Leander Kahney's Blog, page 1467

Apple, Ink: The Coolest, Wildest, Weirdest And Most Extreme Apple Tattoos Around [Gallery]

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It's a slow Friday afternoon, and in browsing through our emails for tips, we stumbled across this incredibly detailed tattoo of Steve Jobs designed by Jaime De Leon Tud of Wildside Tattoo in the Phillippines.

It got us thinking: why not blow off work early and get some Apple-inspired ink? We hit the internet looking for inspiration, and after seeing dozens of images (oftentimes of tattoos still in the process of oozily healing), we remembered that getting ink involves needles and blood, and wimped out.

The whole exercise wasn't fruitless, though, because in our travels, we came across a number of totally cool, or weird, or sexy, or bizarre, or clever, or just plain hardcore Apple tattoos from members of the Cult of Mac spread around the world. Here's some of the best of the bunch.

Next Page: Even wilder tattoos

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We don't know if Casey Meyer's fiance and Apple fan ever got this incredible series of finger tattoos — the image here was just a test of the design — but we like to think he's out there some PC user getting his face punched in by this fist.

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An adorable Susan Kare designed tattoo on the leg of Stephen Hackett of our favorite dogcow Clarus. Moof!

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Don't piss off Flickr user Burn Black. Rather, do. Rub her the wrong way and she'll be happy to give you this very retro-style bird, courtesy of the design mavens at Triplesix Tattoo Studio in Sunderland, England.

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This "Pirates of Silicon Valley" tattoo was done in special UV ink by Flickr user TheMadApple, and can only be seen under black light.

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Windows 8 Tablets To Appear Without Desktop App [Report]

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Image: splatf.com

Microsoft appears more intent on gunning for Apple when the software giant unveils its Windows 8 ARM-based tablets sometime in early 2012. Reports today suggest Microsoft is throwing out its desktop app and will go finger-to-finger with the iPad's touchscreen only interface.

Until now, developers expected Windows 8 to support both Microsoft's app-based Metro interface as well as the traditional desktop. However, Microsoft "has rethought that plan and is leaning toward cutting the Desktop from Windows 8 ARM tablets," according to ZDNet.

If Microsoft goes ahead with dumping the desktop from the ARM tablet, it would both mark the first time the company has used the ARM processor, as well as placing the firm as a real iPad rival. It's unknown whether a decision to drop the desktop would also cover notebooks powered by ARM, or limited to tablets.

Microsoft choosing to use only Metro-style apps on its tablets makes sense. After all, Apple uses iOS for its iPad and iPhone, but employs Mac OS X for its MacBooks and desktop machines.

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Thailand Floods Means Apple Doesn't Have Enough Hard Drives To Fulfill Some Mac Orders For 5-7 Weeks

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Apple's a master of the supply chain, keeping just a couple days' worth of inventory at stock any time under the mantra that any product in a warehouse is just costing the company money. The benefit of all of this is Apple is able to manage its supply chain with laser precision, deliver new products quickly and on-time without worrying about selling out existing inventory and save millions while doing so. But when something unexpected happens, Apple can find it doesn't have enough inventory in stock to fulfill demand.

Apple's just been hit by the rare downside to the way it handles its supply chain. The hard drive shortages caused by massive flooding in Thailand over the past few months have finally caught up with Apple, delaying built-to-order iMacs with two terrabyte hard drives.

Luckily, hard drives smaller than two terrabytes are fine. Also, Apple's hardly alone in having a hard time securing the drives it needs. In fact, the Thailand floods have had one positive upside for computer users around the world, in that it has spurred computer manufacturers to adopt MacBook Air style SSDs, which are faster and less prone to damage than spinning drives. That's a really good thing, because the more manufacturers are spending on SSDs, the quicker and faster SSD technology and storage capacity will catch up with traditional HDDs, all the while prices fall.

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Stephen Colbert Skewers Siri: "Only A Matter Of Time Before She Loses Her Job To The Mexican yoPhoñe" [Humor]

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It's not just Robin Williams making fun of Siri on national TV these days. Wry faux-conservative Stephen Colbert picked up his iPhone 4S the other day to address the recent controversy over Siri's inability to find a single abortion clinic in New York, which Colbert describes as such an impossibility ("There's one at the top of the Empire States Building") that he summarily declares Siri to be a pro-life, racist arch-conservative, "like Laura Ingam, except less robotic." But who can blame her? As Colbert points out, it's "only a matter of time before she loses her job to the Mexican yoPhoñe."

Very funny. If you like Colbert, check it out.

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New York City's MTA Tells Grand Central Apple Store Critics: 'Bring It On'

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Courtesy 9to5Mac.com

Earlier this week, we reported on a controversy surrounding Apple's Grand Central Store, set to open Saturday. Critics are blaming New York City's mass transit agency for inking a 'sweetheart' deal giving the tech giant a huge break on the lease cost. The MTA is now fighting back, telling those wanting an investigation into the Apple store to "bring it on."

In a letter, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan criticizes an early New York Post report on the Grand Central lease as "inaccurate." The complete letter follows:

Reports in the New York Post have been inaccurate, and we want to set the record straight with the information below. With regard to any calls for an investigation into the lease, our comment is this: "Bring it on. This is the best possible deal for the MTA, quadrupling the rent we receive and bringing foot traffic to Grand Central Terminal that will increase revenue from all of our retailers. We look forward to explaining the details of this competitively bid transaction to anyone who is interested."

The real estate community understands that lease agreement with Apple is a great achievement for the MTA. Neighboring tenants at Grand Central are very pleased Apple will be joining them and bringing more foot traffic.

The Facts: MTA's Lease with Apple at Grand Central Terminal

The space that will soon house a new Apple retail store is a great location but has major limitations for retail, including very strict historic preservation regulations. Until the MTA took action earlier this year, the restaurant Metrazur had a lease through 2019 in this space that paid only $263,000 annually to the MTA. This lease dates back to the restoration of Grand Central Terminal in 1999 and never generated enough revenue to contribute any percentage rent. Believing that more revenue could be generated, the MTA put the space out for bid knowing that it would take a unique respondent to pay significant upfront costs: $5 million to buy out the existing lease and more than $2.5 million for infrastructure improvements. The deal with Apple is a win-win for the MTA and our customers: Quadruples the rent coming to the MTA (from $263,000 to $1.1 million) Provides a terrific new amenity at Grand Central Terminal. Will drive traffic to all of the retailers at Grand Central, where every 1% in additional sales is worth $500,000 to the MTA. Includes permanent infrastructure improvements to Grand Central, including HVAC systems and new egress. This is the best possible deal for the MTA. When all of the costs are included, Apple is paying more than $180 per square foot over the ten-year lease. As the competitive bidding process revealed, there are no other uses for this space that would generate the same revenue for the MTA given the up-front costs and limitations. Similar Posts:Apple's Grand Central Store Could Be Cheapest in NYC New York State Is Investigating Apple's 'Unique', Dirt Cheap Grand Central Station Deal A Closer Look at Apple's Beautiful New Store in Grand Central Station Apple Paid Peanuts For Its New Grand Central Store Space, Which Will Open Next Week [Rumor] Apple To Build Massive Store In Grand Central Terminal [Signed, Sealed, Delivered]

RIM To Eat $485M In Unsold PlayBook Tablets

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PlayBook versus iPad (Photo by The GameWay - http://flic.kr/p/9p5XMz)

Trying to compete against Apple's iPad can be costly – especially if you are RIM and your PlayBook tablet went from design to discount bin in record time. Today the Waterloo, Ontario company announced it will take a $485 million charge for a growing number of PlayBooks it just can't sell.

After months of watching PlayBook sales slip first to a half-million in the first three months, then fall to 250,000 the next quarter and to 150,000 in the third three-month period, RIM stumbled upon its best marketing tactic: cut the price to $199. Not surprisingly, sales perked up. Just as HP discovered its disastrous TouchPad became very popular by practically giving them away, RIM's device is flying off the shelves — mostly by retailers wanting more space to hawk the iPad.

Things aren't looking up for RIM, elsewhere. The company said consumers aren't buying its other products, forcing it to lower its earnings expectations for fiscal 2012. Analysts already hear the death rattle coming from RIM's financial statements. RBC Capital Markets' Mike Abramsky said while the company is still selling smartphones, the devices increasingly garner lower average prices. This is the opposite of Apple, which routinely breaks records selling iPads and iPhones that cost more than competitors, indicating quality could trump cost. Indeed, Abramsky calls the PlayBook write-down "a bit of a sideshow." The real bad news for RIM is they are cutting expectations at a time when the company should be selling its brains out.

Again, contrast RIM's bad holiday news with Apple. After a slight dip in iPad sales for the third quarter, the Cupertino, Calif. company expects this quarter to bring new record demand for the tablet and the iPhone.

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So long, and thanks…

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It is hard to imagine that I've written and contributed to more than 450 posts during the nearly two-year tour of duty with all the rest of the Cultists at Cult of Mac.

I've served up news, break fixes, tips, opinions, etc. to more users than I ever could have imagined, and I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to do so. I have always been greatly humbled by your reader responses and surprised by a few too. I have had an amazing time meeting some really great people along the way.

I've accepted a job offer with a new start-up, which will take me in new directions and adventures in blogging. However, I'll never be far from where my heart is. I'll still be deep into all things Apple. I'll always be a part of the Cult of Mac just like all of you.

If you would like to stay in touch, please follow me on Twitter or visit my personal website for updates on my next project or big adventure.

 

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Fahrenheit 451 Finally Comes To iBooks In A Format That Can Never Be Burned

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Ray Bradbury is a living legend of futurism, and short of Tolkein and Asimov, probably the most important writer of fantasy and science-fiction in the 20th Century. He's also a feisty old technophobic grampaw who would rather smash an iPad into pieces with his walking stick than read a book on one. That's just one reason why Bradbury's most famous book, Fahrenheit 451, has never been available in e-book form up until now.

The other reason? The novel famously describes a future dystopia in which books are burned on sight by a totalitarian government, and Bradbury has long contented that the power of the premise goes away when you're reading it on a medium besides paper.

Bradbury's had to suck up his objections to iPhones and iPads, though. The 91-year-old author has finally lived to see Fahrenheit 451 comes to iBooks and Kindles.

First thing to keep in mind when reading this story is that Bradbury really hates technology. He's sort of made a name for himself later in life for making bitter tirades against tech, especially smartphones, tablets and e-books.

For example, he has described e-books as "smelling like burned fuel," which doesn't even really make sense. He later told the New York Times that e-books were "meaningless" and "not real" and "in the air somewhere," which isn't really the sort of accurate description of e-reading technology that you'd expect from one of the greatest futurists of the 20th century.

It really can't be labored enough how much Bradbury hates machines. In a denture-popping, stick-shaking tirade that would make any comic strip grandpa proud, Bradbury once said: "We have too many cellphones. We've got too many internets. We have got to get rid of those machines. We have too many machines now." GET OFFA MY LAWN, YOU'M KIDS!

In other words, Bradbury has basically spent the last decade saying that his books (and particularly Fahrenheit 451 would never come out as an e-book. Yet if you go to iBooks right now, there it is, sitting pretty. What happened? Well, it was either let them come out as e-books or lose the publishing right.

Apparently, the publishing rights to Farenheit 451 were expiring, but when Bradbury's agent went to publishers and tried to ink a new deal that left the novel off of iPads, Kindles and iPhones, they all laughed him out of the room. Nobody would publish the book without giving the option of an electronic edition. Eventually, even cantankerous Bradbury had no choice but budge, which is why you can read his most famous novel on your iPad today.

I have a lot of respect for Bradbury, but he's one of those guys who should really shut his mouth about technology, because it really discredits a lot of his most important work. For example, back in 2007, Bradbury told L.A. Weekly that Fahrenheit 451 wasn't against government censorship of art, it was just about how television was bad for you, and should be censored by the government. Not hard to imagine how he'd feel about iPads.

What's so weird about Bradbury's stance against e-books — and particularly this e-book — is that Fahrenheit 451 has finally been put up for sale in a format that can never be burned or fully eradicated. After all, the burning temperature of an iPhone or iPad is a hell of a lot higher than four hundred and fifty degrees. Perhaps he just doesn't want to change the title.

[via io9]

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Syrian Authorities Ban The iPhone As Steve Jobs's Dad Protests "Brutality And Killing" [Video]

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Syrian are no longer allowed to use Apple's iPhone after authorities banned the popular device this week in a bid to stop activists from documenting government violence. Following the move, Steve Jobs's biological father, John Jandali, announced his support for the Syrian people on YouTube.

Lebanese website Al Nashara reports that the Customs Department of the Syrian Finance Ministry has issued a notice to activists in Syria to inform that using the iPhone is now forbidden. "The authorities warn anyone against using the iphone in Syria," it read.

One Syrian activist believes that those found using an iPhone in the country from now on will be treated as a spy:

"It is enough for any tourist or guest visiting Syria to own an iPhone to be a spy suspect."

The move follows protests calling for political reforms and the reinstatement of civil rights in the region, which started on January 26. More than 4,000 people have been killed since protests began, according to The Next Web, and it is believed that iPhones are used to capture the violence and share it on the internet.

In a rather fitting move, Steve Jobs's biological father, John Jandali, announced his support for the Syrian people today by joining the "Syrian Sit-in" on YouTube. Jandali said:

I am in solidarity with the Syrian people. I reject the brutality and killing that the Syrian authorities are committing against the unarmed Syrian people. And because silence is participation in this crime, I declare my participation in the Syrian Sit-in on YouTube.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuTAHr2CHPo

It's unclear if other smartphones are allowed in Syria (which is unlikely), but it seems the iPhone has been singled out thanks to its popularity.

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Ooh, Sick Burn! Kindle Fire Is The 'Netbook of Tablets' [Analyst]

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Photo by Gadgetmac - http://flic.kr/p/aGaiSV

Netbooks were the dodo birds of technology: ill-equipped to compete and eventually done in by a consumer form of natural selection — the iPad. After just about a week on the shelf, the Kindle Fire is being labeled the "netbook of the tablet market." Analysts looking beyond the $199 price believe the Amazon tablet just can't compete with the market-leading Apple device. Are Kindle Fire purchasers headed for a serious case of buyers remorse?

"We think that, over time, consumers may come away disappointed with the Kindle Fire's lack of functionality and smaller screen size," warned J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz. Although he slightly lowered his December iPad sales forecast due to the Fire's strong initial showing, don't count on Amazon continuing to drag on Apple demand.

"For any vendor to wrestle momentum longer-term from Apple, a fully-loaded offering is a must, and here, the current revision of the Kindle Fire falls short," the analyst told investors. Other analysts are echoing Moskowitz's words, pointing to the lack of a camera, GPS, Bluetooth — even a notepad app. Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walt Mossberg describes the Kindle Fire as "much less capable and versatile than the entry-level $499 iPad 2."

As a consumer, I'd love to see a strong No. 2 tablet maker pushing Apple to innovate and produce an iPad even greater than today's. However, I can't forget what Apple CEO Tim Cook said in 2010, when he spoke of netbooks as device people bought for the price, "but when they got them home, they said 'Why did I buy this?'" A seven-inch tablet without all of the features we expect a tablet to offer will likely run up against the same second thoughts – which can be deadly for devices building the buzz and word of mouth that has propelled the iPad.

Amazon reportedly plans to offer a 10-inch Kindle Fire early in 2012. If so, the tablet needs to fill in the gaps, providing consumers the experience they expect — even down to that notepad app.

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