Linked List: February 15, 2016

Monday, 15 February 2016

Google ‘Retires’ Picasa 

Anil Sabharwal, head of Google Photos, writing on the Picasa blog:

Since the launch of Google Photos, we’ve had a lot of questions around what this means for the future of Picasa. After much thought and consideration, we’ve decided to retire Picasa over the coming months in order to focus entirely on a single photo service in Google Photos. We believe we can create a much better experience by focusing on one service that provides more functionality and works across mobile and desktop, rather than divide our efforts across two different products

Given that the previous entry on the Picasa blog was from December 2011, I think the writing has been on the wall on this one.

Alexa, Unlock the Internet 

MG Siegler:

Admittedly, I’m less than a week into using the device. And honestly, I’m still not 100 percent sure how we’ll use the thing day-to-day. But I now believe in the power of Alexa, Echo’s female voice, as a platform.

In fact, I think Echo makes it very clear that Apple (and to a lesser extent, Google) dropped a ball here. This is exactly how Siri should exist in your home. And this is what that orb thing Google made a few years back should have been.

Apple’s Elephant in the Room 

Alexandra Mintsopoulos on the argument that Apple’s software quality is declining:

If the biggest example that can be pointed to is iTunes or its back-end (which seem to generate the most criticism) then there isn’t any validity to the idea that Apple’s software quality is declining. iTunes has been the target of complaints for as long as anyone can remember and it seems clear that it will be reworked much like Photos, iWork, or Final Cut have been (and likely receive the same backlash for missing functionality). The reason it hasn’t been done sooner is obvious: it has hundreds of millions of users and transacts billions of dollars in sales, revamping it from the ground up is akin to fixing an airplane while it’s in flight and won’t be done lightly.

There is a massive disconnect between enthusiasts and Apple’s broader customer base on the perception of Apple’s software quality. That is a PR problem for Apple to solve, not a software one.

Logo for Paris’s 2024 Olympics Bid 

They should get the Olympics simply on the basis of the quality of the logo. It’s been a while since a city put forth an Olympics logo that wasn’t shit — this, on the other hand, is a very nice mark.

Craig Mod on the Leica Q 

Craig Mod, after six months with the Leica Q:

If the iPhone is the perfect everyperson’s mirrorless, then the Q is some specialist miracle. It should not exist. It is one of those unicorn-like consumer products that so nails nearly every aspect of its being — from industrial to software design, from interface to output — that you can’t help but wonder how it clawed its way from the R&D lab. Out of the meetings. Away from the committees. How did it manage to maintain such clarity in its point of view?

Beautifully illustrated with photos taken with the Q, and wonderfully written and considered. My only complaint about this review is that it might wind up costing me $4000, because this camera is right up my alley.