Linked List: October 4, 2010

Monday, 4 October 2010

Why Apple Added Another Button to Their Remote Control 

The answer to a question Dan Benjamin and I discussed on last week’s The Talk Show. On the old remote, there was one button for Play/Pause and Select. In a menu, the button meant “Select”; in a media playback context, it meant “Play/Pause”. The new remote (which, yes, came out before the new Apple TV, but it’s new to me) adds a separate dedicated Play/Pause button. In most contexts, both buttons do the same thing, so why add another button?

Because music can play in the background. If you’re playing music, the Select and Play/Pause buttons are no longer interchangeable: Select applies to on-screen UI elements, Play/Pause applies to the music.

WSJ Interview With Steve Ballmer on Windows Phone 7 

Nick Wingfield:

WSJ: You’re still charging a license fee for the software.

Mr. Ballmer: Sure.

WSJ: Is that difficult in an environment where Android is free?

Mr. Ballmer: Android has a patent fee. It’s not like Android’s free. You do have to license patents. HTC’s signed a license with us and you’re going to see license fees clearly for Android as well as for Windows.

The message: Google isn’t charging for it, but Android isn’t free of charge.

Fred Wilson on What a CEO Does 

From Fred Wilson:

A CEO does only three things. Sets the overall vision and strategy of the company and communicates it to all stakeholders. Recruits, hires, and retains the very best talent for the company. Makes sure there is always enough cash in the bank.

Suggested by Mike Abner on Twitter. I’m not saying there’s strife at Twitter; my earlier post didn’t come out right. Could well be that naming Dick Costolo CEO really was Ev Williams’s idea — that Williams was spending less time on product development and more time on financial matters. Perhaps now, Ev is to Costolo as Sergey Brin and Larry Page are to Eric Schmidt. But what’s his new title?

Update: According to MG Siegler at AOL/TechCrunch, his new title is “co-founder”.

Luke Geissbuhler’s Homemade Spacecraft 

Impressive project, and some great footage. My favorite part of the video is the countdown, though — the boys’ excitement is palpable.

The New Rental-Only Apple TV and iTunes Content Fragmentation 

I agree with two things in this piece by Louis Gray:

  1. It’s a problem that the iPad remains stuck on iOS 3.2. But the iOS 4.2 betas seem very far along; this isn’t going to be a problem for long.

  2. Most of the TV shows available from iTunes can only be purchased, not rented. The new Apple TV can only rent. Thus, most shows from iTunes cannot be obtained directly from the new Apple TV. You can watch them, but you have to buy them from a Mac or PC with iTunes, then play them on Apple TV via home sharing. The new Apple TV would be a much more appealing proposition if all iTunes TV shows were available to rent. The decision to make more shows available to rent belongs to the networks, not Apple, but Apple’s the one that decided to sell a new Apple TV that can only rent content.

The situation is much better for movies than TV shows, but still, there are many movies in iTunes, including a lot of new releases like Iron Man 2, that are purchase-only.

Dan Lyons, Again, on the ‘Android Will Do to the iPhone What Windows Did to the Mac’ Trope 

Dan Lyons, in a feature story on Android for Newsweek:

Android has also transformed Google and its longtime ally Apple into fierce rivals. Until recently, Apple seemed destined to rule the mobile Internet, thanks to the popularity of the iPhone, which was introduced in 2007 and quickly began grabbing market share. But Android has enabled handset makers like Motorola and Samsung to develop credible rivals to the iPhone. This year, as those companies have gained traction, Apple’s momentum has stalled.

Android is, without question, doing well. Maybe it is the next Windows. But Lyons’ whole article is about phones. The Android success story, at least so far, is indeed all about phones. But Apple’s success story is about all iOS devices: iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads. Android-vs.-iOS is the game, and Android phones-vs.-iPhone is just a part of it.

And: how has Apple’s momentum “stalled”? Are iPhone sales down? I doubt very much that’s what we’ll hear in Apple’s next quarterly results.

Dick Costolo Takes Over as Twitter CEO 

Ev Williams, who took the reins as Twitter CEO from Jack Dorsey two years ago:

This led to a realization as we launched the new Twitter. I am most satisfied while pushing product direction. Building things is my passion, and I’ve never been more excited or optimistic about what we have to build.

This is why I have decided to ask our COO, Dick Costolo, to become Twitter’s CEO. Starting today, I’ll be completely focused on product strategy.

I don’t buy that as an explanation. Why can’t the CEO be focused on product strategy? Seems to work for Apple. What happens now if Costolo and Williams disagree on product strategy?

Alessi Tab 

Speaking of Android tablets, this one is apparently going on sale in Italy in November, for €399 (about US$550). So dies the Windows empire, one tablet at a time.

LG Delays Android Tablet, Waiting for Android 3.0 

Reuters:

LG Electronics Inc said on Monday that it had scrapped a plan to launch a tablet computer based on Google Inc’s Android 2.2 operation system known as “Froyo,” a decision that may delay the rollout of its first tablet PC slated for next quarter.

That’s a different tune than the song LG vice president Chang Ma was singing a little over a month ago:

The South Korean company also plans to launch a tablet computer globally by the fourth quarter under its Optimus line, said Chang Ma, vice president of marketing for LG’s mobile-devices unit.

The first LG tablet, which will run on Google Inc.’s Android software, will set itself apart from Apple Inc.’s iPad by focusing on the ability to create content, rather than simply display it, Mr. Ma said in an interview.

Mr. Ma said that the iPad is a great device, but he doesn’t do much work on it. “Our tablet will be better than the iPad.”

Glif: Kickstarter Project to Make an iPhone Stand/Tripod Mount 

Count me in for this Kickstarter project: Dan “The Russians Used a Pencil” Provost and Thomas Gerhardt have designed a combination stand/tripod mount for the iPhone 4.

Told You He Was Creepy 

Google CEO Eric Schmidt, in an interview with Atlantic editor James Bennet:

“The average American doesn’t realize how much of the laws are written by lobbyists” to protect incumbent interests, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Atlantic editor James Bennet at the Washington Ideas Forum. “It’s shocking how the system actually works.”

That’s a succinct — and non-partisan — assessment that sounds exactly right to me.

But then:

“Google policy is to get right up to the creepy line and not cross it,” he said. Google implants, he added, probably crosses that line.

At the same time, Schmidt envisions a future where we embrace a larger role for machines and technology. “With your permission you give us more information about you, about your friends, and we can improve the quality of our searches,” he said. “We don’t need you to type at all. We know where you are. We know where you’ve been. We can more or less know what you’re thinking about.”

Somebody needs remedial “creepy line awareness” training.