This will certainly give you a better quality recording than the method I’ve been using: point the iPhone speaker in the general direction of my Yeti microphone.

Andy Baio writing for Wired:

Instagram’s billion-dollar sale to Facebook raised eyebrows Monday, renewing fears of a new tech bubble. But compared to other major acquisitions since the dot-com bust, turns out it’s a pretty sane deal.

During The Vergecast last week, Timothy Collins called in to share an interesting theory on what a 4-inch iPhone screen could look like. In short, what if Apple made the screen taller? From 640×960 to 640×1152. Verge forum member “modilwar” fleshed the idea out some more and shared some example mockups of what the new screen could look like.

It would mean the iPhone can maintain its 326 PPI ratio, as well as the fact that any apps which use a scrolling interface (Mail, Instapaper, Reeder, Tweetbot, Simplenote, Agenda, et al.) may need to do (nearly) nothing to accommodate the new screen. Because: when in portrait mode there would simply be a larger scroll view area; when in landscape mode, there would be the same vertical height as before, and horizontal elements would simply be spaced farther apart.

At the end of the day, I don’t know if we’ll ever see a 4-inch iPhone. Because, in addition to the how would it work for apps and what about the Retina display argument, there is still the how comfortable and easy to use with one hand would it be argument. And I think that a 3.5-inch screen is the sweet spot for the latter.

Nevertheless, this is certainly one of the most interesting and compelling arguments I’ve seen on the matter.

Maciej Cegłowski, the owner/operator of Pinboard, shares about the various business models of bookmarking sites, and why he chose the model he did for Pinboard. The PDF is based on a talk he gave in February.

The heart of this PDF can be summed up on Pinboard’s about page:

It boils down to this: running a bookmarking site costs money. If you’re not paying for it, then someone else is, and their interests may not be aligned with yours.

Another great reason to use OpenDNS.

Federico Viticci:

I hope Zuckerberg understands they could elegantly transition Instagram to becoming a Facebook product without ruining it. They should use Instagram as a way to gain new users and explore a new space, a new area of mobile. It’s uncharted territory for big companies like Facebook.

Facebook has the resources, scale, and talent to keep Instagram as it is, possibly better, perhaps more connected to the social network.

I have no doubt they can, but the question is if they will.

Or, perhaps better yet, do they want to? Does Facebook want to keep Instagram thriving in its own, active development or would they prefer to fold the whole thing into Facebook’s universe?

If Instagram starts requiring a Facebook login to use it, then we’ll know the answer. And not just about Facebook’s original intentions with Instagram, but also about their intentions for any future acquisitions.

Fascinating chart showing the adoption rate of new technologies over the past century.

Horace Dediu re-graphed the data to show how long it took each technology to reach 50- and 80-percent adoption rates (see how Smartphone is the fastest tech to reach 50-percent penetration while telephone is the slowest?).

And for fun, check out this list of the fastest adopted gadgets in the last 50 years. I guess it should be no surprise, but it still is fascinating to me that 13 (arguably, 16) of the 20 items on this list are directly related to entertainment. (Bonus points if you can guess what’s first on the list before clicking through.)

(Via Justin Blanton.)

Thomas Brand on the original Apple Extended Keyboard and why it’s superior to the Apple Extended Keyboard II.

I’m new to the mechanical keyboard club, with my first noise machine being the Das Keyboard. But after less than a week with the Das I can already see why mechanical keyboard users are the way they are about their keyboards. These fantastically-clickety gadgets are like the Jeep Wranglers of keyboards — there’s an unspoken fraternity between owners that others don’t quite “get”.

Another new book out today, this one from a former Apple genius, Stephen Hackett. Bartending: Memoirs of an Apple Genius, is full of stories from Hackett’s time working in Apple retail at the Genius Bar.

Stephen’s website, 512 Pixels, is one of my favorites — he’s a talented and entertaining writer. I’ve already got his new book loaded on my Kindle and am seriously looking forward to reading it.

A brand-new book by WordPress genius, Jonathan Christopher:

The goal of this book is to facilitate happier clients (and happier developers) by way of successful projects.

Whenever I’ve hit a WordPress wall, I go to Jonathan for help and he usually whips up a brilliant solution in about 5 minutes. I’ve worked with him on personal projects as well as corporate ones. He’s professional, friendly, happy, a clear communicator, and really knows WordPress well.

Even though I don’t do client work, I still bought a copy of his new book this morning because I’m eager to learn any nuggets of wisdom that are in there, even if the topic isn’t specific to my occupation. If you work with WordPress at all, this book is definitely worth a look.

You can read more about the book on Jonathan’s website.

Two years ago: March 5, 2010, Instagram raised $500,000 in seed funding.

One year ago: February 2, 2011, Instagram raised $7 million on an estimated valuation of $20+ million.

One month ago: March 9, 2012, Instagram raised $40 million on a valuation of $500 million.

Last week: April 6, 2012, Instagram raised another $50 million on the same valuation of $500 million.

Today: Sold for $1 billion.

Kevin Systrom:

It’s important to be clear that Instagram is not going away. We’l [sic] be working with Facebook to evolve Instagram and build the network. We’ll continue to add new features to the product and find new ways to create a better mobile photos experience.

Zuck had the same sentiment in his announcement:

We’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.

For one, I see that Instagram figured out how to make money. Secondly, it will be interesting to see how the app and its network change over the coming months. Thirdly, this certainly adds more gas to the rumor-fire that Facebook is building something mobile and that they want it — whatever it is — to look beautiful.

Mark Zuckerberg:

I’m excited to share the news that we’ve agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.

The deal is worth “$1 billion in a combination of cash and shares of Facebook.” This is great news for Instagram’s founders and investors and most likely a bummer for Instagram’s current user base. I remember when Gowalla was awesome, too.

So great.