Linked List: March 9, 2010

Tuesday, 9 March 2010

Technologizer: The Future of Windows ★

David Worthington:

Technologizer asked some of the industry’s big brains about what Microsoft needs to do to keep its operating system relevant in the years to come. Their advice ranges from merely simplifying the interface to borrowing ideas from other Microsoft products such as the Xbox to giving the OS a complete reboot. Here’s what they (and we) have to say.

Some interesting (and widely varying) answers. I like Scott Rosenberg’s take best:

Microsoft ought to build a new, modern, stripped-down OS and support the legacy stuff in a virtual machine. Call the new environment WIN instead of WINDOWS, suggesting a new stripped-down nimbleness. Make it clear that the old world will be supported for a long time but not forever. Dazzle people with what they can do in a new world.

Or just maintain Windows in parallel. Point is, there’s no reason why Microsoft should have one and only one PC desktop operating system. Why not two: the new cool no-cruft one; and Windows, the established, familiar, chock-full-of-baggage-and-legacy-compatibility one.

Don’t Hold Your Breath Waiting for an iPad Price Drop ★

Kevin C. Tofel:

Much of this “wait for the price drop” sentiment stems from the original iPhone 4 GB and 8GB models, which debuted in late June of 2007 for $499 and $599, respectively. By September of that same year, the 4 GB model was scrapped and the 8 GB unit dropped $200 to $399. The situation generated an early adapter uproar by many — myself included — and Apple tried to make good with $100 Apple Store credits for those who paid the higher prices.

The entire event tarnished Apple’s luster in the eyes of consumers and this isn’t a company that repeats mistakes often.

Jonathan Schwartz on Patent Threats From Steve Jobs and Bill Gates ★

Jonathan Schwartz:

In 2003, after I unveiled a prototype Linux desktop called Project Looking Glass, Steve called my office to let me know the graphical effects were “stepping all over Apple’s IP.” (IP = Intellectual Property = patents, trademarks and copyrights.) If we moved forward to commercialize it, “I’ll just sue you.”

AAPLinvestors’s iPad Death Watch ★

Delicious collection of iPad doubters.

Update: Fireballed. Google has it cached, though.

‘Tron: Legacy’ Trailer ★

Oh, yes.

Update: Much better version from the official site, including downloadable 1080p QuickTime.

Amazon Drops Colorado Residents From Affiliates Program ★

Larry Dignan:

Amazon’s response to Colorado’s state tax issue — Governor Bill Ritter signed a bill that puts new restrictions and taxes on out-of-state retailers like Amazon — has been consistent. When things go against Amazon the retailer cuts its affiliate programs in that state.

Follow-Up on HP’s ‘License Plate Domain’ URLs ★

Yesterday, after linking to “http://h20435.www2.hp.com/t5/Voodoo-Blog/The-HP-s-Slate-Device-Runs-The-Complete-Internet-Including-Flash/ba-p/53838”, I asked what the deal was with that crazy server name. A DF reader who works at HP emailed:

Internally it’s called something stupid, like a “license plate name” or somesuch. HP IT does that so they can physically locate a server when it goes down.

Externally, you’re seeing how one department’s braindead internal policy designed for their convenience reduces the convenience of the entire rest of the company (and our customers). I’d blame Randy Mott (of WalMart pedigree) who has proven to be quite a Napoleon (or perhaps Brutus is a better example?) when it comes to turf battles, but I think that policy pre-dated him.

Many folks internally in HP hate those license plate external URLs but there’s nothing we can do about it. The policy has been set from on-high.

So because of a dictum from the IT department, HP — one of the biggest, proudest, and most successful companies in the history of the computer business — has URLs that are cryptic, long, and ugly. Whereas anyone with, say, a Tumblr account, can get far nicer URLs for free.

Harmony ★

Captivating little HTML5 drawing app by Ricardo Cabello. Works swell on the iPhone too. (Via Federico Viticci.)

Glenn Fleishman on RealNetworks’s DVD Copying Settlement ★

Glenn Fleishman, writing for Boing Boing:

RealNetworks just screwed us all by settling lawsuits in which it might have lost — but which might also have given some new life to fair use for digital media. The post-RealDVD world means that unless there’s a major change to the law surrounding copy protection, there will never be a legal way to perform legal acts of copying or shifting protected movies, music, and games.

Whatever Happened to Programming? ★

Mike Taylor:

I want to make things, not just glue things together.

(Via Rands.)

Yair Reiner on Apple’s IP Threats to Rival Handset Makers ★

Philip Elmer-DeWitt, quoting from a report from Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner on the behind-the-scenes aspects of Apple’s patent suit against HTC:

Starting in January, Apple launched a series of C-Level discussions with tier-1 handset makers to underscore its growing displeasure at seeing its iPhone-related IP [intellectual property] infringed. The lawsuit filed against HTC thus appears to be Apple’s way of putting a public, lawyered-up exclamation point on a series of blunt conversations that have been occurring behind closed doors.

Our checks also suggest that these warning shots are meaningfully disrupting the development roadmaps for would-be iPhone killers. Rival software and hardware teams are going back to the drawing board to look for work-arounds. Lawyers are redoubling efforts to gauge potential defensive and offensive responses. And strategy teams are working to chart OS strategies that are better hedged.

Reiner concludes that the effect is going to be to drive would-be Android handset makers into the arms of Microsoft and Windows Phone 7.

Vodafone Gives Customer Android Phone Loaded With Botnet and Password-Stealing Malware ★

Pedro Bustamante:

Interestingly enough, the Mariposa bot is not the only malware I found on the Vodafone HTC Magic phone. There’s also a Confiker and a Lineage password stealing malware. I wonder who’s doing QA at Vodafone and HTC these days?

In the comments, Bustamante writes:

Regardless, I don’t think this has to do with factory settings, but rather with poor QA process of refurbished phones.

One would hope this isn’t widespread.

What About Those Multitouch Patents? ★

Farhad Manjoo’s piece for Slate on Apple’s patent infringement legal action against HTC bears the headline “Apple’s Multitouch Lawsuit Is Both Dumb and Dangerous”, which is slightly odd, insofar as that none of the patents Apple cited are related to multitouch.

Which raises the question: Why not? Multitouch is certainly the aspect of the iPhone user interface that has been most-talked about with regard to patents, ever since it debuted at Macworld Expo in 2007 and Jobs flat-out bragged about how patented it was. Maybe the aspects of multitouch that HTC has added to the Nexus One don’t violate the patents?

Update: Nilay Patel says none of Apple’s granted patents cover pinch-to-zoom, which, as far as I can tell, is the only “multitouch” supported on the Nexus One. Apple has pending patents on pinch-to-zoom and other multi-finger gestures, but who knows if they’ll be granted.

Amazon Hiring Web Browser Developers ★

Michael Calore:

A job posting for a browser engineer at Lab126, the division of Amazon that develops the Kindle, indicates the company is looking for somebody to develop “an innovative embedded web browser” for a consumer product. […]

The Kindle’s current browsing experience is notably sub-par. It’s good enough to check your e-mail, post to Twitter or read Wikipedia, but it doesn’t handle images or more complex web apps particularly well. It certainly doesn’t live up to the same vision of the mobile web being outlined by the iPhone, or Android phones like the Droid or Nexus One.

Calore is right that the current Kindle browser is poor, but I wonder whether this job opening is for the Kindle. One problem Amazon would have with a Kindle armed with a good mobile browser is that it might encourage too much use of the browser — existing Kindles don’t have Wi-Fi and only access the Internet via “free” 3G networking. The reason Amazon can provide free 3G is that it’s typically only used for buying books. Add a great browser and I don’t see how they could afford free 3G. (Maybe future Kindles will be Wi-Fi only?)