Linked List: April 18, 2011

Monday, 18 April 2011

Clayton Morris:

Let’s be clear, no one doubts that BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion can build a killer business tablet — but for some reason the company hasn’t.

I’ve been using the PlayBook for a few days now and found a laundry list of shortcomings: no email, no calendar, no contacts, no 3G cellular service, very few apps. The list goes on. Sure you can get some of these features if you pair it with your existing BlackBerry phone, but come on — this stuff should be baked right in.

Let me go on the record: I doubt that RIM can build a killer business tablet.

Hardware: sure. OS, now that they own QNX? Sure. But RIM has no track record of creating, maintaining, and growing a great application platform, and neither does QNX. Their various solutions for the PlayBook are Air apps (an Adobe platform), HTML5 web apps (an open platform), and emulated Android apps (a Google platform). Mark my words: a killer tablet (“business” or otherwise) needs killer native apps. I don’t think RIM understands that, because if they did, they wouldn’t have released this turd to the public.

A Bit More on Apple’s Copycat Suit Against Samsung ★

Ina Fried reports:

“It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging,” an Apple representative told Mobilized. “This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

That their products are shameless copies is hard to deny. But has anyone ever won a lawsuit based on copying stuff like this?

Apple Sues Samsung Over Galaxy Android Devices ★

Ian Sherr, reporting for the WSJ:

The lawsuit, filed on April 15 in the Northern District of California, alleged that Samsung’s smartphones, such as the “Galaxy S 4G,” “Epic 4G,” “Nexus S” and its “Galaxy Tab” touchscreen tablet, violated Apple’s intellectual property.

“Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smart phone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple’s technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products,” the lawsuit said.

The Nexus S, of course, is a “pure Google” Android device, with no software customization by Samsung.

(Google redirect link to poke through the WSJ paywall.)

The Apple TV Set ★

Adam Lisagor:

No, what you’ve had in your living room all your life—that’s just a TV set. A dumb hunk of plastic and glass, a front-end for your rat’s nest of cables, waiting to be changed to channel 3 and left there to rot. This new thing from Apple? That’s a TV.

Good way of looking at it. How could Apple make a TV set people want to buy which has just one cable sticking out the back: a power cord? Figure out an answer to that and maybe you have something.

Marco Arment on Apple and the HDTV Market ★

He doesn’t think Apple will make one:

It causes practical problems, too: TVs usually require large warehouses and very large retail display areas, which Apple’s retail stores aren’t ideal for. And large TVs usually require in-home service, which Apple doesn’t offer for any other products.

They could get over those problems. They’re inconvenient and limiting, but not fatal.

A bigger problem is that Apple prefers to offer fully integrated products, but a modern TV is just one component in a mess of electronics and service providers, most of which suck.

I used to think Apple might get into this market — selling big high-quality TVs with built-in Apple TV functionality — based on the following logic: “Why settle for selling a $299 box instead of a $2000 TV set?” Now, of course, Apple TV is a $99 box. I agree with Marco — I don’t think Apple is going to get into the TV set business. “There’s money to be made” just isn’t reason enough.

The fundamental question Apple always wants an answer for before entering a new market is “Why would someone buy this instead of what’s already out there?” I don’t think there’s a good answer for that if an Apple-branded HDTV is just a big screen with built-in Apple TV functionality.

Lithium Network, Server, and Storage Monitoring ★

My thanks to Lithium for sponsoring last week’s DF RSS feed. Lithium makes gorgeous, well-designed server monitoring software, with native clients for the Mac, iPhone, iPad and a good web interface, too. If you’re an IT professional who needs SNMP monitoring, check it out.

They’ll Die Out Eventually ★

Uli Kusterer:

When I got my first Mac, it came with the Macintosh Intro, a disk that held a little tutorial explaining how to use various parts of the Macintosh. Among the topics covered was what a mouse is and how to use it (and even that you can lift it off the table and put it down in another spot to have more space to move in a particular direction).

As he said during his AllThingsD interview with Walt Mossberg, when someone suggested including a touch-typing tutorial in this intro as well, since many people did not know how to use a keyboard, Steve Jobs simply said not to bother as “death will take care of that”.

iPad 2 Still Hard to Buy ★

Nick Bilton:

On Wednesday morning I stopped by the SoHo Apple store in New York City to purchase an iPad for a family member. As I had anticipated, a store clerk said they were out of stock and recommended that I check back the following morning. When I asked what time I should arrive, the clerk hesitated, looked around as if about to tell me a secret and said: “Well, do you see that group of people outside? They’re already here waiting for tomorrow’s shipment of iPads.”

Saying Apple Will Never Do Something: Always Dangerous ★

Nice buffet of claim chowder, collected by Harry McCracken.

The Science of Why We Don’t Believe Science ★

Chris Mooney on why cold hard facts and scientific evidence seldom change the minds of those who already hold a strong opinion. (E.g., climate-change deniers, vaccines-cause-autism believers.) Fascinating but utterly depressing.

Josh Topolsky’s Advice to HP ★

As the horrendous reviews of the BlackBerry PlayBook rolled in last week, the thought occurred to me that HP is now our only hope for a high-quality rival to the iPad.