Linked List: May 31, 2012

Thursday, 31 May 2012

More Good Guesses Regarding Those ‘TBA’ WWDC Sessions ★

Siri APIs, system-wide Facebook integration, inter-application communication — all good guesses from Matthew Panzarino. At least some of these guesses have to be right, no?

A Coincidence, Dustin Curtis Is Sure ★

Shocking.

Fear and Loathing and Windows 8 ★

Epic 8,000-plus-word piece on Windows 8 by Michael Mace. At this length it’s more like a short book than a long article, but it’s packed with thoughtful criticism and praise.

I’ve spent the last several weeks asking myself why Microsoft chose to remove some Windows 7 features and exaggerate the prospects for Windows 8. There are many possible explanations. It could just be arrogance — they believe they can force customers to do what they want. It could be an excess of designer zeal — designers always think people will fall in love with their creations once they try them.

But it could also be insecurity. To me, it feels like Microsoft is in a quiet panic. When Apple says the era of the PC has ended, I think Microsoft may believe it even more than Apple does. Smartphones eat away at messaging, tablets compete for browsing and game-playing, and who knows what will come next. In the new device markets, Microsoft is an also-ran. I think Microsoft feels it must find a way to leverage its waning strength in PCs to make itself relevant in mobile.

Mace’s central premise is that the tech world is underestimating just how big a change Windows 8 is going to be, and how big a bet that is for Microsoft as a company.

His 13-minute video review is worth watching, too.

Steven Levy: ‘All Things D Is Haunted by the Man Who Isn’t Here’ ★

Speaking of Jobs’s appearances at All Things D:

It’s the first D Conference since Steve Jobs died last October.

That’s huge. After all, the D conference was the only non-Apple event where the late Apple CEO deigned to appear. He was on stage for six of the previous nine iterations, including a legendary co-appearance with Bill Gates in 2007. You can even argue that this is the conference that Steve built: A key reason that the then-unfamiliar contender for the hotly competitive conference dollar became a must-attend event was the announcement of Jobs’ presence. True, Bill Gates was a fantastic get — but Jobs was the Holy Grail of speakers. Getting both was like hitting the daily double at long-shot odds. And Jobs’ regular appearances made D special.

So it’s no wonder that his ghost haunts the proceedings.

Pre-Paid iPhone Comes to Cricket Wireless ★

David Goldman, reporting for CNN Money:

Cricket customers will have to pay nearly full price for the device, shelling out $500 for the 16 gigabyte iPhone 4S or $400 for the two-year-old iPhone 4. That compares to a $200 upfront cost on Verizon, Sprint and AT&T for the 16 GB iPhone 4S and $100 for the iPhone 4.

Unlike those subsidized phones, which require two-year contracts, Cricket’s iPhone will be available contract-free for $55 a month, with unlimited talk and text. Cricket also offers “unlimited data,” but the company will start slowing speeds down to a crawl after a user reaches 2.3 GB in a billing cycle.

$400-500 sounds like a lot compared to the subsidized contract prices, but man, $55/month is way less than what you pay at the major carriers.

The EFF: ‘Apple’s Crystal Prison and the Future of Open Platforms’ ★

Micah Lee and Peter Eckersley, writing for the EFF:

Apple’s recent products, especially their mobile iOS devices, are like beautiful crystal prisons, with a wide range of restrictions imposed by the OS, the hardware, and Apple’s contracts with carriers as well as contracts with developers. Only users who can hack or “jailbreak” their devices can escape these limitations.

I support the EFF on the whole, but particularly with regard to the First Amendment. But they’re losing it with this “prison” analogy. The analogy doesn’t work. Prison is an unpleasant (to say the least) place, and prisoners are not allowed to leave. If you own an iPhone or iPad you can sell it or throw it in the trash whenever you want. Everyone sees this.

If you want to go with a room-and-board analogy, I’d say something more like a strict condominium board is more apt than a prison. Or a long-term-stay hotel. And in Hotel Apple, everything is very nice — looks cool, smells good, everything is clean and looks like new. But: you’re not allowed to move the furniture around, and you’re not allowed to bring in outside food that hasn’t been approved by Apple. You can leave whenever you want, but most people enjoy it very much and are happy to stay.

The whole room-and-board analogy is not a good one, so let’s stop stretching it. But my point is that people choose to buy an iPhone. No one chooses to go to prison. And if you happen to be in a situation where you’re “forced” to use an iPhone or iPad (by your school or work, say), it’s highly unlikely that any alternative platform they might have issued you would be any less locked down.

The piece is supposed to be a criticism of Apple’s platform design and policies, but really, what they’re doing is criticizing users for enjoying it.

Collected Videos of Steve Jobs at the D Conference ★

Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher:

So, as a memorial to a great man and in the spirit of sharing a priceless piece of history, we are making all six of these appearances available on iTunes for free, in high-quality video. We thank Apple for its cooperation in making these videos available for all.