Comments:

1. Roland Hesz on February 5th, 2010 at 10:19:

   I hate that. Another example of MS being on the wrong track. Full of creative, brilliant people, and a useless management.

2. John Sinteur on February 5th, 2010 at 10:26:

   [Quote:]

   Think of Excel, a program that is now a tricked out spreadsheet application. Over the years users have been trying to push the limits of using Excel as a database. In a parallel universe you might think that a company would follow the lead of its users and extend or add the database capabilities and turn it into a true database management system.

   However this will never happen because of Microsoft Access which is their database management system. Between the Sales division, marketing, etc there is too much invested in keeping these silos. So what are the product managers and developers who work on the Excel team supposed to do when new versions are required? Rather than take the path of resistance they go into contortions coming up with “new features” that do not eat Access’ lunch.

   But then again, the Wall Street definition of “competent leadership” is “manages to get good quarterly results this quarter”, and Ballmer has been adequate for that.

3. John Sinteur on February 5th, 2010 at 13:32:

   [Microsof responds:]

   We measure our work by its broad impact.

Comments:

1. Roland Hesz on February 2nd, 2010 at 10:48:

   Actually, this video just put me off the iPad.
   I think I better watch the original keynote, because this one just made me think: “wow, hot air, no content”.

Comments:

1. Jan-Mark on February 1st, 2010 at 15:02:

   That guy in the top cartoon, is wearing the wrong T-shirt.

Comments:

1. TheGaucho on January 30th, 2010 at 8:36:

   And because I am biased, Apple can do no wrong.

2. John Sinteur on January 30th, 2010 at 8:37:

   Oh fuck off – am I going to get that every time I point out something nice by Apple without pointing out flaws as well?

3. John Sinteur on January 30th, 2010 at 9:12:

   Oh, and go read this so you can whine some more.

4. John Sinteur on January 30th, 2010 at 16:21:

   Fun as well

5. Jan-Mark on January 31st, 2010 at 23:45:

   Well, to say something negative. I HATE the fact that it does not have several (ok, one) CF slots. Cheap 32GB to plug in. Why not? That would have been quite possible. The thing must be mostly empty so people will glue them in there. But why make us break it open? Man, I HATE that. I know there is, I even have, a Apple dongle thing that takes CF cards and plug into the bottom. But there it sticks out. There is no other reason I can think of but market domination.

Comments:

1. Maarten on January 29th, 2010 at 23:38:

   Honestly, I don’t understand why people bother reporting what Microsoft has to say about mobile devices.

2. Jan-Mark on January 30th, 2010 at 0:25:

   Well, you can run the .NET stack on an iPhone, as soon as you update the processor and the memory and attach an external disk. Easy peasy…

3. Gene on January 30th, 2010 at 14:39:

   I didn’t know Windows Mobile had developers. Oh, and what’s a Zune? I heard rumors about it but I have never seen one in the wild.

4. Roland Hesz on February 2nd, 2010 at 10:28:

   Sack Ballmer, and the higher management, and set MS on a definite track. They are ruining the company.

Comments:

1. spaceman spiff on January 29th, 2010 at 15:52:

   Generally, I agree with you. However, I do hope that they open the iPad more than they have the iPhone, et al. A single source of software and add-ons for such a device is not accepatble, to me at least.

Comments:

1. Maarten on January 28th, 2010 at 9:13:

   Well, at least you skipped the joke that everyone else is making (maxipad).

   I was thinking.. Given that this is an iPod Touch on steroids, and therefore the logic board need not be much bigger, what’s in that thing? Is it otherwise all battery?

2. John Sinteur on January 28th, 2010 at 9:16:

   well, 10 hours of video is pretty impressive battery-wise. I guess we’ll know when the first one ships, because within 24 hours some website will have done the usual apple-porn unpacking and opening up the device…

3. Maarten on January 28th, 2010 at 9:24:

   I’ll believe the 10 hours when I see it–especially since the phrase I saw started with “up to”.

   I had really hoped for a camera, and was thinking 50-50 they might have multitasking, but alas.

   The most interestng question I saw is whether this will allow for user profiles, or if it’s essentially a personal gadget. If you leave this lying around the house, family members are going to want their own email, Facebook, and other accounts separated.

4. John Sinteur on January 28th, 2010 at 9:42:

   Well, forgive me for not talking about the features in OS 3.2, and whether there’s something like that in there, or not at all. I’ve been playing around with it because all my apps will have to be reworked a bit to support the iPad, and I want to make sure I’m not breaking my agreement with Apple.

   But yes, I can see your point – and even if they have profiles now or later, I suspect Apple would really like you to buy one for each family member. It will be interesting to see future versions exploit that by doing a lot of sharing amongst devices, like you can do in iTunes and iPhoto on the mac.

5. flow on January 28th, 2010 at 10:11:

   it would be really nice to see a next-gen version of the iPad that uses Qualcomm’s mirasol display tech. I’ve done enough reading of backlit text to know that a book reader with a backlit display is not something i’m willing to pay for. if then it’s just a mobile internet and media player, i might as well stick with my iphone.

6. Jim on January 28th, 2010 at 11:10:

   Well, I think flow has a point, it was one of the first things that I noticed about the pad: it uses a backlit display. Great for watching movies, nice for browsing, but everyone knows that it does not work well for reading.
   @Maarten: indeed an ‘iPod Touch on steroids’. It’s too big to fit in a pocket, so won’t replace the smartphone. Not easy to type on, so won’t replace the laptop (certainly not for working travellers that want to do some work in the train or on the couch like me). But it is the coolest clipboard I have seen yet. I never use a clipboard however, and have no intention to either.

   It would be a fun thingy to have lying about to surf the web on at home, but I don’t see much more use for it than that. I’d rather invest the $500+ in a good tablet – though I must admit I haven’t seen many of those yet. I’m sure we’ll see more of those emerge this year.

7. developer on January 28th, 2010 at 13:54:

   Gotta say my reaction to the iPad is pretty much the same as the HP Slate: Meh!

8. spaceman spiff on January 28th, 2010 at 15:58:

   Well, my wife gets at least 8 hours on her Toshiba netbook (10″ screen, 250GB HDD), even with the WiFi running. So, I think it’s safe to assume Apple is getting 10 hours out of theirs, especially since I think they are using a lower-power display.

9. Alan on January 28th, 2010 at 19:35:

   It is very much an Itouch on steroids…but I would expect from that to support flash. That disappoints me very much. I think it’ll be great to watch a movie on, even read a book (as I find the back-lit screen not a problem as on the itouch you can set the luminosity). But that’s not enough to make me buy it. I’ll have to wait what apps are developed for it and see if any of them makes it worth my money.

10. Simon on February 1st, 2010 at 15:54:

    No flash – no cash

Comments:

1. spaceman spiff on January 28th, 2010 at 2:41:

   That must be why it is so full of DRM goodness…

2. Mudak on January 28th, 2010 at 3:20:

   The Onion also reported that Apple’s stock is down 3.60% with the following comments:

   Panicked investors dumped shares in this leading tech company on word that CEO Steve Jobs had delivered a trade-show speech in a heather-gray crewneck sweatshirt instead of his trademark black mock turtleneck.

   http://www.theonion.com/content/economy

Comments:

1. spaceman spiff on January 27th, 2010 at 16:58:

   And here I thought it was the one you turned upside-down and shook to erase… Or did Microsoft patent that one?

Comments:

1. TheGaucho on January 26th, 2010 at 16:52:

   If Steve Jobs farted, you people would be appreciative of the finer aromas on display. The hint of garlic, that smidgen of penne all’arrabiata… It is almost religious fanaticism

2. John Sinteur on January 26th, 2010 at 16:56:

   

3. Maarten on January 26th, 2010 at 17:50:

   A paper-based poll. How quaint.

Comments:

1. Michael on January 26th, 2010 at 0:54:

   Who or what do you think the original crowd in the picture was waiting for? I bet it wasn’t anything so trivial as a magic book.
   Thoughts?

2. John Sinteur on January 26th, 2010 at 19:19:

   The news paper visible on the lower left says “Nazis give up”, which makes it a V.E. day celebration. From the looks of it I’d guess Times Square, and a quick google gives me reason to believe I’m right:

   http://www.skylighters.org/veday/index.html

3. John Sinteur on January 26th, 2010 at 19:20:

   Wait, here’s the original as well:

   http://www.owensarchive.com/world-war-ii/v-e-v-j-day/v-e-day-in-times-square-may-8-1945/prod_4065.html

Comments:

1. renantech on January 21st, 2010 at 1:15:

   Iphone default search engine bing is also good but most users like google as a search engine. But is also good search engine. For me choosing bing as default search engine is not a problem.

Comments:

1. Jim on January 20th, 2010 at 10:12:

   I’m sooo sorry. You really are asking for it. Let’s put it in perspective:

   First of all, yes, other companies make it possible to donate, but they don’t advertise it as much. Try Google for instance:
   http://www.google.com/relief/haitiearthquake/

   But moreover, the key is in how much the companies have donated themselves. The US Chamber of Commerce keeps track of that, they have a nice list on their site: http://www.uschamber.com/bclc/haiti_corporatedonations.htm
   Check out the list, it’s long. To name some of the companies and their donations:
   - Canon $ 220.000
   - Cisco $ 250.000 plus double employee donation up to $50.000
   - Comcast $ 1 million
   - Dell $ 500.000 plus double employee donation up to $ 250.000
   - Google $ 1 million
   - HP $ 500.000 plus double employee donation up to $ 250.000
   - IBM $ 150.000 in tech and services
   - Intel $ 250.000 plus double employee donation
   - Microsoft $ 1.25 million, plus double any employee donation up to $12.000

   The list goes on and on, with names like Coca-cola, McDonalds, Disney, Starbucks and many farmaceutical companies donating up to $ 2 million each. There’s quite a few smaller companies there as well.

   The one name shining in absency: Apple. No donation, nothing. No sign of any in the list, not on their own site, nor on Google. In stead, all Apple does is put a huge link on it’s site so YOU can donate and make Apple look good in the process.

   Thankfully, I don’t know of any other company doing this.

2. John Sinteur on January 20th, 2010 at 10:27:

   What are you sorry about? You just improved the post a lot but this information, which I failed to find – you’re not worried about hurting my feelings, right?

3. Jim on January 20th, 2010 at 10:36:

   Of course I am. You’re a nice guy, point taken.

4. Maarten on January 20th, 2010 at 19:21:

   It may help if you check tech companies that have transaction infrastructure? On Amazon.com, the donation teaser is at the top of the page, right below the banner. Not as big as the ad for the Kindle, but hey. On ebay, there’s a plea right below the banner as well.

   (PS, Jim: Microsoft always doubles employee donations up to $12,000, any time to any 501(c)3 charity.)

Comments:

1. joan on January 20th, 2010 at 19:10:

   Don’t forget us:-) Good luck!!

2. Maarten on January 20th, 2010 at 19:24:

   Congrats!

   What’s the key difference between SP and Twitter?

3. John Sinteur on January 20th, 2010 at 20:20:

   Twitter is one-to-everybody, ping is always one-to-one and private..

4. Maarten on January 20th, 2010 at 21:50:

   Ah.

   Twitter does have direct user-to-user messages.

5. JimM on January 21st, 2010 at 19:18:

   Are you willing to publish the protocol spec so compatible apps can be implemented on other platforms?

6. John Sinteur on January 21st, 2010 at 22:16:

   Some of the features that got pushed back from 1.0 are hooks from system alert software like nagios (you’d get a ping with “system x has load average Y” or “printer out of toner”), and group based task pings (where a group gets a ping like “task X needs Y”) with an “I’m on it” and a “Not me” button where the group gets a ping with “Task x: Pete is on it” back, and several similar ideas.

   All this basically implies publication of an API.

Comments:

1. Jim on January 19th, 2010 at 11:43:

   You forgot to mention Apple was frontpage news on the same site a few days ago, when they had their lawyers send out angry letters to Gawker (offering rewards for proof of the iTablet).

   If you want to comment on “the way it’s handled”, you need a more unbiased approach. Or have you become part of Apple’s marketing – are they funding you?

2. John Sinteur on January 19th, 2010 at 11:45:

   No, they’re not funding me, and I do not claim to be unbiased. Caveat Emptor.

3. Jim on January 19th, 2010 at 22:46:

   The question was rhetorical, I know you’re not. You probably wouldn’t even consider it, although it wouldn’t even have to change your posting patern on the blog.
   I’m just not as excited by news about (new) Apple products as you seem to be. I think it’s funny to see you bash most companies’ marketing – you have a special category for it, the posts for which I thoroughly enjoy – but not Apple. It’s not just amusing, it’s intriguing too: how does it work? Why do so many people get so excited over something that does not (yet) exist, and may not exist at all? These Apple product presentations have become a bigger deal than Christmas. It’s a hype, people get manipulated, most of them (like you I guess) know this and yet accept and enjoy it. I find that amazing, not the products themselves.
   Don’t worry though, I won’t bring this up again (at least not any time soon

4. John Sinteur on January 19th, 2010 at 22:55:

   Oh, bring it up whenever you want to.

   You see, you’re correct – but with a twist. When I bash marketing, there’s usually a “how the fuck can this work?” at the back of my mind. Apple’s product presentations have the same thing: how the fuck DO they work? Why does it work this way every time? We’ve seen the hype with the iPhone, now again with the tablet – how do they do it? With most marketing bashing I do, it’s “how the fuck does this work because it’s so blatantly bad. With Apple, the products aren’tbad.

   So I’m left wondering if it’s just all the same: “how the fuck does this marketing trick work” but with Apple it makes me wonder: is the only difference that they’re not so obviously crap, and is that why the whole world goes banana over the announcements?

   But since I’m biased (their products make my life a lot easier) I’m probably the wrong person to ask.

   And indeed, the product announcements are amazing and enjoyable no matter what they are, just because of the way the world reacts…

5. Jim on January 20th, 2010 at 10:23:

   Thank you for an insightful comment. I see we agree more than I thought, and I am as baffled as you are as to how Apple does it, and wonder at the same time if this is still something they do…

Comments:

1. Mr. N on January 14th, 2010 at 16:53:

   “Based on our review of current information, paid applications have a piracy rate of around 75%”

   Sound to me a lot like

   “We made up some random number that sound impressive and gives us a basis to write a ton of bullshit”

2. Jim on January 14th, 2010 at 20:28:

   Well John, based on personal experience, I’d say you are about 100% right, but that’s just me.

   And @ Mr. N: you don’t know if it’s a ton, you just made that number up. Could be ten ton for all we know. :p

3. Hotblack on January 14th, 2010 at 21:41:

   Clearly, anyone who engages in something called “Jailbreaking” must be a criminal, eh?

   John, going one step beyond your estimate and back to the days of pirated games for Apple ][s, the question for Apple is how many fewer phones they would sell if people did not know that they could get pirated software for the device.

4. John Sinteur on January 14th, 2010 at 21:51:

   I would be very surprised if Apple wasn’t aware of that effect. I would also be very surprised if Apple ever admitted as much.

5. The Mad Hatter on January 29th, 2010 at 1:57:

   I have a strong feeling that we are being feed a line of bullshit here. I know a lot of people (close to 40) who own IPhones. Only one of them has ‘jailbroken’ his phone. So if these numbers are correct, then 2.5% of IPhone users are downloading 100% of pirated apps.

   Now I know the guy who jailbroke his phone really well. He’s cheap enough to make Ebenezer Scrooge cringe. He wouldn’t buy – ever. So any ‘lost sales’ are mythical.

   FYI, I have a ton off apps on my phone. Most, like the NASA app are free. The only two I paid for were Solebon and Free Books.

Comments:

1. Maarten on January 6th, 2010 at 23:57:

   When I read this, I wondered why Apple would want to create such a leak. The post you sourced this from mentions a few.

   I’m torn whether I find them compelling. One of the suggestion motivations is to get ahead of a competitor in the news headlines. Indeed, there are the predictions that Msft + HP will announce a tablet today.

   Frankly, I’d be just as happy if everyone would shut up until there’s actually news to report. I find nothing as boring as an endless post on Daring Fireball in which Gruber goes on at length to showcase how clever he thinks his predictions are. I really don’t care if you have good sources or can predict what’s going to be announced. Wake me up when there’s an official announcement.

2. John Sinteur on January 7th, 2010 at 6:32:

   /sets alarm clock for January 27th…

3. Jim on January 7th, 2010 at 14:57:

   It reminds me of the paper releases we’ve seen ATi and nVidia do in the past. The competition was fierce, the focus on which brand had the fastest GPU. They started leaking test results, showing off their upcoming products. Then the official release news came – months ahead of any chips really hitting stores. The public grew tired of these ‘paper’ releases, and both companies got a lot of criticism. Then finally, the next marketing step was to officially release the product the day it was available in the stores.

   Endless discussions about vaporware like the Apple tablet are pointless imo if being done by any other than the R&D dept of Apple itself. Getting excited about products that don’t exist is exactly what the folks in the marketing dept want. Even discussing that the leak is not really a leak serves the same purpose. Shouldn’t this also be filed under ‘if you’re in marketing…’?

Comments:

1. skip on January 2nd, 2010 at 6:00:

   is that bill nye “the science guy”??

2. spaceman spiff on January 2nd, 2010 at 7:15:

   Some major wishful thinking going on there, I believe. If Jobs had been at the helm during the Scully era instead of Scully, I think we’d be quite a bit closer to accomplishing this vision.

Comments:

1. Mr. N on January 2nd, 2010 at 1:12:

   I hate those apple fanboys.

   The Tablet (or iSlate, iSlab, iTablet or any other iDiocy) will be to the computing market what the iPhone was to the mobile phone market.

   An overpriced, underpowered, DRM locked, commercially fucked up piece of horse shit.

   Unfortunately, just like the iPhone, it will get record sales and fandom, mostly from people who don’t have a clue about technology, but thin to be sooooooo fashionable and alternative.

   Should we expect someone like Adobe to ask “please stop using photoshop with iTablet or our network will collapse” too?

2. John Sinteur on January 2nd, 2010 at 7:29:

   You’re already making one of Grubers predictions true:

   The same Asperger-y critics who dismissed the iPhone will focus on all that The Tablet doesn’t do and declare that this time, Apple really has fucked up but good. The rest of us will get in line to buy one.

   You:
   An overpriced, underpowered, DRM locked, commercially fucked up piece of horse shit.

   Unfortunately, just like the iPhone, it will get record sales and fandom
   

   Or, as people on Slashdot said when Apple introduced the very first iPod:

   “No wireless, less space than a Nomad. Lame.”

3. Roland Hesz on January 2nd, 2010 at 17:38:

   I like the iPhone John, however yes, it’s an overpriced and DRM locked thing.
   And until they lower the price under 500USD with 2 years sworn in fealty , it will be a bad choice for me.
   But if the iTable or whatever comes out, and will be priced under 2000USD – I doubt – I will try to get one if I like it.

4. John Sinteur on January 2nd, 2010 at 17:43:

   I like the iPhone John, however yes, it’s an overpriced and DRM locked thing.

   And there’s plenty of other things missing and/or wrong with it as well. It is far from perfect, but it did shake up the mobile market like nothing before. Just like the iPod did, which is far from perfect as well. I’m really curious for the tablet…

5. Mr. N on January 3rd, 2010 at 0:43:

   John, I agree with you. It will be a turning point in the sector. It will have people screaming and getting in line the week before to throw away some bucks on a piece of cheap hardware driven by a well constructed hype campaign.

   That’s why I hate apple fanboys.

   Once upon a time, most mp3 players had a radio tuner, equalizer and good audio quality. They were the first of their kind, and producers were trying hard to make them good to make them appealing.

   Then Apple came, reshaped the market making it more about fashion and brand image instead of quality and performance. Everyone started copying the iPod, and the market was all about cheaply built, featureless, low quality and high priced useless gadgets.

   Slashdot was right: the iPod was lame, it is still lame and maybe it will always be.
   Apple was right, too: people is more stupid than you can believe, and will do anything with a good marketing campaign.

   Too bad if they fuck up the whole market, but they don’t give a shit anyway.

6. John Sinteur on January 3rd, 2010 at 9:11:

   Too bad if they fuck up the whole market

   If it were only that. Look at all the copy-cat iPhone look-a-likes, for example from LG. Apparently there’s zero market for non-lame mp3 players and phones or somebody would have made one that matched your requirements…

   If you think the iPhone is bad, remember that it’s the least bad on the market…

7. John Sinteur on January 3rd, 2010 at 9:43:

   And if you want a more down-to-earth analysis of the tablet, read this.

8. Mr. N on January 3rd, 2010 at 16:17:

   john, about the mp3 question.
   Before the iPod, you paid a decent sum to have a player that included radio, USB storage capability and some other useful stuff.

   After the iPod, those extras were still on the market, but you had to pay a lot more for them, since they were not included in the standard model. If the market leader is not willing to pursue quality, why should copycat products?

   I had a beautiful samsung mp3 player, with video player, radio, equalizer, inbuilt speakers and so on. The exact moment the iPod Nano hit the shelves, its price went up 50 euro.

   You say iPhone is “the least bad on the market”. I won’t say so, since it is *a mobile phone*.
   A mobile phone that
   - had no MMS capability
   - can’t be used as USB storage, except with a jailbreak
   - needs a rubber case to protect its fragile mirror screen and polished thin aluminium foil
   - is prone to virus attacks
   - brings down the network in big cities
   - costs as much as a desktop or laptop computer
   - can do perfectly a lot of funny things, except calling
   - ties you to a two year contract, to a proprietary software and to a single online store

   … I wouldn’t say its “the least bad”. I’d say “scam”.

9. John Sinteur on January 3rd, 2010 at 17:30:

   had no MMS capability

   It has. If you can’t use it, blame your provider.

   is prone to virus attacks

   Only if you 1) jailbreak, 2) install openssh and 3) leave the default password. Not a problem, I’d say.

   brings down the network in big cities

   So it’s the iPhone fault that people actually use it?

   can do perfectly a lot of funny things, except calling

   No problems here – blame your provider.

   ties you to a two year contract

   depends on your provider.

   A lot of the things you mention can be blamed on AT&T. Apple can fix this, of course, and they should.

   If the market leader is not willing to pursue quality, why should copycat products?

   Perhaps because they would like to become the market leader?

10. Mr. N on January 3rd, 2010 at 17:46:

    MMS capability: it has NOW. it was added later.
    Virus/Jailbreak: You have to choose: either keep your iPhone with limited capabilities and without essential services, or jailbreak and lose warranty, risk infections etc. Quite a lose-lose.
    Network: yes, since Apple chose a commercial strategy that brought to that situation
    Calling: not a provider problem, just low quality of the microphone and bad ergonomics design (for a phone, I mean)
    AT&T: figure that in the country where I live in, the country where my company’s iPhones run, AT&T does not even exist
    Copycat: no way, a copycat producer does not want to be market leader. Never. It’s expensive. Copycat producers just want to live on the market leader’s efforts, it’s cheaper and has higher revenues, does not require investments in R&D or promotion, and is much safer in terms of investment.

11. John Sinteur on January 3rd, 2010 at 17:49:

    no way, a copycat producer does not want to be market leader

    Given the margins and profits Apple realizes, compared to the margins and profits the copy cats make, I can only assume they’re either exceptionally stupid, or exceptionally short-sighted, or alternative simply incapable of creating a better product.

12. Karl on January 6th, 2010 at 1:06:

    I think Steve Jobs stole Mr. N’s girlfriend…. that’s all I can puzzle out of the discussion above.