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Just off the top of my head, these posts of his provide counterexamples to your assertion:
- http://daringfireball.net/2015...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...

I don't follow him on Twitter (which I presume you're talking about, since you mention blocking and ignoring), so I have no idea what's going on over there, but at least on his own site, he seems to have an opinion with which I disagree, but which is rational and which I can respect. Besides my other issues with trackers and ads, I also believe that ads are unethical, so I don't support them in any form at all, but Gruber seems to be okay with ad-blocking, particularly if you're blocking ads from misbehaving sites (e.g. iMore, which he called out in the first link above), provided the ad-blocking can be done at a granular enough level to not block ads from well-behaved sites. Again, I don't think there is such a thing as a well-behaved ad, so I don't subscribe to his opinion on this matter, but I get where he's coming from.

Just off the top of my head, these posts of his provide counterexamples to your assertion:
- http://daringfireball.net/2015...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...

I don't follow him on Twitter (which I presume you're talking about, since you mention blocking and ignoring), so I have no idea what's going on over there, but at least on his own site, he seems to have an opinion with which I disagree, but which is rational and which I can respect. Besides my other issues with trackers and ads, I also believe that ads are unethical, so I don't support them in any form at all, but Gruber seems to be okay with ad-blocking, particularly if you're blocking ads from misbehaving sites (e.g. iMore, which he called out in the first link above), provided the ad-blocking can be done at a granular enough level to not block ads from well-behaved sites. Again, I don't think there is such a thing as a well-behaved ad, so I don't subscribe to his opinion on this matter, but I get where he's coming from.

Just off the top of my head, these posts of his provide counterexamples to your assertion:
- http://daringfireball.net/2015...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...

I don't follow him on Twitter (which I presume you're talking about, since you mention blocking and ignoring), so I have no idea what's going on over there, but at least on his own site, he seems to have an opinion with which I disagree, but which is rational and which I can respect. Besides my other issues with trackers and ads, I also believe that ads are unethical, so I don't support them in any form at all, but Gruber seems to be okay with ad-blocking, particularly if you're blocking ads from misbehaving sites (e.g. iMore, which he called out in the first link above), provided the ad-blocking can be done at a granular enough level to not block ads from well-behaved sites. Again, I don't think there is such a thing as a well-behaved ad, so I don't subscribe to his opinion on this matter, but I get where he's coming from.

Just off the top of my head, these posts of his provide counterexamples to your assertion:
- http://daringfireball.net/2015...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...

I don't follow him on Twitter (which I presume you're talking about, since you mention blocking and ignoring), so I have no idea what's going on over there, but at least on his own site, he seems to have an opinion with which I disagree, but which is rational and which I can respect. Besides my other issues with trackers and ads, I also believe that ads are unethical, so I don't support them in any form at all, but Gruber seems to be okay with ad-blocking, particularly if you're blocking ads from misbehaving sites (e.g. iMore, which he called out in the first link above), provided the ad-blocking can be done at a granular enough level to not block ads from well-behaved sites. Again, I don't think there is such a thing as a well-behaved ad, so I don't subscribe to his opinion on this matter, but I get where he's coming from.

Just off the top of my head, these posts of his provide counterexamples to your assertion:
- http://daringfireball.net/2015...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...
- http://daringfireball.net/link...

I don't follow him on Twitter (which I presume you're talking about, since you mention blocking and ignoring), so I have no idea what's going on over there, but at least on his own site, he seems to have an opinion with which I disagree, but which is rational and which I can respect. Besides my other issues with trackers and ads, I also believe that ads are unethical, so I don't support them in any form at all, but Gruber seems to be okay with ad-blocking, particularly if you're blocking ads from misbehaving sites (e.g. iMore, which he called out in the first link above), provided the ad-blocking can be done at a granular enough level to not block ads from well-behaved sites. Again, I don't think there is such a thing as a well-behaved ad, so I don't subscribe to his opinion on this matter, but I get where he's coming from.

a surface pro is the better solution over the macbook air if one must stick with the microsoft camp IMO. light weight, compatible with everything, and in the same price range as the air. Add in the fact that it can be a tablet or a laptop

... means its a fucking compromise. http://daringfireball.net/2013/02/the_c_word

This surprised me. Then I thought about it, searched my entries in Movable Type, and realized Iâ(TM)ve only linked to Gigaom once in the last six months, and four times in the last 12 months. I used to link to reporting at Gigaom a couple of times every month. Theyâ(TM)ve been going downhill for a while.

Source

Om Malik's a good writer. Looks like the site shit itself after he left to work for Apple

And for Ruby fans there are Middleman and Jekyll (among others) with [favorite Ruby template system here].

In fact, you can mix and match templates from like a couple-dozen choices, (using partials) even in the same page. Write headers, footers, menus, etc. in Slim, body text in Markdown, head material (script and style links, etc.) in ERB etc. etc. etc.

Slim is great for fine-grained elements - it's got the wierd HAML-like syntax but without the stupidity of HAML. Takes some getting used-to, but perfect for the 2 to 10-line partials I write for table cells, list items, list containers, menu choices, etc. Markdown is great for writing text content that is actually readable in source form. sometimes you just want good-old ugly ERB.

I use Middleman for PhoneGap/Cordova projects. I want to throw things when I see people hand-coding Phonegap documents and then doing mass edits when they change their minds about structure or appearance! Use a damn SSG! Please stop the cut-and-paste madness!

I also use build tools like rake to make custom "pre-build" systems even when I DO have a framework. I've done this to create a family of similar mobile apps. Here's a presentation I did on it at Motorola AppForum 2014. The first half is probably of interest here. (The second half is way RhoMobile Rhodes-specific, and afraid it is lacking the audio - the first half is pretty understandable from just the slides.)

Large-Scale Multi-App Development Using Rhodes

While I don't typically create websites (I write hybrid mobile apps) this can also be a great approach for websites if you need to "brand" similar sites for multiple clients, and then each site wants somewhat different features. The above link shows how I created 6 form-filling data-collection apps with similarities but considerable different details, with something like 80% of the app code shared. The same techniques can be applied to websites.

Gruber at DaringFireball nails it:

What Apple gets and what no one else in the industry does is that using your mobile device for payments will only work if it’s far easier and better than using a credit card. With CurrentC, you’ll have to unlock your phone, launch their app, point your camera at a QR code, and wait. With Apple Pay, you just take out your phone and put your thumb on the Touch ID sensor.

Tim Cook was exactly right on stage last month when he introduced Apple Pay: it’s the only mobile payment solution designed around improving the customer experience. CurrentC is designed around the collection of customer data and the ability to offer coupons and other junk. Here is what a printed receipt from CVS looks like (https://twitter.com/fromedome/status/526027483901333505). It looks like a joke, but that’s for real. And that’s the sort of experience they want to bring to mobile payments. ...

And the reason they don’t want to allow Apple Pay is because Apple Pay doesn’t give them any personal information about the customer. It’s not about security — Apple Pay is far more secure than any credit/debit card system in the U.S. It’s not about money — Apple’s tiny slice of the transaction comes from the banks, not the merchants. It’s about data.

Apple's great strategic advantages over Google, is that they put their customers (i.e. the people who buy Apple's goods and services) needs over their partners needs to be able to data mine those users.

"You need looser pants."

http://daringfireball.net/link...

http://daringfireball.net/misc...

It's allowed in Safari but not UI web views

http://daringfireball.net/2011...

It's been known for a while that their "Filevault" has a corporate key (allegedly for employees but wouldn't it work for anyone?) to unlock it.
Of course if you're a smart criminal you aren't using this sort of tech or if you are you have a second level of protection.

Considering the timing of the Apple "bugs" such as the SSL fiasco why would anyone think they are protected in any way while using using Apple gear?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci...

http://daringfireball.net/2014...

So the timing for that SSL "flaw" was nice.
http://daringfireball.net/2014...

Plus now that it's come out Apple was pretty much on board with the NSA and their recent encryption weakness is anyone surprised.
http://www.theguardian.com/wor...

http://www.theguardian.com/wor...

http://www.theguardian.com/wor...

Not to mention every iPhone is a WiFi scanner + Geographical locator.

Never mind the accolades Ahonen has received over the years, nor his lectures at Oxford, nor his authoritative books, nor his amazingly accurate record of predictions in the Mobile Phone industry, year after year, nor his personal network of staffers at almost every Mobile Phone company and provider in the world... nor how many times he made other supposed expert analysts look like fools (ZDnet, Howard Forums, etc. etc.)

Never mind that, because very little of it is actually true.
For the record of his predictions, here's one.
Sorry, but Tomi is really a tedious moron who passes himself off as an expert to gullible people.

Daring fireball is that you? How nice of you to show up here on /. http://daringfireball.net/2013/06/ios_7_signature

Jup, that’s what Gruber says: ‘Everybody Loves Bob’

http://daringfireball.net/2013/07/mansfield

Quote: “Inside Apple, they seem surprised that we’d read juicy backstage intrigue into his simply being removed from their executive list.”

John Gruber, Daring Fireball:

Taylor Soper, GeekWire:

> But soon after publishing, we became suspicious.

Pretty sure that's the wrong order.

That's a good point. I looked and looked but can't find evidence that Gartner considered an xbox as something running "Windows". I did find this article that says that Apple TV was outselling the Xbox on a per quarter basis as late as last year. Lifetime sales of Xbox are still higher, but Xbox has been around a long while. While I don't doubt that a new Xbox release would reverse this, what I don't get is what Microsoft would possibly do with a new console that would make it worth buying. A little hardware refresh won't make any magic happen. On the other hand, there is this funny quote from the founder of Valve saying that an Apple iTunes-style walled garden gaming platform would eat Sony's, Nintendo's and Microsoft's lunch, so go figure. I can't imagine that Apple looks at the gaming space and thinks there's an opening there though, it's pretty saturated. On the other hand, there's a lot of clever little games out there for the iTunes store made by indie developers, maybe they really could create an opening for themselves.

None of the games you want to play are compiled for x86, nor will anything that that uses the NDK. They will not be until that is a popular architecture in this market. That will not happen until the games are there, classic catch 22.

Here's how it used to sound: "None of the games you want to play are compiled for Android, nor will anything that that uses the Cocoa Touch API. They will not be until Android is a popular OS in this market. That will not happen until the games are there, classic catch 22." So how did games get onto Android in the first place?

What happened was that iOS, (and then Android) started eating everyone's lunch in the mobile market by providing something that Palm, Microsoft, Blackberry and others found difficult to impossible: a true media-centric portable computer with near-first-class browsing and touch interface. A tantalizing canvas and paintbrush on which you could draw your masterpiece (or partake of someone else's). Developers saw virgin territory all while the incumbents said "PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.” [1].

The gordian knot is cut simply, but it takes a glittering, savage sharp knife and the requisite hand wielding it.

[1] http://daringfireball.net/2006/11/colligan_head_stuck

I think John Gruber's take on David Pogue's Surface review nails it:

DP: "Everybody knows what a tablet is, right? It's a black touch-screen slab, like an iPad or an Android tablet. It doesn't run real Windows or Mac software -- it runs much simpler apps. It's not a real computer."

JG: "That's the same shortsighted opinion that command-line DOS advocates had of the Mac in the '80s. Anyone who thinks OS X and Windows PCs are "real" computers and that the iPad (and Android tablets) are anything less just isn't getting it."

My dad was one of those people. Back then (mid/late 80s) "computer" meant "I can write programs on it." Every computer today looks like the Macintosh did back then: windows, icons, WYSIWYG documents, etc. "Computer" came to mean "something you can use to create documents on and play games."

Remember, once upon a time, what we call "personal computers" themselves weren't considered "real" computers at all by those who were using "computers" (i.e, big iron in schools and businesses) at the time.

Q: Who's the #1 mainframe vendor today?

A: Who cares?

So just as "computer" once meant one thing and now refers to what we call PCs, the definition of "PC" will change over time too. It's a continuum, not black and white. Does a "PC" become not a PC when you take its keyboard off? Does a "tablet" become a "PC" when you add a keyboard? Is an iPad you can hold in one hand less personal, or less of a computer, than an old Kaypro luggable?

I think I'll write a children's book: The Velveteen iPad (or How Tablets Become Real).

It's a useful article on keyboard mechanisms, and it's a good discussion of the tradeoffs between thin keyboards and ergonomics. The history is weak.

There's no mention of key rollover, or "can you push a key before releasing the previous key"? Modern keyboards report a key down and key up event for each key, so rollover can be unlimited. Early keyboards struggled with this. The Selectric, and Teletype machines, were mechanically interlocked against multiple key-presses. Some early keyboards wouldn't handle two keys down at the same time at all.

The feedback issue was a big one. Some keyboards clicked, some had a "clicker" inside to create the illusion that they clicked, and some beeped, an annoyance which has returned with some touch screens.

It's amusing that iPad-like devices have reverted to a 3-row keyboard with multiple shifts. That's where Teletype machines were a century ago. The keyboard layout of an iPad is very similar to that of a 1930s Teletype.

Why would you ever expect the surface to be $200?

It was the rumor a while back. Gruber made the point that $199 would be a very aggressive play against the iPad, but that if it wasn't true (and it wasn't) then it's the sort of thing Microsoft set themselves up for by announcing an iPad competitor without pricing in tow for several months (as opposed to Apple which announces products with prices)

Given the reports that they still had another year worth of contractually available Google Maps, if they wanted it, the early switch does seem like a questionable move

John Gruber at Daring Fireball makes the best case I've seen for explaining the timing; that their contract would expire mid-way through the iOS6 cycle and Apple would be forced to re-negotiate "with their backs against the wall". Or in other words, the contract would not have lasted until iOS7 comes out, so it made more sense to push out a major change like this in iOS6 instead of cramming it into a point release like 6.1 or 6.2 (can you imagine the outcry if THAT happened? At least people expect x.0 releases to have some teething problems... point releases are expected to refine, polish, and bugfix)

This article has a good rundown of why Apple didn't want to wait another year: http://daringfireball.net/2012/09/get_the_fainting_chair

Basically, Apple didn't want to have another year without a "built-in" turn-by-turn solution, even if the new one is buggy for some users. Another reason for making it a core app (that I haven't seen others state) is that it means all iPhone 4S and 5 users can simply fire up Siri and say, "Take me to 123 Fake St.", and it will work the same (well, it will once they fix the issues) on everyone's phone. That's a big selling point, as at this time, apps from the App Store don't work with Siri--not even Apple-made apps.

Sorry, but the article is crap, Gruber is a well known apologist.

I've used the IOS 6 mapping application. The problem is not the application the problem is the data (as has been stated before, Apple wrote the maps application in previous iterations of IOS but used Google's data). The application performed as expected, I cant complain about that but the data, where to begin.

In Australia, IOS Maps has some serious rectification issues (this is why some points end up in the wrong location, Lat/Long is probably correct but the map does not account for the curvature of the earth correctly) train stations weren't even on the tracks. IOS Maps navigation algorithm produces some very odd results and unlike Google, doesn't take into account the traffic conditions. Also the time estimates were way off, worst than the 10-20% that Google's estimates are off. Point of Interest (POI) database is woeful, I asked it for the nearest ATM, it gave me one 6 KM away, there was an ATM in the pub we were in and a CBA branch with an ATM across the road, Google Maps found both.

Apple needs to do a crapload of work on its data and rectification. But much I dont think they will do anything drastic any time soon much like Siri which cant understand Australian accents nor find anything in Australia (yelp is fucking useless here) one year on. I don't think Apple knows just how much work they need to do, but they don't have to worry either with apologists like Gruber out there.

You mean read his stupid crap snarky sneering comparisons on Amazon's earnings vs. Apple's ?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/07/27/amzn-profit-correction

Context: He was responding to an article saying Amazon "continues to grow like gangbusters". IOW, he wasn't really comparing Apple with Amazon, he was making fun of an article. Compare this to his article Amazon’s Play "Amazon is, to my eyes, the only company playing in the same league as Apple." ... "Bezos made a point, both during the event itself and in interviews afterward, that Amazon is not pursuing King Gillette’s razor and blades business model. They’re not selling these tablets at a loss. But they’re not selling them at a high profit margin, either.

Om Malik argues that Bezos is the inheritor to Steve Jobs’s crown. I agree. Not because Bezos has copied anything Jobs did, but because he has not. What he’s done that is Jobs-like is doggedly pursue, year after year, iteration after iteration, a vision unlike that of any other company — all in the name of making customers happy."

Gee, I wonder if you could write a paragraph with a similar lack of snide. Or even a sentence. And don't even try insight.

Or calling Apple's competitors turds?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/08/01/nokia-nail-polish

Reading ability: No, he didn't.

Or his various hate filled diatribes on Google and Android? Or how he stated that Android would never overtake the iPhone? And then how he tried to muddy the waters by adding the iPad numbers to claim iOS' superiority? After even that failed, he(and his chums like Siegler) resorted to calling the Apple winner over Android because it takes 80% of the mobile profits!

Funny, how you don't even bother to link to something that wouldn't support your views anyway.

You mean read his stupid crap snarky sneering comparisons on Amazon's earnings vs. Apple's ?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/07/27/amzn-profit-correction

Context: He was responding to an article saying Amazon "continues to grow like gangbusters". IOW, he wasn't really comparing Apple with Amazon, he was making fun of an article. Compare this to his article Amazon’s Play "Amazon is, to my eyes, the only company playing in the same league as Apple." ... "Bezos made a point, both during the event itself and in interviews afterward, that Amazon is not pursuing King Gillette’s razor and blades business model. They’re not selling these tablets at a loss. But they’re not selling them at a high profit margin, either.

Om Malik argues that Bezos is the inheritor to Steve Jobs’s crown. I agree. Not because Bezos has copied anything Jobs did, but because he has not. What he’s done that is Jobs-like is doggedly pursue, year after year, iteration after iteration, a vision unlike that of any other company — all in the name of making customers happy."

Gee, I wonder if you could write a paragraph with a similar lack of snide. Or even a sentence. And don't even try insight.

Or calling Apple's competitors turds?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/08/01/nokia-nail-polish

Reading ability: No, he didn't.

Or his various hate filled diatribes on Google and Android? Or how he stated that Android would never overtake the iPhone? And then how he tried to muddy the waters by adding the iPad numbers to claim iOS' superiority? After even that failed, he(and his chums like Siegler) resorted to calling the Apple winner over Android because it takes 80% of the mobile profits!

Funny, how you don't even bother to link to something that wouldn't support your views anyway.

You mean read his stupid crap snarky sneering comparisons on Amazon's earnings vs. Apple's ?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/07/27/amzn-profit-correction

Context: He was responding to an article saying Amazon "continues to grow like gangbusters". IOW, he wasn't really comparing Apple with Amazon, he was making fun of an article. Compare this to his article Amazon’s Play "Amazon is, to my eyes, the only company playing in the same league as Apple." ... "Bezos made a point, both during the event itself and in interviews afterward, that Amazon is not pursuing King Gillette’s razor and blades business model. They’re not selling these tablets at a loss. But they’re not selling them at a high profit margin, either.

Om Malik argues that Bezos is the inheritor to Steve Jobs’s crown. I agree. Not because Bezos has copied anything Jobs did, but because he has not. What he’s done that is Jobs-like is doggedly pursue, year after year, iteration after iteration, a vision unlike that of any other company — all in the name of making customers happy."

Gee, I wonder if you could write a paragraph with a similar lack of snide. Or even a sentence. And don't even try insight.

Or calling Apple's competitors turds?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/08/01/nokia-nail-polish

Reading ability: No, he didn't.

Or his various hate filled diatribes on Google and Android? Or how he stated that Android would never overtake the iPhone? And then how he tried to muddy the waters by adding the iPad numbers to claim iOS' superiority? After even that failed, he(and his chums like Siegler) resorted to calling the Apple winner over Android because it takes 80% of the mobile profits!

Funny, how you don't even bother to link to something that wouldn't support your views anyway.

He was very critical of the guy who was going to "reorganize" Apple retail, that's no small thing :

"“Even if the customer experience is compromised” are Allen’s words, summarizing what he heard from his sources, not Browett’s. But if they’re accurate, it’s hard to conclude anything other than that Apple made a terrible decision hiring him."

That's just one of many criticisms. Apple fans are some of the most critical around, you just don't notice because you only follow their news sporadically. The attitude of Apple fans is best summed up by John Siracusa's podcast tagline : "Nothing is so perfect that it can't be complained about." They'll happily rant for hours about how Apple stuff is near perfection and they'll happily rant for hours more on how it can become just that little bit more prefect as well.

You mean read his stupid crap snarky sneering comparisons on Amazon's earnings vs. Apple's ?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/07/27/amzn-profit-correction

Or calling Apple's competitors turds?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/08/01/nokia-nail-polish

Or his various hate filled diatribes on Google and Android? Or how he stated that Android would never overtake the iPhone? And then how he tried to muddy the waters by adding the iPad numbers to claim iOS' superiority? After even that failed, he(and his chums like Siegler) resorted to calling the Apple winner over Android because it takes 80% of the mobile profits! Like how MS wins the server OS market and the web server market and the IDE market with Windows Server, IIS and Visual Studio over Linux, Apache/nginx etc.

For proof of his partisanship see his analysis of Apple's forced 30% cut of in-app purchases over which it kicked out a number of apps.

http://daringfireball.net/2011/03/dirty_percent

Summary: Apple does it because it can and people complaining are doing so because they're jealous they can't do the same thing.

In short, he's nothing but a partisan hack. Actually anyone would be, if they could earn $3000 per RSS ad while lounging around in pyjamas looking for tidbits of news and "analysis" to post pandering to the typical type of audience he attracts.

You mean read his stupid crap snarky sneering comparisons on Amazon's earnings vs. Apple's ?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/07/27/amzn-profit-correction

Or calling Apple's competitors turds?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/08/01/nokia-nail-polish

Or his various hate filled diatribes on Google and Android? Or how he stated that Android would never overtake the iPhone? And then how he tried to muddy the waters by adding the iPad numbers to claim iOS' superiority? After even that failed, he(and his chums like Siegler) resorted to calling the Apple winner over Android because it takes 80% of the mobile profits! Like how MS wins the server OS market and the web server market and the IDE market with Windows Server, IIS and Visual Studio over Linux, Apache/nginx etc.

For proof of his partisanship see his analysis of Apple's forced 30% cut of in-app purchases over which it kicked out a number of apps.

http://daringfireball.net/2011/03/dirty_percent

Summary: Apple does it because it can and people complaining are doing so because they're jealous they can't do the same thing.

In short, he's nothing but a partisan hack. Actually anyone would be, if they could earn $3000 per RSS ad while lounging around in pyjamas looking for tidbits of news and "analysis" to post pandering to the typical type of audience he attracts.

You mean read his stupid crap snarky sneering comparisons on Amazon's earnings vs. Apple's ?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/07/27/amzn-profit-correction

Or calling Apple's competitors turds?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/08/01/nokia-nail-polish

Or his various hate filled diatribes on Google and Android? Or how he stated that Android would never overtake the iPhone? And then how he tried to muddy the waters by adding the iPad numbers to claim iOS' superiority? After even that failed, he(and his chums like Siegler) resorted to calling the Apple winner over Android because it takes 80% of the mobile profits! Like how MS wins the server OS market and the web server market and the IDE market with Windows Server, IIS and Visual Studio over Linux, Apache/nginx etc.

For proof of his partisanship see his analysis of Apple's forced 30% cut of in-app purchases over which it kicked out a number of apps.

http://daringfireball.net/2011/03/dirty_percent

Summary: Apple does it because it can and people complaining are doing so because they're jealous they can't do the same thing.

In short, he's nothing but a partisan hack. Actually anyone would be, if they could earn $3000 per RSS ad while lounging around in pyjamas looking for tidbits of news and "analysis" to post pandering to the typical type of audience he attracts.

This article has a good rundown of why Apple didn't want to wait another year: http://daringfireball.net/2012/09/get_the_fainting_chair

Basically, Apple didn't want to have another year without a "built-in" turn-by-turn solution, even if the new one is buggy for some users. Another reason for making it a core app (that I haven't seen others state) is that it means all iPhone 4S and 5 users can simply fire up Siri and say, "Take me to 123 Fake St.", and it will work the same (well, it will once they fix the issues) on everyone's phone. That's a big selling point, as at this time, apps from the App Store don't work with Siri--not even Apple-made apps.

This is probably the most accurate, and intelligent read on the topic. His sources are very close to Apple; VERY close indeed. http://daringfireball.net/2012/09/timing_of_apples_map_switch You'll notice that he says it was all about timing, and how much time was left on the clock.

He also discusses evidence of Apple's PR team getting the rumor mill going immediately after the announcement of Google's Nexus 7

Apple PR team like the site called http://daringfireball.net?

Maybe you should look closer at the part about it being a proof of concept bug created by the antivirus company that's reporting it? This makes at least the second time in recent time that this company has done this - go out of their way to come up with an exploit, and then dump a press release to warn everyone about it and brag about how they were the first to update their antivirus software to combat it.

Actually, this company's been sending up false flags on the Mac side since at least 2004 - see http://daringfireball.net/2004/04/crying_wolf - so I wouldn't trust them any farther than I could comfortably spit out a rat.

It's a pocket computer. -THAT's- the big shift that RIMM missed, and -is still missing-.

Nice summary of what the iPhone changed here: http://daringfireball.net/2012/07/iphone_disruption_five_years_in

Indeed. Might as well report Daring Fireball's statistic. 14% of his visitors are from Windows (as IE only runs on Windows it's clear much less than 14% of his visitors run IE) http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/07/03/ios-6-9to5mac

"Typical users" can always buy a Dell, Sony or Toshiba with even a VGA port!

then-Palm CEO Ed Colligan in 2006:

We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.

We all know how well that turned out for them.

Where did you hear this? At the cooler in Redmond?

From the numbers it doesn't seem like an unlikely claim actually (single virus compromising percentage of installed base), though a citation would be nice so it made me check (source for numbers below):

The Mach Flashback virus compromised around 600.000 Macs, which is around 1% of installed base. The single largest Windows-based infection ever was Conficker. At its peak in 2009, it infected about 0.7% of the total Windows installed base.

But the original source (Ed Bott from ZDNet) for those numbers is wrong - Conficker was only the worst PC infection in recent times. The ILOVEYOU mail virus infected 50 million PCs in 2000 - far more than 1%.

Fair enough, should have added the disclaimer 'in recent times', but still thinks that is what is of interest comparing; recent times, platforms that are relevant today. Or else you could talk about The Morris Worm infecting 10% of all Unix systems on the net as mentioned above and conclude that Unix is the worst.

Where did you hear this? At the cooler in Redmond?

From the numbers it doesn't seem like an unlikely claim actually (single virus compromising percentage of installed base), though a citation would be nice so it made me check (source for numbers below):

The Mach Flashback virus compromised around 600.000 Macs, which is around 1% of installed base. The single largest Windows-based infection ever was Conficker. At its peak in 2009, it infected about 0.7% of the total Windows installed base.

But the original source (Ed Bott from ZDNet) for those numbers is wrong - Conficker was only the worst PC infection in recent times. The ILOVEYOU mail virus infected 50 million PCs in 2000 - far more than 1%.

Where did you hear this? At the cooler in Redmond?

From the numbers it doesn't seem like an unlikely claim actually (single virus compromising percentage of installed base), though a citation would be nice so it made me check (source for numbers below):

The Mach Flashback virus compromised around 600.000 Macs, which is around 1% of installed base.
The single largest Windows-based infection ever was Conficker. At its peak in 2009, it infected about 0.7% of the total Windows installed base.

And there are an infinite number of reasons why LaTeX is better than both.

...and an infinite-minus-one number of reasons why Markdown is better than LaTeX (the "-1" being math typesetting). I don't remember the last time I opened a word processor to write something new as opposed to reading a document that's been sent to me. Instead, I'll open a new editor tab/pane/buffer and start typing good ol' barely-formatted text. And with Pandoc, I can trivially convert that beautiful plaintext file to HTML, Word, EPUB, LaTeX, or almost any other document format.

LaTeX is wonderful and I have nothing bad to say about it, but I personally only use the subset of its abilities that Markdown supports in a much easier, simpler manner.

Then I think many will appreciate Markdown.

really? you're telling me right now google is in the process of being killed. i don't quite understand, isn't google still making billions??

Apple makes more in a quarter than Google makes all year. And Google just spent two years' profits on Motorola Mobility for questionable patents (it might backfire and Google will have to pay to give Android away) to support an increasingly questionable business model (like a Starbucks competitor giving away coffee and trying to recoup the money by advertising on the cups).

Even TFS details cosmetic changes that make OSX 10.8 more like iOS.

ZOMG THEY SPLIT THE TO-DO LIST INTO ITS OWN APP AND RENAMED iChat to MESSAGES THE NEXT STEP IS HAVING TO PERSONALLY PLEAD WITH TIM COOK TO BE ALLOWED TO RUN AN APP!!!!!!1111ONE!!!!!!!!!

Considering that Steve Jobs said that he planned to lock down Macs (stated that iOS was the future of computing),

The two are inequivalent; I don't know exactly what he said (did he literally say "iOS is the future of computing", or did he say something else that some could interpret as meaning that?), but it could be that he said something that amounted to "most people would be fine with an iOS-style system, and the Mac is there for the people who need more" (which is what his "car vs. truck" statement amounted to).

Personally, I agree with John "Daring Fireball" Gruber when he says about the Gatekeeper options "Call me nuts, but that’s one feature I hope will someday go in the other direction — from OS X to iOS.". Whether that'll happen is another matter.

"But what if you want to run an older app, or download a utility that was written by someone who hasn't paid Apple's $99 fee for a developer's license? If you're an administrative user, you can Ctrl-click on the App, choose Open from the pop-up menu, enter your OS X password, and tell Mountain Lion to trust this app in the future."

Or just fucking set "Allow applications downloaded from:" to "Anywhere". (At least according to Daring Fireball, the default setting is "Mac App Store and identified developers"; I'm curious whether that's also the default setting if you upgrade a machine, or if it defaults to "Anywhere" on an upgrade for the benefit of already-installed unsigned apps, or if it's using Quarantine so that it pesters you only for newly-downloaded apps. For that matter, I'm curious whether it's in the exec code, so that it vets all executable images, or if it's in Launch Services so that it only vets applications launched through LS.)

One step closer to all apps needing to come from the app store.

Or not. It might just be a heavier-duty version of the "warning when you first open a newly-downloaded application from the UI" stuff that's been there since at least Snow Leopard; the MacWorld article on Gatekeeper makes it look a bit like the latter.

gruber's got a few words on mountain lion..

Interesting to see Apple's moving to an annual release cycle.

The iBook format uses proprietary extensions which is no different to what Microsoft did with HTML support in Internet Explorer in order to lock in users to their web browser.

It's monopolistic behaviour - the epub format (which is at the core of iBook) is an already Open Standard and if Apple was interested in maintaining open standards then they'd submit the changes included in the .ibook standard as extensions to the epub format.

But they haven't done it that way because it's their usual control-freakery.