Linked List: September 21, 2011

Wednesday, 21 September 2011

The Age of Mechanical Reproduction ★

Paul Ford, back in July, a lovely gut-wrenching piece for The Morning News. Read it, you won’t regret it. Then, when you’re done, read today’s postscript.

Hewlett-Packard: Worst Board Ever? ★

Shira Ovide, writing for the WSJ, runs down the track record of HP’s board over the last decade. Every time you think they’ve hit rock bottom, they find a way to make things even worse.

Paczkowski: Apple’s iPhone Event to Be Held on October 4, Tim Cook to Host ★

John Paczkowski called it back on August 1, reporting that the event would be in October, not September, as is usual for Apple’s fall event. Now he’s saying Tuesday 4 October, specifically. Sounds right.

As for what is going to be announced, the bottom line is that Apple has effectively kept everyone in the dark. A5 processor, better camera, duh. But other than that, no one knows shit. The iPhone 4 might have been a complete surprise, too, if not for the lost-in-a-bar prototype.

NYT: Hewlett-Packard Board Meets on Replacing CEO ★

Quentin Hardy, reporting for the NYT:

Less than a year after hiring Léo Apotheker as its chief executive, Hewlett-Packard’s directors were meeting Wednesday to consider replacing him, according to several people with knowledge of the board’s actions. The leading candidate was Meg Whitman, the former chief executive of eBay, who was sought for her ability to run a large technology company, they said.

The surprise move revealed not only the confusion inside the company over its strategy, but also the directors’ difficulties in choosing the leadership of the company.

You don’t say.

‘Good Art Is a Kind of Magic’ ★

Frank Chimero flags a 1996 exchange on writing and art between David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Franzen, and Kurt Vonnegut.

How Netflix Lost Its Glamor and Its Way ★

John Martellaro:

A shrewder group of executives would have realized that streaming would become the future and never have provided it to DVD renters for free in the first place. If a thing has value, and it costs you money to obtain and deliver, you charge for it. Good CEOs know that. Customers who wanted streaming content would have a choice: pay for streaming or forego it. Instead, Netflix gave away something of value, acclimated the customers to an entitlement, then abruptly shocked them with the real costs. Compare that to Apple TV where, if you want something of value, good content without commercials, you pay for it.

Interesting point. Really does seem like Netflix has lost its way.