In case you’ve been under a rock all day and missed it:
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The Fundamental Flaw with Windows
Microsoft has had to keep Windows a general purpose, one-size-fits-all product that it can license to every PC maker on earth apart from Apple. Microsoft’s business interests often fail to align with those of its licensees, resulting in skirmishes with its OEMs.
Some people say that the environment Apple creates by controlling hardware and software is bad, but Apple has avoided the issues Microsoft has faced by dealing with dozens of companies, all running Windows on literally thousands of different products.
WhiteHouse.gov, Then and Now
Comparing the two makes it perfectly clear just how much has changed since 2001, and what we hope will come tomorrow: Flash, blogs, bigger monitors and broadband internet.
Google Halting Print Ads
New York Times:
The program began in November 2006 as a test, and Google later expanded it to some 800 newspapers, including major dailies like The New York Times and The Chicago Tribune.
But the amount of newspaper ad space sold via Google was small, newspapers and industry analysts said.
“Financially, it was negligible for both Google and publishers,” said Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Company. “None of these deals amounted to much.”
Stop and Think About This
A friend showed me this video over breakfast, and it is still haunting me:
It’s over 5 minutes long, but stay until the end. (It was used at an internal Sony/BMG summit in Rome last year)
Ars: The Jailbreaking User’s Best Friend?
Look, I like Ars Technica as much as the next geek, but stuff like this has be about ready to remove it from my Google Reader ever-growing list of feeds:
For those unfamiliar with the concept, jailbreaking allows users to gain read-write access to a device’s entire file system and removes the limits set by Unix jail. Despite misunderstandings to the contrary, jailbreaking does not have to do with application theft, cracking, or warez. Jailbreaking simply opens up the device to a number of third-party applications, including Unix command-line utilities and many applications that do not meet the stocking requirements for Apple’s App Store. These applications are distributed by their developers through the open source Cydia project, which provides a GUI front end to Debian APT.
Lifted From the Hudson
The New York Times has posted some stunning photographs of crews pulling the Airbus A320 that crashed in the Hudson River last week out of the freezing water. Looking at the underside of the plane, it really is a miracle nobody died.
Duck Hunt Lands in App Store
Remember Duck Hunt? The game devoured hours of my childhood, and is back to rob me of time again - this time in the App Store. But the developer (whose site is devoid of any information) may have stepped over a line with his app, as iLounge speculates:
Although the game has been approved by Apple, it likely infringes on Nintendo copyrights, making it highly possible that the game will be pulled from the App Store. We are awaiting comment from Nintendo regarding the title.
Windows 7 to Eat OS X’s Piece of the Pie?
CNET’s Don Reisinger:
But now, as a new Microsoft operating system starts making its way to store shelves, it’s incumbent upon us to forecast its expected impact. And after downloading the Windows 7 beta and immersing myself in its environment, I think I can say, both as a Mac user (I’m writing this on my iMac) and what some may call an Apple nut (I own just about every Apple product released over the past five years), Windows 7 will not only stymie Mac OS X’s growth, it will push Apple’s market share back down to pre-Vista levels.
Bloomberg Beats Down Jobs’ Door
Check this out:
In a telephone interview today, Jobs said he won’t comment further on his health.
“Why don’t you guys leave me alone – why is this important?” Jobs said.
These guys give journalists a bad name. I mean, even as the CEO of a major company, the man is a human being. And last time I checked, there are bigger economic stories than Apple at the moment.
The Hardest Job
Time has posted a photo slideshow of Presidents - when the enter office and when they leave. Gray hair seems to be popular amongst world leaders. And I thought my time as a Mac Genius was hard.
Tweetie Gets Nice Batch of Updates
For a long time, Twitterific was top dog on the Mac and on the iPhone when it came to Twitter clients - and rightfully so. It’s interface is clean and simple, putting regular tweets, replies and direct messages all in the same list. This simplicity is a much-appreciated design element, especially on the iPhone’s touch screen. The Iconfactory (the makers of Twitterific and some other great apps) did one thing that was ingenious - they offered a free, ad-supported version, and a “premium” version without the ads. This model worked for them on the Mac, and they elegantly brought it to the App Store before most others had figured it out.