Why Windows 8 Is Fundamentally Flawed as a Response to the iPad

John Gruber writes at Daring Fireball:

But I think it’s a fundamentally flawed idea for Microsoft to build their next-generation OS and interface on top of the existing Windows. The idea is that you get the new stuff right alongside Windows as we know it. Microsoft is obviously trying to learn from Apple, but they clearly don’t understand why the iPad runs iOS, and not Mac OS X. Microsoft’s demo video shows Excel — the full version of Excel for Windows — running alongside new touch-based apps. They can make buttons more “touch friendly” all they want, but they’ll never make Excel for Windows feel right on a touchscreen UI. Consider the differences between the iWork apps for the Mac and iPad. The iPad versions aren’t “touch friendly” versions of the Mac apps — they’re entirely new beasts designed and programmed from the ground up for the touchscreen and for the different rules and tradeoffs of the iOS interface (no explicit saving, no file system, ready to quit at a moment’s notice, no processing in the background, etc.). You really should read John's entire piece as he goes on to make several other points worth hearing but I don't want to quote his entire article here. Just go read it. My take? Steve Ballmer just can't let go of the product he helped to successfully bring to market. Internal politics matter to him as much, if not more, as what could actually help the company the most. He can't see the forest for the trees. He just wont let Windows go. I'm not saying Windows is a horrible product (despite the fact that I despise it personally), as it makes Microsoft a lot of money. Ballmer just can't get it through his head that you cannot put a desktop driven legacy OS and shoe-horn it onto a consumer electronics device with no peripherals. It just wont work. You make to many compromises of what makes the iPad great in order to do so. Ballmer's days are numbered.

Microsoft Announces Windows 8 at D9

Microsoft PR:

Today, at the D9 Conference, we demonstrated the next generation of Windows, internally code-named “Windows 8,” for the first time. Windows 8 is a reimagining of Windows, from the chip to the interface. A Windows 8-based PC is really a new kind of device, one that scales from touch-only small screens through to large screens, with or without a keyboard and mouse. Demo video shown at the conference: More from the PR: We also showed effortless movement between existing Windows programs and new Windows 8 apps. The full capabilities of Windows continue to be available to you, including the Windows Explorer and Desktop, as does compatibility with all Windows 7 logo PCs, software and peripherals. Big mistake. Ballmer's days are numbered.

Twitter Reveals Photo Sharing Feature

Jack Dorsey, writing on the Twitter Blog:

Millions of people share photos on Twitter every day. We’re going to make that easier than ever. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be releasing a feature to upload a photo and attach it to your Tweet right from Twitter.com. And of course, you’ll soon be able to easily do this from all of our official mobile apps. A special thanks to our partner Photobucket for hosting these photos behind the scenes. Services like yFrog and Twitpic are in trouble. Other services like MLKSHK who provide more value that just a dump for photos might be okay though.

Google's Eric Schmidt, "If you care about security, get a Mac, not a PC."

Google's former CEO and now board Chairman, Eric Scmidt, was interviewed last night at D9 on stage. He made several interesting revelations. Jason Kincaid, writing for Techcrunch:

Today during a keynote interview at AllThingsD’s D9, Google Executive Chairman (and former longtime CEO) made a key announcement: Google has recently renewed its partnership with Apple over mapping and search. In other words, don’t look for a new version of Maps on iOS at next month’s WWDC. So, why is this important? Apple has long shipped every iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad with a Maps application powered by Google. It’s great (though arguably not as good as its Android counterpart). But Apple and Google are competing fiercely in the mobile market, and every time someone runs a search using Maps from an iOS device, Apple is handing Google a little more data that could be used to further improve their local products. Later on during the interview, Schmidt spoke this gem of a quote: ... Schmidt also puts in a plug for Chrome, saying it is more secure. Walt Mossberg, "What else could you do to promote security?" Eric Schmidt, "You could use a Mac instead of a PC. Viruses are far less likely to affect Mac users."

Lodsys Responds to Apple, Files Lawsuits Against App Developers Anyway

Eric Slivka, writing at Macrumors:

Patent holding firm Lodsys today published a series of blog posts revealing that the company has filed suit against some App Store developers, accelerating its efforts to extract licensing fees from developers for using in app purchases and upgrade links in their App Store applications. Lodsys had given developers 21 days to negotiate a license before filing suit, but the firm appears to have initiated lawsuits early in order to thwart Apple's efforts to back the developers. More details, directly from the bastards themselves, at the Lodsys blog. Florian Muellre writes on FOSS Patents: For the app developers who have been sued, this is now a very critical situation. As I explained in my Lodsys FAQ, patent litigation in the United States is extremely costly. The most important thing for those app developers is to clarify with Apple — and to the extent that Android apps are involved, with Google — whether they will be held harmless and receive blanket coverage including possible damage awards.

Apple's Cash to Exceed $300 billion by 2015

Andy M. Zaky, writing for Bullish Cross:

If it then carried that 2013 0.00% growth rate into 2014, the company would have $230 billion in cash or just about $250 in cash per share. 2015 it would have $300 billion in cash or $330 in cash per share. Again, that assumes 0.00% growth for 2013, 2014, and 2015. So if Apple grows 0.00%, then by 2015, it will have more cash per share than the stock is trading at today. While the whole world already discusses Apple's massive cash holding, they have absolutely no clue just how major that cash flow is going to actually be. If Apple is trading anywhere close to where it's trading today 2-years from now, it would be able to take itself private with very little outside help. Just something to think about as wall street debates its daily moronic bullshit about whether there's an iPhone delay, whether Steve Jobs is coming back or whether iPad production is hurt as a result of some explosion in china. Indeed.

Twitter's New Photo-Sharing Service To Get iOS 5 Integration

MG Siegler writing for Techcrunch:

We’ve heard from multiple sources that Twitter is likely to have a big-time partner for such a service: Apple. Specifically, we’re hearing that Apple’s new iOS 5 will come with an option to share images to Twitter baked into the OS. This would be similar to the way you can currently share videos on YouTube with one click in iOS. Obviously, a user would have to enable this feature by logging in with their Twitter credentials in iOS. There would then be a “Send to Twitter” option for pictures stored on your device. John Gruber, on Daring Fireball: So close to the bigger story, but yet so far. Imagine what else the system could provide if your Twitter account was a system-level service. Perhaps this whole OAuth/XAuth issue is about to become null & void for 3rd party client developers?

Chevy Dealers Selling New Volts to Each Other, Pocketing $7500 Tax Credit

Jonathon Ramsey, writing for autoblog:

Speaking of dealers, a new story by Mark Modica on the National Legal and Policy Center site suggests that Chevy dealers are selling Volts to one another and claiming the car's $7,500 federal tax rebate for themselves, then selling the cars to private buyers as used sans rebate. According to Modica, a Chicago dealer selling a Volt with 10 miles on the odometer flat-out admitted that it would be seeking the credit for itself: "When I asked if I was eligible for the $7,500 tax credit, I was told that I probably wasn't, since the dealership was applying for the subsidy." Even stranger, a Kia dealer in California was selling a Volt that had just 30 miles on it, and Modica was told that "the Volts offered at that dealership were rental cars with higher mileage on them." Used Volt, great condition! Less than < 30 miles on it! Pre-depreciated for you!