

The Gloves Are Officially Off: Google Vs. Apple - edw519
http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/20/the-gloves-are-officially-off-google-vs-apple/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

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blhack
_“We discovered something really cool, it’s called the Internet.”_

Ouch. Also, bad form for injecting "READ MORE! <http://techcrunch.com?> into
my copy paste, techcrunch.

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Seiwynn
This is why I am beginning to consider NoScript essential for web-browsing.

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stanleydrew
You know Google Chrome has noscript functionality built in right?

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ramchip
"This is why I am beginning to consider heated outside mirrors essential for
driving in cold weather"

"You know the Toyota Prius II has heated outside mirrors built in right?"

(Edit: Oh, I think I somewhat see your point: noscript is the Firefox-specific
name for this function. Still, Chrome isn't the only browser to have this.)

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stanleydrew
Right, I didn't mean to imply that no other browsers have some kind of
noscript functionality built in.

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alanthonyc
It's interesting how Apple's real, live products constantly have to compete
against demos.

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jrockway
It's also interesting how I can "git clone
git://android.git.kernel.org/whatever", edit the code, and install it on my
phone. Without any permission from anyone.

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swannodette
Which is interesting (much less understandable) for about 0.0001% of the
people that have a phone. But yes, you have point. That is nice.

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poppysan
<http://gear.ign.com/articles/108/1088942p1.html>

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rictic
It is my understanding that very few of those devices are developer devices,
where the user is allowed to install their own OS. Otherwise you have to root
the phone, which is a violation of the increasingly international DMCA-style
anti-circumvention law.

I haven't checked this info in a little while though, if most Android devices
are sold with root I'm very happy to be corrected.

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jrockway
Rooting your phone is not a DMCA violation. sudo simply is not pre-installed,
it's an app you have to add yourself, just like anything else. Reverse
engineering for interoperability is a DMCA exception, and there are plans to
make the language in the law specifically refer to "jailbreaking" phones.

Also, at least with Android devices I've worked with, there is no trickery
involved to flash a new firmware. You just do it.

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axiom
The moment flash was announced for the Android I realized that my next phone
won't be an iPhone, but a nexus one.

Sad. History is repeating itself.

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sshumaker
Really? You miss flash that badly?

Other than the occasional restaurant website, what are you missing? Most flash
apps are very awkward on a phone, having been designed for a mouse. And most
flash games apparently don't perform remotely acceptably on Android (not
enough horsepower in the phone).

The remaining reason would be Hulu - but they won't stream to your phone, even
with flash - since they don't have mobile distribution rights to the content.

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mixmax
I wouldn't be able to live without flash and here's why.

If I visit 100 sites a day maybe 5 of them will be dependent on flash in some
way. Menus, slideshows, etc. Without flash the site is worthless. I won't
remember the 95 sites that work, but each and every one of the sites that
don't will annoy me endlessly. Maybe I needed that quote on a new Dewalt
powerdrill from the local website programmed in flash. Maybe I really wanted
to see the funny link someone posted on twitter. But I can't. Not without
flash.

The problem is a lot like spam: False positives are a _serious_ problem. If 5
e-mails a day were mistakenly labeled as spam my spamfilter would basically be
useless. This is exactly the same.

I don't endorse flash, and think it's annoying as hell but until 99.5% of the
sites I visit work without flash not having it simply isn't an option.

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extension
5% would be a conservative estimate of the sites I find completely unusable on
my phone for reasons that have nothing to do with Flash: text too wide and
tiny to bother, centered popups that are bigger than the screen (so I can't
close them), essential functionality based on mouseovers, random failures of
over complicated JS/CSS, neglected mobile sites that mangle content or don't
show it at all, mobile sites that break hotlinking and just take you to the
home page, and so much more.

The point is, Flash is just a small part of a big problem. Web design still
has whiplash from the mobile explosion. But it's going to recover real quick,
and when everyone starts making mobile friendly sites, they won't be using
Flash. It's on death row and Google is just dragging it out for a cheap shot
at Apple.

Just grit your teeth and bear it for a little while longer. You'll have to do
that anyway, with or without Flash.

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AndrewO
Ok, I think I missed the genesis of whole rainbows and ponies meme. Someone
mind clueing me in?

I seem to recall first hearing it connected with Django somehow, but I figured
it was a reference to something I didn't get...

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ZeroGravitas
There are various pony memes, including a Django one, but in this case I
believe they're just trying to exemplify openness by using a picture of a toy
that lets you complete the design yourself:

[http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Decorate-
Figure/dp/B001...](http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Decorate-
Figure/dp/B001E3P5F2)

Also, I don't think it's rainbows, just colorful hair.

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invisible
I think this is big for online video advertising. The price (I believe) is
substantially less than regular TV now. But put in online video advertising
being on a TV in front of the average user and you gain a ton of potential
dollars. I'd actually be surprised if the only thing that Google TV doesn't
ask from you is your zip code for giving localized ads.

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invisible
I'd like to clarify I was talking about the price of online video advertising,
not the cost of google TV - I think that may have been confusing.

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stcredzero
With the acquisition of SimplifyMedia, it seems like Google's aiming straight
at Apple's "Digital Hub" strategy. (Which I doubt Apple is still really
following.)

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TotlolRon
OH: Why would thet need all these people on stage? One Jobs does a better job.

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joezydeco
I give Google some slack for trying to be different than Apple in this respect
but man, you're so right. Maybe it's the democratic way of Google having each
manager demo the feature they're responsible for.

But it felt like at one point the techno music wouldn't stop as people
shuffled in and out of the stage. Did we really need the music bringing all
the CEOs out? It just got silly at that point.

And was it me or did Vic come off like a douchebag during this second keynote?

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jeduan
Vic ended up pretty badly too with Conan O' Brien

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stuntmouse
I actually thought Conan gave him too hard a time. Vic came out looking like
an affable, though slightly stiff, nerd.

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joubert
"On Android’s upcoming over-the-air music download capabilities versus Apple’s
tethered syncing: “We discovered something really cool, it’s called the
Internet.”

huh? did this guy even say that with a straight face? itunes (i.e. music,
movies, tv, podcasts, audiobooks and iTunes U) is available on the device.

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enjo
Do this fun experiment: Go buy an iPad and try to figure out how to use it
WITHOUT another computer to sync it against.

That's what they're talking about.

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joubert
many people have used ipods, iphones, and I presume ipads without syncing with
a computer.

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blinks
You must sync a new iPad (on a computer with iTunes) before first use. I don't
know if that still applies for the iPhone (though it probably does, for
activation). The iPod is worthless if you don't have a computer, for how would
you get music on there otherwise?

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megablast
You are right, this is stupid.

Apple will do this for you at the store, but I imagine for updates you still
need a computer. You do for the iPhone.

