Linked List: April 11, 2011

Monday, 11 April 2011

Amazon to Offer Cheaper Kindle With Ads ★

MarketWatch:

Amazon.com Inc. said Monday afternoon that it will begin selling a cheaper version of its Kindle e-reader device that is supported with advertisements early next month.

The ad-supported Kindle will cost $114 — $25 less than the cheapest Kindle currently available — and will be available on May 3.

Free with ads would be cool, and interesting. $25 off, though? Feels nickel-and-dimey to me.

Why ‘Post PC’ Doesn’t Mean ‘Sans PC’ ★

Michael Gartenberg:

The iPad and other devices are not here to displace the PC (by which I mean all personal computers, whether they’re Macs or PCs running Windows). In fact, post PC means after PC, a new generation of products that build on the PC. What it doesn’t mean is sans PC, that is, without PC. The personal computer will no doubt be with us for a very long time… but that doesn’t mean we’re not in the post-PC world.

The Quintessentially Victorian Vision of Ogden’s ‘The Wire’ ★

“Omar comin’, yo!”

(Via Scott Simpson.)

The Gap Theory of UI Design ★

Yours truly, speaking at Webstock in New Zealand back in February, taking a tour of the entire history of Apple’s graphical user interfaces, and forming a basic theory about the philosophical difference between the old way (pre-Mac OS X) and new way.

Such a good conference, and all of the presentations are now online. You can’t go wrong watching any of them. (Let’s not talk about what they’ve done to the aspect ratio of the slides in these video transfers, though.)

Bloomberg Businessweek Launches iPad App ★

David Kaplan, for PaidContent:

A number of publishers have been griping about Apple’s unwillingness to share consumer data related to its app, as well as restrictions on iPad subscriptions preventing publishers from directing readers to a browser or some other means for completing a transaction. Additionally, publishers who accept Apple’s subscription policy require in-app purchase offers to be extended at the same price as the same offer made elsewhere.

None of these issues is a problem for BBW, Oke Okaro, Bloomberg’s global head of mobile told paidContent. “We are very pleased with Apple’s terms,” he said in a recent interview.

You know what’s different about Bloomberg than other news publishers? Bloomberg has always been looking ahead. They’ve never been rooted in print. They never let their legacy business (proprietary insanely expensive hardware terminals) get in the way of moving forward with new opportunities.

Another difference: they’re profitable and financially healthy.

Here’s their pricing deal for the Businessweek iPad app: free for print subscribers, $2.99 per month for an iPad-only subscription. That’s it. Affordable, fair, and simple.

Steven Sasson, Inventor of the First Digital Camera ★

Nice little interview by David Friedman.

‘Inside Job’ ★

Finally saw Inside Job, Charles Ferguson’s documentary on the 2008 global financial crisis. So good, but so angering. Clearly political, but, in a strong sense, utterly bi-partisan: both Republican and Democratic administrations have been equally in thrall to the Wall Street investment banks over the last 30 years.

In addition to serving as an excellent explanation of a complex story, photographically the movie is quite beautiful. Really well-done. Available to rent on iTunes.