Linked List: December 30, 2008

Tuesday, 30 December 2008

‘Call Mike’ (App Store Link) 

Developer Jerry Beers has a suite of 15 $1 apps in the iTunes Store along the lines of “Call Mike” — a home screen speed dialer designed for calling someone named Mike. I.e. each of the 15 apps is hard-coded with a different first name. Don’t worry, there’s also “Call Michael”, in case Mike is too casual. No “Call John” or “Call Amy” yet, so it looks like our family is out of luck.

This is not a joke. (Thanks to DF reader Jeff Feng.)

TechCrunch Says Apple Tablet Coming in Fall 2009, Running iPhone OS 

My question is, what happened to the TechCrunch Web Tablet? Seems like Apple will be unable to compete against that wonderful device, which I’m sure will be appearing any day now.

Steve Jobs Health Speculation 

Gizmodo’s Jesus Diaz reports “Steve Jobs’s Health Declining Rapidly, Reason for Macworld Cancellation”. CNBC’s Jim Goldman retorts that Jobs is fine, citing “sources inside Apple”. Goldman:

I was told two weeks ago by sources inside Apple that the decision had nothing to do with Jobs’ health. I got the same message today. Period.

I will say again: if Apple is lying, holding some truth back, manipulating its own stock by manipulating the truth, someone — indeed a lot of people — could be going to jail. Do I like the way Apple has handled this ongoing story? No. But do I traffic in rumors to fill the void the company has created by not choosing to be more forthcoming about Jobs’s health? Absolutely not.

I’d believe CNBC over Gizmodo anyway, but the quoted passage Gizmodo includes from their “source” reads like a speculative forum posting from an illiterate.