February 2011
32 posts
4 tags
Safari in OS X Lion Uses WebKit 2 →
Unfortunately, it appears it’s gained something else from iOS: WebKit2 is a private framework.
A better idea for eBook libraries
I understand the publishers’ concern: buy an eBook, it lasts forever. It never needs to be restocked, and can be duplicated and backed up really easily. Previously, they had a reason to expect repeat purchases from libraries as they replaced stolen or damaged books. eBooks potentially cause their income from libraries to drop by a substantial enough amount that they would need to find new...
HarperCollins to libraries: we will nuke your... →
Okay, HarperCollins: you’re not helping. Apple’s doing its best to frame the 30% tax issue as consumers vs. publishers. You’re playing right into their hands with this sort of thing.
Please. Stop it already.
“For content to be fabulous, for tablets to be more than game platforms, folks...”
– Seth’s Blog: 30%, the long tail and a future of serialized content (hat-tip to Felicia Day).
Anonymous asked: How would I go about implementing a Cocoa app that can open up .pdf files and show them in my main app window?
I'm currently attempting to develop an app for Mac. This is my first attempt ever.
Here's a pic of the app in progress (i've blocked out parts of the app, i know...): http://i56.tinypic.com/28s7rqp.png
Basically, I want to have...
I'm currently attempting to develop an app for Mac. This is my first attempt ever.
Here's a pic of the app in progress (i've blocked out parts of the app, i know...): http://i56.tinypic.com/28s7rqp.png
Basically, I want to have...
3 tags
Resurrecting the Library
For posterity:
Install Lion dev preview.
Build your plugin for [app name here].
Notice your Library folder is missing from your home folder.
Open Terminal.
Type SetFile -a v ~/Library
Look at your home folder again in the Finder.
Feel a sense of normalcy return to the universe.
Serious suggestion though: how about if the Xcode installer did this for you?
Copycopter's client: so fast →
thoughtbot-giantrobots:
We recently launched our latest product to great critical acclaim. We’re happy to see people climbing aboard the Copycopter, and feedback has been largely positive. However, one question we’ve had to field a few times is, “how will Copycopter affect the performance of my…
If you’ve not looked at multithreading in Ruby before, this post here makes it look...
2 tags
O'Reilly: 79% of our book sales are eBooks →
I can probably tell you why O’Reilly is doing so well in the eBook market today: They are the only publisher to require no DRM on their eBooks.
Every other publisher I know of has an explicit requirement in their vendor contracts that the vendor must implement some form of DRM to be applied to the publisher’s eBooks, and that such DRM must be maintained against attack. O’Reilly...
3 tags
eBook Sellers & In-App Purchase
Earlier, Mark Topham pointed me towards IAP ‘consumables’, a method by which a user could be billed, say, $4.99, but which would still bill them if we put through the transaction again (for a different $4.99 book).
This solves the ‘2.5M into 3500 doesn’t go’ problem fairly nicely, but it has a few problems which undermine Apple’s altruistic spin on things:
...
“Apple has 95% of US tablet sales. They’re leveraging one monopoly into...”
– The most recent comment on Apple’s 30% cut is outrageous, yet when Amazon took twice that no one cared - The Small Wave.
That’s a damned good point. Having a 95% share of tablet devices then making a play to push competing eBook sellers from that share is good enough for a potential...
“According to [some] those [businesses] had “bad business plans” and...”
– Subscription squabbling in iOS apps rumbles ever onwards
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
“The hell it’s Apple’s hardware. I bought the iPad, therefore it is MY hardware!...”
– An Open Letter to Apple | Readability Blog
Something like the 140th comment in the stream, from someone called Alex.
It’s a good point— the purchaser of the device and the app should be the one to make the decision on whether they support a company’s business practices. If a user...
4 tags
Readability iOS App Rejected
The folks at Readability published an open letter to Apple today regarding their rejection from the App Store because they didn’t use in-app purchasing.
Having spoken with the developer, it transpires that there are no links and no exhortations to make purchases within the app. The cause of the rejection is a static-text label (in other words not a link) on the login screen:
The...
“If members of Congress feel so strongly about undoing this important...”
– Money Won’t Buy You Health Insurance - NYTimes.com
3 tags
Another analogy/story? Okay, why not…
Earlier today Mike Cane pointed me to an article comparing the hullabaloo upon Apple’s 30% cut to the lack of anger at Amazon’s former 70% cut.
I commented on that article (largely aiming at the other comments rather than the article itself), although I got rather entwined in the story I was writing and forgot to mention that there’s an apples vs. oranges thing there— on one...
4 tags
The DOJ and the FTC and the EU, oh my!
Aww, hell yeah:
The Justice Department and the FTC are both interested in
examining whether Apple is running afoul of U.S. antitrust laws
by funneling media companies’ customers into the payment
system for its iTunes store—and taking a 30% cut, the people
familiar with the situation said. The agencies both enforce federal
antitrust laws and would have to decide which one of...
4 tags
Why Are Vendors Annoyed by this IAP Thing?
I was asked in a comment to another post to explain why my reaction to IAP isn’t just indicative of greed on the part of publishers, who use to get something for nothing, and don’t want to start paying for it now. Since then it’s been suggested that I promote my response to a full post, so I’m now doing that, tweaking it only slightly to better indicate that my points apply...
4 tags
Gaiman on Copyright Piracy and the Web
thisfeliciaday:
via youtube.com Very interesting comments about piracy from one of my favorite writers!
I love the way he makes the connection with book lending. This is how I found many of my favourite authors too (although not all— but those were much more recent). And it shows just how important book lending is going to be in the digital world. The first people to really make a killer...
“A simple solution: Apple requires in-App purchases for any content that exists...”
– ‘Greg’, comment #9 on this TUAW story
Awesome. I like it.
As the rules currently stand, the B&N/Kindle/Kobo apps on iOS wouldn’t even be able to remove purchase support altogether in order to comply. Because the apps can handle content sold by the creator of the app, the...
“My inclination is to be suspect” about Apple’s new service, said...”
– Apple Antitrust Issues Raised by Subscription-Service Terms - WSJ.com
Don’t forget: iBooks is paying that 30% to itself. Any competitors must pay it to Apple. This move can potentially force Apple’s competitors out of business. Yet the competitors built the market— Apple is nearly the...
4 tags
Apple's Three Laws of Developers
yourhead:
A developer may not injure Apple or, through inaction, allow Apple to come to harm.
A developer must obey any orders given to it by Apple, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A developer must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
— I. Developer
Sounds about right, actually…
“I am not Apple’s bitch and my device is not a colonial outpost of its...”
– Apple Is Now Dead To Me « Mike Cane’s xBlog
“In addition, publishers may no longer provide links in their apps (to a web...”
– Steve Jobs lays out the way iBooks will beat the rest of us poor saps into the sand.
“Basically, any publisher who sells content via its own site for iPads and...”
– Apple Announces Date On Which It Will Start Screwing Publishers
Since I’m on hiatus right now due to a change in the rules for my work permit application, I’ve got no idea whether Kobo has been explicitly informed of this. I believe there’s an update in the works though, so if...
“I have absolutely no qualms about calling this new regime at Nokia a puppet...”
– Apple Outsider » Microsoft Buys Nokia for $0B
“Among the many thousands of things that I have never been able to understand,...”
– Bill Bryson (via slashleen)
One word: volcanoes.
2 tags
A Little Idea…
So, I had this little idea before Christmas. I’d been playing with Rails 3.0, and wanted to put something together with that. It occurred to me that I would quite like there to be a site where I could go to find long-form information on particular programming topics. As a (prospective, at least) writer, I’d quite like to put my articles somewhere they’re likely to be seen by more...
One Per Cent: Giant archaeological trove found in... →
OMG it’s the Annunaki!
Apple States The Obvious And Inevitable →
parislemon:
My tweet on the matter may have been too subtle:
In other news, most restaurants still don’t want you bringing in food from other restaurants to eat there.
And obviously over-simplified. But the core concept is intact. If you’re going to consume content on their device, Apple would prefer that you buy that content from them and not from a competitor.
Or if you do buy want to buy...