Sven Krumrey

A a passionate German philologist and historian, Sven Krumrey, born 1973, was introduced to the computer age early by his Commodore C64 and later turned his hobby into a profession. He is equally intrigued by gadgets, good software, hypes surrounding the Internet and the contradictions of the digital age.

All articles by Sven Krumrey:

TECH

Can a smartphone replace your digital camera?

Sven Krumrey

I recently saw the news that Nikon is shutting down a huge production plant in China as of now. The reason was unusually clear: the market for digital cameras had shrunken too much thanks to the victory march of smartphones and the plant had gotten into a little pickle as a result. If you look at Canon, who had a truly miserable year in 2016, and then check out the cameras even highly affordable smartphones come with nowadays, you might wonder whether the end of the glorious age of digital cameras has finally come. Will specialists and enthusiasts be the only ones to still use digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLRs) in 2018?

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TECH

The return of Firefox

Sven Krumrey

In the life of a tech aficionado, there are many old favorites, i.e. programs you stay faithful to even in the presence of better alternatives. For years, my favorite browser has been Firefox. Not owned by a large corporation, reasonably fast and with support for countless good extensions, Firefox was my go-to-browser until, eventually, sand got in the gears. The visuals hadn't been updated for years, display errors kept coming up and the speed was hardly on par with the available alternatives. I made the switch and, with a heavy heart, put Firefox on the scrap heap along with my old love, Netscape. Did I grieve too soon? Version 57 promises nothing less than a revolution. Is this the return to its old strength?

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LIFE

Everyday heroes: family admins

Sven Krumrey

There are unsung heroes out there, especially those who accomplish ungrateful tasks out of a sense of duty or charity for others. While there's International Volunteer Day and much appreciation for social commitment, one species of helpers mostly stays in the background: family administrators. It took a while for their field of activity to take form but it's seen rapid growth in the wake of mass Internet use ever since! I'd like to honor these ladies and gentlemen by describing their typical daily routine. And believe me, it's not as fictional as you might think.

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LIFE

Pinterest – a self-experiment

Sven Krumrey

Though I'm already quite involved in social media (through my job), there has always been a white spot on my map until now: Pinterest. "Something with images" was all I could say about it. I like text over images and anyway: who needs another portal? As I look around my circle of friends: obviously quite a few. Described to me as "a cross between a photo site, a constructive community and a virtual pin board with a high percentage of female members" by a friend, I seek to find out mainly one thing in my self-experiment: is Pinterest really the better Facebook as some say? Time to register!

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BUSINESS

A farewell to Windows Phone!

Sven Krumrey

When managers have a chat without firing off marketing buzzwords things get really interesting. Last week, Joe Belfiore, the man in charge of Windows Edge, announced the end of Windows in the mobile space as a side note. Windows 10 for cellphones will no longer be developed and users will only receive bug fixes and security updates until the end of 2019. That means there'll only be two big competitors left in the cellphone market, i.e. iOS and Android. Even though Windows Phone ran on only 1% of all cellphones it had a resounding effect. Rarely had it become so apparent where market power ends and how hard it is to close an innovation gap.

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