» Has there ever been a survey that was not misrepresented?
The Telegraph on a survey conducted by Bloomberg:
Apple losing innovative edge, three in four investors say
Make that 71 percent of Bloomberg terminal users.
And “losing” should be “lost”, but 60 percent of that 71 percent think it’s only temporary.
And, taken another way, 66 percent see Apple as a long-term innovator.
But other than that, completely correct.
No word on how many respondents were spied on by Bloomberg.
(Via Carl Howe.)
» ‘Welcome to Google Island’
Mat Honan visits Google’s utopia. Not creepy at all.
» It’s a sickness
Benj Edwards writing for Macworld:
If you’re like me and happen to have a bunch of vintage Macs powered by Motorola 680×0 CPUs lying around, then you probably like to tinker with them. And what better way to tinker with obsolete hardware than by installing an obsolete version of Linux on it?
I’ll probably try this, but people like Edwards and I need some kind of 12-step program because this isn’t healthy.
» Windows Phone ascendant
The Verge’s Nathan Ingraham:
Market research firm IDC just released its latest quarterly look at the smartphone market, and for the first time Windows Phone marketshare has eclipsed BlackBerry. During Q1 2013, Windows Phone devices accounted for 3.2 percent of all smartphones shipped around the world, while BlackBerry devices made up 2.9 percent of the market.
Well on its way to overtaking Android by the end of the year.
» Developers! Developers!
The Next Web has a handy roundup of everything Google announced at I/O today. Despite the creepiness during the Q&A, they delivered a whole bunch of things developers really wanted. Hopefully Apple’s planning to do the same next month.
» The world is not enough
Larry Page at Google I/O as quoted by The Verge:
“There are many exciting things you could do that are illegal or not allowed by regulation,” Page said. “And that’s good, we don’t want to change the world. But maybe we can set aside a part of the world.”
Like, maybe an island somewhere, preferably one with a dormant volcano we could put a secret base under. Just dream-sheeting.
» What Apple means by “sold”
Erica Ogg explains Apple’s definition of when a product is “sold”. Pretty much it’s products actually sold to customers by Apple through its own stores plus items shipped to its partners such as carriers and retail outlets.
In order to present the clearest possible picture of how demand for Apple’s products stands in relation to its competitors, we will be referring to Apple’s announced numbers as “shipped” from now on.
Indeed, “shipped” is certainly the most accurate term, but it’s important to know that Apple’s “shipped” includes more units that are known to have been sold.
» Feedback loop
Ryan Bateman on Google giving developers the ability to respond to reviews:
So, while, I love the idea of the Google Play Store actually taking a new approach to app store functionality, I have a hard time imagining this doing more good than harm.
That was my reaction as well. I don’t know how you fix a problem like app store reviews, but developers are going to have to be pretty careful before wading into this “conversation”. This could end up being their opportunity to go from being labelled “developer of lousy, one-star app that should be free” to “asshole developer of lousy, one-star app that should be free”.
You Can’t Go Home Again
Wired’s Ryan Tate thinks Facebook Home could continue to iterate until it’s successful.
In the end, Facebook Home will rise or fall on how well it appeals to its target audience: the exceedingly average billion people who use Facebook and are quite possibly more interested in seeing pictures and messages from their loved ones when they turn on their phones than in seeing the geeky navigational craft of a smartphone operating system.
I don’t doubt that Facebook Home could find appeal with a core set of users who want that experience, but I’m skeptical that’s going to be a sizable slice of the market despite the “billion people who use Facebook”.
Because, as Marco Arment says, it’s not an implementation issue. It’s that the actual experience of seeing pictures your loved ones take (or, worse, the images they jack from other places with political statements or cat fetishism or poop jokes or fat jokes or political fat cat poop jokes) is not an experience most people really want:
Facebook Home was flat-out badly designed: it’s designed for optimal input and failed to consider real-world usage.
Admittedly, I do have an anti-Facebook bias — that is only partly due to my many childhood issues — so maybe I’m a poor judge.
» Facebook Home is a huge threat to Apple
BGR’s Zach Epstein:
Our source at AT&T has confirmed that the HTC First, which is the first smartphone to ship with Facebook Home pre-installed, will soon be discontinued and unsold inventory will be returned to HTC.
It’s a shame Apple’s closed ecosystem doesn’t allow for such highly popular implementations.