Linked List: January 6, 2015

Tuesday, 6 January 2015

As enumerated earlier, I have numerous questions regarding Mark Gurman’s report that the upcoming next-generation MacBook Air does away with all ports other than two: a USB Type-C and a headphone jack.

But one that I keep thinking about is MagSafe. I can definitely see getting rid of classic USB — it’s old and thick. Thunderbolt, sort of. But MagSafe? When Apple announced MagSafe back in 2006, I knew they were solving a real problem, not an imaginary marketing problem. Tripping over power cables and yanking laptops off tables and onto floors was a real issue. I had an iBook way back when that ultimately died after one such incident too many. If anything, Apple has made MagSafe 2 even easier to pull apart, not harder. Switching to USB Type-C seems like it would take us all the way back to days when tripping over the charging cable would take your laptop along for the ride.

TAG Heuer and the Future of the Luxury Watch ★

Matt Richman:

In order to have even a chance of being as feature-rich as Apple Watch, then, TAG’s smartwatch will have to pair with an Android phone. However, TAG wearers aren’t Android users. Rich people buy TAG watches, but rich people don’t buy Android phones.

This is TAG’s dilemma. Its smartwatch will need to pair with an Android phone to be anywhere near as feature-rich as Apple Watch, but TAG wearers don’t buy Android phones.

Astute, as usual.

I think the path for luxury watch makers is exactly the one they’ve been on since their recovery after the quartz crisis: celebrate their analog nature. Compete on their own terms, doing what they do best.

‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’ ★

Craig Hockenberry:

Apple would never ship a device that was missing a few screws. But that’s exactly what’s happening right now with your software products.

From the Department of Jumping to Conclusions ★

Tom Warren, writing for The Verge about the purported 12-inch MacBook Air that Mark Gurman reported for 9to5Mac:

This could finally be the inexpensive Apple laptop that so many have been clamoring for — cheap enough to compete with low-end Windows laptops and Chromebooks, but with hopefully fewer compromises.

There are two pieces of technology that Apple would need to get there: USB Type-C and a processor that runs cool enough to help achieve a thin design without a fan.

This whole piece makes no sense to me whatsoever. None. There’s nothing in Gurman’s report about pricing, and I don’t understand why switching to USB Type-C would drastically reduce the price. Eliminating the Thunderbolt and MagSafe ports would allow for some savings — one single port must be cheaper than the five various ports in the current Airs, but it wouldn’t drop the price into Chromebook territory.

Even if the new Air does herald a drop in price, it would be more in character for Apple if that price drop was for the existing Air models, with the new models at current prices, or, if it includes a retina display (Gurman’s report doesn’t say either way), higher prices. I honestly think it’s more likely that this new MacBook Air would have a higher starting price than a lower one, if it has a retina display. If it doesn’t have a retina display, well, then maybe it will have a drastically lower starting price. But Warren doesn’t even mention that. In short, this feels like the same ignorant “Everyone else in the industry competes mostly on price, so Apple should too” punditry we’ve seen for decades.

Earlier in his report, Warren suggests that Gurman’s report is a planted leak from Apple, meant to usurp attention from CES:

Apple appears to be working towards a thinner and totally redesigned MacBook. A curiously timed report from 9to5Mac, just as the Consumer Electronics Show opens today with lots of thin and light Windows laptops, claims Apple’s next notebook will be a 12-inch MacBook Air without full-size USB ports.

First, I don’t think Apple gives two shits about what’s going on at CES this year. I haven’t seen a single announcement that matters. But even if they did, Mark Gurman is probably the last person in the Apple-centric media whom they would give an authorized leak to. Gurman is persona non grata with Apple PR, as his fascinating but in large parts misinformed “exposé” back in August made clear. An authorized leak — to any source — would never contain a detailed description of the device’s appearance, let alone contain enough detail to create realistic renderings. If Gurman’s report is accurate, I’m sure it’s angering, not pleasing, to Apple’s PR and marketing teams.

9to5Mac Shows Mockups of Purported New 12-Inch MacBook Air ★

Hell of a scoop by Mark Gurman, if true. Numerous interesting changes, most especially the claim that it has just two ports: one for headphones and a lone USB Type-C port that will be used for everything from connecting an external display, power, and connecting peripherals. (I can totally see Apple dropping MagSafe, Thunderbolt, and USB 3 ports — but I don’t get why they would include only one USB Type-C port. Why not two?)

Another detail I like: the full-height keys for left and right arrow. Making those keys half-height never made sense to me.

Update: Conspicuously absent from Gurman’s report: the word “retina”.

‘A Mile Wide, an Inch Deep’ ★

Evan Williams:

Most Internet companies would build better things and create more value if they paid more attention to depth than breadth. […]

If what you care about — or are trying to report on — is impact on the world, it all gets very slippery. You’re not measuring a rectangle, you’re measuring an multi-dimensional space. You have to accept that things are very imperfectly measured and just try to learn as much as you can from multiple metrics and anecdotes.

Bookmark this one.

Acronyms ★

“IoT” is a terrible acronym, especially in a world where Helvetica and Helvetica-like sans serifs are so popular. Capping the “o” too would help a little — it would make it much more clear that it’s spelling EYE-oh-TEE, not ell-oh-TEE.