Results tagged “apple”

Influencer: Apple.com, site design since before 2008

Influenced: Nokia.com, site design since 2012

MacNN: Liquidmetal inventor says Apple 'years' away from casings

Dr. Ataka Peker, one of the inventors of the new class of metallic alloys known commercially as Liquidmetal and the founder of the company, says he believes Apple would have to spend "three to five years", and "$300 million to $500 million" to develop the alloys to the point where it could be used on a large scale, such as for an entire computing casing. He believes the company will continue to use Liquidmetal on a smaller scale until a "breakthrough product" comes along.

I wonder if Dr. Peker felt like Dr. Evil after he proclaimed Apple would have to spend, "Five hundred meellion dollars....."

Apple is only sitting on over $100 billion in the bank now.

And that 3-5 year window for development? Who says they're not already working on it?

I love headlines like these.

Makes me laugh.

Influencer: Apple iPod Nano (6th Generation), introduced 1 Sept 2010

Influenced: Sony SmartWatch, introduced April 2012

via TechnaBob

MacRumors reports Samsung's VP for Design is offended by Apple's allegations of copying.

Well, I'm offended at Samsung's VP for Design being offended.

Remember Asia is where they embrace Shanzai.

Shanzhai (Chinese: 山寨; pinyin: shānzhài; alternatively spelt shanzai or shan zhai) refers to Chinese imitation and pirated brands and goods, particularly electronics. Literally "mountain village" or "mountain stronghold", the term refers to the mountain stockades of regional warlords or bandits, far away from official control. "Shanzhai" can also be stretched to refer to people who are lookalikes, low-quality or improved goods, as well as things done in parody.

Yes, I know Shanzai is Chinese and Samsung is a Korean company, but the practice of imitating others products is pervasive across all of Asia.

From Electronista:

HP's 2012 shareholder meeting on Wednesday saw Apple become a centerpiece of its conversation. During the question and answer session, most questions centered around why HP was not more like its fellow Southern Bay Area counterpart, which had a tenfold larger market worth even though it spent less on research and development. When asked if she had a vision like the late Steve Jobs, CEO Meg Whitman argued that the company had to place more bets on "disruptive" innovation like Apple, creating categories or fundamentally changing them instead of the mostly "evolutionary" approach HP used.

Sure, HP just needs to be disruptive like Apple.

And I just need to be musical like Thom York to be a great musician.

Easy.

Reuters: Dell sees room to challenge Apple in tablets

Asked whether he envied Apple's ability to produce such coveted objects, Felice [Dell's chief commercial officer] said: "We come at the market in a different way ... We are predominantly a company that has a great eye on the commercial customer who also wants to be a consumer."

What the does that even mean?

If I were Dell I wouldtake the money they were going to use to produce an iPad competitor, and instead give the money back to Dell shareholders.

Couldn't resist.

In light of my last post, this news about This American Life retracting their episode on Apple's suppliers is interesting.

From Ars Technica:

As part of iFixit's ritualistic dismemberment of the third-generation iPad, the team discovered that, like its predecessor, the device is not only made up almost entirely of its battery: it's also difficult to repair and to recycle. Though Apple's engineering and design teams have created a thin and seamless device, their reliance on glue and difficult-to-separate components belies Apple's goal of creating "green" products.

Apple is the big dog now. This can be hard for people to understand who have used Apple products for more than 5 years. I know it is for me. They walk the straight line of a paradox as both David and Goliath in my brain.

But now that they are #1, they're going to be under the microscope. Every move they make will continue to be scrutinized, be it greenness of their products, or the conditions of the factories where their products are built.

It's easy to point fingers at all their competitors and how much less they might doing to to be green or observe workers' rights, but it's more important to focus on holding Apple accountable for their decisions.

If they've shown us anything in the last 10+ years, it's that they can achieve anything they set out to do. especially in the face of naysayers.

Farhad Manjoo on the unbeatable iPad:

Imagine you run a large technology company not named Apple. Let's say you're Steve Ballmer, Michael Dell, Meg Whitman, Larry Page, or Intel's Paul Otellini. How are you feeling today, a day after Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled the new iPad? Are you discounting the device as just an incremental improvement, the same shiny tablet with a better screen and faster cellular access? Or is it possible you had trouble sleeping last night? Did you toss and turn, worrying that Apple's new device represents a potential knockout punch, a move that will cement its place as the undisputed leader of the biggest, most disruptive new tech market since the advent of the Web browser? Maybe your last few hours have been even worse than that. Perhaps you're now paralyzed with confusion, fearful that you might be completely boxed in by the iPad--that there seems no good way to beat it.

I love Apple, but it seems likely my weariness from writing only about Apple might continue for a while.

Mike Daisy reacts to David Pogue's response to ABC's Dateline special on the Foxconn factory producing Apple's iPads:

You can't get "informed consent" in a country without real personal freedom. These arguments are pathetic--they're structurally nearly identical to the ones made in the 19th century justifying slavery. The fact that workers take these jobs because they feel they have no economic, social, or political choice, and this is the only path, is not an endorsement of the current system--it's actually a condemnation.

It is cute how he makes a point of noting that there are no payroll taxes on your $2 an hour.

Do you think Mr. Pogue verified that, or that he's spent any time digging through Foxconn's history of deceptive paying practices--like how it pretended that it raised employee salaries 30% in 2010 by simply moving money around?

No, I don't think he did, either.

Last month marked 5 years since the iPhone was first introduced.

Research In Motion has had their research in motion for the last 5 years and they've finally responded to the smartphone challenge and the current leaders in this space, Google and Apple:

You've had 5 fucking years and this is your response?

Looks lovely, but I hope they don't count on this saving their company.

Image via The Verge

Apple announced yesterday that a nonprofit group it partly finances, the Fair Labor Association, would begin inspections at supplier factories in China, most notably Foxconn. This follows a string of horrific stories coming out about Foxconn in recent months, some detailing suicides by workers protesting draconian working conditions. Apple's moves are an important first step, one that other technology companies that use Chinese labor are sure to follow. What is confounding is how any tale of woe involving China's labor force is a surprise at this point.

China has little more than token labor laws, and unions are outlawed. There is, and has been, little recourse for the worker to demand better working conditions, shorter hours, better pay, or benefits. The decades-long fight for workers' rights that took place here in the United States and other western nations beginning in the late 1800s has never taken place in China. Little things that American workers expect as a condition of employment, like the 40-hour work week, weekends, living wages, health and retirement plans, a ban on child labor, and workplace safety, are of little concern to the powers that be in China.

And this extends beyond electronics manufacturing. As another example, conditions are so horrendous in Chinese coal mines that thousands of miners die yearly in mining accidents, far and above the worst death rate for coal miners in the world.

Chinese laborers face some of the harshest working conditions on the planet, but it's not because they're Chinese.

Once upon a time, it was a risk to life and limb for American workers to simply get out of bed and go to work. Mills and mines exploited labor in ways just as terrible as in China today, but American workers began to fight back against their employers. Changes did not take place overnight. It took decades, and thousands of deaths (both work-related and protest-related) for American workers to get the protections that we have. This led to the costs of American labor rising for American companies. Their solution, in turn, was to shift that labor to countries where the long fight for fair labor practices had yet to be fought, and labor was cheap.

The out of sight, out of mind attitude of American companies, including Apple, followed by their shock once overseas working conditions come to light, is wholly disingenuous. It costs money to be fair to your workers. Sending work to a place where labor is not costly is more than mere indication that workers are being exploited. Rather, it is a virtual guarantee.

Ben Brooks responding to MG Siegler's post on why he hates Android and how Google doesn't put the customer first like Apple does:

The relationship Apple has with carriers is fascinating to me -- Apple seems to outwardly despise them, while knowing that carriers are (currently) necessary for Apple.

I wonder if Mr. Brooks remembers when Steve Jobs was interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at D8 Conference in 2010 (around the 4-minute mark):

Mossberg:And another time you talked about, you weren't going to do a phone because you had to sell them through, I think you called them, 'The Five Orifices' at the time.

Jobs: Four, I think.

Good times.

Influencer: Apple iCloud, introduced 6 June 2011

Influenced: Acer AcerCloud, introduced 8 January 2012

Yes, Apple's competitors continue to rip off their ideas, but I give them credit for understanding it's not just about the devices, but the ecosystem in which they live.

But could Acer have made a shittier looking cloud? Jeez.

Images via The Verge

Susan Kare created this image, but I needed a bigger version to post, so I made one.

It's crazy, because it does look like the post-hippie Steve.

Brian S Hall tells us Blackberry ($RIMM) is worth less than the Apple App Store. Just the App Store.

Not iPhone.

Not iPad.

Not Mac.

Not iTunes.

Just the App Store.

Related: John Gruber called it back in 2008.

Recently I had a sit down chat with Dominic Coballe, the co-owner of the Canadian-based company N-Product. This is the company that has brought us the Deckster Timepiece—the natural companion to your iPod Nano.

Thirty-nine. That's the number of bits and pieces that make up one Deckster, packaging, inserts and all. In our tiny workshop, each one is hand-assembled. Once packaged, after a hug and a kiss (we wipe it afterwards), it's sent into the world ready to love and to be loved.

What struck me the most when talking with Dominic was his overall passion and determination in making the best possible product. Deckster is 100% North American made and is packed with ethically sourced materials in its construction. The Leather straps are made by a Montréal-based company known for supplying brands such as Louis Vuitton, Cole Haan, Armani Exchange and Alexander Wang.

Recently the Re:Class line of Decksters were released. This line was created in partnership with Canadian retailer Mountain Equipment Co-op and utilizes discarded bicycle tires, inner tubes and backpacks for their watch bands. It is bringing new life to things that would normally end up in a landfill.

In purchasing a Deckster this holiday season, you are breathing new life into your iPod Nano, reducing environmental impact and ultimately supporting the growth of a company that will go on to produce many more quality products.

Give the Gift of a Deckster. Or buy one for yourself.

The sketches of Susan Kare, the designer of the original Macintosh icons.

So good.

via Flickr via Shawn Blanc