Month: May 2013

Apple Store Kurfürstendamm ⇥ apple.com

In 2005, Gary Allen went to Berlin and spotted the building Apple would eventually lease, commenting that:

The entire building is too large for even for a major Apple store. It has escalators leading to the upper floors.

But the Apple of 2013 is vastly different form the Apple of 2005. This is indeed a large Apple Store, but it’s a great size for a city like Berlin.

It’s quite possibly Apple’s most beautiful store yet, too. Both the Briefing Room and the theatre are absolutely stunning. Carsten Siegel has posted some photos from the opening.

Number of Users of Popular Social Networks for May, 2013 ⇥ expandedramblings.com

In what universe does Google+ actually have 343 million “active” users? Take a look at the sharing stats on the very post this is linking to, for example: as of writing, it has 1,056 tweets, 714 Facebook likes, and 182 +1s. According to the stats in the post, that translates to 189,394 active users per share on Twitter, 1.55 million users per share on Facebook, and 1.88 million users per share on Google+.12 Obviously, these won’t be proportional — the demographics of each social network are different enough that there won’t be an even correlation. But how does a tech-savvy audience like that of Google+ share a nerdy link at a significantly reduced rate compared to Facebook?

David Chartier’s observations strongly reflect my own experience with the product. I’m not saying Google is juicing their numbers here, but I simply haven’t heard of anyone actively using Google+ on a regular basis to nearly the same extent as Tumblr, for example.

Update: Apparently, this data is already out of date. According to GlobalWebIndex (of which Google is a client), Google+ now has 359 million “active” users (though only 135 million are active posters). GlobalWebIndex uses surveys to gather this data, though, which makes it suspect. Google hasn’t released any official data since December 6.

  1. I’ve chosen a users-per-share metric because it gives manageable numbers. The inverse — shares-per-user — produces very small numbers which are harder to grasp. ↥︎

  2. Note that smaller numbers in this metric correspond to greater shares per user. That is to say that user interaction is higher on this particular post when the number is lower. ↥︎

Beauty, Truth, and Jony Ive ⇥ hypercritical.co

John Siracusa, on what he anticipates in the visual design of iOS 7 and OS X 10.9:

I expect Ive to focus on harmony between the look and feel of the software, the materials and finish of the hardware, and most importantly, the intended purpose of each specific application.

While I’m excited for the unveiling of both, OS X 10.9 seems to intrigue me more due to the inattention paid by others to it. It’s quieter and subtler, but I think it’s the area where Apple can experiment to a larger extent because its customer base is so much smaller and less diverse (what’s the ratio of professionals to grandparents on Macs versus iPads?).

When the Article Isn’t That Interesting, Make Up a Stupid Headline ⇥ thestreet.com

The Street has this headline:

Lookout Apple, Here Comes Microsoft: Surface Tablets Break Into Top 5

“Lookout Apple” [sic]. Run for the hills.

Microsoft shipped 900,000 units, owning 1.8% of the market. Of course, Apple and Samsung aren’t worried as they continue to lead the industry by a wide margin.

Oh, so this is the same “look out” as when Microsoft shipped the Zune? Got it.

Instagram Updates ⇥ dribbble.com

Instagram was updated to version 3.5 today with a way to tag friends in photos, which is neat, I suppose. The (unmentioned) part of the update that I like the most, however, is the new Instagram logo designed by Mackey Saturday. Immediately, you’ll notice how much sturdier it appears compared to the original logo.

With any luck, the icon will be updated next.

It’s Time for Apple to Nuke Their Margins From Low Earth Orbit: A Translation ⇥ forbes.com

Haydn Shaughnessy, writing for Forbes:

A widespread estimate of Mini sales is around the 12 million mark in the last quarter, meaning it now handsomely outstrips iPad sales.

Oh, you think this is good news for Apple? That’s only because you don’t know how “watered down” the iPad Mini is.

The Mini is a watered down version of the iPad.

See?

Its launch risked the dreaded cannibalization effect, potentially eating into iPad sales. But it looks as well to have sustained Apple’s market share considerably.

What if Apple loses iPad sales to another iPad?

The point is that real growth is down market and what is needed there is an iconic phone to sweep it up. The idea of a really cheap iPhone offends some sensibilities but we have a really cheap tablet in the iPhone Mini [sic], one that is well below the innovation capabilities of Apple but one that is really preserving Apple’s presence and reputation as a market leader.

Because nothing says “market leader” like making a “really cheap” version of an existing product.

Surely then would it be rational for Apple to enter the low cost market, possibly with one of its existing devices, for example taking the iPod Touch into the 3G realm. The Touch already does good Face Time once users are in a WiFi zone – and more and more homes, as well as public spaces, have WiFi.

Surely it would be rational for Apple to nuke their margins from low earth orbit. Nothing helps a company more than short-term gains at the expense of a long-term strategy. Right, Wall Street?

(Aside: “iPhone Mini”? “Does good Face Time”? Did Forbes fire all of their editors?)

Recall, if you would, yesterday’s fantastic Benedict Evans piece:

Phone are also bought on price, and the iPhone is expensive, but the subsidy system weakens the effect (to a varying degree depending on the market and on the proportion of contract versus prepay). Moreover, the price gap between an iPhone and a cheap Android is much smaller in absolute terms than the gap between a Mac and the cheapest PC.

Meanwhile, back in Forbes land:

ABI estimates the low cost smartphone market will more than triple, in devices sold, between now and 2018 whereas the mid-range will grow at only (roughly) 50%. Mid range is estimated at the $250 – 400 mark, while low cost is sub $250.

Take a $299 iPod Touch, add some 3G capabilities, and sell it for $250. What could possibly go wrong?

Senna ⇥ itunes.apple.com

On May 1, 1994, Ayrton Senna lost his life at the Tamburello corner at Monza. If you haven’t seen the beautiful film dedicated to his legendary racing career, this is a deserving opportunity.

The Sad State of Apple Rumours ⇥ macworld.com

John Moltz, writing for Macworld:

At the risk of sounding like your prototypical hipster, today’s rumors just aren’t as good as they used to be. The devices that we hear whispers about now — a smartwatch, a television, a cheaper iPhone — seem lackluster compared to the rumored products of days past — products that, when they actually appeared, changed entire industries.

Remember how Tim Cook quipped that the company would be “doubling down on secrecy” at D10? How much has been leaked of the contents of iOS 7 or OS X 10.9? Apple’s quieter, so the rumours are only as big as the imaginations of analysts and bloggers.

On that note, let me toss one in for iOS 7: the possible return of Street View. You’ll recall that this time last year, the switch to an in-house Maps application was already rumoured. Turns out that C3 — the company that built the 3D mode — has also done street-level mapping.

Apple, Open, and Learning From History ⇥ ben-evans.com

Benedict Evans destroys-mauls-hammers-rips-slams-bitch-slaps the “iPhone : Android :: Mac : PC” trope:

In other words, Apple has product/market fit in the phone market in a way that it never had in the personal computer market. ALL of the key dynamics that doomed it in the computer market are fundamentally different in the phone market – this time, they all work in Apple’s favour, and in favour of the high-end market in general. 

Very smart. Much unlike the way I worded the lede.

iOS 7 Will Debut on Time ⇥ imore.com

Rene Ritchie of iMore, on the rumour that iOS 7 will be delayed:

Until Apple announces something, it can’t be “delayed”. If they’re not meeting internal schedules, if they’re adding resources from other projects, if they’re pushing features out to future versions, if they’re doing any number of things a company their size does when working on a project of iOS’ size, that’s not “delayed”, that’s “development”.

It seems that every new product that Apple is rumoured to be working on will be delayed. The iPhone 5 was rumoured to be delayed in 2012, and in 2011. In 2011, the delays were owed in part to a flexible OLED screen. Of course, none of this was true,1 but that’s not important. It’s drama in the world of Apple, and that’s what counts.

It’ll be ready.

  1. The iPhone 4S was launched later in the year, but that doesn’t constitute a delay on its own. That may have been the schedule all along. It certainly wasn’t a delay for the reasons mentioned. ↥︎