Linked List: April 17, 2013

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Moltz on Those Nexus Tablet Sales Numbers ★

John Moltz, regarding the fact that his own 10-month-old Nexus 7 suffers from audio interference and a battery that doesn’t hold much of a charge any more:

It shouldn’t be that surprising that a $200 device isn’t built all that well. What should be surprising is analysts and pundits who automatically assume a low price means a winner.

One thing we seldom get are reviews of products after they’ve been used for an extensive period of time, a year or even further out. Nearly all of the product reviews we read (and the ones I usually write, personally — I’m not pointing fingers) are about devices that are only a week or two old.

Nexus Tablet Sales: Not Many ★

Benedict Evans:

I’ve modeled active Android users (excluding China) based on interpolating between Google’s announcements: my model says there were 680m Android users at the end of March. Assuming equal Play use across the base (a big assumption), that would imply:

6.8m Nexus 7s in use (consistent with the Asus number)

680k Nexus 10s in use

Ouch.

A Senate in the Gun Lobby’s Grip ★

Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords:

Speaking is physically difficult for me. But my feelings are clear: I’m furious.

The 56 senators who voted in favor of the new legislation represent 76 percent of the nation’s population; yet the 44 who voted against it succeeded in blocking it, as it needed 60 votes to break a filibuster.

‘As One Does When in Cuba With a Cold Beverage and Camera in Hand’ ★

As ever, great photos from James Duncan Davidson.

‘88 Acres: How Microsoft Quietly Built the City of the Future’ ★

Both an interesting story on the design and evolution of Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters, and a great use of HTML5 design elements.

Strength in the Face of Evil ★

My friend and Bostonian Paul Kafasis:

Just as they must have been more than two centuries past, people today are frightened and concerned. But now, just as it was 238 years ago, Boston is defiant.

The Default Narrative ★

Really enjoyed this piece by Watts Martin:

“Apple is Big Brother” has become a default narrative about the company. Apple stands for closed systems, proprietary everything, and a level of control over the way their customers use their products that would send us all fleeing for the hills if we had any common sense.

At first glance this is a baffling take. If there’s something I could do with OS X 10.6 that I can’t do with OS X 10.8, I haven’t found it yet. My software all still works. The Unix shell is still there. AppleScript is still there. I can still use utilities like LaunchBar and Keyboard Maestro that are so absurdly powerful that I giggle like a Japanese schoolgirl when some yoyo spouts off with the old “Macs are just toys” trope.