Linked List: November 28, 2011

Monday, 28 November 2011

Fun story by Mike Swanson, on how he left his job as a developer evangelist at Microsoft to be a full-time iOS app developer.

It’s Time ★

Splendid two-minute short film about marriage.

Dumb Analyst of the Day: Roxy Wong ★

Jonathan Standing and Clare Jim, reporting for Reuters on HTC’s woes:

But investors are concerned that HTC, one of few Taiwanese firms with a global brand, is not changing radically enough.

“Its industrial design hasn’t changed for almost two years. Unless it launches a really different phone, it’s hard to sell the product at a premium price,” said Roxy Wong, analyst at Mirae Asset Management in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, here in the real world, the two best-selling smartphones in September 2011 were the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS — phones that debuted in June 2010 and June 2009, respectively. Keep in mind that the 3GS features an industrial design that’s almost completely unchanged since the iPhone 3G in June 2008, and that Apple is taking in a majority share of the industry’s profits. Oh, and Apple’s newest best-selling phone, the 4S? It shares the industrial design of the 17-month-old iPhone 4.

The problem with HTC is not that the industrial design of their phones isn’t new enough. It’s that their phones aren’t good enough. What Apple shows is that if a phone is actually great, it will sell for years.

‘A Tech Blog’ ★

From a Fortune magazine cover story by Miguel Helft and Jessi Hempel:

Consider this: In October a tech blog reported that several top Google officials, including Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman, had not even set up their own accounts on Google+. A few days later Schmidt’s account quietly appeared on the site.

That would be Michael DeGusta, who reported this on his weblog The Understatement in early October. Fortune doesn’t credit DeGusta by name, refers to his website only as “a tech blog”, and doesn’t even have the courtesy to include a link. Shameless.

Henceforth, Fortune is “some business magazine”.

WSJ: Sharp to Supply LCD Panels to Apple for Next iPad ★

Juro Osawa, reporting for the WSJ:

Apple Inc. is adding Sharp Corp. as a maker of screens used in the next-generation iPad, people familiar with the situation said Thursday, as the U.S. consumer electronics company moves to diversify component suppliers for its products.

One of the people familiar with the matter said Apple’s next iPad is expected to launch next year, and Sharp’s Kameyama No. 2 plant in central Japan will manufacture LCD panels for the device.

Samsung’s loss is Sharp’s gain. As for the iPad 3, it’s double-resolution 2048 × 1536 or bust.

The Readable Future ★

Brent Simmons:

And people don’t get fired for measuring things. People don’t often get fired for continuing to do things the same way they’ve always been done. But people do get fired for taking risks that don’t pan out.

This is why you need people in charge who, first and foremost, love the product.

Om Malik on 10 Years of Blogging ★

Good advice from Om Malik:

Being authentic in your thoughts and voice is the only way to survive the test of time.

Fliers Still Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why ★

Nick Bilton:

I’m not arguing that passengers should be allowed to make phone calls while the plane zooms up into the sky. But, why can’t I read my Kindle or iPad during takeoff and landing? E-readers and cellphones can be easily put into “Airplane Mode” which disables the device’s radio signals.

A Look at Apple’s Spot-the-Shopper Technology ★

Brian X. Chen on the internal app used by Apple Store employees to locate customers who’ve purchased items using the Apple Store app on their iPhone.

Quote of the Day ★

Isaac Asimov:

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge”.