Linked List: February 22, 2011

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

Why Has Google Been Collecting Kids’ Social Security Numbers Under the Guise of an Art Contest? ★

Bob Bowdon:

It turns out that the company sporting the motto “don’t be evil” has been asking parents nationwide to disclose their children’s personal information, including Social Security Numbers, and recruiting schools to help them do it — all under the guise of an art contest. It’s called, “Doodle-4-Google,” a rather catchy, kid-friendly name if I do say so myself. The company is even offering prize money to schools to enlist their help with the promotion. Doesn’t it sound like fun? Don’t you want your kid to enter too?

Best thing Larry Page could do as CEO is to change the company motto from “Don’t be evil” to “Don’t be evil or creepy”.

Matt Drance: About This Whole Subscription Hubbub ★

Smartest thing I’ve read about the whole thing, by a long shot. I agree with Drance entirely, including this:

The requirement that IAP content be offered “at the same price or less than it is offered outside the app,” combined with the 70/30 split, means developers must make less money off of iOS by definition. They can’t price their IAP content higher to offset the commission, nor can they price their own retail content lower.

If I am interpreting this correctly, I can’t bring myself to see it as reasonable. [...] I think a great deal of this drama could go away if Apple dropped section 11.13 while keeping section 11.14: Your prices on your store are your business; just don’t be a jerk and advertise the difference all over ours.

Google Escalates Spat With Facebook ★

Sean Hollister:

Simply put, the feature of the Facebook for Android app to provide the social network’s stored contact information to your Nexus S has been revoked from here on out, and as soon as you get the update all that contact information will disappear from your phone.

So Facebook moves against all apps on its platform using Google ads, and Google... turns off a feature in the Facebook app on one model of Android phone, the relatively obscure Nexus S.

Microsoft Issues First Windows Phone 7 Software Update ★

Sounds like a clusterfuck.

Base 2.0 ★

Nice update to Menial’s excellent SQLite developer tool for the Mac.

Two and Two Together ★

MG Siegler:

When the rumors today started to spread and the stock started to tank, word started coming out that these rumors were simply not true. Shortly thereafter, we got the news that in fact, Apple would be holding an event to unveil the iPad 2 next week. I’ll let you put two and two together about where that very timely and very accurate information came from.

“Two and two together” is Siegler alleging that Jim Dalrymple and Kara Swisher were fed “corrections” to false rumors by Apple PR.

Kara Swisher, in a series of tweets:

How is it that MG Siegler can just MAKE UP stories about how others — who do actual reporting — get scoops and manage to get it wrong?

He’s like a metronome of misinformation and fictional speculation, writing the same story every time someone has a legit apple scooplet.

I never do this, but for the record, Apple PR never leaked anything to me on 3/2 iPad date and it was not planted in some grassy-knoll plot.

Siegler’s usually pretty smart, but I have no idea why he’d think Apple PR would see the need to quickly respond to two false rumors based on clearly dubious analyst reports. If Apple PR responded to every or even most false reports — even through private back channels to “trusted” reporters — it’d be a dead-giveaway that a rumor was true when they didn’t respond. Update: Via Twitter DM, Siegler told me (on the record): “I never said anything about Apple PR.”

Siegler also wrote:

Let’s say the top tier Apple bloggers bat around .500 with regard to Apple rumors — Apple analysts are probably batting .050.

Half wrong is the “top tier”?

Everything Wrong About the Xoom’s Endorsement of Flash ★

Matt Drance:

Until then, we have a product that can’t view its own website. And people still ask, with a straight face, why Flash isn’t on iOS.

Let’s Get Our Verb Tenses Right ★

Pete Mortensen, in a piece titled “App Store Subscription Plan Demolishes the Appeal of iOS”:

Think about it. If you’re an average consumer and you’re trying to decide between an iPad and one of the many Android Honeycomb tablets scheduled to ship in the next few months, the ability to put your existing content on that tablet would likely be a key decision in that process. Both can take MP3s, and the iPad can take video content from iTunes. But if the trend continues in the direction is has been thus far, the iPad won’t have Kindle books or possibly even Netflix by the time the full impact of the subscription guidelines plan shakes it self out. It’s a pretty easy choice for consumers under those circumstances.

If the Kindle app goes away, and Netflix goes away, yes. But isn’t that a big “if” at this point? Kindle’s still there. Netflix is still there. And Apple and Netflix apparently get along well enough that Netflix has a premium position on the Apple TV 2 — built right into the system software. I think it’s foolish to speak of these apps in the past tense at this point.

Adobe on Flash Player 10.2 Support on Tablets ★

Matt Rozen, Adobe:

Adobe will offer Flash Player 10.2 pre-installed on some tablets and as an OTA download on others within a few weeks of Android 3 (Honeycomb) devices becoming available, the first of which is expected to be the Motorola Xoom.

So it’s February 2011 and Adobe still doesn’t have a version of Flash Player available for tablets.

Consumers are clearly asking for Flash support on tablet devices

By buying iPads?

and the good news is that they won’t have to wait long.

But they will have to wait.

Translations of Selected Parts of Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch’s ‘The Multiscreen Revolution’ to English ★

Nice translation work from Jan Lehnardt:

This creates a challenge for anyone building digital experiences, as they will need to deliver effective experiences across many non-PC devices, not only high performance personal computers.

I’m about to sell you a write-once-run-anywhere solution. But not just yet.

CBS and Netflix Announce 2-Year Licensing Agreement for Library Content ★

Great stuff:

Episodes from the original “Hawaii Five-0” are included in the package, as are episodes from all generations of the definitive sci-fi series, “Star Trek,” and the cult favorite, “Twin Peaks.”

The Real Death of the Music Industry ★

I linked to this chart on music industry sales last week, and a bunch of DF readers emailed to point out that because the revenue numbers weren’t inflation-adjusted, the chart was pretty much worthless as a historical overview of the industry. There were other problems with that chart, too — e.g. the data was U.S.-only, not worldwide.

Michael DeGusta did the work of generating an inflation-adjusted (as well as population-adjusted) chart of music sales worldwide. And it does look like the industry is shrinking. Why? Because album sales are plummeting, and single sales — though rising — aren’t enough to compensate for the drop in album sales.

Jim Dalrymple: Rumors of iPad 2, iPhone 5 Delays Are Not True ★

Jim Dalrymple:

The Internet is buzzing this morning with separate rumors that Apple’s iPad 2 and iPhone 5 will be delayed. The fact is, neither rumor is true.

Count me in with Jim. I think Bloomberg and Dan Frommer blew it.

Kara Swisher: Apple to Unveil iPad 2 on March 2 in San Francisco ★

Sounds right on schedule to me.

Update: Miguel Helft at the NYT reports the same date.