pristine classic car or a modern marvel, enhancing the interior with high-quality seat covers is the next logical step. These covers not only protect your investment but also add a layer of personalization that makes every drive more enjoyable. Paired with the right vehicle, these accessories transform ordinary drives into extraordinary experiences, ensuring that both you and your passengers ride in style and comfort.

This is where Seat Covers Unlimited comes into play, offering a wide range of options that cater to the needs of car-sharing enthusiasts. Their products are designed to withstand the rigors of daily use while providing exceptional comfort and style. With Seat Covers, drivers can easily customize their car interiors, ensuring that each ride is pleasant for both them and their passengers.

> BlaBlaCar’s fee model is structured to avoid a plague of the sharing economy—fights with established industries that don’t like being disrupted. Uber is the subject of protests from taxi unions all across Europe and has been banned in Seoul; Lyft struggles to get approved in New York; and Airbnb’s lawyers are fighting for their users who have been prosecuted for illegally running hotels. “We don’t want a driver to make a profit because then you end up in regulatory issues,” Brusson says. “If you don’t make a profit, you don’t have to worry about a special license.”

Google has created a new, invitation-only program that gives selected developers access to:

• Mentorship from our Google Developer Experts and Developer Relations
• Exclusive invitation to networking events
• Access to free training, startup bootcamps and resources
• Featuring in our spotlight section

I think this is an interesting idea. On the plus side, if you are selected by Google, sounds like they will take you inside, help guide you to ensure your success. On the down side, sounds like cherry-picking. Rather than make that technology available to everyone, they only give that true support to the devs doing something that fits their model of innovation.

Not sure if there is a parallel on the Apple side. In my experience, Apple tends toward the egalitarian. Join the developer program, you get access to the same resources as everyone else. Certainly, there are those apps that are highlighted by Apple in commercials or on stage at various events, and I suspect those folks do receive assistance as needed to make sure they are ready for the big stage.

The question is, is does Apple have a developer mentoring component? Should they?

ZDNet:

Prior to this upgrade the base version of the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display featured a 2560-by-1600 resolution at 227 pixels per inch retina display, 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 CPU, 4GB of 1600MHz DDR3L RAM, and 128GB of PCIe-based flash storage, and it had a price tag of $1,299. For the same price this model now comes with a 2.6 GHz Intel Core i5 chip and 8GB of memory.

The base version of the beefier 15.4-inch with Retina display model came with a 2880-by-1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch display, 2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 CPU, 8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L RAM, and 256GB of PCIe-based flash storage, all of which would have set you back $1,999. Following the refresh this now comes with a 2.2GHz CPU and 16GB of RAM.

The price of the high-end MBPr has dropped from US$2,599 to US$2,499.

Bluetooth locks have been available for your front door for quite a while. Now they are making the leap to one of the largest hotel chains in the world.

The Hilton app already allows you to check-in electronically, but currently you still need to collect your room key from the front desk – which kind of defeats the object. With the new system, iPhone check-in will send a key code to your phone which can then be used to unlock your door.

Brilliant solution. You are tired, it’s late at night, you just made the slog from the airport. Now you can bypass the front desk, just go right to your room. Well done, Hilton.

Kind of scary.

WSBTV:

Atlanta-based Delta airlines is looking into a tense exchange between a pilot and an air traffic controller.

The exchange happened Friday when a controller told a pilot his plane was approaching the wrong runway.

“Hey you know what, we’ll taxi out there any way we want unless you tell us to, I don’t like your attitude,” the pilot said.

The best part of this story is the “Settle down, Captain Happy” dig from another pilot. The worst part is the characterization of the exchange as a “rant” or “extremely heated”. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the media portrays it to be.

In response to the Comcast horror story that’s been making the rounds lately, these stories are spread through a number of other companies. Bottom line, all of these customer service call centers are designed to pressure the sales rep into grinding more revenue out of the customer, with zero emphasis on helping solve their problem.

This is a big chunk of inertia to overcome, but I believe terrible customer service is an opportunity for disruption. Once people have an option that doesn’t suck (like this, which still doesn’t suck, even after all these years), they’ll flock to it.

AppleInsider:

The legislative arm of the European Union ruled on Monday that Apple is allowed to acquire Beats, the premium headphone maker it plans to acquire for $3 billion, as the agreement would not be detrimental to consumers in the organization’s eyes.

On the Beats Music part of the deal:

“The Commission concluded that Apple faces several competitors in the (European Economic Area) such as Spotify and Deezer, making it implausible that the acquisition of a smaller streaming service that is not active in the EEA would lead to anticompetitive effects,” it said. “The Commission also concluded that the transaction would not give Apple the ability and incentive to shut out competing streaming services from access to iOS, Apple’s operating system for mobile devices.”

This was expected, but still an important step. Next up, US approval of the acquisition.

Fortune:

Samsung Electronics Co. suffered another blow to its efforts to cut the dependency of its smartphone business on Google Inc.’s Android operating system, postponing the launch of a new model that runs on its own Tizen software.

The news is the latest disappointment for the Korean giant which is trying to defend its position as the world’s largest maker of smartphones from the twin challenges of Apple Inc. and, at the other end of the market range, Chinese companies such as Huawei, ZTE and Xiaomi.

Samsung is getting squeezed.

Businessweek:

Microsoft today began taking orders for its new game console from online retailer JD.com Inc. (JD:US) via Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s (700) mobile-messaging applications. The pair of Chinese Internet companies hold exclusive rights to pre-sell the locally made Xbox One until July 30, JD.com said in a news release. The console is slated to ship nationwide in September.

Important market expansion for Microsoft and the Xbox team.

On the other side of the coin, there’s China’s issues with Windows 8:

Less than two weeks later, the mainland’s state-run broadcaster CCTV aired a strongly critical programme in which experts suggested Windows 8 was being used to grab information on mainland citizens.

Brooklyn Botanical Garden:

In the 19th century, apples came in all shapes and guises, some with rough, sandpapery skin, others as misshapen as potatoes, and ranging from the size of a cherry to bigger than a grapefruit. Colors ran the entire spectrum with a wonderful impressionistic array of patterning—flushes, stripes, splashes, and dots. There was an apple for every community, taste, purpose, and season, with winter varieties especially prized. Apples were used for making cider, baking, drying, eating out of hand—even as livestock feed.

Compare all of this to the 90 or so varieties grown commercially in North America today, or to the handful of shiny cultivars on display at the local supermarket, and you are immediately faced with a pomological conundrum: How could Americans grow 14,000 different apples in the 19th century, and a hundred years later be conversant with only a few varieties, most notably, ‘Red Delicious’, ‘Golden Delicious’, and ‘Granny Smith’?

Really interesting article on how we got to where we are, apple-wise.

Slate:

Last year, Eric Chemi of Bloomberg Businessweek pointed out the amazing fact that Apple’s iPhone sales alone were larger than the revenues at 474 of the companies in the S&P 500 stock index. So I thought I’d ask: If Apple’s product lines were their own companies now, which corporations would they stack up against?

No one is suggesting Apple would break their products out into separate companies but it’s fascinating to see how the “APPLE IS DOOMED!” crowd ignores the simple hugeness of Apple’s business.

Jalopnik:

LCDR Joe “Smokin” Ruzicka was the Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) to fly the last F-14 Demonstration before the Tomcat’s final demise in 2006. Commander Ruzicka took the time to sit down with Foxtrot Alpha to talk Tomcats and share his amazing experiences and lasting impressions of being part of one of the most competitive, demanding and rewarding cultures in American history- the F-14 Tomcat community.

My bucket list will sadly go unfinished because one of the things on it was to get shot off of a US Navy aircraft carrier in an F-14 Tomcat.

And this is why BlackBerry and Dell can’t do anything right.

Bose alleges that Beats has infringed on 50 years’ worth of research, development and engineering of noise cancelling tech, and that its current lineup of these devices incorporates “at least 36 U.S. patents and applications,” broken down into 22 granted patents and 14 applications currently undergoing review. Beats products named as having infringed upon Bose’s IP include the Beats Studio line, which include the new Studio Wireless Bluetooth headphones.

I wonder if Apple and Beats saw this coming?

Headquartered in San Francisco, which also serves as its debut market, Fixed first launched this January, allowing residents to snap photos of their tickets using an iOS device. Afterwards, Fixed checks for common errors before proceeding to write a customized contest letter on your behalf, which is sent to the city.

Seems the city of San Francisco are being dicks about this.

If you are considering signing up for the Yosemite beta, first make sure you make a complete backup of your hard drive, then take a few minutes and read this excellent walk-through by Macworld’s Dan Frakes that’ll take you through the process of creating a bootable install drive of the Yosemite beta.

You did backup your hard drive first, right?

Noisey:

Marcus Haney has never paid to go to a festival. He makes replica wristbands, sneaks past security guards, and walks with confidence. Sure – he gets chucked out. But often he ends up on the main-stage, hangs out with bands, and captures unique views with his camera.

In the space of four years Marcus has been to almost fifty festivals around the world. Along the way he’s made friends with bands like Mumford & Sons, found himself clinging underneath festival cess-pits, and and hanging out with people called Acid Chris. This is not his day job – he shoots for stations like HBO and creates music videos. But somehow, between hitch-hiking across the United States and being one of the most sought-after photographers in music, he’s found time to compile his four-year festival experience into a documentary.

Marcus Haney is following his passion in a way that few people do. He’s got that rare inner voice, that bright burning vision, that guides him.

Follow the headline link to read the interview. Watch an early, leaked trailer for his documentary, a work in progress, below.

Good on ya, Marcus.

Brianna Wu released her game for iPhone and iPad to the App Store this week. I’ve been following her progress for about a year and really like what I’ve seen. You can download the game for free or you can watch a trailer first.

This could be interesting, but I’d still use the Uber app. I don’t use Facebook Messenger, but I can see the benefits for both companies.

You’re a free spirit. You don’t like rules. You expect to be asked about your trophy beard.

The main purpose of this book is to help product managers who work specifically with digital projects build better — less complex, more focused, less long-winded and more intelligent — products. By featuring lessons learned from real-life projects, the book provides a structured framework for strategic product management — to help build the right products, at the right time, for the right people with just the right amount of process involved.

I have a lot of respect for Rian van der Merwe, the author of this book. You should have a look.

Pedro de Noronha, managing partner at hedge fund Noster Capital, who says Apple “might become obsolete in two-to-three years.”

I’m an engineer at heart. I love creative solutions to problems, even if they turn out not to be practical. I’ll leave it to the vinyl experts to decide if this process works better than a commercial record cleaner, but I give this video an A+ for clever.

Quartz:

While Apple reported a mostly ho-hum quarter on July 22, the company’s growth in China was an unexpected bonus. “China honestly was surprising to us,” CEO Tim Cook said. “The unit growth was really off the charts across the board.”

Revenue from Greater China, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, grew 28% to $5.94 billion, as buyers snapped up iPhones, iPads and computers at much faster rates than in the rest of the world. Chinese iPhone sales were up 48%, Mac sales were up 39%, and iPad sales (which were down 9.2% globally), were up an impressive 51%.

One point I pulled from this article: The Chinese smartphone market is maturing, moving from a jailbroken wild west to a market that appreciates aesthetics and is willing to spend more for a better experience.

Yes, China is awash with cheaper homegrown smartphones, but affluent buyers still love iPhones. Of the country’s 700 million smartphones at the end of 2013, more than a quarter were high-end phones that cost more than $500, according to a recent report from Umeng.com, which tracks apps and mobile use in China. Of those, 80% are iPhones, Umeng estimates. Many analysts criticized Apple for pricing the iPhone 5c too high, but that may have been the whole point—the high price tag is an asset for aspirational Chinese consumers.

Apple is holding the line here, playing the long game. And it’s working.

Scorching.

Businessweek:

Apple has 423 stores, as of March, and it makes more money in sales per square foot—$4,551—than any other U.S.-based retailer, according to EMarketer RETAIL. The stores’ success has a lot to do with their design, a fact not lost on Apple, which has patented its distinctive store layout, glass cube, and floating staircase in the U.S. The company recently won permission to apply for trademark protection in the European Union.

I talked recently with 8’s Tim Kobe—the designer who worked closely with Jobs to create the computer store’s iconic look—about how Apple changed the retail landscape. From that conversation, five lessons emerged as to what businesses can learn from Apple’s then-outlandish example.

The article itself is interesting, touching on some of the core reasons why the Apple Store is different and why it succeeded so wildly.

But also interesting is the work done by Tim Kobe and 8 Inc., the design studio that worked with Steve Jobs on the iconic design of the Apple Store. Here’s a link to the 8 Inc. web site. And here’s a link to 8’s Apple Store sub-site.