On this week’s edition of The Rebound, Lex Friedman, Dan Moren and I talk about the announcements and comedy skits at today’s Apple event.

Jeff Carlson, on why the iPhone 2014 lineup jumps from 16 GB to 64 GB:

In our briefing with Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, we brought up the question a lot of people were asking: Why offer a 4 GB iPod nano for $249 when a customer could get 30 GB of storage for just $50 more?

Schiller’s eyes lit up as he answered (I’m paraphrasing) that Apple was more than happy to sell the higher-priced product.

…

“Only $100 more” is an enormously powerful marketing strategy that Apple has used successfully for years.

So, that’s why the 2014 iPad lineup doesn’t have any of the new models with 32 GB, either. There’s still a lot of value there, but as with the base iMac and base Mac mini which are fairly underpowered, Apple is really giving you incentives to move up.

If you think 16 GB isn’t good for anything it could be worse. Amazon still sells an 8 GB Kindle Fire HD.

The Verge:

Google is today introducing the Nexus 6,

Variety:

In a bold surprise, HBO plans to launch a stand-alone over-the-top service in the U.S. next year, CEO Richard Plepler confirmed Wednesday.

Next up: sports. I find it ludicrous that there was literally no (legal) way for me and my Baltimore-born wife to watch the Orioles-Royals series without subscribing to a cable package because of TBS’s contract with MLB. This is not the future we were promised.

Of course, it’s perfectly possible HBO will muck this up by charging an exorbitant rate.

The Standard Examiner:

Utah State University confirmed some staff received an anonymous email terror threat on Tuesday from someone claiming to be a student proposing “the deadliest school shooting in American history” if it didn’t cancel a Wednesday event featuring a prominent Canadian-American author, blogger and feminist.

I seriously don’t even know what to do with people anymore.

The point is, of course, to silence women. Because women having opinions about video games is apparently the worst thing that has happened ever.

UPDATE: Sarkeesian has canceled her appearance because over concerns about insufficient security.

Macworld/iWorld Expo and Fan Fest-o-rama and carnival rides and late nights wondering why we bothered to stop at the Pied Piper with that creepy mural when the bartenders clearly hated us if not all humanity, why didn’t we just go straight to House of Shields? What, are we stupid? Anyway, IDG has announced that thing is “on hiatus”.

Meaning it’s over.

My first Macworld was 2007 when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone. I asked Glenn Fleishman “Are they all like this?” No, of course, they weren’t, but they were a great way to get together with people who shared an interest in the same thing. I’d list all the people I met there but it was practically everyone I know in the Apple community. I even touched Ron Johnson there. Just walked up to him and… touch. Then I walked away. He didn’t even look at me.

Well, we’ll always have WWDC.

If you’re trying to catch up on Gamergate, Jay Hathaway provides a great summary.

Gamergaters demand to be seen simultaneously as a 70-million-strong market force, too big for the industry to ignore, and as a persecuted minority. They warn advertisers it’s “racist” and “sexist” when a gaming site dares to point out that most angry gamers are young, white, and male. At the same time, they argue that angry, young, white males are those sites’ “target audience,” and writers offend them at their own risk.

Jay and I have had beers on several occasions in case you want to add this to the web of conspiracy behind the failure of ethics in game journalism.

This episode of The Rebound is interrupted by BREAKING NEWS! News that Apple’s having an event next week. Anyway, we talk about that, bugs in iOS 8, Phil Schiller’s presentation skills and set-top boxes.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella being completely and profoundly wrong:

“It’s not really about asking for a raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will give you the right raise,” Nadella told a confounded (and predominantly female) audience at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing on Thursday.

Have faith in the system! The one that’s already failing you!

Added: That was quick. He’s already walking it back (via David Chartier).

I was on episode 57 of the Clockwise podcast along with Dan Moren, Jason Snell and Georgia Dow to talk about the iOS 8 adoption rate, Google’s responsibility to eighty-six illegally gained images and the upcoming Apple event.