McGraw-Hill CEO: "The tablet is going to be just really terrific"(tuaw.com)
tuaw.com
McGraw-Hill CEO: "The tablet is going to be just really terrific"
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/01/26/mcgraw-hill-ceo-the-tablet-is-going-to-be-just-really-terrific/
78 comments
McGraw Hill CEO found dead. Silver Mercedes with no license plate seen fleeing the crime.
About 18 months ago I was driving on the 101 near Mountain View, headed north at 10pm or so, when a white Mercedes with no plate zoomed past me. I was doing 70, it must have been going over 100.
Always wondered if that was Steve.
Always wondered if that was Steve.
That was a prototype iCar. Crap, I've already said too much. They'll be after me now.
I'm confused...is it a well known thing that Jobs' car has no plates? Is that legal?
It's a common rumor that Jobs doesn't have plates on his car. This article speculates that it's not legal, but Jobs (or his staff) just pays the $250 fine if he's ever ticketed for it. Some of the comments also speculate that Jobs' car has suffered repeated vandalism due to people stealing his plates, and that the DMV has made an exception for him.
http://www.iphonesavior.com/2008/09/steve-jobs-barc.html
http://www.iphonesavior.com/2008/09/steve-jobs-barc.html
In Pennsylvania, you can look up summary offense level driving/parking tickets for everyone via a convenient online form. I tried looking Jobs up, but California seems to wisely keep such information off of the internet.
Edit: There are 5 random cases with Steve Jobs in San Mateo that are the matter of public record, but California seems to keep all traffic information off of the internet. Compare to PA where a parking ticket doesn't go on the internet, but driving without a license plate does.
Edit: There are 5 random cases with Steve Jobs in San Mateo that are the matter of public record, but California seems to keep all traffic information off of the internet. Compare to PA where a parking ticket doesn't go on the internet, but driving without a license plate does.
Surprisingly, yes. In California, apparently, there is a provision in the motor-vehicle code that allows 'celebrities' (for some definition of 'celebrity') to drive around without license plates.
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Jobs has got to be pissed.
Back in 2000 when ATI leaked information about a product, Apple promptly switched from ATI to nVidia GPUs for iMacs and Power Macs.
Jobs is not one to scorn. I can't imagine the reaction.
Jobs is not one to scorn. I can't imagine the reaction.
Yeah, that's presumably the last time McGraw-Hill get to do any pre-release deals with Apple. It's not clear to me how that stunt is a net gain to them.
If e-readers are really going mainstream, McGraw-Hill will have a whole lot more to worry about than a sour relationship with Apple.
On the contrary. The text book industry views 2nd hand text books as theft.
Currently they do everything in their power to devalue 2nd hand sales, such as pointlessly churning the edition every year or two or even integrating course notes and syllabus for a specific professor. Once they go to e-readers there will be no 2nd hand sales and they can stop wasting resources on pointless editing and profit skyrockets!
Until MIT OpenCourseWare puts them all out of business. Good riddance.
Currently they do everything in their power to devalue 2nd hand sales, such as pointlessly churning the edition every year or two or even integrating course notes and syllabus for a specific professor. Once they go to e-readers there will be no 2nd hand sales and they can stop wasting resources on pointless editing and profit skyrockets!
Until MIT OpenCourseWare puts them all out of business. Good riddance.
On the contrary. The text book industry views 2nd hand text books as theft.
Legitimately so, effectively. 2nd-hand sales net them nothing. That said, it frees up more money for the person who was the early-adopter, who is more likely to buy more of the same, but that's not money "in their hands".
That said, making new versions each year is effectively stealing from students who are already strapped for cash. I'd argue that's less ethical than any stretch involving 2nd-hand sales. If they'd put out good books, students would keep them (I keep my good ones), and encourage others to buy them, increasing their sales. * gasp * unthinkable!
Legitimately so, effectively. 2nd-hand sales net them nothing. That said, it frees up more money for the person who was the early-adopter, who is more likely to buy more of the same, but that's not money "in their hands".
That said, making new versions each year is effectively stealing from students who are already strapped for cash. I'd argue that's less ethical than any stretch involving 2nd-hand sales. If they'd put out good books, students would keep them (I keep my good ones), and encourage others to buy them, increasing their sales. * gasp * unthinkable!
How does OCW do anything but increase textbook demand?
Based on how blatant these "leaks" are getting, I'd say that Apple PR cooked this leeway into the NDA to elevate buzz.
Another example from 24 director of photography: http://twitter.com/rodneykiwi/status/8243364709
Everyone is saying "it's awesome - we are on board" but not much beyond that.
Another example from 24 director of photography: http://twitter.com/rodneykiwi/status/8243364709
Everyone is saying "it's awesome - we are on board" but not much beyond that.
I'm with you on this. None of these "leaks" actually have any information that hasn't been well-established by other sources who are outside of the NDA.
In fact, Apple as much confirmed all these details themselves when they allowed the device to run with an internet connection earlier in the week and that analytics company (I'm forgetting the name) started seeing a 10-inch iPhone OS 3.1 device. That was no accident. Neither is this.
In fact, Apple as much confirmed all these details themselves when they allowed the device to run with an internet connection earlier in the week and that analytics company (I'm forgetting the name) started seeing a 10-inch iPhone OS 3.1 device. That was no accident. Neither is this.
As pissed as he was at all the other "leaked" rumors and quotes that led to Apple filing lawsuits and firing a bunch of people? Nah. It's most likely a controlled leak. It's the day before the launch after all and a little "bit" on a news channel at the end of launch eve is only going to do the eventually launch good.
2 options:
1) Legally incompetent CEO of a major international corporation
2) Another controlled leak from Apple.
Which do you think is more likely?
1) Legally incompetent CEO of a major international corporation
2) Another controlled leak from Apple.
Which do you think is more likely?
In all seriousness, option (1). There's no upside to leaking this 24 hours in advance of actually announcing it when hype is already at fever pitch.
And if you need examples of hilariously incompetent CEOs I refer you to the automotive and banking industries.
And if you need examples of hilariously incompetent CEOs I refer you to the automotive and banking industries.
Sure there's an upside. Now that the market knows media companies are involved, they all will spike tomorrow morning when the market opens.
You also prime the hype pump one more time. Remember that the financial types don't read tuaw, gizmodo, and engadget all day long looking for Apple rumors. I consider it the noisemaker they shoot off before the real firework show starts.
You also prime the hype pump one more time. Remember that the financial types don't read tuaw, gizmodo, and engadget all day long looking for Apple rumors. I consider it the noisemaker they shoot off before the real firework show starts.
As opposed to spiking a day later?
No upside?
That is a pretty outrageous claim. The upside is more press. The 'news' agencies/tabloids hate repeating material and need fresh information to talk about tonite before the big launch.
You have to throw some meat out to the lions, even if you are intentionally leaving them hungry.
That is a pretty outrageous claim. The upside is more press. The 'news' agencies/tabloids hate repeating material and need fresh information to talk about tonite before the big launch.
You have to throw some meat out to the lions, even if you are intentionally leaving them hungry.
While I agree on the automative industry I don't think the CEO's of the banking industry are incompetent. Unfortunately, I wish their actions could be excused by incompetence.
these are the guys that run the textbook market. ill go with option 1.
Applying Occam's razor here would support your conclusion.
Do you mean Hanlon's?
Hanlon's razor is a pretty straightforward application of Occam's razor to sociology, as far as I'm concerned.
Hah. I think either one would work.
I have a variant on Hanlon's Razor that I find particularly appropriate when dealing with telephone companies, utility companies, government bureaucracies, etc.: Never attribute to benevolence what can be explained by incompetence.
Conveniently, this principle also gives the same answer to the question of why McGraw said what he did.
Conveniently, this principle also gives the same answer to the question of why McGraw said what he did.
I have to disagree: have you seen the money students drop on textbooks lately? The whole market has consolidated and now makes books worthless after only a year or two (hence small secondary market) by releasing new revisions with different exercises in them. Maybe publishing at large doesn't know their business, but the textbook companies are minting money.
Yeah, $0 for my latest comp sci class. Someone found a pirated pdf of the book and offered to hand it out to the class. The professor made no objection.
Looks like you were right!
He did say "based on iPhone OS", but I wonder if he mis-spoke especially given that he's not necessarily tech-savvy.
In all likelihood, the tablet OS will be based on OS X in the same way that iPhone OS is - many of the same architectural underpinnings, but a completely different presentation layer that's optimized for the hardware.
Maybe he meant "based on OS X, like iPhone OS"?
In all likelihood, the tablet OS will be based on OS X in the same way that iPhone OS is - many of the same architectural underpinnings, but a completely different presentation layer that's optimized for the hardware.
Maybe he meant "based on OS X, like iPhone OS"?
Over the weekend, Flurry detected iPhone apps with their analytics embedded running on a device with a tablet-sized screen. That makes it very likely the tablet is running iPhone OS.
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1074409
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1074409
I'm pretty sure he meant "looks a lot like the iPhone OS". Most non-tech people cannot differentiate between the look of a desktop and the underlying OS. If it looks and acts like the iPhone, do you really think he's going to be wondering what kernel and low level libraries are actually running?
No, I think he was correct; it will probably run iPhone apps. I can't prove it, but if I could I'd be under NDA.
I was thinking the same thing.
Perhaps he misunderstood Apple telling McGraw-Hill that 'your e-books will work on iPhone and iSlate' as '[the tablet is] based on the iPhone operating system and so it will be transferable'.
He used the term 'tabloid' a couple of times. I've been doing a bit of trademark searches the past few days, so I just popped over and did one on the 'tabloid' trademark: http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=7...
Look down at the prosecution history entries. There's a new entry for appointing a new attorney, just filed about a week and a half ago. Could be a coincidence, but then again...
Look down at the prosecution history entries. There's a new entry for appointing a new attorney, just filed about a week and a half ago. Could be a coincidence, but then again...
It's registered to GlaxoSmithKline and limited to class 051
"Cosmetics and toilet preparations", specifically described as PILLS. So probably a coincidence.
Just thinking about the whole Droid thing a few months ago. That was a completely separate class as well...
Bat Boy Found in Cave, Has Apple Tablet.
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1079224
Seth joins the club.
Seth joins the club.
Wow so a vook is like a book with the distraction of video and a movie with the distraction of text.
Sounds like a piss-poor idea.
I'm sure he said 'the tabloid is going to be really terrific' at the end - misspoken, or is that the name of the tablet?
I was thinking it would be called MacXXXX or something starting with Mac. But MacTablet, sounds too much like a McDonald's product.
I hope not - in the UK, tabloid carries the connotation "sensationalist journalism" (i.e. it's a bit of an insult to newspapers).
My suspicion is that the tablet will incorporate some sort of display that is different from a "regular" display.
If forced to guess, I would choose something from PixelQi,com or one of the competing technologies.
If forced to guess, I would choose something from PixelQi,com or one of the competing technologies.
I think I will probably avoid Hacker News tomorrow. At least one story every day has been ridiculous, I can't imagine what it will be like after the announcement.
iPhone-based OS. I wonder if everything will have to go through an App-store? Annoying if so.
I don't see how it's anything other than a net positive, you gain in security and ease of use for consumers.
If you're more hacker minded like this audience is, it's extremely trivial to jailbreak - the distinction being that it is totally independent and not sanctioned by Apple whatsoever. This is an important point.
After working in user support I can totally empathise with Apple's decision to keep the platform closed via the App Store. A large majority of the people buying these phones (ie, normal users - not geeks) are the ones who voluntarily install spyware on their PC's, click yes to every dialog box they see and execute random email attachments without thinking twice. The iPhone by far has the biggest mindshare, and a very hefty market share of any mobile communications device yet, and probably one skewed toward people with a large disposable income. It's constantly connected to the internet, has a connection to the phone network with an unlimited tab conveniently linked to your credit card, knows where you are and even in which direction you're facing. It knows who you talk to, who your contacts are...etc. I could go on. The point is this device and it's associated popularity is a fucking goldmine for the sort of people who write malware.
The App Store and it's uncompromising restriction is the final solution to keeping this cesspool of a software "ecosystem" off the platform.
Even if Apple provided an "Advanced" setting which gains you root access on your device the malware writers would simply instruct the clueless user to enable it, and I KNOW that 99.9% of people would do it without hesitation, for the promise of nothing more than a cheap thrill. It's based on the same psychology as that study where an alarming majority of people would tell you their password for a chocolate bar.
Oooh, kittens!!! cue screaming and convenient lawsuits targeting high-profile Apple when their phone bill arrives with a $50,000 total
If you're more hacker minded like this audience is, it's extremely trivial to jailbreak - the distinction being that it is totally independent and not sanctioned by Apple whatsoever. This is an important point.
After working in user support I can totally empathise with Apple's decision to keep the platform closed via the App Store. A large majority of the people buying these phones (ie, normal users - not geeks) are the ones who voluntarily install spyware on their PC's, click yes to every dialog box they see and execute random email attachments without thinking twice. The iPhone by far has the biggest mindshare, and a very hefty market share of any mobile communications device yet, and probably one skewed toward people with a large disposable income. It's constantly connected to the internet, has a connection to the phone network with an unlimited tab conveniently linked to your credit card, knows where you are and even in which direction you're facing. It knows who you talk to, who your contacts are...etc. I could go on. The point is this device and it's associated popularity is a fucking goldmine for the sort of people who write malware.
The App Store and it's uncompromising restriction is the final solution to keeping this cesspool of a software "ecosystem" off the platform.
Even if Apple provided an "Advanced" setting which gains you root access on your device the malware writers would simply instruct the clueless user to enable it, and I KNOW that 99.9% of people would do it without hesitation, for the promise of nothing more than a cheap thrill. It's based on the same psychology as that study where an alarming majority of people would tell you their password for a chocolate bar.
Oooh, kittens!!! cue screaming and convenient lawsuits targeting high-profile Apple when their phone bill arrives with a $50,000 total
I don't think there was ever a reasonable chance of anything else. I mean, if you're Apple, why do anything else? For the most part consumers clearly love to use the App Store. It has serious review process and barrier to entry issues, but those can be fixed over time (hopefully) and as long as there is an active audience, vendors will continue to come.
3-day turnaround times of late have mitigated most of the issues, if you aren't conflicting with Apple's interests.
if you aren't conflicting with Apple's interests.
And that's the problem.
And that's the problem.
Well, it's the problem for maybe 1% of developers (to pull a "sufficiently tiny to make my point, but still made up" number out of thin air). There is still plenty of money to be made that doesn't conflict with the default functionality of the iPhone.
Don't get me wrong, I'd rather there was no filtering at all and there was instead a sort of "paid apps have the option of getting Apple Certification and being listed at the top of all lists" option instead, but I don't think the App Store problems outweigh the benefits for users.
Don't get me wrong, I'd rather there was no filtering at all and there was instead a sort of "paid apps have the option of getting Apple Certification and being listed at the top of all lists" option instead, but I don't think the App Store problems outweigh the benefits for users.
I've developed 10 different apps. 2 of them have gotten the Apple axe.
It's way above 1%.
It's way above 1%.
As the adage goes, "The plural of anecdote is not data."
Neither you nor your parent have any statistical basis for your estimates. As of early this month [1], there are over 100,000 applications in the app store. If 1% were rejected, that means that 1,010 apps were rejected. Your two apps could easily fall into that category.
Basically, all we can know is that many apps get accepted, but not all of them do. Any more clarity than that requires Apple's intervention (which I don't expect to see any time soon).
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store#Number_of_launched_ap...
Neither you nor your parent have any statistical basis for your estimates. As of early this month [1], there are over 100,000 applications in the app store. If 1% were rejected, that means that 1,010 apps were rejected. Your two apps could easily fall into that category.
Basically, all we can know is that many apps get accepted, but not all of them do. Any more clarity than that requires Apple's intervention (which I don't expect to see any time soon).
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store#Number_of_launched_ap...
If you're going to tell us that, you need to tell us what the 2 were that got the axe.
It may not be when you consider the large number of low-quality but harmless games and distractions out there. It's when you try to do something interesting - to push what the device can do that you run a high risk of not being approved.
The problem is that there is a hell of a lot of general purpose software out there already that's never going to be worth the effort to port to a single device.
The iPhone has some nice apps, but runs nothing important to me in my professional life. And if the new tablet isn't going to be a useful work tool, why would I want it?
The iPhone has some nice apps, but runs nothing important to me in my professional life. And if the new tablet isn't going to be a useful work tool, why would I want it?
I honestly don't see the value proposition either. Oh wait. That's because Steve hasn't taken the stage yet to show us that Apple has created something of value that we didn't know we wanted until we were shown. Some call this fanboyism. It's really just creativity at its best. Creating new things to make life better. That's what apple does, and they are handsomely rewarded for it.
What's your profession, and what tablet/phone apps might be helpful but not yet available?
I can't speak for thras, but if I can't do software development on a device, that's a pretty big problem.
I'd love to replace my netbook with sleek little tablet, but the odds of Apple selling something that runs Java, Ruby, or emacs is slim-to-none.
I'd love to replace my netbook with sleek little tablet, but the odds of Apple selling something that runs Java, Ruby, or emacs is slim-to-none.
I hope so. Forcing all app downloads through a market where every screen defaults to the 'paid' tab is fantastic for paid app developers.
You are all very, very good little consumers.
And Apple doesn't even have to pay you for generating it's hype.
And Apple doesn't even have to pay you for generating it's hype.
Dude, get over it. Let me guess: you grow all your own food and you abstain from all media (oh, hey, wait a second..)? Apple devices are useful problem-solving technology, and they bring a lot of joy to people's lives.
> Apple devices are useful problem-solving technology
Probably.
> and they bring a lot of joy to people's lives
but that sounds a little to fanboy, "joy" to your life? really?
Probably.
> and they bring a lot of joy to people's lives
but that sounds a little to fanboy, "joy" to your life? really?
Yes dude. I get tons of joy from my Macbook. I love it. It connects me to the Internet. It plays music. It's wonderful.
It connects you to the internet.
It plays music.
My 3 year old daughter has a $100 piece of plastic that does both of those functions.
My 3 year old daughter has a $100 piece of plastic that does both of those functions.