Linked List: September 10, 2010

Friday, 10 September 2010

My thanks to Icongoods for sponsoring this week’s DF RSS feed. Icongoods has a great new line of t-shirts, featuring “glyphish” icons by Joseph Wain. They’re printed on American Apparel t-shirts, and look great: clever and stylish. Better yet: visit using this URL for DF readers and save 20 percent on your entire order.

Apple to Discontinue Free iPhone Bumper Case Program on September 30 ★

Apple:

We now know that the iPhone 4 antenna attenuation issue is even smaller than we originally thought. A small percentage of iPhone 4 users need a case, and we want to continue providing them a Bumper case for free. For everyone else, we are discontinuing the free case program on all iPhone 4s sold after September 30, 2010. We are also returning to our normal returns policy for all iPhone 4s sold after September 30. Users experiencing antenna issues should call AppleCare to request a free Bumper case.

In other words: if you’re having antenna problems, you can still get a free Apple Bumper, but they’re going to stop giving them out to everyone who buys an iPhone 4. (Via Jim Dalrymple.)

Thomas vs. Weaver ★

It’s Miller Time over here in the Layer Tennis commentators booth, where I just finished writing about today’s match between Scott Thomas and Mark Weaver. I don’t want to gush, but I loved this match. If you missed it live, you should go through it now. Both beautiful and thoughtful. You can’t ask for more.

(Where by “Miller Time”, I mean “Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA Time”.)

‘Being Geek’ ★

My friend Michael Lopp’s new book is out, and it’s terrific: Being Geek, “the software developer’s career handbook”. Want to know how to cultivate a thriving career as a developer in this industry? Listen to Lopp.

Get the print edition from Amazon; get the e-book (or e-book plus print) from O’Reilly.

Anthony Williams on dConstruct 2010 ★

Astute summary of a terrific conference.

Dan Frommer: ‘Nokia Makes the Same Mistake Again: Hires a Manager, Not a Product Visionary’ ★

Yup.

Bloomberg: JPMorgan Testing iPhone and Android as BlackBerry Alternatives ★

Bloomberg:

JPMorgan Chase & Co. may soon let employees use iPhones for corporate e-mail, making it an alternative to Research in Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry at the bank for the first time, two people familiar with the situation said.

Battle of the Buttons, Indeed ★

Michael Robertson, back in June 2007:

The current phone I carry is the Nokia e61i which compares very favorably with the iPhone. It’s shipping now and comes with 51 distinct physical buttons - the opposite design of the iPhone. Nokia is the #1 mobile phone manufacturer in the world and has sold more than twice as many phones in the most recent quarter as the 2nd largest company, Motorola. If buttons had no value why would Nokia use them?

Vintage 2008 Claim Chowder: Nokia Launches ‘iPhone Killer’ N97 Phone ★

Good times, good times:

The Finnish mobile phone giant has dubbed its new N97 handset the “world’s most advanced mobile computer”, and promises it will bring users closer to the internet on the move.

Nokia Names Microsoft Executive as New CEO ★

Christopher Lawton and Gustav Sandstrom, reporting for the WSJ:

Nokia Corp. said it was replacing embattled Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo with Microsoft Corp.’s Stephen Elop, as the world’s largest handset maker seeks to reverse steep declines in earnings and market share that have decimated its share price. […]

Mr. Elop’s main task will be to develop a credible challenger to Apple Inc.’s iPhone, something Mr. Kallasvuo failed to achieve during his four-year tenure. Many analysts feel that Nokia was caught flat-footed by the iPhone’s success and blame its weakness in smartphones for shaving about 70% off of Nokia’s market value over the past three years.

I suppose the other analysts — the ones who don’t think the iPhone caught Nokia flat-footed — moonlight as dentists who recommend sugared chewing gum.