Linked List: July 1, 2016

Friday, 1 July 2016

The Talk Show: ‘Fresh Out of Prison’ 

Special guest Nilay Patel joins the show for the first time. Topics include The Verge and Recode (and the state of the media industry at large), what’s going on with the lack of updates to professional Mac hardware, and, of course, Apple’s purported removal of the headphone jack on the upcoming new iPhones.

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Apple Responds to Spotify 

John Paczkowski:

Spotify says Apple is using its App Store approval process as “a weapon.” Apple says that claim is a load of BS.

In a letter sent to Spotify general counsel Horacio Gutierrez on Friday, Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell rebutted the streaming music service’s June 26 allegations that Apple is “causing grave harm to Spotify and its customers” by rejecting a recent update to Spotify’s iOS app. “We find it troubling that you are asking for exemptions to the rules we apply to all developers and are publicly resorting to rumors and half-truths about our service,” Sewell wrote in a letter obtained by BuzzFeed News.

Sewell, in his letter to Gutierrez:

As far as I can see the Spotify App currently up on the App Store is still in violation of our guidelines. I would be happy to facilitate an expeditious review and approval of your app as soon as you provide us with something that is compliant with the App Store’s rules.

Searching for a Good Reason to Remove the Headphone Jack 

Jason Snell:

I have a point of view on all this, but I’m trying very hard not to get mad about something that hasn’t happened. This is a tech unicorn, an unannounced feature on a nonexistent product, and it’s important to keep that in mind. Still, it’s not a bad intellectual exercise to ponder why Apple might make such a move, and what the ramifications might be.

I really enjoyed Snell’s exploration of the many ways this might play out.

Hillary Clinton Writes Farewell Essay for The Toast 

Hillary Clinton:

As we look back at what this site has meant to so many of you, I hope you’ll also look forward and consider how you might make your voice heard in whatever arenas matter most to you. Speak your opinion more fervently in your classes if you’re a student, or at meetings in your workplace. Proudly take credit for your ideas. Have confidence in the value of your contributions. And if the space you’re in doesn’t have room for your voice, don’t be afraid to carve out a space of your own. You never know — you might just be the next Nicole Cliffe, Mallory Ortberg, or Nikki Chung.

Tekserve to Close After 29 Years 

Rick Rojas, reporting for the NYT:

It was the Apple Store in New York City before there was such a thing as an Apple Store.

Before iPods and iPads and iPhones, before Apple started selling and servicing its devices out of a glass cube on Fifth Avenue, the eclectic Tekserve store on West 23rd Street in Manhattan was where customers went for upgrades to their PowerBook laptops or to have their computers fixed.

But times have changed, Tekserve’s managers said, and on Wednesday, they announced that the company was closing its retail and customer-service operation. The service center will remain open until July 31, and the retail store will close on Aug. 15. About 70 employees will lose their jobs, the company said.

The end of an era.