» You get what you pay for
Dustin Early, via John Gruber:
I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps.
I have pretty much all the same problems with my Nexus 7 plus the ones I specified in this post (although the battery has gotten better after some reconditioning).
My sarcastic title, however, doesn’t really tell the whole story. I won’t say that our 16 GB iPad from 2010 doesn’t have any problems, it sometimes hesitates, has diminished battery life and it doesn’t run the current version of iOS. Still, it definitely works better than my Nexus 7. So, let’s do the math.
The iPad 1 was $499 in 2010. The Nexus 7 was $199 in 2012. Both are on a downward utility trajectory, but the Nexus 7 is dropping significantly faster than the iPad. Indeed, if you check Gazelle, you’ll find you can get $100 for an iPad 1 in flawless condition but just $40 for a flawless Nexus 7. Both have lost 80 percent of their value, but it’s taken the iPad three years and the Nexus 7 just one.
Funny, this seems strikingly similar to arguments we’ve made about the Mac for years.
» Apple’s invisible security initiative
Rich Mogull writing for Macworld:
Despite a rocky start, Apple now applies its impressive design sensibilities to security, playing the game its own way and in the process changing our expectations for security and technology.
I’ve criticized Apple’s security policy, or lack thereof, for years. But implementing security technologies is only part of the solution. People are the easiest vector for attack and Apple, if it applies itself, is the company in the best position to provide solutions that don’t make customers have to work to stay secure.
» Journamalism
Jim Dalrymple, noting it’s too early to worry about iOS 7, lays down the law in a footnote:
If you are a reporter and write a story about iOS 7 bugs, you are a dumbass and you are doing your readers a disservice.
Companies do often blur the line between “beta” and beta, but this is why you are paid to be a technology reporter. Noting flaws in Apple’s “beta” product Siri which has been publicly shipping for over a year and a half and is widely featured in Apple’s advertising? More than valid. Noting flaws in Apple’s beta product iOS 7 which is in developer release to try to jack up page views? Baloney.
This isn’t that hard.
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How many iPhones?
Last week when an analyst proclaimed that Samsung had overtaken Apple in the U.S. while neglecting to count Apple Store sales I started to wonder exactly how many iPhones Apple sells through its stores.
Apple doesn’t provide that breakout and I couldn’t find it anywhere else but we can guess using numbers from their quarterly results.
- The iPhone represents 53 percent of all Apple revenue.
- Apple’s retail revenue last quarter was $5.2 billion.
- The average selling price of an iPhone is about $613.
So, do the math.
($5.2 billion X 0.53) / $613 = 4.5 million
Now, any one of these may be off. The iPhone is almost certainly less than 53 percent of Apple Store revenue as opposed to Apple’s overall revenue. And the average selling price of an iPhone in the U.S. alone is probably higher than the global average. So, the total is likely somewhere south of this. Consider 4.5 million the upper bound for last quarter.
Even if it’s half of that, it’s a ridiculous number to just leave out and declare Samsung the winner. Unless you’re just looking to make headlines for your firm.
Ohhh, right.
» Microsoft Office for iPhone
Thank god. Maybe now the iPhone will enjoy some success.
(Needless to say, I don’t really agree with Tony Bradley’s headline.)
» Beta means something
Rene Ritchie:
Stay away. And if you’re not going to stay away, be classy about it. Respect the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) you become part of when you install the software. Send bugs to Apple, not to the front page, and absolutely don’t post negative reviews for apps that don’t work or look well under iOS 7.
I’ve already seen pieces about how iOS 7 has a lock screen security flaw.
» Hold the phone
PC Magazine’s Sascha Segan on a Reuters report that Apple is exploring cheaper phones in multiple colors as well as a “phablet”:
With phablets a success in most of the world, it’s a no-brainer that Apple is doing its due diligence on phablets. Just don’t think that means Apple has actually decided to make one.
That’s Apple Rumors 101 stuff. Lots of people, however, refuse to do the required reading.
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» Uh, no
VentureBeat’s Dylan Tweney:
iOS 7 is an almost purely cosmetic upgrade.
Some people are, apparently, going to let the UI changes in iOS 7 blind them to all the other changes. Also, “cosmetic” does not begin to describe the UI changes.
(Via Matthew Panzarino.)