Linked List: January 7, 2016

Thursday, 7 January 2016

Matt Granger on ‘The Force Awakens’ ★

Matt Granger:

The Huffington Post’s article, “40 Unforgivable Plot Holes in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.

Over the last few weeks I saw this article reposted over and over both by folks in the film industry and outside of it. The reposts often carried captions from Facebook users like “Yep!” or “This is exactly my problem”. Oh shit. Did I miss something? Maybe the Huffington Post and half of Facebook saw something I didn’t. I needed to know more. So I read the article. I read it numerous times. In the end, I came to my own conclusion…

The Huffington Post has no idea what the fuck it’s talking about.

I don’t know about the rest of you but I’ve grown exhausted with the horseshit, hater culture that online, millennial ‘journalists’ use to click-bait their way to some sort of self-perceived intellectual high ground. Hate first. Don’t bother asking questions later.

Loved this takedown.

How Much Does Apple Pay Jony Ive? ★

Philip Elmer-DeWitt:

The salary of the man who has designed every Apple product from the iMac to the Apple Watch has never been disclosed to the SEC or the press. The last time he filed an SEC Form 4 — required whenever there’s a material change in an insider’s position — was July 2009.

According to Apple, Ive is exempt from SEC rules because he’s not what the commission calls a “Section 16” employee. Despite his title — chief design officer — the company does not classify him as a director or officer of the company.

I’ve long suspected Ive is the highest-paid employee in the company. That he might be better-compensated than even Tim Cook seems like the sort of thing Cook would have no issue with.

Fast Company Report on Apple Dropping 3.5mm Audio Jack in Next iPhone ★

Mark Sullivan, writing for Fast Company:

Apple’s next big phone — presumably called the iPhone 7 — will come without a 3.5mm headphone jack, will be noticeably thinner, will very likely support wireless charging and be waterproof, a source with knowledge of the company’s plans tells Fast Company.

As has been rumored, our source confirms that the new phone will rely on its Lightning cable port for sound output to wired headphones. That port has been used for power and data transfer in recent iPhones. Users can also use wireless headphones.

So far, believable. (Worth noting, however, that the Lightning port already works with headphones.) Including magnetic charging at the same time they drop the 3.5mm audio port would solve the problem of how one listens to audio while charging the phone at the same time.

Some media reports have suggested that Apple will include a set of Lightning-connected EarPod earphones in the box with the iPhone 7. It’s more likely, our source says, that Apple will sell a more expensive pair of noise-canceling, Lightning-connected, earphones or headphones separately — possibly under its Beats brand.

This is madness. Beats will almost certainly sell a wide assortment of Lightning headphones if the iPhone goes Lightning-only, but Apple has to include a pair of Lightning or Bluetooth earbuds in the box. It would be madness not to.

Still other media reports say that Apple may include with the iPhone 7 an adapter that will allow users to plug regular 3.5mm analog headphones into the new phone.

This doesn’t sound like Apple to me. When Apple drops an old port or changes from an old port to a new one, they (almost) never include adapters for free. In fact, they tend to charge stiff prices for them. Apple’s 30-pin to Lightning adapter costs $29. Even worse, the “media report” linked to by Sullivan is this story by Jeremy Horowitz for 9to5Mac, which makes no such claim. Here is what Horowitz reported:

The report claims that Apple will bundle Lightning connector-equipped EarPods with the next iPhone, incorporating a tiny DA (Digital to Analog) converter into the connector. To ensure iPhone 7 compatibility, third-party wired headphone makers will need to include either Lightning cables or 3.5mm to Lightning adapters with their headphones. Bluetooth headphone makers will have no such issues.

Horowitz (who was just translating from an original report from the Japanese site Macotakara) is clearly saying that third-party headphone makers might start including 3.5mm-to-Lightning adapters, not that Apple would include such an adapter with the phone. Sullivan’s poor reading comprehension doesn’t give me much faith in his reporting or judgment regarding anonymous sources. Sullivan is the same guy who, in 2014, reported that Apple was working with Swatch on the Apple Watch:

Apple has been working with at least one partner, Swatch, to release a line of smartwatches in variety of branded styles and price points, a source with knowledge of the situation tells VentureBeat.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere Defends His Streaming Plan Against “Bullshit” Complaints From “Jerks” at Google ★

Tim Fernholz, reporting for Quartz:

In a video rant released this morning, T-Mobile CEO John Legere responded to complaints about its video service from Google and open internet advocates, calling his critics “jerks” whose critiques are “bullshit” designed to bolster their companies and confuse his customers.

I love this guy. I wouldn’t call the video a “rant” at all.

Unfortunately (for T-Mobile), the EFF thinks the “Binge On” service is definitely throttling, because it applies to all video, not just video from the publishers who have joined the program.

Update: Legere’s answer to the EFF.