amartya916

Totally agree with the sentiment. I believe that companies have DNA, and that most companies do not change over time, they just get better at hiding the bad stuff. I would probably trust a company that starts off of the right foot (e.g. Google) even when it becomes larger, than trust one that's built off – what I consider to be – shady growth strategies.

Path seems to be taking especially egregious steps. All the UI polish in the world can't hide shady business practices.

I was intrigued too, but was traveling at the time when the reply came in; thanks for clearing that up.

Gandhi said "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated."

I guess Gandhi forgot that cows in India really do have it pretty good. Unfortunately, we, the people of india, haven't been able to pass a vital measure of moral progress: how do we treat our women. The woman taking a walk, travelling on public transit or the countless other examples that the author cites, should serve as a reminder of how spectacularly we have failed as a society. I wouldn't be surprised if we have actually regressed significantly [2].

It's hard to be optimistic about India, but hopefully these shocking incidents would stir up enough Indians to take notice and try to do something about it. For example, education(including sex ed. by the way) is a start. I am not sure how literacy rates have been affected by the RTE [1] act that came into effect in 2010, but I am hopeful that in the longer run, it'll improve our society.

[1] Right to Education Act: http://mhrd.gov.in/rte

[2] An interview from the former king of Travancore (read the last question, the one about matriarchs): http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/Chunk-HT-UI-ViewsSec...

Indeed the UI is quite nice; liked the snooze button too. Do you know if iOS supports anything similar? I know that it allows for app specific colours for the status bar, but perhaps this sort of control is impossible...because I'd like this on an iPad too :).

Off topic: Does DragonDrop (your/your company's other app) still under dev/support? It stopped working for me after Mountain Lion hit and I miss it.

I am not sure why this comment is getting down voted, if anything it made me read the article quoted above and I was wondering if anyone else had any inputs or addendums (as in, with the issues listed with electric cars, why Tesla is selling well)

The comparison is moot (different scales/time and effort). Also, don't trivialize the importance of having fun and being able to do so in a fairly large company.

I had the chance to play with a Z10 recently and I must say I was quite surprised by how polished the experience seemed.

a. The OS felt as responsive as Windows Phone and all the custom gesture recognition works as advertised(e.g. Peek).

b. The apps I used included Twitter, the Blackberry Hub (e-mail, contact etc.), the Camera app and Evernote. Of these, the Evernote app seemed to be a little rough (mainly UI glitches), but the rest worked well.

I haven't used the Developer Toolchain for QNX/BB10, but have friends who seem to think that it's not too bad. They are waiting for sales figures to decide whether or not they should think about releasing a BB10 app.

Off-topic: As someone who likes tinkering with things, hardware repair-ability is something I pay attention to. The Z10 is the most repairable phone out there according to iFixit (8/10): http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/BlackBerry+Z10+Teardown/13445...

Change, yes, but refreshing is probably not the word that comes to my mind. To each his own, I guess.

True. Unfortunately, Gecko doesn't have the weight behind it that Webkit has and the most contributions to Gecko stem from Mozilla itself. Slightly off-topic: since a customer doesn't care what rendering engine they are using, I believe Firefox is making a mistake by not releasing a WebView based Firefox browser for iOS (like Chrome did). If only to provide tabs/booksmarks syncing.

Let me assure you that there was no insinuation of any Apple vs Google flame war in my comment. While breach of trust might see over the top to you, the interpretation was supposed to be quite simple, let me explain:

Most financial transactions do involve exchange of identifiable information; that remains true for online as as well as real world transactions; you are absolutely right about that. However, in all those transaction, you 'choose' to share some amount of information. One of the reasons services like Paypal became popular was the implicit lack of trust in an online transaction; people were more willing to trust an intermediary to keep their credit card information secure, than using it with any and all online merchants. Similarly, I trust Google as a company more than most other companies with my data and that's a 'choice' I made; however, them sharing certain parts of my identity with a multitude of app developers does seem to be something I didn't 'choose' to do. That seems to be a decision that Google took on my behalf and therein lies the "breach of trust" that you seem to have taken an exception to.

There is no flaming involved; I just think Google can do better.

I am surprised to hear you refer to this as "privacy nonsense"; things like a name and address are obviously identity related information. As such, any identity related information has to have privacy concerns.

In some ways, I see this as a breach of trust; I can trust Google with some of my data but I dont think every app developer is worthy of even a certain percentage of that trust.

Someone actually mentioned this in the comments (the first one) and Anand said "The problem is our Windows 8 battery life suite only has one datapoint at this point: Acer's 13-inch S7 ultrabook, which I did include in a table below the graphs on the battery life page. I will try to run the 11-inch MBA this week/weekend in the new suite to get a good reference point though."

So hopefully, the review will be updated.

I use the AT&T prepaid service as well (GoPhone) on a factory unlocked smartphone; I don't use the data, but have the ability to turn it on if I need to.

As it turns out, one can just get a GoPhone sim at an AT&T store and get it activated then and there (no need to take a dumbphone or your smartphone there at all). The sim costs 99 cents. I have been using this sim for the past 6 months.

Engadget has a really decent review of the OS.

Link: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/30/blackberry-os-10-review/

If Netflix can deactivate clients based on device size; that'd be pretty neat. People on tablets–Netflix on my Nexus 7 is out–would usually be watching stuff alone (kids may huddle around an iPad though) and for Christmas, a movie on a large screen is probably more important to keep going.

Makes me think that apps should consider using Push notifications to tell consumers about issues; e.g. instead of a cryptic error number; say something like "Netflix servers are overloaded at the moment, NetFlix may not work on your mobile device".

Not sure if that will piss off people more, but something like that instead of an error number would probably be better.

Not sure if firing the manager is going to help matters. Here are the main pain points as I see them, purely personal take, feel free to add points or correct me:

a. No transit data. Recommends apps from the App Store instead. There are a few good ones (like Transit, from a Montreal based company), but I personally rely on transit data a lot and any ad hoc solution is not good enough.

b. Missing/Incorrect Data. Specially outside North America.

c. Flyover looks good, but not as useful as StreetView.

d. Search - Yes, better data, transit data etc. are all well and good, but searching that data is the key. Apple's search is quite terrible. This is Google's bread and butter and they do such an amazing job that I don't think Apple can catch up with them. I don't think throwing a ton of money is going to get them out of this hole.

Again, can't see how firing a manager can even begin to tackle those issues. Unless that person was actively trying to thwart Apple's efforts.

Even though lots of people have praised the creator, I couldn't leave without saying well done :). This is absolutely fantastic work. There is something amazing about being able to jump across the world a keystroke at a time. I loved the attention to detail with the "Share", "Download" links... this is going to come handy during house-hunting time :).

Vindictive it might be, but childish it is not. I really think Apple has to get away from the dependency on Samsung; it needs to partner with a company that doesn't have the potential of taking advantage of Apple's product roadmap.

I cannot believe that people don't talk between Samsung's mobile division and their semi-conductor fabrication business (regardless of NDAs). I think being Apple's supplier and themselves being in the business of making phones and tablets, has worked to Samsung's advantage.

That being said, I think Samsung is a really powerful company and they'll be able to hold their own (i.e. revenues from product sales etc.) without Apple's business.

Scrolling through all the comments, I find that it is impossible to not encounter cynicism - e.g. Apple is trying to divert from the Maps folly etc. - in this forum.

This is Apple paying respect and taking a moment to reminisce about Steve ... it's just a nice, human thing to do.

Ummmm..... Whatsapp has had its issues with security and has been on Hacker News fairly recently, but I am not sure what you mean by interoperable IM network. Do you mean that it should be a webapp and that having an app on Android, iPhone etc. is not interoperable enough?

Or was that just supposed to be a jab at Whatsapp for no apparent reason (and a bit out of context)?

I think if you view that data from outside China, it's not visible. That is, the details show up only while searching from within China.

Not relevant for people who switch phone in two years, but AT&T's phone unlocking at the end of the contract or with account charges taken care of, is pretty neat.

They are over-hyped for sure, but I am curious about your take on computers, and their upgrade cycles.

It's a good book, but I am not sure if it's the book to read if you want to know even a little bit of the technical marvels he came up with. I found the book to be good enough to know the names of Tesla's inventions and who he was day-to-day, but not much more. Obviously if that's the main interest, this is a fine book.

On the other hand, if the idea is to learn more about his inventions, I'd recommend reading some of his own writing, e.g. Selected Tesla Writings: http://www.tfcbooks.com/tesla/contents.htm Lots of really amazing articles there. Check out this one, http://www.tfcbooks.com/tesla/1900-06-00.htm , it's one of my favourites.

Really enjoyed reading the article (though the criticism by kineticflow about using "Fact", seems valid to me), thanks.

For me, the two stellar points were: "The Starbucks Craftsmanship Is On Full Display" + "App Craftsmanship Is Hidden Away".

I'd also like to add that the "Craftsman is hidden away". Apps do not connect at a human level the same way a person selling you a cup of coffee does. Even for mega corporations like Starbucks, at the end of the day, you interact with a Barista or someone at the cash register. We being creatures of habit, tend to go back to the same Starbucks (mostly), and in the process bolster this connection. That doesn't happen with an app. You might go back to the app every day, but there is no tangible connection with the craftsman. So what exactly can be done? For starters, one can associate the developer's name and face with the app. I think this is particularly important for Free apps. If you've ever used Adblock on Safari, at the end of the setup, there's a note that "humanizes" the app as being the creation of a person. You get to see the name and a photo.

One of my favourite mobile apps, Instapaper, has the developer leaving tiny personal messages during app updates. I know his name, the fact that he recently had a baby and at some basic level it helps me connect to the person.

Does this make any sense?

I agree with the rationality part and enjoyed the 'digital snake oil' statement.

However, I'd be happy if Ouya just creates a buzz for Android gaming. I couldn't care 2-shits for the box itself, but if playing Android games on the TV (through mirroring, through Google TV etc.) takes off, that'd be pretty neat for the Android ecosystem.

P.S. I could never put my finger on it, but something about the Ouya Kickstarter never felt right to me. If I had to guess, it was the scant tech. details and throwing Yves Behar's name around for credibility (although I think it does the opposite, the OLPC is a piece of shit). Naturally, many people thought otherwise.

"The iPad and iPhone are not, in any significant way, unique. They are more marginal variations on existing technology and design than not. Capturing popular attention and leveraging inherent human desires is what garnered the devices and Apple so much fame and fortune, not the innovation or creativity."

Bullshit.

The iPhone may not be unique anymore, but when it was released, it was groundbreaking. It can be argued forever that Apple did not 'invent' multitouch [1, 2], didn't invent rounded rectangle, a grid of application icons ... etc. but they were the first ones to democratize it. The iPhone was the first device to truly have 'thought through' how a touch-only device should work for a variety of tasks. There are lots of interesting projects that never move beyond research labs; I think Apple pushed the whole industry and research community forward with the iPhone.

To look at a product as a sum of its parts is often very very misleading. That's true for the iPhone. Of course other manufacturers had to start using similar technology, but that doesn't mean that they could or should copy interaction paradigms, design details (right down to the final retail packaging). AND most other manufacturers managed to use the same technology and NOT cross the line between inspiration and ripping-off. I cannot fathom how one can look at the Samsung products in question and not see that they were more than inspired.

"You are essentially trying to force complexity and inefficiency because you have hijacked simplicity and efficiency."

Bullshit.

Simple is hard. Yes, that's an official Apple line, but anyone who's ever written a piece of code will attest to this fact. Removing cruft, making things cleaner, starting over ... is often the most difficult step. Apple clearly did the same with its products, it's clear from the prototypes it presented in court. Also, there are umpteen examples of how things can be made simpler and better than what Apple offers. At a software level, WebOS does (did) a great job of figuring out multi-tasking on mobile devices, Android is fantastic with notifications and cross-app communication (intents).

Without getting into lawyer-esque conversations, just take a look at the Samsung products in question ... you should get what this case is about (for now, just focus on things that meet the eye ... literally)

[1] Flexible Machine Interface (Nimish Mehta , University of Toronto). Published in 1982. [2] Fingerworks (1998). A company founded by Wayne Westerman and John Elias. I think Westerman went on to work for Apple. For multi-touch history, check this out http://www.billbuxton.com/multitouchOverview.html

I think the comment was supposed to point out that Monier is supposed to be one of the principle inventors of reinforced concrete and that he passed away in 1906 ... hence trying to figure out how the gentleman in the story fit in.

If I understand your point correctly, you are referring to the fact that some products by being first-to-market or by popularity start to define a category of products. For example, vacuum cleaners in the UK are mostly called "Hoovers", or say "Coke" represents a cola soft drink etc.

In those cases, people won't buy a product and return it. Although they refer to a vacuum cleaner as a "Hoover", they go in knowing fully well that they are buying a product that does what a "Hoover" does, i.e. pick up dust. Here people didn't go in wanting an iPad-esque product and buying a product in the same category, but rather they mistook it to be the iPad. Pardon me if this seems a little circuitous, having trouble with words today :)

I also read that Best Buy had people returning the Galaxy Tab because they had originally thought that it was the iPad.

Link: http://allthingsd.com/20120726/documents-in-apple-v-samsung-...

Now, of course one can say that the consumer should have paid more attention to the branding, but I think that's missing the point. It seems that for a few (?) people the Galaxy tab looked similar enough to the iPad to cause confusion and that the big box retailer conveyed the message to Samsung.