Linked List: January 13, 2012

Friday, 13 January 2012

Speaking of DF RSS feed sponsorships, a bit of last-minute rescheduling has left next week’s spot open. The schedule is generally booked weeks or even months in advance, so if you have a product or service you’d like to promote now to DF’s good-looking, wealthy, spendthrift, thrill-seeking audience, get in touch.

Update: Next week’s spot is gone. April and May remain wide open, though, for those of you planning ahead.

Sparrow for Mac ★

My thanks to Sparrow for sponsoring this week’s DF RSS feed. Sparrow is a terrific new e-mail client for Mac OS X. It’s elegant and fast, and improving quickly with frequent updates. Just one example of Sparrow’s cleverness: a new feature that lets you use Dropbox as a storage mechanism for large attachments.

Check it out and see for yourself. Sparrow is available right now on the Mac App Store for just $9.99.

Should Vanity Fair Be a Spelling Vigilante? ★

Perfect.

Steve Ballmer Reboots ★

Nice profile of Steve Ballmer by Ashlee Vance for BusinessWeek:

At present, Microsoft has 14 retail stores and plans to open up to 75 more over the next three years, usually placing them as close as possible to Apple outlets. “Well, the traffic is going to be there, and we’ve got to beat them anyway,” Ballmer says with a shrug.

Not a bad attitude. This attitude exemplifies the best of Ballmer: he’s not afraid to try.

Bloomberg on iPad 3 Details ★

Tim Culpan, Peter Burrows, and Adam Satariano, reporting for Bloomberg:

Apple Inc.’s next iPad, expected to go on sale in March, will sport a high-definition screen, run a faster processor and work with next-generation wireless networks, according to three people familiar with the product.

Assuming this is right, it doesn’t guarantee the next iPhone will support LTE too, but it sure does make it more likely.

Customers Lining Up in China for the iPhone 4S ★

Good thing the iPhone 4S is such a disappointment. Imagine how long the lines would’ve been (and how much worse the egg-throwing and rioting) otherwise.

Update: Samsung responds.

Snapshot of the Computer Market, When You Include the iPad ★

Speaking of market share, this graph from Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore is a real eye-opener. Correlation is not causation, but if you look at this and don’t see that the iPad is disrupting the entire computer industry, you’ve got your head in the sand (or some other hole).

Today’s Edition of ‘Don’t Be Evil’ ★

Stefan Magdalinski, CEO of Mocality, a sort-of crowd-sourced Yellow Pages directory in Kenya:

Since October, Google’s GKBO appears to have been systematically accessing Mocality’s database and attempting to sell their competing product to our business owners. They have been telling untruths about their relationship with us, and about our business practices, in order to do so. As of January 11th, nearly 30% of our database has apparently been contacted.

Furthermore, they now seem to have outsourced this operation from Kenya to India.

Copiously documented and recorded. Just jaw-dropping. Boing Boing has a brief statement from Google. My question: Is Mocality the only company Google has done this to?

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter: Stop Acting Like ‘Idiots and Assholes’ ★

I love this town.

NPD’s Three Top-Selling Smartphones Are iPhones ★

Matt Drance:

What interests me much more is the by-model breakdown of sales according to NPD. There are currently three iPhone models available — iPhone 4S ($199), iPhone 4 ($99), and iPhone 3GS (free) — and they occupy the top three slots in that order. This may not be an entirely new phenomenon, particularly not for Apple products, but I still find it remarkable. It contradicts what most people keep insisting is conventional wisdom: that cheap and/or free models will always steal volume from premium models.

Looking at the other phones on the top 10 list from NPD, this might be true of the phone industry overall. It looks like NPD’s list is dominated by new high-end models. Spots four and five go to the Samsung Galaxy S 4G and Galaxy S II, for example.

And it shows that despite what many Apple observers like to say, Apple does in fact care about market share — at least for now.

It’s not that they don’t care about market share, it’s just that market share is not Apple’s top priority.

Rupert Murdoch on Twitter ★

Speaking of major corporate executives letting it fly on Twitter, here’s Rupert Murdoch earlier today (original punctuation and capitalization in situ):

Many questions and jokes about My Space.simple answer - we screwed up in every way possible, learned lots of valuable expensive lessons.

(His Twitter client: Twitter for iPad.)

Brief Interpolation on the Contrasting Company Cultures of Microsoft and Apple ★

Interesting to see Frank Shaw celebrating (or, if you prefer, gloating) about this deal on Twitter:

Hey Google – we are the 70% #anotherandroidlicense http://bit.ly/w32SIE

It’s hard to imagine an executive from Apple doing that regarding a legal agreement. I point this out not to pass judgment, but merely as an observation. Apple’s brand is cooler, friendlier, more consumer focused. Their executives appear onstage wearing jeans. Microsoft’s brand is more staid, more corporate focused. Their executives appear onstage wearing dress slacks. But in terms of things like using Twitter, Microsoft allows (encourages?) its executives to let it fly.

Actually, now that I think about it, I do want to pass judgment here. I like the way Microsoft allows this. This tweet from Frank Shaw is more honest, and a better reflection of how Microsoft really feels about this, than the PR. It’s an injection of real personality — a human voice rather than the corporate voice.

I understand why Apple is so tight-lipped, but it sure would be fun and revealing if, say, Phil Schiller used Twitter the way Frank Shaw does.

(On the other hand, Apple’s current use of social media like Twitter — to wit, almost not at all — is an accurate honest reflection of the company: secretive, cautious, reserved.)

Microsoft and LG Sign Patent Agreement ★

Microsoft:

“Together with our 10 previous agreements with Android and Chrome OS device manufacturers, including HTC, Samsung and Acer, this agreement with LG means that more than 70 percent of all Android smartphones sold in the U.S. are now receiving coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio,” said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel, Intellectual Property Group at Microsoft.

Put another way: Microsoft continues to profit from Android. The only remaining holdout among major Android handset makers is Motorola, whom Google is attempting to acquire.

Tim Cook on the Working Conditions at Apple Factories ★

Jessica Vascellaro, reporting for the WSJ:

“I have spent a lot of time in factories over my lifetime and we are clearly leading in this area,” said Mr. Cook, previously Apple’s chief operating officer who oversaw its supply chain. “It is like innovating in products. You can focus on things that are barriers or you can focus on scaling the wall or redefining the problem.”

Example:

The report also found 24 facilities conducted pregnancy tests and 56 didn’t have procedures to prevent discrimination against pregnant workers. Apple said that at its direction, the suppliers have stopped discriminatory screenings for medical conditions or pregnancy.

Update: MacRumors has a copy of the company-wide email Tim Cook sent out about this.

Apple Joins Fair Labor Association ★

The Fair Labor Association:

The Fair Labor Association today announced that Apple will join the FLA as a Participating Company, effective immediately. The FLA will independently assess facilities in Apple’s supply chain and report detailed findings on the FLA website. Apple becomes the first technology company to join the Association as a Participating Company.

Apple 2012 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report ★

Apple’s own accounting of its environmental and labor practices — including, for the first time, a full list of the company’s suppliers (PDF).