Linked List: January 16, 2012

Monday, 16 January 2012

Mark Damon Hughes:

This is why Windows Phone 7 is screwed. It needs apps. And to get apps, it has to compete for developer time and money with platforms that make money, either directly or by advertising. It has nothing to do with the carrier system. It has nothing to do with marketing. You have to convince developers to: Install Windows (which they won’t do), learn the Windows dev tools (which they won’t do), and then release on the Windows store, where it won’t make any money, because there’s no customers.

Put another way, the good news for Windows Phone 7 is that a platform doesn’t need the most apps merely to compete. The bad news is that a platform does need enough good apps and enough good developers — and ideally, some excellent titles exclusive to the platform — and Windows Phone doesn’t seem to have any of those things.

I also suspect, like Hughes, that it’s a big problem for Microsoft that developers need to use Windows to develop for Windows Phone. Sure, a majority of all “programmers” in the world may well still be using Windows, but because of iOS, an overwhelming majority of the best mobile app programmers in the world are on Mac OS X.

No, App Store Quantity Does Not Equal Success ★

Tom Warren, writing for The Verge:

A number of critics have highlighted flaws in Microsoft’s mobile strategy, some pointing to the number of apps available. Robert Scoble has been the most vocal recently, arguing that Windows Phone is missing 450,000 apps, and developers aren’t interested in focusing their resources on building apps for the platform. Business Insider responded and pointed to Windows Phone’s 50,000 apps, compared to iOS’ 500,000 and Android’s 400,000, noting that Windows Phone reached the 50K milestone faster than iOS and Android. The numbers game is irrelevant for the majority of smartphone users, they simply want “cool” apps, and ones that their friends have — something that Windows Phone lacks right now.

I’ve said this several times before, but quantity-of-apps is a terrible primary metric for the appeal of a platform. If the quantity of app titles were all that mattered, we’d all be using Windows, not Mac OS X, right? Having the most apps matters, but having the best apps matters too. The sweet spot for a platform is to do well in both regards.

Think about something like the Nintendo DS. If quantity were all that mattered, no one would buy the DS instead of something like the iPod Touch. The DS is popular not because of the quantity of titles, but because of the quality of the titles it does have.

Ars: Apple to Announce Authoring Tools for Textbook/E-Book Publishing ★

Chris Foresman has a nice scoop at Ars:

Apple is slated to announce the fruits of its labor on improving the use of technology in education at its special media event on Thursday, January 19. While speculation has so far centered on digital textbooks, sources close to the matter have confirmed to Ars that Apple will announce tools to help create interactive e-books — the “GarageBand for e-books,” so to speak — and expand its current platform to distribute them to iPhone and iPad users.

Never underestimate the importance of good authoring tools. A good “GarageBand for e-books” could do for the iBooks platform what Xcode and the Cocoa Touch frameworks have done for the App Store.

Waterproof Smartphone Technology ★

Sensitivity to moisture is a glaring shortcoming of today’s gadgetry. I have no idea whether this company’s technology is the real deal, but it’s inevitable that sooner or later waterproofing will become de rigueur.

TechCrunch Refugees ★

Paul Carr, writing for the just-launched PandoDaily, which is to TechCrunch as The Verge is to Engadget:

In any case, the launch of PandoDaily (are we calling it just ‘Pando’ yet? ‘PD?’) is proof of the old maxim that everything happens for a reason. Without all the unpleasantness, how else could I have the unmitigated pleasure of working with my old friends Sarah, Mike and MG — plus a bunch of new ones — on a splendid new enterprise, free from the yoke of corporate ownership?

Gee, that’s a real head-scratcher. Wait, I’ve got it: how about if Mike Arrington had never sold TechCrunch to AOL in the first place?

Samsung to Merge Bada With Intel-Backed Tizen ★

Reuters:

Samsung Electronics Co. said on Tuesday it planned to merge its ‘Bada’ mobile software with a platform backed by chipmaker Intel Corp in its latest push to diversify away from Google’s Android. […]

In September two Linux software groups, one backed by Samsung, and another by Intel, agreed to jointly develop Tizen, a new operating system for cellphones and other devices, by merging their LiMo and Meego platforms in a bid to gain wider industry and consumer support. “We have an effort that will merge Bada and Tizen,” a Samsung spokesman confirmed senior vice president Kang Tae-jin as telling Forbes magazine in an interview last week.

Sure, that’ll work. Just take them and smoosh them together. It’s easy to merge operating systems.

Making Love to WebKit ★

Steven Wittens describes the technology and thinking behind his new site design, which features a 3D header and no images. WebKit only for now, but it works on the iPad, too. Alas, as a consequence of the way he built it, you lose momentum scrolling. Worth trying it out on the iPad just to see how essential momentum scrolling is to the touch experience.

(Via Andy Baio.)

The President’s Challenge ★

Nat Torkington on President Obama’s request for the tech community to find some other anti-piracy technology as an alternative to SOPA:

Take the truck, the boat, the helicopter, that we’ve sent you. Don’t wait for the time machine, because we’re never going to invent something that returns you to 1965 when copying was hard and you could treat the customer’s convenience with contempt.

(Via Tim Bray.)

Lessons From the Worst Project Matt Haughey Ever Funded on Kickstarter ★

Matt Haughey:

Again, I mention this entire project not to single out the creators as bad people but instead to show any and all past/current/future Kickstarter backers what not to do. When you are designing a product for Kickstarter and you show prototypes, backers will assume you have worked all the bugs out first. When things start to go wrong, it doesn’t help to discount the comments or question the motivation of backers giving critical feedback.

As Glenn Fleishman comments, Haughey’s story serves to demonstrate how well Kickstarter usually works.

Android’s Broken Software Buttons ★

Speaking of reviews of Android from the perspective of expert users accustomed to other OSes, Alan Zeino has a terrifically-detailed scathing critique of Ice Cream Sandwich:

I’ve spent seven days with my Galaxy Nexus and I still find it hard to believe that Google ships a mobile operating system with such a broken navigation system, centered around that one back button. Let’s begin with the downright obscene. The back button never, ever tells you if you’ve gone ‘back’ as far as you can go. Tap on that button ad infinitum until every screen/app in the device’s history disappears and you’ll find yourself at the home screen. But the back button will not dim, nor will it disable. You can tap on it to your heart’s content, and you won’t move (though your device will vibrate and chime). The same applies for the home button, which surprisingly doesn’t dim when you’re already ‘home’ either.

This to me is the biggest mystery regarding Ice Cream Sandwich and the Galaxy Nexus. Why replace the system hardware buttons with touchscreen software buttons but not make the new software buttons contextually aware or contextually indicative in any way? They’ve replaced dumb hardware buttons with equally dumb software buttons. It’s endlessly frustrating for me as an iPhone user accustomed to on-screen back buttons that tell me exactly where I’ll be going back to.

Charlie Kindel Reviews the Samsung Galaxy S II ★

Speaking of Charlie Kindel, I’ve been meaning to link to his review last month of the Samsung Galaxy S II. He’s approaching from the perspective of a Windows Phone user, and it’s interesting — but perhaps not surprising — how many of his severe complaints mirror those of iPhone users trying Android.

You might say it’s unfair to review a phone running Android 2.3, but that’s the version of Android running on the overwhelming majority of Android phones available for sale today. The truth is that Ice Cream Sandwich — which I believe is the first truly significant improvement to Android since it debuted — is effectively a preview of next year’s Android for the mass market.

Protect IP Act Breaks the Internet ★

Terrific piece by Kirby Ferguson — explains clearly and succinctly why the proposed PIPA legislation will not only fail to achieve its intended purpose, but will outright harm the entire Internet.

Fragmentation Is Not the End of Android ★

Astute analysis from former Windows Phone manager Charlie Kindel. Can’t really think of any part of it I disagree with.

Look Around You: Computer Games ★

Stick with it for a minute or two, trust me.

(Thanks to my pal Daniel Bogan for the link.)

What if We Count the iPad as a Computer? ★

Remember that spectacular “What if we count the iPad as a computer?” market share graph from a Deutsche Bank analyst last week? Sebastian Peitsch identified some serious problems with the methodology used to create it, and did the hard work to do this graph correctly.

The result is far less spectacular, but very impressive nonetheless.

Could Bing Seriously Challenge Google? ★

Dave Winer, on the increased clutter in Google search results:

I wonder if Microsoft has ever done a study to see how many people switched from Windows to Mac because of all the shovelware and malware that was inundating Windows? I bet it was a lot of people. I promise you that’s why I switched. I don’t think the Mac is any easier to use. Except there are no viruses. My Windows machine was impossible to use because of all the crap.

Google is now in the same place. Enough is enough. Is anyone going to step up and take advantage of their mistake?

I’ve recently been using DuckDuckGo for many web searches, and I’ve been pleased with the accuracy and presentation of the results. My biggest beef is that DuckDuckGo feels a little slow compared to Google (whose web search results are famously optimized to return as close to instantaneously as is technically possible).

Is Too Much Plus a Minus for Google? ★

Stephen Levy:

Search, in short, should appear to be like Caesar’s wife, above reproach. When using its algorithmic wizardry to deeply integrate social information into its search experience, it behooves Google to avoid even a whiff of bias. With SPYW, though, the odor is unmistakable. No matter how you cut it, the search engine now increases the value of participating in Google+. It may be Google’s right to do this. But it also may turn off a lot of users. And it also provides ammo for Google’s detractors, including those in Washington.

I see two risks in this regard. First, the trust issue that Levy outlines above. Second, visually, their results now look more cluttered.