Are sharp corners really newsworthy?

Tech Crunch does a lot of good reporting and asks a lot of worthwhile questions. Look, the question on whether to follow someone or not on Twitter is valid - and using the golden ratio rule is not just valid but probably automatic, even for people who don't realize it.

Since joining Google as the driving force of American society a couple years ago, every single thing Facebook does has made for water-cooler eligible talking points. Various versions of the newsfeed, offering more highlights of friends posts, acquisitions that may or may not eventually steer Facebook toward whatever it is destined to become - this is all valid. I follow it. On several blogs.

But Tech Crunch may have jumped the shark yesterday. Well, if they didn't jump it, they certainly hit the thing.

I knew something was different about Facebook yesterday, but not enough to bother me. Just a slight difference that I was sure one of the FB blogs would mention in four lines. Tech Crunch dedicated a good size post to the elimination of rounded corners as a design feature. Rounded corners. An entire post.

Great reporting guys. You got quotes and background on the design, yes. But there's got to be something more important, or even just more interesting, to report. I hope that was the one that hit your quota for the day.

(Then again, I not only noticed the difference but read this post and the comments, and then wrote about the post on my own blog. That probably says something too.)

Facebook on Android. Officially.

The world of Android blogs has been shitting its pants all day amid rumors, or maybe just one, that Facebook is finally going to put out an official app for Android. I cheered this rumor. Out loud. But is it true?

A couple weeks ago Android and Me noticed a logo, as laid out here. The MyTouch 3G has made people take the potential for Android more seriously, which is why a sweet App Pack wasn't available for faithful early adopters such as myself.

This morning TechCrunch posted that pigs would fly and Facebook would call some sort truce in its war with Google. (If you've not heard of this war, check it.)

Gizmodo then took it a step farther with its echo of that story.

And then a few of the Android blogs picked up on the rumor...

The Android Site
Android Community
Google Android Blog
Phandroid
Talk Android
Android Guys
Android Central

The Facebook blog Inside Facebook picked it up, as did InformationWeek. My favorite is that it made the Web site of the Washington Post, though it's kind of disappointing that they don't have the sources to confirm it themselves.

You'll notice they all cite the same source. So, if you believe Erick Schonfeld at TechCrunch then it's for real.

(No, it's not lost on me that I'm doing the same thing those other blogs did. At least Planet Android allows me to read the same thing over and over on one aggregated blog instead of having to see it on a bunch of different ones. Not that I didn't do that anyway.)

Inaccurate and sometimes completely wrong reporting seems to be the hallmark of the tech age. Between secretive companies and facts that move faster than reporters confirming and reporting them, it's no shock and makes the constant updates essential.

Consider that everybody is a reporter, and stuff about Apple, Dell, Microsoft, etc is put out there every day. How many times has Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter or any other been bought and then not bought a couple days later.

We won't know for sure until the end of the week. But the fact that there still isn't a denial of this makes me think I'll be adding a third Facebook app to my G1 by the weekend.

You know, unless I don't.