Linked List: November 15, 2010

Monday, 15 November 2010

Business Insider’s iPad User Survey Results ★

I’m always a little skeptical of surveys like this — I suspect participation tends to be self-selecting. Those most likely to complete such a survey are fans of the device. But, still, even if you consider that, these results are interesting. My favorite is question 4: the most popular activity on the iPad is surfing the web.

That’s what I mean about Apple being a big proponent and supporter of HTML5 and the open web. Not out of any sort of benevolence, but because best-of-breed mobile web browsing is essential to the success of the entire iOS platform.

(Also interesting: Kindle e-books were more popular than iBooks.)

The Staff Recommends ★

“The Staff Recommends is an advertorial publication that only features books we like.” From their About page:

So what you’re saying is that The Staff Recommends is kind of like the part in the bookstore where the employees put little cards on the books saying what they liked and why, only online?

Yes, that’s what we’re saying.

Great idea.

WSJ Says It’s The Beatles ★

Ethan Smith, reporting for the WSJ:

Apple Inc. is preparing to announce that its iTunes Store will soon start carrying music by the Beatles, according to people familiar with the situation, a move that would fill in a glaring gap in the collection of the world’s largest music retailer.

Update: My inbox is filling up with emails along the lines of, “Sure, The Beatles are great, maybe even the best, but they’re still just one group. Why would Apple make such a big deal out of this?” Mike Davidson explains.

Bill of Rights Security Edition ★

The U.S. Bill of Rights printed on a metallic card, with the Fourth Amendment — which specifies our right to be secure “against unreasonable searches and seizures” — highlighted. Penn and Teller sell these at their theater in Las Vegas.

Billboard’s Guess: The Beatles ★

Anton Bruno:

For these (admittedly thin) reasons and others that we can’t yet divulge here, place your bets on a Beatles announcement tomorrow.

I’ll go with The Beatles catalog as my guess, too. It’s really the only explanation I can think of that would be a big enough deal to warrant this promotional hype but which would not warrant a media event. I think the clocks are just clocks, but the headline is, to my ears, a bit stilted, and makes a lot more sense if it’s a reference to the McCartney song. (Might also be one last fuck you to Yoko Ono from Jobs — by making the headline a reference to a song Paul released as a solo artist.)

Other popular guesses:

Music streaming service, based on Lala acquisition. Possible, but I doubt it. I think they’d have an event for that, and as Peter Kafka writes, there have been no leaks from the music industry about such a deal. Apple can keep its mouth shut, but the music labels can’t.
Cloud-based backup/streaming of purchased content. Possible, but I think this is the sort of thing they’d demo and explain at a media event.
A digital “newsstand”, for subscription-based delivery of newspapers and magazines to iOS devices. No way — again, that’s the sort of thing they’d demo and explain at a media event.

In short, major new Apple products are unveiled at events. A major new content deal is the sort of thing Apple might announce without an event.

Full List of Countries That Have the ‘Exciting Announcement’ Apple.com Teaser ★

Jesper:

There’s no real pattern that I’ve been able to tell with regards to any existing iTunes Store feature. Greece and Luxembourg are Eurozone countries that already have the full-on music store but that are excluded. Portugal has the teaser but isn’t a country where Ping is available (according to Apple themselves). Only a few of these countries have movie purchases, rentals and TV show purchases, and only the US has a limited range of TV show rentals.

How Israel Handles Airport Security ★

Far better security, far less hassle.

Update: Bruce Schneier says Israel’s model wouldn’t scale for the U.S. — we have bigger airports, far more passengers, and far more planes. But the point isn’t “this is how the U.S. should do it”. It’s about their attitude and priorities.

Update 2: Via email from reader JW:

I recently heard the Israel vs USA versions of airport security succinctly summed up this way: “In the US, they search for weapons. In Israel, they search for terrorists.”

‘Don’t Touch My Junk’ ★

Software engineer John Tyner’s account of refusing an X-Ray scan at the San Diego airport on Saturday. He recorded much of the incident on his cell phone. At the 8:30 mark of the first video, a TSA agent tells him: “Upon buying your ticket, you gave up a lot of your rights.”

After being escorted — by TSA — out of the airport for refusing to allow his genitals to be groped, he was then threatened by a TSA supervisor with a lawsuit and $10,000 fine for having left the screening area.

NPR Report on Safety Concerns Regarding TSA Naked Body Scanners ★

I’m adamantly opposed to these new scanners on privacy and Fourth Amendment grounds, but the health concerns alone seem worrisome. Here’s a PDF of the letter from four members of the UCSF faculty, laying out their concerns.

Unions Advise Pilots to Avoid Full-Body Scans ★

Brian Kalish, reporting for Nextgov:

Two pilot unions urged members in the last week to avoid security screening by the full body scanners being deployed at airports across the country. They are concerned about the amount of radiation the advanced imaging technology machines emit and the cumulative effects on pilots.

Apple Teases ‘Exciting Announcement From iTunes’ Tomorrow Morning ★

Screenshot of Apple’s homepage. I have no idea what this is about. Zilch.

Update 1: The question to keep in mind if you’re guessing what this about is, “What could Apple announce without a media event to explain and demo it?” Best guess I’ve heard so far: it’s just iOS 4.2, and the reason it says “from iTunes” is because iTunes (the app) is where you go to get the update. Apple wants everyone, especially iPad owners, to get this update. But that’s just a guess. Second guess: additional content deals for TV show rentals. Admittedly, neither of these seem like something we’ll “never forget”.

Update 2: A couple of readers are guessing “Beatles”, arguing that the clock faces vaguely resemble the album cover for “Help”. No onstage performance from Paul and Ringo, though? Maybe Yoko insisted on singing.