Apple has updated their “Remembering Steve” page with a scrolling feed of notes from customers around the world expressing their condolences.
Apple’s done an incredibly tasteful job of providing an engaging way to allow customers around the world to engage with them on Steve’s tragic passing. This event has become an opportunity for Apple users to affirm their affinity for the products and the man behind them. Though no one can doubt how genuine this effort is, one can’t ignore the fact that there is real business value being driven here.
Even though I’ve never met Steve, I think he would be proud of the way this is being handled. Apple isn’t trying to do anything other than honor the memory of their founder, one of the greatest innovators in history. And by not trying to do do anything else, they’re doing everything else.
RIP, Steve.
Samsung Seeks Ban on Apple Products Sale in US
This seems just a little unlikely to happen:
Samsung Electronics Co. said on Thursday that it expanded its legal tussle with Apple Inc. by filing a complaint with the International Trade Commission seeking to stop the sale of key Apple products in the U.S.
An Epic Conversation Between Steve Jobs And Developers From WWDC '97
Brilliant.
Great, great stuff.
Three things:
1) Early on, his talk about Apple spreading their great engineers too thin, having the company trying to do too much, sounds a lot like Google today.
2) He essentially spells out iCloud — 14 years ago.
3) “If somebody would just make a little thing where you’re connected to the net at all times and you got a little keyboard like an eMate with a modem in it. My god, I’d love to buy one.”
RIM is a Mess
RIM has obviously seen better days. It’s a shame that their leadership team wasn’t able to capitalize on the strong consumer brand momentum they had only a few years ago.
According to the company’s results, net income for the quarter was $695 million, or $1.33 per share diluted, compared with net income of $934 million, or $1.78 per share diluted, in the prior quarter and net income of $769 million, or $1.38 per share diluted, in the same quarter last year.
I only hope the company is focused on some kind of shakeup/buyout to stop the bleeding and salvage what’s left of the Blackberry name before it’s too late. There’s too much equity there to have it be run out of business by iOS and Android.
Project Spartan: Facebook vs. Apple
Here’s an interesting bit of reporting - Facebook is allegedly working on a secret plan to unseat Apple’s stranglehold over iOS app distribution:
Facebook will never admit this, but those familiar with the project believe the intention is very clear: to use Apple’s own devices against them to break the stranglehold they have on mobile app distribution. With nearly 700 million users, Facebook is certainly in the position to challenge the almighty App Store distribution mechanism. But they need to be able to do so on Apple’s devices which make up a key chunk of the market.
An interesting thought, but it seems like this is less about challenging Apple and more about challenging Flash, which is something I’m personally pretty excited to hear:
Speaking of Zynga, it has been known for some time that Facebook was placing a huge emphasis on making it easier for game developers to build with HTML5 as opposed to Flash (like Zynga and others currently do). The culmination of this will be Project Spartan.
It makes sense that Facebook would have a project in the works to better optimize the full functionality of the site for HTML5 so that it’s naturally more compatible across platforms. It means developers can spend less time building native apps for specific device platforms and more time building new functionality for users.
That said, I’m a big believer that web-connected native apps will continue to be a superior alternative to web apps in the cloud, especially when it comes to mobile platforms like phones and tablets. Facebook’s native iPhone app is currently one of the best ways you can experience Facebook on any platform. Hopefully Project Spartan is intended to be a complement to, rather than a replacement for, Facebook’s mobile app offerings.
Here’s a quick comparison of iPad’s thumb keyboard vs. Windows 8’s thumb keyboard. Spot the difference?
There’s been a lot of debate over which side of they keyboard the “B” key should go and while the jury is still out, I tend to use my right hand to type “B,” so I guess that means I’d feel more comfortable with the iPad keyboard. Of course, who knows which hand I’d use when typing with thumbs only.
I have a feeling this may soon become akin to the PC vs. Mac debate over 1 mouse button vs. 2.
Apple's first CEO was named Michael Scott
Now that’s interesting…
My Top 5 Favorite iPhone 3.0 Features
Among Apple’s many announcements today was the release of the iPhone 3.0 software update (available June 17). It took me a while to cut through all of the news surrounding the mediocre hardware update to find the feature list for the software update, but lo and behold: here it is.
Below are the top 5 features I’ve most been looking forward to:
- Sync Notes. This is by far my number 1 most requested feature of the iPhone. The fact that it hasn’t been able to do this very basic function for so long is absurd. It’s actually forced me to completely change the way I manage my to do’s, and as a result, it’s hindered my productivity significantly. Definitely looking forward to this.
- Cut & Paste. Another super-basic feature that’s been talked about around the blogosphere since the iPhone’s introduction back in 2007.
- Spotlight Search. I’m mostly looking forward to this because you can use it to search your email, something I’ve been wishing the iPhone could do forever. Great work at finally adding this!
- Safari Improvements. Looking forward to auto-fill for usernames and passwords. This will be especially helpful with Gmail, which I use to star emails sometimes when I’m not near a computer. Again, basic improvement, but a really nice touch. :)
Internet Tethering. Oh wait, we don’t get that in the U.S. Thanks, AT&T.
So those are my Top 5 favorite iPhone 3.0 features. They’re all pretty standard on most of the other phones on the market. I would have loved to have seen the ability to run background applications, not to mention the inclusion of camera flash on the 3GS… Maybe next year.
Today in Tech: 1.22.09 and 1.23.09
Windows Software Center? [Read Article]
Microsoft working on a Windows Update for all of your programs? For Windows 7?? Hell yeah! Sign me up! :)
I didn’t get this survey, though. Hmm…
Why Windows 7 Taskbar beats OS X’s Dock [Read Article]
Great writeup from Giz on this. I think one of the coolest features that I haven’t used enough at this point in Windows 7 has been the jump lists. I’m hoping the developers who already have the Win7 SDK in their hands are working hard at integrating jump lists into programs like iTunes, Chrome, Firefox, etc.
I’d also like to see Microsoft build some jump list functionality into the Office 2007 applications. Those are really the only Microsoft programs I’ve been using extensively with the beta. I’d love to see a “Compose New Message” option in Outlook. A clickable list of your 3 upcoming events from your calendar would also be totally sick.
Sony in Big Trouble [Read Article]
Sir Horward is going to have a lot of explaining to do to all of those Japanese shareholders. What was $1 billion in operating losses turns out to have been $3 billion. I smell mutiny.
Microsoft Testing Netbook SKU of Win7? [Read Article]
I actually think it would behoove Microsoft to totally embrace the netbook craze, despite decreased revenues, because we all know it’s impossible to fight consumer demand.
I mean, let’s face it: Most consumers don’t use their computers for very much high-end computing beyond checking email, visiting websites, and working with documents and spreadsheets. It doesn’t make sense to have a super-expensive, beast of a computer for those purposes. That said, there will always be a high-end computer market, and Microsoft is well-positioned to capture at least the gaming-focused component of that market as well.
I would really like to see MS implement some kind of strategic solution that’s more focused on embracing a consumer trend while still in its early stages (like netbooks, for example) and then making some strategic bets to recapture lost revenues elsewhere. If not, Microsoft is going to find netbooks becoming its next search, only this time, Windows Client revenues are at stake.
Windows Live and Office Live Combined [Read Article]
Microsoft is combining its Windows Live and Office Live teams, in a joint “Wave 4” release slated to coincide with the release of Office 14 later this year or early next year. The synergy here is obvious because Google has already implemented a lot of the same integration across its competing products.
I’m really excited to see what Microsoft has in store, here. Early peeks into the web-based interface of Office 14 seem pretty incredible. It totally emulates the experience on the desktop. What’s more, this integration will no doubt drive more customers (myself included) over to more of the Windows Live services, especially Hotmail and Calendar, depending on how seamless the integration is made. Also, it would be interesting to see the effect this has on Live Search… This is definitely an exciting time for Microsoft.
Wall Street Wants More Microsoft Cuts [Read Article]
I just want to send a big “F YOU,” to all the analysts mentioned in this article. You want job cuts? Just wait, your bank is probably going to fail or be bought out by the government before the year is over.
Palm vs. Apple: Showdown! [Read Article]
Oh snap! Apple and Palm’s press releases are starting to sound like rap battles. This is getting nasty:
Tim Cook, Apple: “I don’t want to talk about any specific company. I’m just making a general statement that we think competition is good. It makes us all better. And we are ready to suit up and go against anyone. However, we will not stand for having our IP ripped off. And we will use whatever weapons that we have at our disposal. I don’t know that I can be any more clear than that.”
Lynn Fox, Palm: “Apple was not the first to do multi-touch,” Palm rep Lynn Fox told Reuters by e-mail, noting that multi-touch has been around for 20 years. “Palm has been building its own intellectual property portfolio for 15 years, and we will defend it vigorously, if necessary,” said Fox.
Today in Tech: 1.21.09
Apple’s Disclosures About Jobs’s Health Under SEC Review [Read Article]
Bloomberg is reporting that “Apple Inc. faces a government review of its disclosures about Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs’s health problems to ensure investors weren’t misled.”
I’ve previously mentioned my dislike for the way Apple has handled this whole situation with Steve Jobs. The Board of Directors would have to be incompitent not to realize that uJobs’s health would affect the company’s stock performance, so of course they withheld information to prevent damage to the stock.
Obviously this is a sensitive issue, because most people certainly do have a right to privacy, but it’s fairly clear that Steve Jobs is not like most people. Politicians are made to disclose their medical records because the people need to know if they are of sound mind and body to lead. This really is no different - Apple is a publicly-traded company, and “the people” in this case are AAPL shareholders.
Windows Mobile 6.5 to Land with Phone Makers in Mid-2009 [Read Article]
Glad to see that Microsoft is sticking with its licensing model on the WinMo 6.5 release, especially considering competition from so many vertically integrated phone makers (i.e. Apple, RIM, Nokia, maybe Palm).
There are significant competitive advantages to the licensing model when executed effectively. I’m crossing my fingers that MS will be able to manage that relationship better than it has in the past.
Circuit City’s Fall Means Fewer Distro Channels for Windows [Read Article]
Great insight from Mary Jo Foley about what Circuit City’s demise means for Microsoft. It will be interesting to see how my team is impacted by this change when I get back to MS in the summer.
