Linked List: June 20, 2014

Friday, 20 June 2014

Rian Johnson on The Talk Show Last Year ★

Worth a re-link, in light of today’s big news:

Very special guest Rian Johnson, writer-director of the hit movie Looper, joins Adam Lisagor and John Gruber for an in-depth discussion of the film and the art of filmmaking.

Don’t miss the link to Johnson’s Looper commentary track.

Rian Johnson to Write and Direct ‘Star Wars’ Episodes 8 and 9 ★

Looper was so smart and fun — this is great news for the franchise. Johnson’s only public statement so far is this tweet, which is just perfect.

LaunchBar 6 ★

Great update to one of my very favorite Mac apps. Lots of new stuff, including a beautiful new appearance. My favorite new feature is the as-you-type web search results from Google, DuckDuckGo, and more.

WSJ: ‘Apple Plans Multiple Designs for Smartwatch’ ★

Eva Dou and Lorraine Luk, reporting for the WSJ:

Apple Inc. is planning multiple versions of a smartwatch likely to be launched in the fall, people familiar with the matter said, as the company tries to counter wearable devices from Google Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and others.

Really? Apple is “trying to counter” Google Glass and the Galaxy Gear? OK.

The new wrist device from Apple will incorporate more than 10 sensors including ones to track health and fitness, these people said. Apple aims to address an overarching criticism of existing smartwatches that they don’t provide functions significantly different from that of a smartphone, said a person familiar with the matter. […]

Apple’s smartwatch could launch as early as October with production to begin within two to three months at Quanta Computer Inc., a Taiwanese manufacturer that has long been Apple’s supplier for Mac computers, said the people familiar with the matter. Quanta will begin some trial runs next month.

The smartwatch will likely come in multiple screen sizes, said one person familiar with the matter. Another person at a component supplier said shipments of the smartwatches are estimated to total between 10 million and 15 million units by the end of this year. The exact specifications of Apple’s smartwatch are still being finalized before mass production starts, said people familiar with the matter.

Interesting, but it sounds to me like all of this information comes from the supply chain and manufacturing sources. None of these sources told the Journal anything that these devices actually, you know, do, other than “track health and fitness”. This is all really vague, other than the “multiple sizes” thing. Then the whole thing devolves into made-up speculation from “analysts”.

Amazon’s Whale Strategy ★

Ben Thompson:

The question, though, is if the Fire phone is perfect for Amazon’s customers. Just because someone loves Amazon doesn’t mean their entire life is about buying things. And while it’s true that Amazon has gone to great lengths to make the Fire Phone compelling as a phone, it’s still an inferior offering as compared to a high-end Android phone or especially an iPhone when it comes to things like apps. In this respect it’s fair to compare the Fire Phone to Facebook Home and the HTC First: just because people love Facebook didn’t mean they wanted Facebook to dominate their phone, and by extension, their lives.

Moreover, I was troubled by the faint sense of hubris in yesterday’s presentation; it was 45 minutes too long and included far too much self-congratulation and navel-gazing. We get that the design process for Dynamic Perspective was hard, but that doesn’t mean we care. More broadly, Amazon is a horizontal company: they ought to be serving everyone. Having their own phone introduces the wrong sort of incentives when it comes to Amazon’s efforts on Android and the iPhone; it’s the same danger I see in Microsoft focusing on both services and devices.

The Delighter ★

Penny Arcade on the Fire Phone.