I was reading AppleInsider’s interesting account of how Google isn’t open and in reality controls almost every aspect of the Android experience in terms of handset makers. This interested me, particularly as one thing the company hasn’t controlled very well is malware on its ‘open’ platform, which went up 400 percent recently. It made me think of this graphic, so I made it to get it off my chest. Below is Apple’s ’1984′ ad. Put Google up there on the screen and that’s the reality, despite the apologists. I hope Apple wins, this time. Peace out. (Oh, and Facebook didn’t pay me, by the way).
There’s been a lot of discussion about some purported deal between Apple and Nuance under which the latter firm might license its really rather amazing voice recognition technology to Cupertino, for use in some forms of future service. I spoke with Nuance yesterday and am pleased to report..nothing…they wouldn’t budge. Somewhat annoyingly not one of them broke their silence on the matter, in fact, in a wonderful slice of evasion, they made out like they hadn’t heard anything about this, except possibly on Twitter. Well done them. That kind of determined attempt to refuse to either confirm or deny a rumor impresses me. I was also impressed by the beautiful dark-haired PR I spoke with originally, but that’s a TOTALLY IRRELEVANT thing, but just had to say so. Read the rest of this entry »
Washington Post asks, ‘Has the Apple mania gone too far?’ Worth a read, if only because it is so much more intelligent than most of the drivelling bullshit I read from the semi-evolved and semi-articulate Apple haterzz/trolls most of the time. So go read it.
iPhones, iPads and other Apple [AAPL] products may be harder to get than usual as the impact of the terrible tragedy that hit Japan in March begins to be felt across the company’s supply chain. Confounding the problem it seems finding enough workers to help meet Apple’s aggressive iPad 2 and iPhone production orders is also challenging.
“Generally there were demands on the business side that we think were unreasonable and don’t enable us to have a sustainable, scalable music business,” says some Google suit.
What annoys me here is that Google is blaming the labels for just how crappy its new digital music service is, yelling at the music ‘people’ because the cash they wanted wouldn’t let Google run a scaleable business…..in other words, the music biz wanted enough cash to pay itself and the artists, while Google wanted to pay peanuts for creativity in its mission to ensure all creativity is searchable and findable by people using those also crappy Google Chrome client terminals *$499, while stocks last, so get an iPad and don’t be simple-minded* and ‘the Google’ search engine. Also so that people sucking on the GOOG Kool-Aid “we’re beyond good and evil” post modern, neo-fascist, religio-philosophical bullshit can make their money while the people who, you know, actually make the music and other creative stuff, find the music and other creative stuff, sell the music and other creative stuff and support the music and other creative stuff starve. But that’s alright because it lets the Google location and user data glutton continue in its multinational quest to get rich simply by designing stupid computer programs which let you find stuff and thing, some of which you didn’t need a decade ago.
I’m waiting for Apple’s cloud. I love music. I love all the creative arts. I’m willing to pay for them. Google is a hitchhiker, but it has the cash it needs to buy its own car. Thanks for dropping in.
Oh come on, this is science fiction. That thing you wear on your wrist? It’s gonna Facetime for you, and be controlled by voice. OK, sure, it might not be this year, it could be next year, it could be later, but it’s on the way so get with the show. What we do with this new uber-connected reality where you can ask your wristwatch where the local vinyl exchange is and be told it got shut down by lazy labels in the digital dawn? Where you can ask your watch for coffee and it’ll tell you to go there for coffee. Where you can hit Grinder if you’re gay/lesbian or OK Cupid if you’re straight (or both if you’re both and frankly if you can handle that much time management challenge, hats off to you) and make an immediate date? This augmented reality, all carried on your wrists, well until old Woz’ future prediction gets it right and we all have AAPL-branded cyborgs in our ear….
Returning briefly to reality, here’s a pic of the Facetime camera on iPod nano. By which we’ve basically established a low power processor to handle the connectivity and call, even if only over Wi-Fi, so suddenly what’s up top doesn’t feel quite so crazy anymore, maybe…. Over to you, I take comments here, too.
[OK, sure, it might not be this year, it could be next year, it could be later, but it's on the way some day so get with the show.]
Fact or fake, doesn’t matter. You know something like this will happen. After all, I did say it was science fiction…
Apple and Google are trying to explain themselves before the Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law at this moment. While Google continues to insist it didn’t mean to grab such data (though the Senate is asking why it has patented processes to use such data), Apple’s approach is somewhat different.
Speaking before the panel, Guy L ‘Bud’ Tribble, VP software technology, said, “We put things in the user interface to show end users that Apps are using their data, a purple dot by the battery indicator, or an arrow if location data has been sent before. We think this goes beyond a privacy policy, and should be part of the user interface.” Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been predicting Apple [AAPL] will move to introduce an iPhone nano, or some other form of small form-factor mobile smart device product, for some time. Given that the screen on such a device is likely to be smaller, I can’t imagine too much in the way of App action, but now it seems Apple’s found a way to sort things out — your future iPhone nano (or iPod nano with Voice Over) will be voice-controlled — speak a contact name or number, and call or email or text them — whatever. Why do I think this? Because I think this is going to become one of the primary functions of Apple’s new data center once it opens, featuring voice recog tech licensed from Nuance. (If not this year then one day). BTW: I agree basic voice control isn’t all that, but think on Google Voice, and imagine voice recognition as the way you exercise most all your control over your fully-connected device.
The iPad has taken over the tablet business and the iPhone is among the top three biggest-selling smartphones worldwide, despite Google’s Android competition, but Apple [AAPL] has another platform that’s growing faster than any other and is at last seizing an unexpected place in enterprise markets, the Mac.
iPhones, iPads and other 
