Linked List: November 28, 2018

Wednesday, 28 November 2018

‘I Don’t Know Why People Put It In.’ ★

From the New York Times’s obituary for famed New York City bartender Tommy Rowles:

Toward the end of his career, having made thousands of martinis, Mr. Rowles said there was a right way to make one.

“My secret is to forget about the vermouth,” he told FT Magazine, a weekly supplement of the British newspaper Financial Times. “I don’t know why people put it in. A bottle of vermouth, you should just open it and look at it.”

The only thing more fun than arguing about how to make a martini is arguing about how to make a martini while enjoying a few.

YouTube to Make Originals Available for Ad-Supported Free Viewing ★

Todd Spangler, reporting for Variety:

In a shift in strategy, the Google-owned video platform said that starting next year it will move to make all of its new original programming available for free for anyone to watch. With the change, YouTube is moving toward more mainstream celebrity-driven and creator-based reality fare, while it will continue to greenlight scripted productions.

Until now, YouTube Originals have mainly been available on its YouTube Premium subscription service, although YouTube also has expanded the shows and movies it makes available on an ad-supported basis.

Back to Google’s wheelhouse: free stuff with ads. I don’t mean that disdainfully, either — it’s simply what has made Google so successful. But it’s interesting given that the rest of the industry — CBS, Disney, maybe Apple — is moving toward putting shows and movies behind new subscription services.

Apple Says the iPhone XR Has Been Its Top-Selling iPhone Since Launch ★

Shara Tibken, writing for CNet:

Greg Joswiak, Apple vice president of product marketing, told CNET in an interview Wednesday that the device has “been our most popular iPhone each and every day since the day it became available.”

I’m sure this will immediately quell all the rumor-mongering and speculation that XR sales are in the tank.

LG Replaces the Head of Its Struggling Mobile Business After Just One Year ★

Jon Russell, reporting for TechCrunch:

Hwang Jeong-hwan took the job as president of LG Mobile Communications last October, and this week LG announced that he will be replaced by Brian Kwon, who is head of LG’s hugely profitable home entertainment business, from December 1.

“Mr. Kwon played a critical role in transforming LG’s TV, audio and PC business into category leaders and his knowledge and experience in the global marketplace will be instrumental in continuing LG’s mobile operations turnaround,” LG wrote in an announcement.

Can’t remember the last time I saw a phone from LG worth noticing. Tough gig.