Linked List: January 25, 2012

Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Nvidia and AMD Blame Hard Drive Shortages for Poor GPU Sales ★

Sean Hollister, The Verge:

Yes, you read that headline right: despite the fact that neither AMD nor Nvidia manufacture a product that requires a magnetic drive, both claim that the hard drive shortages that resulted from the 2011 Thailand flood disaster impacted their ability to sell graphics processors, and ultimately their bottom line. Both AMD CEO Rory Read and Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang had said last quarter that they didn’t expect any impact at all from the floods — “it’s really a non-factor,” said Huang — but Nvidia just told the world that it may have earned roughly $116 million less revenue than the company originally expected due to the hard drive shortage (as well as Tegra 2 decline), and AMD told investors that it saw “a little bit of pressure in terms of hard disk” during its earnings call today.

Sure, that’s the explanation — not that demand for Windows PCs is drying up. I’m surprised Nvidia couldn’t make up the difference with Tegra 2 chipsets that powering all those best sellers on the “non-iPad tablets” list.

Con Artist Starred in Government Sting on Google ★

Thomas Catania, reporting for the WSJ:

The government’s case also contained potentially embarrassing allegations that top Google executives, including co-founder Larry Page, were told about legal problems with the drug ads.

Mr. Page, now Google’s chief executive, knew about the illicit conduct, said Mr. Neronha, the U.S. attorney for Rhode Island who led the multiagency federal task force that conducted the sting. “We simply know from the documents we reviewed and witnesses we interviewed that Larry Page knew what was going on,” he said in an interview after the August settlement.

Everyone who’s surprised, raise your hand.

Crickets.

Zynga Shamelessly Rips Off Indie Game ★

Eli Hodapp, writing for TouchArcade:

It doesn’t take more than a few quick glances at the screenshots and iTunes text to realize that Zynga has firmly focused their copy machines on NimbleBit’s Tiny Tower. It’s really incredibly just how blatant of a clone this is, as Zynga has gone far beyond just copying the premise of the game — they even directly lifted the restocking mechanics, elevator upgrades, UI elements, and more.

Looks like someone’s angling for an acquisition by Samsung.

Apple vs. PC Shipments: ‘PC’ Decline Worse Than Reported ★

Tom Reestman on numbers from Gartner and IDC that show “PC” sales slipping but Mac sales growing:

It makes sense until you realize Apple’s (i.e., Mac) data is included in the same total to which it’s being compared. In other words, Apple’s stellar year is propping up the “PC” (i.e., non-Mac) numbers, making “PC” shipments look better than they really were. If you truly want to know how Apple did in the US on its own against “PCs”, you must subtract it from the latter’s numbers. [...]

The originally reported dismal “PC” growth of -5.9% becomes an even more dismal -8.5% without Apple’s numbers propping it up. That -2.6% delta is not insignificant, it’s over 40% worse than what was reported.

Ding-dong, the Wintel witch is starting to slowly wither away.

Phone Size: Web-Based Phone Size Comparison ★

Gives you a good sense of just how big phones like the Galaxy Nexus and HTC Titan are.

Picture of RIM Co-CEOs Resigning ★

That’s about right.

‘Take Your Medicine’ ★

Speaking of Kottke, I love this Gawker story by Adrian Chen he just linked to, about a freelance hacker who, among other things, sets up prepaid cell phone networks for criminal rings, a la The Wire:

With Martin’s system, each crewmember gets a cell phone that operates using a prepaid SIM card; they also get a two-week plastic pill organizer filled with 14 SIM cards where the pills should be. Each SIM card, loaded with $50 worth of airtime, is attached to a different phone number and stores all contacts, text messages and call histories associated with that number, like a removable hard drive. This makes a new SIM card effectively a new phone. Every morning, each crewmember swaps out his phone’s card for the card in next day’s compartment in the pill organizers. After all 14 cards are used, they start over at the first one.

Each day’s SIM is preprogrammed with the numbers for the other members’ phones for that day:

As long they all swap out their cards every day, the contacts in the phones stay in sync. (They never call anyone but each other on the phones.) Crewmembers will remind each other to “take their medicine,” Martin said.

Filters All the Way Down ★

Jason Kottke, in an interview with Thomas Houston on The Verge:

It’s much easier to find interesting things to read and look at online than it used to be... the web is now largely filters on top of filters on top of filters. So I don’t have to sift through as much stuff as I used to. But also around the time I posted that link, I got much better at blogging. I don’t know if the 10,000 hours thing kicked in or what, but when used to take me 6-8 hours to do now takes me 2-3 hours.

Apple Would Be in Trouble, If Not for All Those Stupid iPad Buyers ★

Rick Munarriz, writing about Apple’s blockbuster quarter for Motley Fool:

Still, would it have hurt these 15.4 million new iPad 2 owners to wait a couple of months for either a better price on their own gadget or at the very least a chance to spend the same amount on something better? I’m not asking iPad buyers to “think different” as much as “think,” period.

Translation: Munarriz’s jackasstic analysis of Apple’s prospects wasn’t wrong because he is stupid, it was because iPad buyers are so stupid.

Ron Johnson’s ‘Think Different’ Moment ★

Ken Seggall:

Ron’s big day starts out with a two-page ad in major papers (above). This is his Think different moment, where he puts forth the philosophy that will guide JCPenney under his leadership.

The details will be revealed during a series of presentations today in New York. But from firsthand experience, I can testify that when Ron talks about what makes a great shopping experience, you start believing.

27,000 Google Chromebooks Headed to U.S. Schools ★

Stephen Shankland, reporting for CNet:

“Students love the tablet. I am not going to hide that from you. They will bow down and kiss your feet,” said Diane Gilbert, an English teacher at Kelly Mill Middle School in Blythewood, S.C., who’s taught with tablets in her classroom. She said that Chromebooks, though, are better when it comes to typing and to letting students publish their work the way she wants it done.

She should be in IT.

High Schools Are Step One of Two ★

McKay Thomas:

Apple, by going high school first, is applying the heat to university textbook publishers and bookstores. They are saying “Fine. If you won’t work with us, then we’ll empower a generation to change your industry for you.”

The Ron Johnson Era at JC Penney Has Begun ★

Reuters:

In a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Penney said “we’re not interested in being the biggest store or the flashiest store. We want to be your favorite store.”

Google’s Broken Promise ★

Mat Honan calls Google’s new privacy policy “the end of ‘Dont be evil’”:

In a privacy policy shift, Google announced today that it will begin tracking users universally across all its services — Gmail, Search, YouTube and more — and sharing data on user activity across all of them. So much for the Google we signed up for.

“Don’t be evil” has been over for a long time.

Too Soon ★

Seth Weintraub:

We received word from a reliable source at Foxconn in China that the iPhone 5, as it is currently being called, is now gearing for production.

No it’s not.

No teardrop-shaped devices, as rumored in the lead up to the iPhone 4S. Samples so far have been symmetrical in thickness (also longer/wider).

Longer and wider? Sounds like bullshit. I can see Apple putting a bigger display on a device of the same size. I can’t see them making a bigger device.

Focus on the User for Safari ★

Remember that “don’t be evil” bookmarklet the other day, for improving Google web search results by eliminating the special treatment of Google Plus pages? Here’s a free Safari extension that applies it automatically.

TechCrunch: ‘33Across Acquires Tynt to Become Social Data Powerhouse’ ★

My suggested headline: “Company I’ve Never Heard of Acquires Copy and Paste Clipboard-Molesting Jerks to Create an Even Bigger Pile of Shit”.

Watching Apple Win the World ★

David Heinemeier Hansson, on the satisfaction of being a long-time Mac user:

Macs were (and are) just better. Not just because they were better built or put together, but because Apple was a better company. A braver company. A company that stood for higher ideals. When compared to the empire of Microsoft and the Dells, Sonys of the time, it simply felt like they were more right.

For years, when Apple was down, they were held up as proof that making the best products didn’t matter. The Mac is better than Windows and look what happened was the refrain. You still hear it today, anytime Apple slips even a notch. Look no further than yesterday’s claim chowder of Henry Blodget. What’s satisfying about Apple’s current success is that it’s proof that you can succeed wildly by focusing first and foremost on making great products. That design does matter.

Living in Denial ★

David Wilson, Writing for Bloomberg two months ago:

Anyone who expects Apple Inc.’s growth to rebound after sales and earnings shortfalls last quarter is “living in denial,” according to David Nelson, chief strategist at Belpointe Asset Management LLC. [...]

“This is no longer a hyper-growth company,” Nelson said yesterday in a telephone interview. Apple’s products are now reaching customers who are less likely to upgrade as newer models are released, he added.