Linked List: April 14, 2015

Tuesday, 14 April 2015

Microsoft + iPhone 

Paul Thurrott:

And if you are a Microsoft guy, there are good reasons to choose iPhone over Android … and even over Windows Phone. Microsoft mobile apps generally appear on iPhone before they do so elsewhere, and certain Microsoft mobile apps are only available on iPhone, at least for now. In several cases, you will see finished Microsoft apps appear on iPhone, whereas Android receives a rougher preview release instead. In many ways, iPhone — or iOS more generally — is the place to be if you’re interested in Microsoft’s mobile solutions.

Good rundown of Microsoft’s wide and deep lineup of iOS apps.

One Company’s New Minimum Wage: $70,000 a Year 

Patricia Cohen, reporting for the NYT:

The idea began percolating, said Dan Price, the founder of Gravity Payments, after he read an article on happiness. It showed that, for people who earn less than about $70,000, extra money makes a big difference in their lives.

His idea bubbled into reality on Monday afternoon, when Mr. Price surprised his 120-person staff by announcing that he planned over the next three years to raise the salary of even the lowest-paid clerk, customer service representative and salesman to a minimum of $70,000.

“Is anyone else freaking out right now?” Mr. Price asked after the clapping and whooping died down into a few moments of stunned silence. “I’m kind of freaking out.”

WWDC 2015: June 8-12, Moscone West 

I usually don’t play the “let’s read into the design of the Apple event announcement” game, but damned if the center of this doesn’t look like an Apple TV. And the slogan — “The Epicenter of Change” — would fit with an expanded HomeKit role for Apple TV.

Typographically, most of this is set in Myriad, Apple’s longstanding branding typeface, but the “WWDC 15” appears to be set in San Francisco.

Update: For attendees, it’s a lottery again (and likely will remain so for the foreseeable future — the last time they simply sold passes they sold out in one minute). Interesting, but not surprising: to apply for a student scholarship, you have to submit an app that is at least partially written using Swift.

Update 2, 30 April 2015: As noted by sharp-eyed Kevin Clark, Apple has updated the logo such that “WWDC 15” is now set in Myriad, too. Details. For reference, here’s the original logo set in San Francisco, and here’s the current one set in Myriad.