Linked List: August 24, 2011

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

‘That Day Has Come’ – Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO ★

Steve Jobs, elegant and to the point, as always:

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

After releasing his letter, Apple announced that Jobs has indeed been elected chairman, and that Tim Cook has already been named CEO.

Damn.

McAfee: Android Malware Problem Getting Worse ★

Rue Liu, Slashgear:

According to a new quarterly report from McAfee, Android has now soared to the top as the most targeted platform for malware. In only three months time, Android has gone from third most attacked platform to the first. Another recent report from Lookout claimed a similar upward climb in Android malware infected apps. [...]

Malware incidences on Apple’s iOS have been so negligible that it has not made the list.

Remember the old argument about Apple platforms not getting malware only because they weren’t popular enough to attract attention?

WebKit Turns Ten ★

Matt Drance:

Today is the tenth anniversary of Apple’s open-source WebKit codebase, which powers nearly every relevant web browser and engine used today, including Safari, Chrome, and even WebOS itself.

While the Cat’s Away, the Mice Shall Play ★

Merlin Mann’s guest co-host on this week’s Back to Work: Jonathan Coulton. Last week’s Rob Corddry. Not bad.

U.S. Department of Justice: Google Forfeits $500 Million Generated by Online Ads and Prescription Drug Sales by Canadian Online Pharmacies ★

Don’t be evil.

9/11 Memorial App to Be iPad-Exclusive ★

Interesting perspective:

“The iPad is the single fastest selling consumer device in the history of consumer electronics,” he said. “There are 30 million now on the market. What’s more limited? A beautiful glossy photo book that sits in Barnes & Noble, or something that’s free and on a device that lots of people have?”

Android Crapware ★

Mike Jennings, writing at PC Pro:

Not so with smartphones. On Friday, I eased the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro from its box, turned it on, and was greeted with a message urging me to set up McAfee WaveSecure before I’d even set up the phone with my Google account.

Delving into the app drawer revealed more unwanted software, with a host of apps neatly summarising Android’s perennial fragmentation issues: alongside the official Market, the Xperia Mini Pro comes loaded with four different app stores. There’s also other McAfee apps installed as well as a Popcap Games trial and a selection of media management tools.

Jennings says “smartphones”, and he compares their crapware situation to that of “laptops”, but he’s really only talking about one type of smartphone (Android), and one type of laptop (Windows).

The funny thing is, Microsoft learned from Windows being open to this sort of nickel-and-diming from hardware makers — to my knowledge at least, Windows Phone 7 devices don’t have crapware. Just Android.

Update: Several readers emailed to say that some Windows Phone phones (ugh) do come with pre-installed crapware. We just don’t hear much about it because they aren’t selling many of them — and, notably, on Windows Phone these third-party apps are user delete-able.