Format Archives: Quote
Quote

CEO of Macmillan on the e-Book Lawsuit

By on April 12, 2012 in General
It is also hard to settle a lawsuit when you know you have done no wrong. The government’s charge is that Macmillan’s CEO colluded with other CEO’s in changing to the agency model. I am Macmillan’s CEO and I made the decision to move Macmillan to the agency model. After days of thought and worry, I made the decision on January 22nd, 2010 a little after 4:00 AM, on an exercise bike in my basement. It remains the loneliest decision I have ever made, and I see no reason to go back on it now. Other publishers have chosen to settle. That is their decision to make. We have decided to fight this in court. Because others have settled, there may well be a preponderance of references to Macmillan, and to me personally, in the Justice Department’s papers – often without regard to context. So be it. I hope you will agree with our stance, and with Scott Turow, the president of the Author’s Guild, who stated, “The irony of this bites hard: our government may be on the verge of killing real competition in order to save the appearance of competition. This would be tragic for all of us who value books and the culture they support”.
John Sargent, CEO of Macmillan

I think the last line is the most concise description of what’s wrong with this lawsuit.

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Apple Goes Blue Chip With New Quarterly Shareholder Dividend

By on March 19, 2012 in General
In short, the dividend means that buying Apple stock now offers more rewards for long-term, buy-and-hold investment, rather than speculating on rising share price alone. Apple might not yet be part of the Dow Jones index of blue-chip industrial stocks, but between its market cap, its sterling performance in a down economic market, and now its quarterly dividend, it has effectively graduated to that elite status.
Wired
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Derrick Story on the Canon 5D Mark II

By on March 3, 2012 in Technology
So what do I get for that additional $1,000? 61-point autofocus, 6 fps, DIGIC 5 processor, and better weather sealing. Yes, yes, I know about better high-ISO performance and those other under-the-hood refinements. But I expect those when it's been 3 years since the camera has been updated.
Derrick Story

Derrick Story expresses what I suspect many people have felt about the new Canon 5d Mark III. It seems that the new 5D addresses the complaints people had of the Mark II. In many ways, it is what the mark II should have been, but for the privilege you have to pay a $1000 premium over the Mark II. I know it’s not that straight forward, but I see his (and others) point and I have to agree.

[updated with some edits to my comments]

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Rebecca Greenfield doesn’t understand economics. Blames Apple

By on March 3, 2012 in Apple, Technology
The other 210,000 jobs Apple attributes to the app economy, which Apple has a lot to do with, but again, involves other technology companies. And it's not clear how dependent on Apple any of these app makers are
Rebecca Greenfield at the Atlantic

It’s not clear to you Rebecca. It’s clear to most other people, especially those in “the App Economy” which wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Apple.

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So it’s ok for Windows to be a beta?

By on February 29, 2012 in General
But remember: not only is this a beta product several months away from release, it's also dramatically different from any operating system you've used before. So proceed with the knowledge that you'll volunteering to be Microsoft's guinea pig.
Gizmodo

Funny how this advice applies to Windows, but that didn’t stop Gizmodo from reviewing the developer preview of mountain lion (which isn’t even meant for the general public) as if it were a released product.

(And yes, I know I said I wasn’t going to post this negative crap any more, but the irony of this just had to be shared)

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Phrase of the day

By on February 21, 2012 in Technology
ubernerd passive-agressiveness
MG Seigler on Paris Lemon.com

MG Seigler discussing the growing spat between Google and Microsoft over Google’s alleged bypassing of Internet Explorer’s security settings.

Could also be the dictionary definition of the personality of one Sheldon Cooper.

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The New York Times Attempts to Justify Its Singling Out of Apple over China Working Conditions

By on February 14, 2012 in Apple
While other companies have been criticized for conditions at their operations overseas, Apple has received particular attention because it is the biggest — its market value is more than the combined value of Google and Microsoft — and among the richest. Its stock closed Monday at $502.60, up more than 20 percent this year. The company also has a vast overseas presence, with its contractors employing 700,000 people in China and elsewhere.
The New York Times

In a piece about Apple’s press release form Monday that it has asked the Fair Labor Association to perform an Audit of it’s manufacturing partners, The New York times throws in this little ditty as a way to justify its lack of balance when reporting on conditions in China. Of course the writer fails to point out that the chief reason that “Apple has received particular attention” is because his news paper put that attention on Apple.

Sorry, but this is a weak excuse and I stand by my previous conviction that singling out Apple does more harm than good.

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Mona Lisa’s Earliest Twin Found

By on February 2, 2012 in General
A Spanish museum has discovered a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” that one of his students painted in the studio where the masterpiece was completed.
Breaking News.ie

If this was today he’d be sued for copyright infringement. Instead it goes to a museum. There’s a lesson in there somewhere.

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Business for Social Responsibility Challenges the facts in the New York Times Piece on Apple’s China Suppliers

By on January 29, 2012 in Apple, Technology
Earlier this week, BSR asked the New York Times to correct inaccurate and misleading information in the story that ran on January 26, 2012 entitled “In China, the Human Costs That Are Built Into an iPad.” Here we present our letter to the editor that we submitted following publication of the article, as well as the main points we made to the New York Times in a letter sent on January 17, prior to publication. While some changes were made to the story, we believe that several important inaccuracies and misleading information remained in the story that was published on January 26.
Aron Cramer, President and CEO of BSR

It’s worth reading the letter as it highlights what they believe are some pretty big flaws in the New York Times article.

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Samsung Credits Mobile with Half of All Profits

By on January 27, 2012 in Android, Technology
Samsung has detailed its full results following a brief preview earlier in the month. The Korean electronics giant mustered the equivalent of $42 billion in revenue, but owed much of this and its profit to a 30 percent increase in its cellphone business. Almost half of its working profit, $2.3 billion out of $4.7 billion, came from its mobile group; profit as a whole was up 17 percent.
Mac NN

What’s curious about the statements from Samsung is they didn’t release Smartphone sales numbers. Or numbers of its Tablets for that matter. You would think, given its very public attacks on Apple in particular, it would want to tout these numbers, so I ind it curious that it is keeping the details to its chest.

Just sayin’

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Amateurs Beat the Pros at Predicting Apple Results

By on January 27, 2012 in Apple
Humiliated by a bunch of bloggers, amateur analysts and assorted day traders
Philip Elmer-Dewitt for CNN Money

I don’t know why this should come as a surprise to anyone. “The Street” constantly misread / misunderstand / talk out their collective asses when it comes to Apple.

So many pundits are so obsessed with the idea that Apple might fail that they constantly ignore the evidence to the contrary and keep pushing the notion that the bubble will burst “any day now”. And of course if you poke holes in any of their analysis then you’re just a “crazy fanboy”.

Who’s crazy now?

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Steve Jobs Action Figure Cancelled

By on January 17, 2012 in Apple
Saying he still believed "that we have not overstepped any legal boundaries," Tandy Cheung of In Icon announced that it wills top the offer, production and sale of the eerily photogenic Steve Jobs action figure it had offered earlier this month
Mac NN

He may not have overstepped any legal boundaries, but he certainly overstepped the boundaries of good taste.

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Rupert Murdoch Labels Google a Piracy Leader

By on January 16, 2012 in Technology
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has used his new Twitter account to unleash a stream of abuse against Google, describing the search giant as a “piracy leader” and labelling parts of its business model as “plain stealing”.
Macworld UK

Given the current voice mail scandal surrounding Murdoch’s companies I think calling out google for “stealing” is a bit cheeky.

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The Problem With The PS Vita

By on January 15, 2012 in Technology
But the main criticism against handheld consoles like the Vita and the 3DS isn't the lack of variety in its games catalogue, but rather that in a world of sub-£1 smartphone games, Sony and Nintendo are pricing themselves out of the market with titles selling for £30 a pop.
T3

An interesting observation from an article in T3. While I am a fan of the PS Brand in general it’s hard to see how the PS Vita can compete in the current market place, except with hard-core gamers.

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