Linked List: July 2, 2014

Wednesday, 2 July 2014

75th Anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s Retirement Speech ★

75 years ago, Lou Gehrig — a man who played in 2,130 consecutive games, won six World Series titles, batted a career .340/.447/.632 (and batted .361/.477/.731 in his 34 World Series games) — was only 36 years old and dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

He stood in front of over 61,000 fans in Yankee Stadium and delivered this speech.

From the DF Archive: ‘Why Windows 8 Is Fundamentally Flawed as a Response to the iPad’ ★

Yours truly, three years ago:

Apple’s radical notion is that touchscreen personal computers should make severely different tradeoffs than traditional computers — and that you can’t design one system that does it all. Windows 8 is trying to have it all, and I don’t think that can be done. You can’t make something conceptually lightweight if it’s carrying 25 years of Windows baggage.

I hate* to say I told you so.

* Where by “hate” I mean “do so very much love”.

Windows ‘Threshold’ to Refocus on Desktop Users ★

John Moltz:

I know we’ve been over this again and again, but in addition to the conceptual flaw of trying to make one operating system for desktop and mobile, there’s a marketing problem as well. Apple was able to make iOS palatable to its existing customers (as well as others) by detaching it from OS X. If Apple had also forced its desktop operating system clients to a Springboard UI, everyone would still be on Tiger.

‘This Isn’t Just Adding Insult to Injury; It’s Adding Injury to Injury’ ★

Nick Summers, writing for Businessweek on Whitney Wolfe’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Tinder:

This conduct would be abhorrent directed at anyone. What gives these allegations even greater sting is Wolfe’s contention that she was not just any employee but a Tinder co-founder — and was stripped of the designation as a result of the treatment she endured. This isn’t just adding insult to injury; it’s adding injury to injury, since a co-founder of a hot startup can be expected to attract better career opportunities than someone who was a mere early employee.

Was Whitney Wolfe a co-founder of Tinder? I think the answer exposes a different, quieter, but no less punishing form of the sexism that is pervasive in the startup world.

Later:

None of the many men I spoke to had mentioned her name. In my notes is a single reference to “Whitney” — from a preliminary phone call with Rosette Pambakian, Tinder’s PR rep, who described her as one of five company co-founders. (Take note, Wolfe and IAC legal teams.)

Don’t miss the second and third pages of Summers’s story, which contain screenshots of blatantly racist and sexist posts from Justin Mateen’s now-private Instagram account.

Update: Look at the timeline, and consider just how long this situation was tolerated within Tinder. Tinder is not unique.

Tinder Co-Founder Files Sexual Harassment Lawsuit ★

Mary Emily O’Hara, reporting for Vice News:

At one point, Whitney Wolfe was promoted as Tinder’s “inventor” and co-founder in fashion magazines like Harper’s Bazaar. She named the app, and her marketing savvy was often cited as the reason it found an audience among young women. Her role in the company was widely touted as an exception to male-dominated startup culture.

According to the lawsuit, [Justin] Mateen told Wolfe, who was 24 years old at the time, that “he was taking away her ‘Co-Founder’ title because having a young female co-founder ‘makes the company seem like a joke’ and ‘devalues’ the company.” Mateen had also been designated a co-founder of the company despite joining after the fact, and argued that Wolfe’s title undermined him.

The suit says that Mateen spewed constant invective at Wolfe, often in front of colleagues, calling her (among other things) “disgusting,” a “desperate loser,” a “slut,” and a “whore.” It includes damning text messages from Mateen that further berated her. When Wolfe complained to Sean Rad, Tinder’s CEO, her concerns were ignored. She alleges that Rad eventually forced her out of the company because of the abusive situation with Mateen.

Read the original complaint filed by Wolfe’s attorney.

Apple Launches $49 Mac Pro Security Lock Adapter ★

New product categories in 2014: done.

Death Near for Plasma TVs ★

Nilay Patel:

The death of plasma is an incredible success story for LCD technology, but it’s also a sad reminder that disruption doesn’t always meant the best products win: no LCD TV has ever looked as good as the best plasma TVs. Just go down the list: Pioneer’s Kuro plasmas were so amazing that CNET still uses them as a review reference years after they were discontinued in 2008. Pioneer couldn’t make any money and sold the Kuro technology to Panasonic, whose high-end plasmas were widely considered the best until late last year, when the company stopped making them in favor of LCDs. (The remaining stock is in high demand; used 55-inch sets are selling for $3,000 and up on Amazon six months later.)

Sad news for anyone who cares about image quality. I’ve got a Pioneer from 2008, and love it. I’m generally appalled when I see LCD TVs, and never impressed.