Linked List: March 3, 2009

Tuesday, 3 March 2009

Eric Savitz on Palm:

The company this afternoon said it expects to post revenue for its fiscal third quarter ended February 27 of $85 million to $90 million, well below the Street consensus of $157.8 million, and down 71%-73% from a year ago. […] Palm said cash used in operations in the quarter will be $95 million to $100 million, which bring its total cash position down to $215 million to $220 million. Palm said that should be enough cash to meet working capital under its current operating plan — but that it nonetheless is evaluating options for raising more cash.

“Betting the company” is an overused cliché, but in Palm’s case it’s true. They need the Pre to ship on time and they need it to be a hit.

The other interesting tidbit is that Palm will be accounting for Pre revenue on a 24-month subscription basis, just like Apple does with the iPhone.

Does ABC News Understand How Income Tax Works? ★

Perfect example of what’s wrong with major corporate news organizations today. As Atrios wrote, it’s hard to tell if they’re playing stupid or really are stupid, but either way, why would anyone want to read something this dumb?

Last Rites ★

Thoughtful piece from Mike Davidson on the demise of the newspaper business, and the state of the news industry in general:

We’re uncovering more of the who’s, what’s, when’s, and where’s, but less of the how’s and why’s.

That’s Quite an Argument ★

Christopher Dawson, technology director for a public school district in Massachusetts:

However, even iLife has its drawbacks in an educational setting. It simply hands so much to the students that they struggle with software (whether Windows, Linux, or even pro-level software on the Mac) that isn’t so brilliantly plug and play. Yes, iLife rocks in many ways, but the level of spoonfeeding it encourages actually makes me think twice about using it widely, especially at the high school level.

So the problem with Apple’s iLife apps is that they’re too good, and kids never learn that they need to struggle with technical issues before using software to express themselves creatively.

Readability ★

Nifty new bookmarklet from Arc90 — lets you change crapped-up hard-to-read web pages into nicely-formatted plain text versions.

New AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule Offer Built-In Dual-Band Networking ★

Glenn Fleishman:

With Tuesday’s update to the AirPort Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule, you no longer need to make a choice or connect two different base stations. The revised models offer simultaneous dual-band networking at the same price as previous models: $179 for the Gigabit Ethernet AirPort Extreme, $299 for a Time Capsule with a 500 GB drive, and $499 for a 1 TB Time Capsule. (The terabyte pricing seems ridiculous given that high-end 1 TB drives are now retailing for under $100.)

The New MSI Deja Vu ★

Darren Murph at Engadget:

We knew MSI’s newest X-Slim laptops were ultrathin, but it wasn’t until we saw ‘em in person here at CeBIT that we truly appreciated the design. These are definitely amongst the sexiest laptops we’ve seen in some time, though it only took a moment for fingerprints to begin marring the previously flawless glossy top.

Yes, that industrial design is truly to be appreciated, and I certainly haven’t seen anything like it recently.

New Compact USB Keyboard From Apple ★

Same no-numeric-keypad layout as the wireless keyboard.

U2’s ‘No Line on the Horizon’ on Sale for $4 at Amazon MP3 Store ★

That’s the lowest price I’ve ever seen for a new album from a major act. Also: U2’s playing the Letterman show every night this week. (Via Jason Snell.)

Apple Releases Updates to iMac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro Lineups ★

$1499 now gets you a 24-inch iMac, and the $1199 20-inch iMac now has twice the RAM and storage. The entry-level Mac Pro is $300 cheaper, at $2499.

File this one under “Shaw Wu doesn’t know jack about Apple.”