Linked List: October 16, 2013

Wednesday, 16 October 2013

Gartner Projects PC Sales Down 9 Percent for Q3 ★

Tiernan Ray, writing last week for Barron’s Tech Trader:

Research firm Gartner a short while ago reported that PC shipments in Q3 declined by 8.6% from the prior-year period, to 80.3 million units, marking “the sixth consecutive quarter of declining worldwide shipments.”

One year ago, they were saying PC sales were down because PC buyers were waiting for Windows 8.

Six months ago, they were saying PC sales were down because PC buyers didn’t like Windows 8.

The time has come to simply acknowledge that the PC era peaked two years ago, and has started to irreversibly contract. The only question is how fast.

iPhone 5S Camera Test in Patagonia ★

Austin Mann:

This iPhone 5S beats out the 5 in every camera test and in many ways I prefer it to my DSLR. Sure it has its pros & cons… but for the first time ever, I didn’t bring my Canon 1DX and I didn’t regret it one bit. That’s saying a lot.

‘And Steve Said, “Fuck You Guys, Do Whatever You Want. You’re Responsible.” And He Stormed Out of the Room.’ ★

Chris Fralic:

10 years ago today, Apple did something extraordinary, but it didn’t seem like it at the time. Like the story of a butterfly flapping its wings and eventually causing a tsunami halfway around the world, this had a profound impact on the trajectory and fortunes of Apple over the next decade. It’s something you don’t often hear about, even from fervent Apple watchers, but it was the day “Hell Froze Over.”

On October 16, 2003, Apple launched “the best Windows program ever” — iTunes for Windows.

Square Cash ★

Walt Mossberg reviews Square’s new super-simple cash-by-email service:

Here’s how Square Cash works. Say you want to send $47.12 to your sister. You just compose an email with her email address in the “To” field and, in the “CC” field, you enter “[email protected].” In the subject field, you enter the amount you’re sending — in this case, “$47.12.” You can leave the message body blank, or add a note explaining you’re sending the money and why. Then, you just press Send.

If this is your first time using the service, Square will email you a link to its service, where you’ll be asked to enter your debit-card information. This is required one time only. In seconds, Square verifies the debit card and checks that you have sufficient funds, using existing, routine Visa or MasterCard procedures, and sends an email to your sister. (Square says it never knows how much is in your account, and it encrypts your card number.)

Seems almost too good to be true — not least because there are no fees at all. If I send you $25.00, you get $25.00.

Regarding Supplier Rumors of iPhone Demand ★

Lots of news today about reports from suppliers that Apple has reduced orders for the 5C and increased orders for the 5S. The only sensible conclusion I’ve read regarding this was buried at the bottom of Reuters’s report:

Some analysts caution against correlating the cuts to Apple’s supplier orders with poor sales, because of the complexity and opacity of the company’s supply chain.

“We’ve seen this several times. There are too many moving parts in the supply chain to draw any conclusions,” said Benedict Evans, who covers mobile and digital media at Enders Analysis, a research consultancy in London.

“We don’t know what other suppliers they use or what inventory they already have.”

Or whether it’s as simple as yields being higher than expected. Tim Cook warned against reading into these rumors from Apple’s supply chain early this year, in the face of then-rampant rumors of decreased demand for the iPhone 5. And indeed, iPhone 5 sales were just fine in the two quarters following these supply-chain-rumor predictions of slower sales.

Cupertino Council Approves New Apple Campus ★

Good time for a reminder about just how enormous this building is going to be.

Spitballing Apple’s Event Next Week ★

Good slate of guesses from Nick Heer regarding what we may see from Apple next week.

Om Malik on Angela Ahrendts ★

Good piece by Om Malik:

That said, I think the biggest challenge and perhaps one that could prove to be her Achilles heel has less to do with her capabilities and more to do with how Apple works.

First, she is not Ron Johnson. And she is definitely not John Browett. She is Angela Ahrendts, and she is a rock star.

She hobnobs with rock stars, hangs out with models and graces the covers of magazines. She is the personification of a media celebrity CEO. She is a woman who seems to have it all. She is used to being the center of attention and being able to access reporters and give interviews. She is not the nameless, faceless functionary that Apple loves and makes sure that they remain anonymous.

Anonymous isn’t quite the right word, but it’s true that Apple has a distinctly quiet executive culture.