iPhone App Developers Souring?

Macworld has an interesting post about the C4 independent developers conference, and the apparent trend towards not developing for the iPhone.  As the post points out, yes, the App Store has been incredibly popular (more than 2 billion served–watch out McDonald’s!), but the frustrations surrounding the platform are mounting.

Among the concerns cited are the tight grip Apple places on developers (which can be seen by looking at the restrictions Apple puts on how Apps and the App Store can be marketed, even down to the amount of white space surrounding the App Store “badge“) and the low return on investment in developing an App.  It’s a good read, so check it out.

“Politically Charged” iPhone App Denied?

It appears, according to the App’s developer, that the App known as “iSinglePayer” has been denied by Apple for being “politically charged.  (Lambdajive via Daring Fireball via Engadget)  I’m not sure what to make of it, as the purported developer (I think it’s Floatopia?) has a website, floatopia.org, and the App doesn’t show up there.  But whatever, the story goes like this: iSinglePayer purports to show Americans what we pay in health costs versus other countries, and provides a location-aware Congressional contact mechanism.  And that appears to be just about it.

Hiring Practices and Antitrust Concerns

It may not be as sexy as hearing that corporations have colluded with eachother to keep prices high (say in the TFT or DRAM markets), but I see in the NY Times this morning that the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice has quietly opened an antitrust investigation into tech companies such as Google, Yahoo!, Apple, and others.  According to the Times, the direction of the inquiry is unclear, but seems to be focused on “whether the companies involved agreed to not actively recruit employees from each other.”  See?  Not very sexy.  The Washington Post apparently was the first one to mention the investigation.

Windows 7 RC1

So I finally downloaded and installed the release candidate of Windows 7 Ultimate.  (Gizmodo has a bunch of resources on how to get it and make it work for you.)

Anyway, after a couple of hours of playing with it, these are my initial impressions:

1.  It was nice to be able to dual-boot Windows 7, rather than have it replace my Vista install altogether, a decision I am very glad I made, which I’ll get to in a moment.

2.  The included wallpapers are quite nice, especially the infamous “trippy” ones.  And the ability to have the desktop images rotate in a slideshow is something that I have always wanted to have implemented.  Still not included, however, is the ability to have different desktop images on each of your monitors.  This is something, by the way, that is possible when using DisplayFusion, which is a very nice piece of software.

3.  I’m not used to the new taskbar, but I’m sure I’ll get there eventually.

4.  For the moment, my internet connection is through a Netgear WG111v3 USB adapter, which didn’t work quite right even after installing the latest drivers from CD-ROM.  (I like how Netgear offered to let me download the latest ones rather than install off the CD-ROM, but isn’t that rather difficult if the adapter is your only method of connecting?)  But there is a nifty little up-arrow icon on the bottom right hand of the screen, that lets you take a look at all your connected devices.  Windows 7 recognized that the adapter wasn’t working correctly, and right-clicking on the icon gave me the option of having Windows figure it out.  Which it did.  No problem.  Definitely +1 on that.  

5.  Netflix doesn’t recognize Windows 7 as a valid operating system, and as such, you can’t stream movies.  Massive fail on Netflix’s part, if you ask me, because I suspect that it’s probably just a bit of code that says, essentially (and it’ll become quite apparent that I’m not a programmer here), “IF NOT Windows Vista; Windows XP; or OS X –>THEN FAIL.”  There is no reason, from everything I’ve read about Windows 7, that would make it incompatible with Netflix, because the guts of 7 are apparently the same guts as Vista, just tweaked to be more efficient.  I checked online for some solutions, but if there’s a solution that makes sense to me, I don’t see it.  One thing I thought about before falling asleep last night, however, is making use of the virtual XP environment to try Netflix that way.  Probably won’t work, though, as it seems that is the weakest feature of the whole bunch.

6.  Watching video on Hulu seemed to be slightly choppier than I had experienced through Vista.  There’s no real way to quantify this, it just seemed just a tidge more jittery.

7.  And, finally, somehow I have sound in Windows 7 but not in Windows Vista anymore.  (I use the HDMI-out from my computer’s nVidia card to provide video and sound to one of my monitors.)  Usually, a reboot solves the problem when the sound isn’t working right in Vista, but not for right now.  When I have more time, I’ll play with it some.

All in all, it isn’t the life-changing experience I expected, given the fawning reaction of the geeklords on the internets.  It’s nice, sure, but as I’m not terribly displeased with Vista, it’s not that big a deal to me.  Maybe after a little more playing, my song will change.

What I do find compelling is what Microsoft is doing here.  Vista is not a bad OS, but its reputation was slaughtered by the press.  (Okay, okay, there were a lot of problems at launch, but those problems have largely been rectified.)  Microsoft could have just let things stand and added improvements to Vista incrementally, as it did with XP, and left well enough alone.  But facing pressures from Apple and even Linux (to a small extent, and mostly in the Netbook arena) it didn’t do that.  Instead it announced a new OS, and let everyone in the world, pretty much, play with it.  It’s like Christmas in May.  Those who play with it seem to like it an awful lot, and will likely be willing to shell out whatever upgrade fees will apply to update their machines by the time the release candidate finally dies in June of 2010.  (Actually, beginning in March, the machines running the release candidate will begin to shut down every two hours, which is going to drive people nuts.)  

My only concern, and it is the concern that I think will determine whether Microsoft has really “changed,” is that we’re playing with the Ultimate edition, and it’s already been announced that the virtual XP mode won’t be available in the Home Premium flavor.  What else will be stripped?  Hopefully not the rotating desktops and sound themes.  But we’ll see.

Battle Royale, Part the First

I just wrapped up a response to the USPTO on a trademark registration I’m working on, and to celebrate, I thought I’d do a little thought experiment.  I’ve noticed how Microsoft’s latest ads are getting the Apple-ites all riled up, which is funny in itself.

If you haven’t been paying attention, Microsoft has been running “Laptop Hunters” ads (where are Grant and Jason?) which show that laptops running Windows are cheaper than Apple’s laptops.  First, there was Laurena, and then the Giampaolo guy, and most recently, an 11-year-old kid with his mother (Lisa and Jackson).  (Am I the only one who thinks of Amy Sedaris when I look at her?)

To counter the obvious differential in up-front cost, Apple fans like to say something to the effect of “Look what you get built in with OSX, though!  To get your crappy Windows machine up to speed with my beautiful Mac, you need to spend more money, and then your cost savings are non-existent!  So, nyah!”

It’s not a bad argument to make.  After all, people buying cars are urged to take “total cost of ownership” into account when making purchasing decisions.  (Edmunds.com has a nice little tool called “True Cost to Own”, for example.)  After all, that $15,590 Mazda3 may cost less up front than this $16,260 Honda Fit, but after all is said and done, over five years, you come out just about even.   (See also, the Total Quality Index issued by Strategic Vision.)

So Apple has a point.  Maybe OSX comes bundled with so many goodies that the price differential disappears.  Of course, there’s one very noisy contingent that gets ignored in all these comparisons: all the various flavors of Linux distros: Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva, Linux Mint, OpenSuse, et cetera et cetera.  There are hundreds of variants, and almost none of them cost one penny.  What’s more, the software that works in that environment also costs nothing.  With Linux, generally speaking, your hardware is your only cost of ownership; it’s almost as if you bought a car, and your gas and repair bills were covered.

So this got me thinking about the economy and small business owners, about the true cost of getting a computer (or computers) for the workplace, and about what really makes the most sense.  Is it the general familiarity of Windows, warts and all?  Or is it the cool insouciance of OSX?  Or maybe it’s a nice solid Linux distro.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll be taking time here and there to look into this question, and at the end of the process, I hope to have come up with some sort of answer.

A few obligatory qualifications:  I currently run Windows Vista, generally like it, and haven’t had any problems with it whatsoever.  I also have family members who swear by OSX, and also have played around with it extensively since the time Jobs was there before he wandered in the wilderness for a few years.  And I have played with Linux on a once-awesome, now-sluggish laptop, didn’t especially like the experience, but will pick up the mantle once again.  So I really don’t have a dog in the fight.

And with that, this post ends.  My next post will be on the difficulties of establishing a baseline for comparing the many options available to consumers.

New Shuffle

I’m not sure why Apple product releases always get top billing.  Okay, actually, I know why.  It’s because a lot of people own them.  And they’re really gleamy.  But they’re tied to iTunes, which, in my opinion, is a terrible program.  But that’s neither here nor there, I suppose.

In any event, Apple has released a new Shuffle, which is a wee little device, less than two inches tall, and just over a quarter-inch thick.  The Shuffle has always been criticized for not displaying the track names for you to consult, so, I suppose to counter those criticisms, Apple has included something called VoiceOver, which will say the name of the song.  I suppose that helps a little.  Storage has been bumped to 4 gigabytes, which is nice and roomy, and it costs about $80.  That’s a decent price, too.  The controls to the device, however, are stuck on the cord for the headphones.  This means that you’re locked into Apple’s headphones, which apparently aren’t terrible, or potential third-party manufacturers, and that if they fail, or you break them or lose them, replacement costs are going to be higher.

For my money, though, I think the Sansa Clip is a far superior product, if you’re not tied to iTunes.  It, too, costs about $80 for the 4 gigabyte model, but you get an OLED screen that allows you to see what’s playing, an FM tuner, a voice recorder, and an adjustable equalizer.  It’ll also play mp3s, oggs, flacs, wmas, and Audible files, and while it plays nice with Windows Media Player, it’s not necessary; you can drag and drop files to your heart’s content.  It also has a clip on the back that lets you just clip it on.

Full disclosure, I own a Sansa Clip, but I’m not a shill for SanDisk.

Boring

Apple has “updated” the non-portable Mac line.  In a word?  Boring.  In another word?  Over-priced.

Movin’ along…

PearC

Awesome.  A German company is following in PsyStar’s footsteps and is selling Mac clones.  (Link.)  According to the Ars Technica article, PearC thinks that Germany’s laws regarding enforceability of EULAs gives them the authority to do it.  It’ll be interesting to see how that works out for them.  Probably not too well, if the litigation against PsyStar is any indication.  But, Germany isn’t the US, and we’ll see.

Too bad the boxes are really, really, really bland.  (PearC’s website.)

Update:  I guess I spoke too fast about PsyStar’s litigation not going so well.  According to this CNET article, PsyStar has been allowed to amend its counterclaim to allege copyright misuse against Apple.  That’s pretty amazing.

Copyright misuse is not found in Title 17, and it’s not fully embraced by all federal circuits.  The theory behind copyright misuse is this:  “courts may appropriately withhold their aid where the plaintiff is using the right asserted contrary to the public interest. Misuse is not cause to invalidate the copyright or patent, but instead precludes its enforcement during the period of misuse.”  Video Pipeline v. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 342 F.3d 191, 204 (3d Cir. 2003).  The defense usually arises when the holder of the IP engages in some sort of anti-competitive behavior.  Id.

What is somewhat odd about Judge Alsup’s decision to allow the amended complaint is that the primary anti-competitive behavior alleged by everyone that looks at Apple, is that Apple requires the OS to be tied to its hardware.  Judge Alsup, however, apparently thinks this is just fine:

PsyStar argues that the alleged misuse is, “at the least, unfair in that Apple has attempted (and continues to attempt) to extend the reach of its copyrights by tying them to computer hardware not otherwise protected by the Copyright Act.” (Reply at 12). It fails to explain, however, how this conduct constitutes harm to competition or a violation of the spirit of the antitrust laws. In the context of single-firm conduct, tying requires monopolization. PsyStar has identified none – other than the limited monopolies inherent in the copyrights themselves.

Well, I guess we’re back to “we’ll see.”

Blackberry Storm

I don’t suppose I can resist talking a little about what everyone else seems to be talking about.  In the world of super-duper phones, there’s the iPhone, BlackBerry devices, and then Windows Mobile devices.  (Oh, okay, fine, there’s Symbian, and now, apparently, Android, too.  Have I missed anyone?)  I personally use a Treo 800w, and I like it a lot.  Is WM 6.1 frustrating?  Yes, it is.  Have I found a fix to what was causing me problems?  Yes, I have.  I happen to like having a Qwerty keyboard, and I don’t mind the stylus at all.  I’m naturally predisposed against the iPhone because I loathe iTunes, and again, there’s the whole Qwerty thing.  I used to have a Blackberry, but I hated it immensely, though I hear that things have gotten much better in the two years since I used one.  (In the interim, I used a Motorola Q, which I will never, ever, go near again.)

So, BlackBerry has been on a rampage lately, and now the latest device is the Storm, which has a “clickable” touch screen.  So what are people saying about it?  Let’s find out:

AppleInsider, which is collecting a compendium of reviews, brings up the Chicago Tribune’s Eric Benderoff review.  Benderoff calls it “a flurry, failing to add much more than a trace of innovation.” He thinks the Bold might be a better idea for BlackBerry users.  In fact, he says the touch screen is worse than the iPhone and G1 touch screens, and when the whole point is supposedly to improve on the touch screen, well, that pretty much kills the deal, there, dunnit?

Rosemary Hattersley and Mark Hattersley over at Macworld say, however, that the touch screen succeeds in taking on the iPhone.  “To a certain extent.”  They tend to like the Pearl-esque Suretype mode, which appears when the phone is vertical.  But they also call it clunky.  So, maybe that’s not such great praise.  But they do love the ability to cut and paste.

Mossberg at the WSJ says it’s pretty slick, though the tactile feedback is not the same as using a physical keyboard.  Also, when the phone is vertical you get a Pearl-esque keyboard; you only get a full Qwerty layout when the phone’s horizontal.  And there’s no Wi-Fi.  That’s plain loony.  Even my Treo 800w has Wi-Fi.   There are some advantages over the iPhone, though: higher resolution, better battery life, a removable battery, nine Gigs of memory (rather than the iPhone’s eight) and expandable with flash memory, and the ability to shoot videos.  Oh, also, MMS, the ability to cut and paste, edit Office docs, and tethering are available, too.  It’s not as sleek as the iPhone, though.  And Mossberg’s test phone is pretty sluggish.  He allows that it might improve with finalized software, but it debuts tomorrow, you know?  Generally, he seems to like it and says “the Storm is a very capable handheld computer that will appeal to BlackBerry users who have been pining for a touch-controlled device with a larger screen.”

Wired’s Daniel Dumas says “keep looking” for the iPhone killer, and gives it 6 out of 10 points.  He says that the touch feedback is quite awesome, and is “just as easy as typing one out on a MacBook’s keyboard.”  He likes the 3.2 MP camera and the video and MMS features, too.  He also hates Verizon’s iron thumb regarding control of the OS.  Generally, he’s not a big fan of the Storm.

PC World’s Yardena Arar says it’s “awkward and disappointing.”  The clickable touchscreen really disappoints Arar:  “I’d tap a menu item, for example, but then when I depressed the screen, the selection would somehow shift and a different item would execute.”  Also, typing is a chore: “Typing on the Storm isn’t much fun, either. You have to click the screen keyboard for each keystroke (the keys flash blue under your fingertips as you click), which ends up feeling like a lot of work in a way that typing on a hardware keyboard (or on the iPhone’s software keyboard, for that matter) never did.”  On the other hand, Arar, unlike Mossberg, likes the Pearl-esque keyboard presented when the phone is vertical.

Lance Ulanoff at PC Magazine doesn’t love the Storm, even though he wanted to.  He thought the interface slowed him down immeasurably.  He also brings up an interesting point about the benefit of having a physical Qwerty keyboard:  “if I look at my Treo’s ‘real’ keyboard, I see characters like ‘Q,’ ‘H,’ ‘L,’ and ‘M’ with symbols—a question mark, dollar sign, apostrophe, and comma—above each of them, respectively. So, I know where the crucial comma can be found. On the BlackBerry Storm, I have to go through a multistep process to find a comma.”

Generally, then, it looks like the Storm has problems that are fairly substantial.  Substantial problems, however, didn’t stop people from buying the iPhone, so it will be interesting tomorrow when the Storm goes on sale.  As it is, there is apparently a software flaw that may cause shortages.

Apple Not A Monopoly (For Now)

Hmmm…  Well, I can’t say I’m that surprised, but U.S. District Judge William Alsup has rejected Psystar’s claim that Apple is a monopolist.  (Psystar markets the OpenMac, which runs OSX on non-Apple hardware, which violates the OSX license, and thus led to them being sued for copyright infringement.) According to CNN Money, Judge “Alsup ruled Apple’s products don’t constitute a market to dominate. As a consequence, Apple then can’t be considered a monopolist.”

The problem, of course, is market definition.  And it’s not as easy as simply telling the court that the relevant market is computers running OSX, because Apple will turn around and try to convince the court that the relevant market is actually all computers, whether they run OSX, Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, or Solaris.  Clearly, then, with Apple’s miniscule (though growing) market-share amongst all computers, well, it can’t exert monopoly power when the market is defined as all computers.  And that, it appears (I haven’t looked at the order), is what has happened.

Anyway, ars technica has a little write-up, and they have thoughtfully provided the case number: 3:08-cv-03251-WHA  (N.D. Cal.)

(Justia, too, has the case number, and an as-yet non-updated reproduction of the PACER docket sheet.)