Linked List: April 1, 2015

Wednesday, 1 April 2015

The Economist:

“What are you on? The ‘fuck Windows’ strategy?” Back in the late 1990s, when Bill Gates was still Microsoft’s boss, any employee who had the temerity to suggest something that could possibly weaken the firm’s flagship operating system was sure to earn his wrath. Even after Steve Ballmer took over from Mr Gates in 2000, that remained the incontestable law at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, in Washington state. Everything Microsoft did had to strengthen Windows, to make it ever more crushingly dominant. Many of the company’s best innovations were killed because of this “strategy tax”, as it was known internally.

Today the rules are different in Redmond. The new boss who took over last year, Satya Nadella (pictured, centre, with Mr Gates to the left and Mr Ballmer on the right), recoils when he hears the term “strategy tax” and says he now tells his staff simply to “build stuff that people like”.

Sounds like just what Microsoft needs. Then this:

Yet Mr Nadella’s biggest achievement so far is that he has given Microsoft a coherent purpose in life, as it enters its fifth decade. He sums it up in two mottos. One is “mobile first, cloud first”: since these are where the growth is going to come from, all new products need to be developed for them.

At first I wanted to quip that they can’t both be first. But maybe they can. They’re not in conflict, and they’re potentially complementary. The idea is, everything Microsoft does should be of primary relevance to mobile (devices being used) and the cloud (for storage and incoming data). That strikes me as a good focus for Microsoft.

That’s a Big ‘If’ ★

Alyssa Marino, reporting for Indiana’s ABC 57 News:

A small-town pizza shop is saying they agree with Governor Pence and the signing of the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The O’Connor family, who owns Memories Pizza, says they have a right to believe in their religion and protect those ideals.

“If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no,” says Crystal O’Connor of Memories Pizza.

I don’t mean to make light of a serious issue, because if there are bigots like this who own a pizza joint, there are bigots like this who own a florist shop or catering business. But. Just how many gay couples are coming in asking to have a pizza party wedding? I’m guessing this is not an actual problem for Memories Pizza.

And what the hell kind of a name for a pizza joint is “Memories Pizza”? What kind of memories are they talking about? Memories of when they lived in a city where you could actually get good pizza?

(Their Yelp page is something.)

Update: People do have pizza served at their weddings.

Amazon Dash Replenishment Service ★

The other (and perhaps more interesting side) of yesterday’s Dash Button announcement is the back-end that makes it work:

Dash Replenishment Service (DRS) enables connected devices to order physical goods from Amazon when supplies are running low — like a coffee maker that orders more coffee beans. By using DRS, device makers are able to leverage Amazon’s authentication and payment systems, customer service, and fulfillment network — giving their customers access to Amazon’s low prices, great selection, and reliable delivery.

Amazon Dash Button ★

Feels like Amazon meets Philip K. Dick: free little logo-branded dinguses Amazon will give you to stick around your house, and click when you need to re-order more of whatever it’s for. A Bounty paper towel button in your kitchen, a Tide detergent button in your laundry room, Gatorade and Izze soda buttons on your fridge — you get the idea. I’m not sure whether this is genius, or the stupidest thing Amazon has tried yet.

Update: A bunch of people are convinced this is a prank for Internet Jackass Day, but Amazon confirmed to The New York Times that it’s a real product.

Verizon Wireless Customers Can Now Opt Out of ‘Supercookies’ ★

Brian X. Chen, reporting for the NYT:

“As the mobile advertising ecosystem evolves, and our advertising business grows, delivering solutions with best-in-class privacy protections remains our focus,” Ms. Lewis said. “As a reminder, we never share information with third parties that identifies our customers as part of our advertising programs.”

Translation from corporate jargon to plain English: We were forced to do this because of public scrutiny.

To disable the header tracking, users can opt out of the program called Relevant Mobile Advertising. When that happens, Verizon stops inserting the header, according to the company. Users can unsubscribe from the program on Verizon’s website or by calling 1-866-211-0874.

If you’re a Verizon customer, opt out. Three of the four lines on my family account already were, but the fourth one wasn’t.