November 2011
51 posts
1 tag
Presupposition Failure
Apple enthusiast John Gruber:
Speaking of Malcolm Gladwell Losing His Touch
You can’t lose something you never had.
Echo Chamber
8:00pm: Marco Arment posts his review of Kindle Fire.
8:09pm: 512 Pixels links to it with a note: “Ouch”.
8:33pm: Daring Fireball links to it with a note: “Scathing”.
9:21pm: The Brooks Review links to it with a longer note, in agreement.
Come on, Shawn Blanc, you better have a good excuse for being late to the party.
(You too, MG Siegler.)
———-
...
1 tag
Agreement!!!
Wait, did John Gruber took a rationality pill?
Let me take the devil’s advocate position here. Of course Android has more malware than iOS. For the same reason that Mac OS X has more malware than iOS: they’re open to unsigned, un-reviewed apps from anywhere. The question should not be whether malware for Android exists, but whether it’s a real problem for typical Android users. If you shop for...
Arithmetic
Apple enthusiast John Gruber:
The other thing that struck me, looking at so many devices at once, is that Apple has only shipped three iPhone hardware designs, total. Three.
Is three the right number? The cheap criticism is that we should count the white iPhones in addition to the black ones. The real criticism is that we should also count the different antenna designs—surely an...
↯ CNet: Apple Granted Patent for Location Services →
Great news for consumers, obviously.
1 tag
Internal Incoherence
The Appleverse is keen on saying that mainstream technology pundits just don’t get it when it comes to new and disruptive technology, such as the original iPhone or the original iPad.
Before Amazon’s Kindle Fire was officially released, the Appleverse also kept stressing that it is not an iPad competitor. As Apple enthusiast John Gruber puts it, “Amazon built an alternative to...
1 tag
Wrong Guess
Ben Brooks:
If I described to you a service that was very well designed and allowed you to save articles you read on the web for later reading on devices such as your iPhone, iPad, and Kindle. What company would you, an educated technophile, assume I was talking about?
Apple. Specifically, the new reading list feature in Safari + iCloud syncing. Amirite?
Oh. You’re talking about some...
↯ Wired: Google Analytics Reverse Lookup →
Andy Baio details the methods with which he uncovered the identity of the Daring No Balls author (I think). Good info for anyone who wants to stay genuinely anonymous.
I don’t really care. So, go ahead, look up my Google Analytics. :-)
↯ Applidium: Cracking Siri →
Two tidbits of note:
We did really learn a few interesting things about how the iPhone 4S talks to Apple’s servers … The iPhone 4S really sends raw audio data.
They literally are listening to you! And
The protocol is actually very, very chatty. Your iPhone sends a tons of things to Apple’s servers. And those servers reply an incredible amount of informations.
They’re getting...
↯ Monday Note: Apple's Antitrust Problem →
Antitrust lawyers don’t see things that way. Their argument: for someone controlling 75 % of the tablet market, invoking such a marginal alternative isn’t relevant. A publisher willing to join the tablet business has no choice but being available on the iPad. In practical terms, this means investing serious money to join a platform operated in a discretionary and opaque way, with unclear...
Whiteness & Dudeness
Speaking of breaking the patriarchy, anyone ever noticed how white and how dude the tech world, especially the Appleverse, really is?
Look at the roster of Read & Trust: nearly everyone is white and all are male. (Well, there’s an Asian woman on the page, but I don’t think she is the one who is named “Kyle Baxter”.)
Unsurprisingly, casual misogyny is commonplace....
↯ Jailbreak the Patriarchy →
Jailbreak the Patriarchy genderswaps the world for you. When it’s installed, everything you read in Chrome (except for gmail, so far) loads with pronouns and a reasonably thorough set of other gendered words swapped.
(via waxy.org)
↯ The Orange View: Lion Adoption Stagnates →
Now comes word that adoption has topped out for now at only 16% of the Mac audience.
1 tag
Security
Stephen M. Hackett of 512 Pixels comments on Android and iOS security.
On iOS, the passcode can be circumvented via Siri once someone has physical access to the phone. Hackett (October 19, 2011):
Passcodes are good, but — as always — once physical access is acquired, all security measures are less effective.
On Android, face unlock can be circumvented via a photo once someone has physical...
↯ Andy Baio: Arcade Improv →
“Welcome to ACTION CASTLE! You are in a small cottage. There is a fishing pole here. Exits are out.”
An awkward pause, followed by some giggling from the audience. “Is it our turn to say something?” said Mike.
“I don’t understand ‘is it our turn to say something,’” said the young man.
Instantly, Mike and Jerry understood, along with...
1 tag
More Words With Friends
Apple enthusiast John Gruber:
Stephen Shankland, writing for CNet on the demise of Flash for mobile devices:
But in context, the cancellation wasn’t a complete surprise. Flash has plenty of opponents, and the biggest one, Apple, also happens to the single most powerful player in mobile computing. By banning Flash on the browser responsible for 62 percent of mobile Web usage, Apple effectively...
1 tag
Everybody Wins
Apple enthusiast John Gruber (and his echo chamber Shawn Blanc):
Apple didn’t win. Everybody won. Flash hasn’t been superseded in mobile by any sort of Apple technology. It’s been superseded by truly open web technologies.
Let’s be clear: the death of mobile flash is an overall good thing.
But it’s just false that flash is superseded in mobile by “truly open web...
Adapt
Via 512 Pixels, new in Apple’s knowledge base:
Apple may provide customers a replacement adapter if the power adapter shows signs of strain relief.
Measure twice, cut once — after a class action lawsuit and settlement.
1 tag
Apple Inc.--Not Nearly Pedantic Enough
Via Brooks Review:
“Apple denies that its correct name is Apple, Inc. The correct name of Respondent is Apple Inc.”
— Apple Inc. in a legal response.
Actually, if you’re going to be pedantic, you better heed the use/mention distinction. So, what Apple should have said is: “Apple denies that its correct name is ‘Apple, Inc.’. The correct name of Respondent is...
