Linked List: February 10, 2014

Monday, 10 February 2014

Barnes and Noble Fired Its Entire Nook Hardware Engineering Staff ★

Jay Yarow, Business Insider:

Barnes & Noble laid off its Nook hardware engineers, according to a source that tipped Business Insider.

The engineers were let go last Thursday, according to our source. This follows Barnes & Noble dismissing the VP of Hardware, Bill Saperstein in January.

The Nook was its answer to the Amazon’s Kindle. Barnes & Noble tried making a Nook e-reader, and a Nook tablet that competed with the iPad, and the Kindle Fire. It was a bold, and aggressive attempt to fend off the rise of Internet companies that were destroying booksellers.

Looks like it’s time for the Justice Department to go after Apple again.

How Big Is the iTunes Store? ★

Horace Dediu:

On a yearly basis iTunes/Software/Services is nearly half of Google’s core business and growing slightly faster.

The iTunes “empire” of content and services would be ranked as number 130 in the Fortune 500 ranking of companies (slightly below Alcoa and above Eli Lilly).

Windows 8 Claim Chowder ★

Zach Epstein, writing for BGR back in September 2011: “Sorry Apple, Windows 8 Ushers in the Post-Post-PC Era”:

Microsoft executives took to the stage at the annual BUILD developer conference on Tuesday to give the world its first real look at the future of the Windows operating system. The reception, as you’ve likely read by now, has been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, Apple bloggers were apparently so flustered by the platform that they resorted to bombarding Twitter with jokes about cooling fans and Silverlight instead of stopping for a moment to realize that Microsoft is showing us the future of computing.

Apple paved the way but Microsoft will get there first with Windows 8.

(Via John Moltz.)

‘Ken Turns Effect’ ★

New episode of my podcast, The Talk Show, featuring special guest MG Siegler. We discuss Microsoft’s future under new CEO Satya Nadella, its past under Steve Ballmer, the design of Facebook’s new Paper app for the iPhone, and more.

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WSJ: ‘Nokia Prepares to Release Android Phone Ahead of Sale to Microsoft’ ★

Sven Grundberg and Shira Ovide, reporting for the WSJ:

Nokia Corp. plans to release this month a smartphone that runs a version of Google Inc.’s Android mobile software, according to people familiar with the matter, as it concludes the sale of its handset business to Microsoft Corp.

Nokia engineers had been developing the Android phone when Microsoft was conducting due diligence on its €5.4 billion ($7.4 billion) deal to buy the Nokia handset business and license the company’s patents. The Android phone was aimed at emerging market customers, and has been tailored in a way that won’t promote some of the key Google-developed features that a more traditional Android-powered phone might, these people said.

Interesting to see what this turns out to be.

Paul Thurrott on Windows 8 ★

Simply scathing:

This is not open to debate, is not part of some cute imaginary world where everyone’s opinion is equally valid or whatever. Windows 8 is a disaster. Period.

While some Windows backers took a wait-and-see approach and openly criticized me for being honest about this, I had found out from internal sources immediately that the product was doomed from the get-go, feared and ignored by customers, partners and other groups in Microsoft alike. Windows 8 was such a disaster that Steven Sinofsky was ejected from the company and his team of lieutenants was removed from Windows in a cyclone of change that triggered a reorganization of the entire company. Even Sinofsky’s benefactor, Microsoft’s then-CEO Steve Ballmer, was removed from office. Why did all this happen? Because together, these people set the company and Windows back by years and have perhaps destroyed what was once the most successful software franchise of all time.

Threes ★

Speaking of iPhone games, a second one caught my attention this weekend: Threes. It’s a brilliant little math puzzle game, lots of fun, very clever, and featuring beautiful visual and sound design. (Loren Brichter: “This game is fantastic.”) Also, no in-app-purchase shenanigans. You pay $2 and you get a great game, that’s all.

Writing at Polygon, Ben Kuchera has the story of how the game was designed:

“It looks like the entire time we were striving for simplicity and minimalism, and that’s not true at all,” Wohlwend said. “That’s just where we ended up going. The game resisted complexity because it was such a small game, it was four by four grid, and numbers, and just the four directions. It always wanted to be simple.”

Flappy Bird ★

I got caught up in the whole Flappy Bird thing over the weekend. I spend very little time playing games on my iPhone; Letterpress is the only game in recent memory that held my attention. But I spent an hour or so (total) on Flappy Bird over the past few days. I can’t see how anyone would deny that the game is ingenious — absurdly simple, looks easy, but is in fact devilishly difficult.

I really enjoyed and agree with this piece by Stephen Totilo for Kotaku. Something that should have been nothing but fun turned out sad.

Star Wars Reimagined as a John Hughes-ian ’80s High School Movie ★

Brilliantly imagined by Denis Medri; my only quibble is that Vader as a bully loses the whole “I am your father” angle.

Rate Your Experience ★

Penny Arcade, on “rate this app” chicanery.