Ben Thompson in a terrific piece discussing the pitfalls of Microsoft’s recent reorganization:

It’s on this point, actually, that concern and criticism of Tim Cook is most warranted. I’ve already made the case as to why he is a great CEO for Apple, but his greatest weakness – product vision – is hugely magnified by the fact that Apple is organized functionally, and thus especially reliant on a visionary leader (this should, of course, make it obvious why Steve Jobs was so insistent on a functional organization). Clearly Jony Ive has been nominated to fill the role of visionary; it is likely that at least one of Ive’s once-peers was not happy about that elevation.

It remains to be seen whether setting Ive up as Apple’s visionary-in-chief will work as well as having Jobs in that role did. Who knows? It could work out better (leather). However, we already know how having Steve Ballmer in that role has worked out for Microsoft.

Lex Friedman reviews two new iPad mini keyboard options and concludes:

The ZaggKeys Cover and ZaggKeys Folio are the first two iPad mini keyboards that I can type on without questioning my sanity.

As I remain almost categorically dissatisfied with smaller sized keyboards even for the full-sized iPad, so I have a hard time thinking I’m going to like these. And yet I’m drawn to the option of an iPad mini with a physical keyboard like a moth to a flame. A stupid, fat-fingered, twice-burned moth.

Mat Honan shows you how to write popular stories for only $44. You may need a shower after reading this.

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

Digg (yes, that Digg) has released a new RSS Reader for the web, iPhone, and iPad (Android coming soon). The design is sleek and clean, and the apps are speedy and efficient.

Whether you’re a hardcore RSS junky or simply want all your favorite online reading in one place, Digg Reader is for you. It’s free and available today!

Sponsorship by The Syndicate.

I join John Gruber on this week’s edition of The Talk Show to discuss a variety of topics and crack wise.

As an aside, the peanut guy I mention in the episode was Rick Kaminski who, alas, is no longer with us, having died in 2011. From his Wikipedia page:

Kaminski’s trademark peanut toss was a behind-the-back line drive thrown for distance with velocity — with a Mariners scout clocking one such Kaminski throw at 72 miles per hour with a radar gun.

Forget kids making thousand dollar in-app purchases, forget the ebooks antitrust suit. Above The Law’s Joe Patrice brings us the best Apple lawsuit of the year, possibly of all time. A quote from the complaint:

UNFAIR COMPETITION AND INTERFERENCE OF THE MARITAL CONTRACT: The Plaintiff became totally out of synch in his romantic relationship with his wife, which was a consequence of his use of his Apple product. The Plaintiff began desiring, younger more beautiful girls featured in porn videos than his wife, who was no longer 21. His failed marriage caused the Plaintiff to experience emotional distress to the point of hospitalization. The Plaintiff could no longer tell the difference between internet pornography and tangible intercourse due to the content he accessed through the Apple products, which failed to provide him with warnings of the dangers of online pornography whatsoever.

His wife… who was no longer 21.

(Via CNet.)

I know others have noticed this before and it’s kind of obvious, but as a long-time observer of technology (first time caller) I think it’s interesting how the roles are reversed in the place where things currently matter, mobile, compared to the desktop race of yore.

Microsoft struggles to get developers on its platforms with apps coming late or not at all, developers ship for Apple first and foremost and the platform with the most market share is, ostensibly, open-source.

You couldn’t have written this as science fiction in 1997. No one would have believed it.

I’ve opined in the past about my Nexus 7 and my less than stellar experience with it, so I was interested to see Adrian Kingsley-Hughes explain “Why the Nexus 7 is winning my heart and replacing my iPad”.

Earlier this year I took possession of a Google Nexus 7 tablet…

What, it fell off the back of a truck? Its acrobat parents were killed by nefarious circus mobsters and you took it on as your faithful ward?

First, I like Android. In fact, I really like Android.

And when a man loves an operating system very much he…

It’s smooth, it’s fast, and it’s fluid…

WHOA. Very much.

…and, to borrow an Appleism, it “just works.”

On a Nexus 7?! Seriously? OK, I don’t know for sure what’s different about Kingsley-Hughes’ experience and mine, but I find Android unbelievably slow and clunky on the Nexus 7. Touches are often unresponsive and actions take too long to complete. As I said previously, my first generation iPad isn’t as responsive as it was originally, either, but overall I find it substantially smoother than the Nexus 7 (although, it should be noted it doesn’t run the latest version of the operating system). And my third generation iPad and my wife’s iPad mini… fuggetaboutit.

Kingsley-Hughes never says in this piece which iPad he’s using, but based on his comments it appears it’s a 10-inch model, which is not really a perfect comparison. I think there’s a definite case to be made for the utility of a smaller device depending on the usage but then an iPad mini would be more useful as well.

I especially like the way that the operating system automatically takes care of updates, both operating system updates, and updates for my apps.

This, definitely. Really looking forward to that in iOS 7 (although I don’t think it adds automatic operating system updates).

Another factor of the Android experience I like is the way it integrates with Google services.

Obviously this is going to be a big deal for a lot of people. I completely get that, it just isn’t that important for me.

I also love the form factor of the Nexus 7.

It is pretty good. I like how easy it is to hold in one hand which is a little easier than the iPad mini. On the other hand, you get a larger screen with the mini, it’s lighter and the build quality is significantly better.

I also like the hardware aspect of the form factor, specifically the lack of a physical home button such as that used by Apple on the iPhone and iPad.

Personally, I like the hardware button but I can see how the mileage of others may vary.

Anyone who tells you that you can’t create content on the Nexus 7 hasn’t tried to, hasn’t tried hard enough to do so, is some edge case, or is lying.

Also true of the iPad.

The Google Play Store might not have as many apps as Apple has in its App Store, I don’t find this to be much of a problem.

I find the App Store apps to be of superior quality but I do believe you can find enough apps on Google Play to make it a solid experience.

I’m also impressed with the build quality of the Nexus 7. There’s no doubt that the iPad is a sexier device, it is also a lot more fragile.

I think durability is different than build quality. The iPad has superior build quality. The Nexus 7 may have superior durability but I haven’t bashed the devices around enough to test that.

Finally, battery life is not shabby…

Another place we’ll have to disagree. For a year old device, I’ve found the battery life to be sub-standard.

If Apple doesn’t raise its game with respect to the iPad, my next full-size tablet could be a Nexus.

Well, isn’t that always the way? Apple will certainly raise its game. But it really depends on what’s important to you. If you’re a big fan of Google’s ecosystem, an Android device is always going to have an advantage there.

I simply do not understand how he could find Android smooth on the Nexus 7, however. Other than automatic updating, I’d say my first generation iPad beats my Nexus 7 on any interaction. Most of the taps I make in the Netflix app on my Nexus 7 don’t get registered the first time and video frequently stutters when I experience no stuttering on my iOS device. It is possible our experiences are different because he’s using his as a work device and I’m using mine for media, so maybe that explains the difference.

For $200 I don’t think the Nexus 7 is a completely terrible devices, but if I were in the market for another Android tablet I’d certainly look to the Kindle Fire or Samsung Galaxy for my next purchase.

I’m not, of course, I’m going to get an iPad mini, but that’s what I’d do if I were.

Which I’m not.

9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman on a Gartner report that Apple’s U.S. PC shipments declined more than the overall market:

However, that is not necessary bad news for Apple. Gartner says that these PC shipment numbers includes Windows 8 tablets, but not Apple’s iPads.

Sure, that sounds fair. Does it also include ultrabooks and not MacBooks?

Jeff John Roberts (via The Loop):

A federal court in New York has come down hard on Apple in a closely watched case over ebook pricing. In a ruling issued Tuesday morning, US District Judge Denise Cote ruled that the company “brilliantly” organized a conspiracy to raise prices and thwart competition.

The company will appeal.

Been a rough four weeks for Internet pundits. First they had to pretend to be design experts and now they’re going to have to pretend to be antitrust experts. Godspeed, Internet pundits.