“Apple Doesn’t Understand The Internet”→

“Apple Doesn’t Understand The Internet”

Nadav Savio on the differences between Google and Apple:

It’s been said that Google doesn’t get ‘social’ and, though I think that is vastly overstated, there is truth there. Similarly, I’d say that Apple doesn’t understand the internet. Well I have a simple theory about it. There’s a cliché that everyone’s greatest strength is also their greatest weakness, and I believe that applies as well to organizations as to people.

Take Apple. They make amazing, holistic products and services and one of their primary tools is control. Fanatical, centralized control. Control over the design, over the hardware, over the experience. And that’s exactly the opposite of the internet, which is about decentralization and messy, unfiltered chaos.

It sounds good in theory, but the more I think about it, the more I don’t get the connection between the Internet and Apple as a company. Apple is not a web company. They make hardware and the software that runs on it. They make money out of hardware that, yes, is connected to the Internet. But the Internet as a service, not as a “population”. So where’s the line between “Apple doesn’t understand” and “unfiltered chaos”?

Maybe Apple doesn’t understand the people on the Internet, or they simply don’t care enough.

Permalink

PwnageTool Updated for 4.2.1 Untethered Jailbreak, Includes iBooks Fix

Jailbreak app PwnageTool was updated a few minutes ago to include untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1 and clear the iBooks incompatibilities found in version 1.2.1 of the ebook reading app. The Dev Team explains:

PwnageTool also includes two very recent improvements to the 4.2.1 JB:  iBooks was just fixed by @comex and @pushfix last night so that it works as intended on DRMed books, and the wifi problem on AppleTV 2G was fixed by @nitotv, @DHowett, and @saurik.  Both of these fixes will also be available in upcoming Cydia package updates, so if you’re already jailbroken you can wait for those updates rather than restore and jailbreak again.

PwnageTool 4.2 can jailbreak the following devices:

  • iPhone3G
  • iPhone3GS
  • iPhone4
  • iPhone4 - Verizon
  • iPod touch 3G
  • iPod touch 4G
  • iPad
  • AppleTV 2G

The app is available for download on the Dev Team’s blog.

Midnight Inbox Touch - Get Things Done. Beautifully.

Today Midnight Beep Softworks released a major update to Midnight Inbox™ Touch, a GTD app for iPad. Midnight Inbox™ Touch is a professional-grade GTD productivity app and it’s now $9.99, compared to Thing’s $19.99 and OmniFocus ($39.99). The total system for an iPhone, iPad, and a Mac is only $35. There’s even a free version for Mac, Inbox Classic, if you want to save a few bucks and use an older version. Read more

iPad Magazines With Subscriptions Start Showing Up in the App Store

Well, look at that. Apple announced App Store subscriptions earlier today and, contrary to recent speculation, iPad magazines using the new billing system are already showing up in the App Store, before the public release of iOS 4.3. As noted by WSJ and AdAge, Elle and Popular Science are the first apps to come with the new Apple subscriptions, which rely on weekly / monthly / yearly payments and give customers the possibility to decide whether a publisher may access personal information like email and ZIP code or not. Read more

Camera+ 2.1 Now Available: Faster, UI Refinements, Improved Effects

MacStories staff favorite Camera+ by taptaptap was updated a few minutes ago to include several interface refinements and optimizations to make the app faster, more stable and responsive overall. Since the release of the much anticipated version 2.0 (which marked the comeback of Camera+ in the iOS App Store), the developers have focused on improving the animations of the app when switching between the camera and the Lightbox, as well as providing a more intuitive UI design that now makes it easier to always jump back to the camera no matter where you are. Put simply, there are many camera shortcuts now. What I really appreciate though, performance improvements aside, is the possibility to automatically save pictures to the Camera Roll as they’re taken.

You can now get info on photos in the Lightbox without zooming (it was quite annoying before), set more sharing options. Taptaptap also improved the look of many effects, like Pinhole and Vintage Borders. After a first test (performed on the iOS 4.3 beta), this looks like a really solid update that builds upon the features introduced in Camera+ 2.0.

Camera+ is available at $0.99 in the App Store. Full 2.1 changelog below. Read more

iWork ‘11 Event At Mexican Best Buy on February 19th?

Previously rumored to debut with the Mac App Store and then spotted several times on Apple’s website, iWork ‘11 is apparently nearing release. As noted by Apple Bitch, a webpage on Best Buy Mexico website points to an event on Sunday, February 19th at 7 PM to learn the basics and see what’s new in iWork ‘11.

An AppleBitch reader has spotted a new page on the website of Best Buy Mexico which suggests that iWork ’11 will be arriving on February 19th at 7pm. The webpage describes an event where you can “visit Best Buy on February 19th and find out what you can do with iWork ’11″. While this is obviously not an official announcement from Apple, this event is a good indication that iWork ’11 is nearing release. We hope it is at least, otherwise there’s going to be a fairly unhappy crowd at a Best Buy in Mexico on February 19th.

The problem with February 19th is that it’s a Saturday, not really the usual day for an Apple software release. It’s also unclear whether this is a Best Buy event for the launch of the suite, or just something to see what’s new in iWork ‘11 – not necessarily to be released this Saturday. In that case, does this mean iWork ‘11 is coming this week? But then again, it might just be an error on Best Buy’s end.

Update: Best Buy pulled the page. The link to the event is gone from the homepage as well.

Washington Post Postpones iPad App Paid Subscription

In November, we reported the launch of the official Washington Post iPad app came with a nice free subscription until February 2011. An account was required, but there was no need to submit payment information. Now that we’re well into February, you’d expect WP to release an update to the app that brings subscriptions in – but apparently they’re delaying it.

The latest update, version 1.2, adds offline reading (finally, you could say, and it works both for articles and entire sections) and “complimentary full-access subscription still provided for a limited time”. What does that mean? Washington Post is clearly playing the waiting game, and now that Apple has announced App Store subscriptions it makes sense. The Daily extended its free promotion as well, and it looks like other may follow as well. Publishers are buying themselves time before rolling out real paid subscriptions on the tablet. Or, they need more time to update their apps to include Apple’s new billing system.

You, on the other hand, don’t have to buy anything as the app is available for free here with a free subscription ready to be activated. [iTunes via TUAW]

#MacStoriesDeals - Tuesday

You can always tell when an holiday passes, app prices jump back up! Here are today’s deals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get ‘em while they’re hot!

Read more