Linked List: September 16, 2014

Tuesday, 16 September 2014

Promotional Images That Hide the iPhone 6 Camera Bulge 

Ben Brooks:

In other words with clever lighting and placement Apple hides that bump in profile view where it clearly would ruin the clean line and sleek looks. That doesn’t make the iPhone 6 bad, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If you are embarrassed about the bump then don’t have it, but if you have a bump I think you need to own the bump.

I think this is a mistake on Apple’s part. If the iPhone 6 is going to have a camera bulge (and it does), they should wear it with pride. Like Brooks says, own it. Rock that bulge. And they do, in some shots. I noticed this one at the 9:06 mark during the keynote. That’s exactly what the iPhone 6 looks like in real life.

Songs of Anger 

One last post on the Songs of Innocence giveaway fiasco. Marco Arment:

It was a sloppy, ham-fisted execution uncharacteristic of Apple, much like the painfully awkward, forced, cheesy Tim/Bono marketing skit announcing this promotion that slaughtered the momentum of the otherwise very important iPhone 6/Pay/Watch event.

The damage here isn’t that a bunch of people need to figure out how to delete an album that they got for free and are now whining about. It’s that Apple did something inconsiderate, tone-deaf, and kinda creepy for the sake of a relatively unimportant marketing campaign, and they seemingly didn’t think it would be a problem.

I wonder about that last clause. Did anyone among Apple’s leadership raise questions about this promotion? Regarding either the “we’ll just add it to everyone’s purchased music” thing that has so many people upset, or, the way the whole thing was a complete and utter distraction punctuating the otherwise nearly flawless iPhones/Pay/Watch event.

Tim Cook’s Charlie Rose Interview 

Easily the best and most interesting interview with Tim Cook I’ve ever seen. A must-watch for anyone interested in Apple and Cook’s leadership. Part two airs tonight. (It’s Hulu, alas, so I suspect it isn’t available worldwide.)

Update: The version on Charlie Rose’s website apparently works everywhere.

Requiem for the iPod Classic 

Mat Honan:

For ten years my iPod — in various incarnations — was my constant companion. It went with me on road trips and backpacking through the wilderness. I ran with it. I swam with it. (In a waterproof case!) I listened to sad songs that reminded me of friends and family no longer with me. I made a playlist for my wife to listen to during the birth of our first child, and took the iPod with us to the hospital. I took one to a friend’s wedding in Denmark, where they saved money on a DJ by running a four hour playlist, right from my iPod. And because the party lasted all night, they played it again.

Everyone played everything again and again.

And now it’s dead. Gone from the Apple Store. Disappeared, while we were all looking at some glorified watch.