By Graham K. Rogers

Opening Gambit:

Apple Stuff

We are used to hearing another set of record quarterly figures from Apple time and again, but all those quarters add up to years. AppleInsider reports on an analyst's comments concerning the profits forecasts for the year and what he thinks about the market cap and what it does to share prices. Apple's market cap was $545 billion this week and previous history has suggested that this was the limit for growth of companies. Ah yes, like when we exceeded the sound barrier the plane would disintegrate, or the Atom Bomb explosion would cause the destruction of the universe. A difference here is that previously companies have been in a quasi-monopoly situation and that is certainly not the case for Apple. We won't know till we try.

One of the changes following the announcements at WWDC was the way people began to look at the computer itself in the light of the breakdown by iFixit who were alarmed to find it almost unrepairable. I was also critical, but realise that the design advances make the likelihood of successful repairs a diminishing possibility: just look at all the miniaturised circuitry in there as well as the way the batteries are situated. Over the last couple of Cassandra columns we included comments from those who accept this as a form of inevitable progress. This issue too, G Murray (gmurray) answers the criticisms of iFixit's Kyle Wiens who had written in Wired Magazine about the negatives of change. GMurray is rather critical of some of the things that were written in terms of factual accuracy and user experience.

The article I first referred to last week was by Richard Gaywood on TUAW and he now has a useful follow up examining the arguments for and against written in the light of the reactions to his article, the comments on Wired and other input on the question.

There is though the question of repair when things go wrong and not everyone has the luxury of the US market and the higher levels of income there. One of my students has a MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt which failed one month out of warranty (life's like that). The local agent advised her correctly that, out of warranty it would be charged and the fee would be in excess of 20,000 baht for a new motherboard: the whole thing would be swapped out.

Right now she uses it without connecting via Thunderbolt and it works OK, but I want her to do a presentation (like all the students in the class) so she asked me if she could borrow my Mac. After a few seconds silence I did agree to this, but pushed her about the repair and told her about Mac Home Service who I have seen repair Macs for a couple of thousand baht when the agent was ready to change the motherboard -- that is how Apple has them do things as they are not a repair service.

The shop I told her about is in Sam Sen area between Phaholyothin Road and Vipphavadi-Rangsit and the website has a map. They don't really speak English there, so take a friend if your Thai is not that good: they do speak Mac; and they do sell and buy older machines. Which reminds me, I have an iPad 2 for sale if anyone is interested.

Apple is sometimes likened to Big Brother especially as this image was used to advertise the first Macintosh back in 1984, but Patently Apple was bubbling over this week with the news of a patent that Apple has been granted in the US, "about saving your online identity from what they describe as the Little Brothers Dataveillance" and "a method of assisting users to keep their personal information hidden in a Cyberworld that is constantly building a profile on them."

Have a look at the firewall logs for a start and see how many times a minute there are attempts to get in; and add to that the way our data is stored here there and everywhere, so that I cannot even go shopping without my name appearing. There is good and bad to this, but along with the good uses of data, there are always those who want to abuse information. The background in this article is so good I saved a copy with a mind to using it in a course on Ethics and Morals that I sometimes teach.

I like to use Facetime sometimes, although so few friends have it that it is limited thus far for me here, and often I just hit the Phone button as that is a lot quicker anyway. Another problem is that sometimes the links are just so poor that it doesn't work. It was interesting to see that it is not just here that this occurs and OS X Daily makes the suggestion that voice-only calls could be a solution here and explains how to do this on the iOS devices and offers a suggestion how it might be done on a Mac too.

I do a lot of presentations using the iPad these days with Keynote installed: it is lighter than the MacBook Pro, although this week for other reasons the iPad is staying home and the computer is going to work with me. Last week however I was asked to make a speech to welcome some Korean visitors and set it all up on Promtr -- a teleprompter app. David Phelan reports on The Independent how actors in the UK have a bunch of apps available to them to help in learning lines as well as other apps related to the business of theatre. This is a useful article.

I think I have an answer as to why I am only asked sometimes for the password when updating apps in iTunes. Initially, users were asked every time a download was available as well as when buying new apps. A few weeks ago, I noticed that updates did not require an iTunes store password while purchases (including free apps) did. And then the password requirement reappeared; then disappeared; and then came back again. Now it is clear to me that if I keep iTunes running, the updates need a password one time only and subsequent updates -- these are after all for a recognised accounts, computers and devices -- do not. Restarting iTunes will mean that the next time an update is shown, I will need to enter the password.

On Monday there was news of a failed Thunderbolt update that went awry. Apple has now released a second update (1.2.1) we are told by Adam C. Engst on TidBits and issued an apology.

Half and Half

With Apple starting its own maps service and, like Google flying over certain cities to gather images via aerial views, there are now questions being raised by another Senator trying to make a name for himself. We are told by Bryan Chaffin on The MacObserver that Charles Schumer has sent an open letter (this makes sure everyone know he is writing to them and what he is writing about) "to Apple and Google to demonstrate their commitment to privacy and security" and asks them to let local residents know when "their military-grade spy planes (a term not used in the letter itself) are capturing images in the U.S."

No hanky panky in the back yard when Apple is on a fly-by, but presumably the rest of us can whistle Dixie? And the good Senator should also be careful how he uses Twitter or other online services as one New York politician was not so prudent.

Hon Hai, the parent company of Foxconn has a close relationship with Apple so what one of them does, may affect the other. It was interesting to see this week that the boss of Hon Hai has bought a bit more of Sharp and now has a hefty influence in one of the plants that Sharp has in China. Electronista reports this purchase is in his own name and that the plant involved already has an agreement with Corning, who make glass for the iPad and the Microsoft Surface (I will get to that later).

While most use Safari on iOS devices there are other browsers already running and Mozilla is reported on Electronista as trying to rework the browser for a new way of accessing the internet via mobile devices: "Instead of a menu bar with location and navigation tools, the fresh approach presents a full-screen experience in which users access browser functions through two buttons." There is much more interesting information on this in the Electronista article.

The Surface

Knowing that something was coming (some rumours suggested a Nokia link, others Barnes & Noble -- both wrong) I was ready for an influx of news early Tuesday morning here after the afternoon announcement in California after my bedtime.

I went through headlines first, using RSS feeds, saving some of the best for later and then looked at Twitter. Andy Ihantko Tweeting (funny comments as the presentation kicked off). Has a kickstand. Which is...odd, as it emphatically says this is a "landscape" device. [A valid point I have seen nowhere else.]

And then he got really interested, writing at one point, "Details are still thin. But I'll give my uninformed immediate reaction: if Apple made a Mac like this, I'd be vibrating with excitement." [Praise indeed, but there were similar comments from many when the Kindle Fire was announced.]

Jason Snell (MacWorld) also Tweeted, "Surface is already a more interesting iPad competitor than any Android-based tablet. Google really blew an opportunity to stake out ground."

I was not sure if they were communicating (I expect they do follow each other) Ihnatko responded with "If Google doesn't pull the god-DAMNED-est rabbit out of its hat soon, Android on tablets is dead. Or, deader."

These comments set the scene for me as I read through in more detail, but I already had some ideas concerning the materials. Magnesium is used and this is lighter than the aluminium Apple favours (see below). I checked with a chemical engineer who told me it can be recycled but the ease depends on the materials it is mixed with. I also noted then (as many others did as I read) that there was no release date for the product, nor was there any price. As I read through I also saw that with the specifications there were no figures for battery life. Apple always is ready with these.

It also struck me as a little late to come to the table and suggest it was a novel idea to have integrated hardware and software. Two points here: have we not been following the iPhone/iPad since January 2010 (2007 for the iPhone); and is that an admission that prior to this software and hardware have not been integrated on Microsoft-related installations? I also noted a lovely example from Steve Ballmer of Steve Jobs' speak: It's 9.3mm thin, we were told. I bet it "just works like magic" too.

The first report I saw was by Mary Jo Foley who is fairly pro-Redmond and she had a general run through of what it is. Hers was the first article I saw that showed a 128 GB Surface, something I guessed after the latest iPad was released that Apple should be getting ready.

The Verge also has a 9-point All you Need to Know article linking to all their output with comments and facts from their various writers: a useful one-stop link; there is a video link there too.

One of the links I referenced was from AppleInsider -- Apple people are just as interested in this as it at last shows some real commitment on the format by Microsoft. In the article, there was an exploded view of the Surface as provided by Endgadget. Like Mary Jo (above) this item notes that this is not actually made by Microsoft, but then are Macs made by Apple? At least it shows a commitment, which has drooped to a great extent when other manufacturers are examined.

Another Mac view (and unsurprisingly a little biased) came from MacDaily News who looks at the specs and makes a suitable comment, particularly concerning the involvement of Microsoft partners. MDN thinks it is vapourware: with no release date and no price, this is possible, but would be such an embarrassment for Microsoft and particularly Ballmer, that it might be difficult to recover from the inevitable fallout. I think it will be on sale, but what happens after the original enthusiasm dies down, is the key.

Also on MacDaily News, Steve Jack is totally unconvinced and thinks Microsoft is suicidal here: "They just can't let go. When they need to reinvent themselves, they simply can't bring themselves to do it." The tablet is a PC in disguise.

Over on the MacObserver, Bryan Chaffin has a look at the outline and specifications and confirms this as the "embodiment of Microsoft's stated belief that media tablets should be extensions of the PC" which is anathema over at Cupertino.

I am often critical of the Register when it comes to Apple reports and their contempt for Cupertino appears in many ways, not the least is the insistence on the use of "fondleslab" rather than "tablet" or iPad. So when Microsoft produces a fondtablet computer, one expects fondle to figure. Not once was this word used in the article by Iain Thomson which spent more columns space on hyping the hype than discussing the specs.

An interesting comment from Electronista about the Surface tells us that the Gorilla Glass used is 0.98 mm thick (or thin in new-Ballmerspeak).

On The NextWeb, Brad McCarty looked at two sides of the question in one of the more balanced opinion articles on the new device, commenting on just what is so good about it and where Microsoft aimed and missed the target.

Another fair look came from Matt Burns on Tech Crunch who makes a necessary (and non-partisan) comparison with the iPad and its eco-structure: what the Surface has to compete with. He makes an excellent point that this is less about challenging Apple than a mark for other manufacturers in the PC field to aim for.

On ZDNET which is usually not considered pro-Mac, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is aghast: "What were you thinking?" he asks Microsoft. Oh this is well worth a read: I will not spoil it for you; but he thinks there is a cascade of errors here. In the cold light of day -- after all the initial flush of possible success -- a couple of sites are less convinced. Fox News had a look and John R. Quain heads his article with "the great copier surfaces again" and in the article writes, "The market may not need a Windows tablet, but Microsoft desperately does." A good read here. While over at The Motley Fool it is suggested that the Surface could be as successful as the Zune. The KIN phone is also mentioned: another MS dud. Sage words in this article.

A late comment from Justin Watt who is a Mac aficionado who works with a company that has many Windows installations too, in "Goliath Wants David's Market". He suggests that the OS will not matter as despite their familiarity with Windows, those users also love the iPad and the iPhone.

And local writer, Woody, on InfoWorld comments on what we do not know about the Surface. He is reserved despite the general euphoria in the MS World.

I also saw a BBC report on the News in the evening here, and while the expert was polite enough, neither he nor the newsreader, George Alagiah, showed any sort of burning desire for this. One of the interviewees they showed commented on how old ladies would love this because of the way it would help them work with the PC, but as Apple has shown, many older people have flocked to the iPad precisely because a computer and more to the point, computer knowledge, are not needed.

Like many things from Microsoft it is overdone with some parts, but underdone with others: the use of two processors is a good example and this means the product starts with built in divergence. Some of the specifications are making sure that this pleases PC owners and this makes it a computer not a tablet. It has a touch screen of a sort, but Redmond also provides a stylus. While Apple has keyboards as accessories, Microsoft gives you one if wanted or not: of course you do, surely? And would you go into a business meeting with a new gray magnesium Surface and a pink keyboard?

I always remember that magnesium was used in flash bulbs so burns really brightly, and I can also remember racing car fires when magnesium had been involved. A check at Lenntech tells us that "The substance may spontaneously ignite on contact with air or moisture producing irritating or toxic fumes. Reacts violently with strong oxidants. Reacts violently with many substances causing fire and explosion hazard. Reacts with acids and water forming flammable hydrogen gas (see ICSC0001), causing fire and explosion hazard."

With the problems Apple has with publicity and litigation when an iPhone has emitted smoke, let's hope there are no problems of this nature: surely they have this covered? An overnight thought reminded me that my Nikon camera is magnesium too and that is problem free.

Other Matters

Nokia chose the wrong day to make its announcement which in the end had nothing to do with Microsoft's tablet, but was about the availability of its PureView 808 which will debut on Amazon, Chris Velazco reports; and for the hefty price of $699. This by the way is the phone with the 41 MP sensor (done by a software trick) which also has CD quality recording. Nokia re looking in the wrong directions here.

It is not only the Thai government that has its feathers ruffled by sites on the internet: most do. Google keeps data about the content removal requests it has and Frederic Lardinois reports on the requests from the US government which increased by 103%, but the more significant comments were on a blog posting concerning the way many governments are using the requests as a way to stifle legitimate opposition speeches. There is a link in the article to the full report.

There has been a lot of news in the UK about hacking, particularly as it relates to a certain newspaper group, families of victims (and others) and British Governments -- present and past. Some members of one family involved have suffered with difficulty in interpreting facts, while others from the phenomenon of selective memory loss. It has surprised everyone (not least the owner) that a new iPhone account has appeared, James Cusick reports on the Independent, when Master James Murdoch insisted that there were none: but how can you forget a white phone that runs up £12,000 in bills? Everyone thought they only had BlackBerrys. The Police and the Leveson Inquiry are looking into it.

Google is one of a group of four (AOL, Facebook and Twitter) who are looking at ways to combat threats online, like malicious ads and other such problems for users. They are forging an alliance, Electronista reports, and hope to be able to combat some of this with shared information concerning sites. All very well with some of the phishing that goes on, but I smell a rat as this was in the same week that Google was pushed to the edges of iOS and Apple which is not in the alliance has its iAds system.

What did I say a couple of weeks ago when there was all that hand-wringing about the Facebook IPO: there is no point demanding the shares go up right away. Some do, some don't, some dip then rise. And that is happening to an extent with Facebook shares Ben Parr reports: a 15% rise in a week.

Facebook cannot stop buying things and this week Dante D'Orazio writes on The Verge about the acquisition of face-recognition company Face.com which had been rumoured for a while.

Paypal is to have a redesigned website as from tomorrow, Ingrid Lundgren reports on Tech Crunch. The reasons are to make the user experience more friendly especially for those who use mobile devices. If anyone wants to test this out, there are PayPal icons at the side of this page. . . . .

An oddity appeared on the Verge this week in an item by Aaron Souppouris who reports on the work of Vijay Pandurangan who suspected that cinema posters had changed from a light and reddish hue to a darker more blue tint. He was right and 35,000 posters are shown with a fairly clear idea of how the colours have changed over the years. Actually the original article is well worth looking at too for the extra analysis that has taken place: what a neat project.

Local Items

Anyone who flies in and out of Thailand uses Suvarnanbhumi Airport. Richard Barrow has a review online of a free app for the iPhone that displays real-time data from the airport, like flight and airport information.

Late News

Julian Assange of Wikileaks whose extradition to Sweden was imminent has taken refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and is seeking political asylum (Iain Thomson, The Register).

Apple has seeded the first developer version of OSX, 10.7.5, the next (and perhaps final) update to the current version of OS X (MacDaily News)

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.