Linked List: June 16, 2011

Thursday, 16 June 2011

David Pogue:

Truth is, considering how stripped-down the Samsung is, you have to wonder why it’s as big, heavy and expensive as it is. You can find plenty of full-blown Windows laptops with the same price, weight and size.

Maybe the Chromebook concept would fly if it cost $180 instead of $500. Maybe it makes more sense if you rent it (students and corporations can lease Chromebooks for $20 to $30 a month). Maybe it will fly once this country gets free coast-to-coast 4G cellular Internet, which should be just after hell freezes over.

For now, though, you should praise Google for its noble experiment.

Really? Why? Would everyone have praised Apple for its “noble experiment” if the $500 iPad had been too big and heavy, felt like it was worth only $180, and was “a 3.3-pound paperweight” when offline? Fuck that. This is the big leagues. There is no credit for trying.

Capo on Sale ★

Chris Liscio, on winning the ADA for his amazing app Capo:

So, to celebrate my excitement about this win, and to speed up the adoption of Capo on the Mac and iOS, I’ve put both the Mac and iOS versions of Capo on sale. Up until June 30th, you can buy either (or both!) product(s) for 20% off.

If you play music and haven’t checked out Capo, you’re nuts.

Facebook’s Purported Upcoming iPhone Photo Sharing App ★

MG Siegler:

Either way, based on the images in front of us, the best way to think about it appears to be Path meets Instagram meets Color meets (Path’s new side project) With — with a few cool twists.

Sounds great, except for the Path, Color, and Facebook parts.

Did the Bottom Drop Out on Blackberry Average Selling Price? ★

Matt Richman does some back-of-the-envelope math:

Last quarter the ASP of a Blackberry smartphone was $302.26. This quarter it’s $268.56. Things aren’t looking good for RIM right now.

He might be off somewhat, because he had to make some assumptions to work out the math, but I’ll bet he’s in the ballpark. Remember, RIM announced a few quarters ago that they would no longer be reporting ASPs, because, obviously, they knew the numbers weren’t going to be good. They were right.

Update: This piece by Michael Mace pretty much predicted exactly the decline we’re seeing. Might be worth a re-re-link.

RIM Announces Layoffs, 500,000 PlayBooks Shipped ★

Jim Dalrymple:

According to the company’s results, net income for the quarter was $695 million, or $1.33 per share diluted, compared with net income of $934 million, or $1.78 per share diluted, in the prior quarter and net income of $769 million, or $1.38 per share diluted, in the same quarter last year.

Their stock is just getting killed in after-hours trading — down over 15 percent as I type this sentence. Scratch that, 16 percent.

‘Foolproof and Incapable of Error’ ★

Two perfect 2001: A Space Odyssey posters by designer Justin van Genderen.

The iPhone Feature-Checklist Steamroller ★

Marco Arment:

Since the iPhone’s release in 2007, many prospective buyers have declined to choose the iPhone because of a real or perceived shortcoming in its feature checklist.

Every time iOS or the iPhone is updated, Apple picks away at that list.

Wishful Thinking ★

Ki Mae Heussner, for AdWeek:

“I think apps are dead in three to five years,” said Seth Sternberg, CEO and founder of Meebo, which connects people with their friends across the Web.

Noted.

For advertisers, that means the ability to track users as they hop among different programs — from The New York Times “app” to the Facebook “app” and beyond — and then potentially serve up relevant ads.

Sure would be great if advertisers could track whatever I’m doing on my phone.

Acer Halves Tablet Forecast ★

Bloomberg:

Acer Inc., the Taiwanese PC maker battling excess inventory and a share-price slump, more than halved its tablet forecast because of concerns a weaker European economy may damp demand.

Tablet shipments will be about 2.5 million to 3 million units this year, President Jim Wong said in Taipei today. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer JT Wang as recently as May 10 forecast selling 7 million of the devices, which compete with Apple Inc.’s iPad and Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy Tab.

Via Dare Obasanjo, who tweets:

Acer finds out what I’ve always said, there isn’t a tablet market, there’s an iPad market.

Michael Bloomberg Calls for Immediate Immigration Reform ★

Michael Bloomberg:

The Mayor proposed green cards for graduates with advanced degrees in essential fields; a new visa for entrepreneurs with investors ready to invest capital in their job-creating idea; more temporary and permanent visas for highly skilled workers; guest-worker programs to ensure agriculture and other key sectors can thrive; and a revaluation of visa priorities that places a focus on the nation’s economic needs.

Exactly right. (Via Mike Arrington at AOL/TechCrunch.)

Project Spartan ★

MG Siegler claims a scoop:

As we understand it, Project Spartan is the codename for a new platform Facebook is on verge of launching. It’s entirely HTML5-based and the aim is to reach some 100 million users in a key place: mobile. More specifically, the initial target is both surprising and awesome: mobile Safari. […]

Yes, Facebook is about to launch a mobile platform aimed squarely at working on the iPhone (and iPad). But it won’t be distributed through the App Store as a native application, it will be entirely HTML5-based and work in Safari. Why? Because it’s the one area of the device that Facebook will be able to control (or mostly control). […]

Reached for comment on the matter, Facebook said they had “nothing to share”. But we don’t need their confirmation. Why? Because I’ve seen Project Spartan with my own eyes.

Will be interesting to see how this pans out. Not sure what it means if it’s true that their initial target is Mobile Safari specifically, not mobile WebKit in general. My guess is that it’s simply a result of Mobile Safari being so far ahead of the Android WebKit engine.

Some Clouds Have a Golden Lining ★

Nice deconstruction of the iCloud icon by Naoki Takahashi.

Vancouver Riots After Canucks Lose to Bruins in Stanley Cup Finals ★

Hey dummies, you’re supposed to riot when you win. Happy riots are the way to go.

(These two have the right idea, though.)