Linked List: July 10, 2012

Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Magazines for Sale in ‘Blade Runner’ ★

Retronaut:

Fictional magazine covers from Blade Runner as shown in the Blade Runner bonus feature Signs of the Times: Graphic Design. The covers were created by production illustrator Tom Southwell in 1980-1981 and appeared in the background on a magazine stand in the city streets.

How to Retina-fy Your Website ★

Helpful flowchart from Thomas Fuchs.

The iPhone Era Is Already Longer Than the iPod Era Before It ★

Dan Frommer:

In reality, the iPhone has already been around longer — 2,009 days since Steve Jobs unveiled it on Jan. 9, 2007 — than the 1,904-day period between the iPod announcement on Oct. 23, 2001 and the iPhone Macworld keynote.

Mind blowing.

How Many Devices? ★

Tim Bray:

Does it make sense to carry two, three, or more portable computing devices around? Select from:

Regular-size laptop; say 15"-screen or higher.

Skinny laptop i.e. Air at 13" or even 11".

Big tablet at ~10" as in current iPads.

One-hander tablet, typically at 7".

Handset, 3½"-5".

This iPad Mini stuff has me thinking the same thoughts. Me, I’m an 11-inch MacBook Air man. But I’ll admit it feels a bit silly to pack a bag with both an 11-inch Air and an iPad. Two devices of nearly the same size. But, when traveling, I really do wind up using both of them. (Insert the argument for the Microsoft Surface here.) And I never go anywhere without my iPhone.

So if I’m going to pack an 11-inch Air and an iPhone, and one more device, I can definitely see the case that a smaller tablet makes more sense as the device in the middle. But, an 11-inch Air and a 9.7-inch iPad (3) combined still weigh only 3.82 pounds. The new MacBook Pro with Retina Display — by far the lightest 15-inch notebook Apple has ever made — weighs 4.46 pounds. So maybe it’s the people who carry a big notebook who’ll be most tempted to get a smaller iPad, since they’re already carrying more weight. Decisions, decisions.

Marco Arment on Apple’s Withdrawal From EPEAT ★

Marco Arment:

I think Apple no longer wants to follow the EPEAT recycling guidelines because they think not following them allows product designs that will be more compelling for consumers and bring more value to Apple than their continued participation in EPEAT.

Agreed.

Apple Ceases Registering Products in EPEAT ★

Erica Ogg, writing at GigaOM:

Last month Apple asked that the standards group EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool), which is responsible for rating the recyclability of electronics products drop it from its rankings. The group, which is funded by the EPA, complied. It means that 39 Macs, MacBooks and monitors that were previously EPEAT certified as causing minimal environmental damage and promoting maximum recyclability, no longer have the group’s stamp of approval. In making this move, Apple is signaling that it won’t let future design decisions be governed by those seeking to uphold environmental standards.

It’s not just a label; many government agencies and business will only purchase EPEAT-approved computers.

Apple Cracking Down on Sites Selling Access to iOS Betas ★

Remember that piece Andy Baio wrote about the gray market for iOS beta activations? Looks like Apple’s legal team took notice.

How an iPad Mini Could Define the Small Tablet Market ★

Speaking of The Next Web, Matthew Panzarino makes the case that Apple’s worldwide content-distribution could seal the deal for an iPad Mini to dominate the small tablet market:

Amazon’s Appstore is available in 1 country in the world, the U.S. Its movie streaming service? Also US only. You can get Kindle Edition books in many more countries, so at least there is that.

Google fares slightly better. Its Google Play Store books are available in Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US. Movies are available in those countries as well as Japan, France and Spain. But you can still only purchase movies in the U.S. […]

Notably, Apple’s music, movie, app and book offerings are available in all 63 countries listed here, aside from Romania, which gets no movies, bummer.

Panzarino adds:

The thing is, these deals are very, very hard to make.

I think that explains Eddy Cue’s rise in stature within Apple’s executive ranks.

BlackBerry’s Latest Delay Could Lead to Shareholder Lawsuits ★

Ian Austen, reporting for the NYT:

“They’re going to get sued and they should get sued because I think a closer look at the record is likely to unearth knowing and willful misrepresentation,” said Jean-Louis Gassée, the former president of Apple’s products division and the founder of the software maker Be, who is now a venture capitalist and blogger in Palo Alto, Calif. “When the C.E.O. says there’s nothing wrong with the company as it is, it’s not cautious, it doesn’t make sense.”

This is just going to keep getting uglier and uglier.

FTC Set to Fine Google Record $22.5 Million Over Safari Privacy Breach ★

Jon Russell, reporting for The Next Web:

Google is reportedly set to pay a $22.5 million fine in relation to the scandal that broke out when the company was found to have overridden Safari’s privacy settings, with the potential to track Internet browsing sessions.

The Wall Street Journal cites company officials “briefed on the settlement terms” who have revealed that the firm is in line to pay the highest fine that the FTC has ever imposed on a single company.

Very surprising that Google, of all companies, what with their “Don’t be evil” motto, would receive the largest ever fine imposed by the FTC.

What Would Happen if You Tried to Hit a Baseball Pitched at 90 Percent the Speed of Light? ★

I worry that this might happen with Stephen Strasburg.

Screen Size Comparison of Various Tablets, Including the Purported 7.85-inch iPad ★

Nice work by “Trojan Kitten”.

Donors Arrive at Hamptons Fundraisers With Advice for Mitt Romney ★

Maeve Reston, reporting from the line for a Mitt Romney fundraiser in the Hamptons:

A New York City donor a few cars back, who also would not give her name, said Romney needed to do a better job connecting. “I don’t think the common person is getting it,” she said from the passenger seat of a Range Rover stamped with East Hampton beach permits. “Nobody understands why Obama is hurting them.

“We’ve got the message,” she added. “But my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies — everybody who’s got the right to vote — they don’t understand what’s going on. I just think if you’re lower income — one, you’re not as educated, two, they don’t understand how it works, they don’t understand how the systems work, they don’t understand the impact.”