August 2011
14 posts
Will iTunes match be as awesome as Ping?
↯ Felix Salmon: Tim Cook's Sexuality →
No snark. Just go read.
1 tag
"Chicken Fingers"
The Free Dictionary, by Farlex:
CHICKEN (noun): the common domestic fowl
FINGERS (noun): digits of the hand
Do you think Shawn Blanc goes around to diners and tell people “We keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what we think it means”?
#foodmetaphors
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Counterfactual
Andy Rutledge:
In Obama’s America, Apple and Steve Jobs would have failed
I’m not convinced that he understands how counterfactuals work.
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Take That Torch!
Shawn Blanc is doing his best to become John Gruber Jr.:
Where these phrases have especially begun to irk me is in sentences like this: “The iPad is for consuming, not creating.” For one, it’s not true — you can create things using the iPad.
That’s not how generics work. You can’t say “birds fly” is not true by pointing to penguins. If it irks you that generics can be...
2 tags
Shmevidence
Matt Drance:
Today is the tenth anniversary of Apple’s open-source WebKit codebase, which powers nearly every relevant web browser and engine used today, including Safari, Chrome, and even WebOS itself.
Wikipedia, July 2011 browser usage share (StatCounter):
IE 42.45%
Firefox 27.95%
Chrome 22.14%
Safari 5.16%
Nearly.
1 tag
Don't Be Glib!
Apple enthusiast John Gruber glibly remarked “Don’t be evil” in response to the news that Google settled with DOJ about Canadian pharmacy ads.
What went completely over his head is that evil is not a legal concept, but a moral concept.
Yes, it is illegal to allow Canadian pharmacies to target and sell drugs to US customers for lower prices. But is that immoral? Well, it depends...
Gizmodo Thoughts
from “Unedited Thoughts About Technology Better Left Unposted”:
Apple Press
Congrats! Your company won. You are correct, like you always predicted you would be. You can be less of a smug dick now too.
No idea what they’re talking about.
1 tag
Once = Always
Horace Dediu:
The history of governance and ownership of Symbian shows how the licensing of platforms by licensor competitors leads to unintended consequences.
[…]
Open or not, with or without equity, these arrangements are always unworkable.
No doubt Gruber will soon quote that audacious amazingly well-supported conclusion repeatedly in the near future.
1 tag
Android, iOS, Openness
[Source: XKCD]
Yes, Android is not as open as it could be. Still, it’s more open than iOS.
You could win the war of words by calling someone a hypocrite for not donating as much to charity as they possibly can. But in the end of the day, they are still doing more than you, and that’s what ultimately matters—-not words.
2 tags
Cherry-picking of the Day
Apple enthusiast John Gruber:
And I’d say [Google] copy more ideas from others than others copy original ideas from Google. You don’t see many clones of Google Wave.
You don’t see many clones of the U2 Special Edition of iPod.
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Casual Misogyny is Totally Cool, Guys!
Casual misogynist John Gruber quotes approvingly:
Brian S. Hall, “Google Are Pussies”:
If you have a monopoly business and generate monopoly profits and take those monopoly profits to another industry and gave away what your competitors (must) charge for, which led you to quickly capture the dominant market share, would you…
…whine like a bitch?
Of course, this is the same person who...
1 tag
Comparison Class, Again
Someone says iOS is losing market share to Android.
Apple enthusiast John Gruber retorts by citing that Apple captured two-thirds of available mobile phone profit in Q2.
Problem: the comparison class in the latter include RIM, HTC, and other hardware makers (and, notably, not Google), but the comparison class in the former involves operating systems (and, plausibly, software makers of those...
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Sample and Data
Apple enthusiast John Gruber cites Gogo in-flight wifi usage numbers as
Another data point that highlights the discrepancy between the incredible device activation numbers claimed by Google and actual real-world usage of mobile devices.
People who tend to buy Apple devices are people who can afford, and don’t mind paying for, a premium on their products. (This, obviously, is great news...
