The Panic Blog:

1. Scammer makes an extremely simple iOS app and submits it to Apple.

2. Once it’s approved, they change the screenshots,  Piggyback off a popular game!

I don’t think anybody had any illusions as to how this was going to go but I’m sorry, I just can’t not link to it.

I could go on. And on. And on. But I’m around 2,500 words now and I realize that I’ve already lost most of you as I’ve just been dragging this device through the mud since I started. The point is, you can’t just have this many bugs, performance issues, and overall mindfuckery and still expect this to be a good device.

So, still feeling good about my personal decision to go with two iPad Minis instead of a Surface. I can see the appeal of the Surface for certain people in certain uses but I think iPads, as is typical of Apple products, are more appealing to a broader audience.

Jakob Nielsen (via Adrian Kingsley-Hughes):

The Roman god Janus; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; even Batman’s arch-foe Two-Face — human culture is fascinated by duality. We can now add Windows 8 to this list. The product shows two faces to the user: a tablet-oriented Start screen and a PC-oriented desktop screen.

Unfortunately, having two environments on a single device is a prescription for usability problems for several reasons…

Hey! I think I said that! Well, now it’s backed up by a usability expert. So there.

About one of the aspects of Windows 8 I thought interesting and would most like to see in iOS, Nielsen says:

Win8 does have an option to temporarily show a second area in a small part of the screen, but none of our test users were able to make this work.

Well, regardless, you should still follow Bret Arends advice and invest in Microsoft instead of Apple because Windows 8 is “a powerful competitive edge against existing tablets, such as the iPad, which run on more limited operating systems.”

Do people really feel more limited by using an operating system that makes it easier to do things, even if you can’t do all things?

My thanks to Sendy for sponsoring the Very Nice Web Site RSS feed this week.

Sendy is a self hosted email newsletter application that delivers your emails via Amazon Simple Email Service (SES).

Compared to hosted newsletter services, sendy.co.

Sponsorship by The Syndicate.

Paul Thurrott (via MG Siegler):

Sales of Windows 8 PCs are well below Microsoft’s internal projections and have been described inside the company as disappointing. But here’s the catch: The software giant blames the slow start on lackluster PC maker designs and availability, further justifying its new Surface strategy.

Well, isn’t that convenient. So, if the designs of Microsoft’s partners are so lousy, why do they sell them in their stores?

Microsoft has clearly decided where they hope to get their growth in the future, and it’s not from attracting new customers. I’m sure they hope that happens but it’s not their main strategy. Their main strategy is from eating their partners’ lunch. Their partners, recognizing this, have attacked the Surface and now Microsoft is firing back. Popcorn, etc.

But this is just petty. Does anyone really think that PC designs today are any worse than they’ve ever been? With the possible exception of the Dell XPS, I mean? It should be amusing if Microsoft continues to follow this line that they just woke up and noticed how crappy Windows hardware is.

• Anything having to do with a movie about Steve Jobs’ life. I don’t get out to a huge number of movies so they’re going to have to be reviewed pretty damn well first to beat out anything involving an Avenger, a hobbit or flying monkeys.
• Smash and grabs at Apple Stores. It doesn’t affect my life or Apple’s business that much. Now, stealing 3,600 iPad Minis, on the other hand, that might affect supply. Also, it’s just more impressive.
• Surveys of people’s buying intentions. Wake me when someone actually buys stuff.
• Pretty much anything having to do with Steve Wozniak.

More updates to this list as warranted.

The Street:

After reports earlier in the week that the South Korean technology giant was raising application processor (AP) prices on Apple by as much as 20%, a Samsung Electronics official denied the reports to The Hankyoreh, a Seoul-based newspaper.

Again, if Samsung could do it, I don’t know why they wouldn’t. But if they could, why haven’t they done it before?

(via 9to5Mac)

MG Siegler:

Sinofsky was the driving force behind the “no compromise” approach to Windows 8. I believe that approach is at the heart of the ultimate problem with the OS. As two separate halves,

Siegler is also not impressed with the modestly-selling Surface, which is probably not that surprising.

Ina Fried at AllThingsD:

Sinfosky, who took the reins of Windows in 2006, after a long career in the Office unit, helped restore order and discipline to the operating system following the boondoggle of Windows Vista.

This makes perfect sense because Windows 7 was the first usable release in 8 years and Windows 8 is my favorite version of Windows ever. Order is restored.

Todd Dybas, the University of Washington football and basketball beat reporter for the Tacoma News Tribune (disclosure: my wife worked there for years), was reprimanded by the university (more disclosure: I have a master’s from the UW — the whole Pacific Northwest is one big incestuous mess, frankly) for tweeting too much about a recent Huskies game.

Dybas notes that for credentialed members of the media:

The “recommended” total is “20 total in-game updates for basketball, 45 total in-game updates for football”.

I guess the thought is that reading someone tweeting about the game is just like being there? Not sure I follow the logic here. Also not sure why football gets more than twice as many tweets as basketball. Is that just because basketball is more boring?

Personally, I’d prefer it if my alma mater could work on the problem of people watching football games at home tweeting about them too much in my timeline.