Steve Jobs promises big things for WWDC; we visit statistics both surprising and, eh, not so much; and one prominent Mac blogger may finally be forced to choose between two things he loves. It’s the remainders for Monday May 24, 2010.
Steve Jobs’ answer to Google (Fortune)
One British Apple enthusiast pens a colorful e-mail to the Apple CEO, expressing his desire to see Apple’s forthcoming WWDC announcements take a sledgehammer to Android. Says Mr. Jobs? “You won’t be disappointed.” Risky, Steve. Risky. Some people are going to be disappointed by anything short of Google CEO Eric Schmidt on stage in a dunk tank. Seriously, though: can we make that happen?
Apple’s incredible efficient growth (Business Insider)
Turns out that not only does Apple buy way fewer companies than its tech rivals, it also spends far less on research and development: Microsoft, for example, spent 700 percent more than the $4.6 billion Apple spent over the last four years. More to the point, though, half of that $4.6 billion went into researching how to—as of yet unsuccessfully—duplicate Jonathan Ive’s smoldering stare.
Relive five years of “Get A Mac” in five minutes (Cult of Mac)
The duo of John Hodgman’s PC and Justin Long’s Mac may be gone from the airwaves, but they will never retire from the special placein our heart. This four minute video touches on the highlights of Apple’s three-year campaign, which—unsurprisingly, I suppose—has an incredibly long Wikipedia article. Then again, Hollywood’s remaking everything these days, so it’s only a matter of time before the inevitable TV spin-off: “PC. Mac. They’re cops.”
17 percent of Verizon customers would upgrade to iPhone (All Things D)
A survey reports that 17 percent of Verizon customers would “very likely” buy an iPhone if it were available on that network. In related news, Pope Catholic, Earth round, and Two and a Half Men still not funny.
Yankee Stadium bans iPads (Mashable)
Yankee Stadium confirmed that it will not play host to the pad that Jobs built under its existing “no laptops” policy. This, despite the fact the park offers free Wi-Fi. Presumably this is all part of a long-buildling plot to drive Mac blogger (and prominent Yankees fan) John Gruber into a spiral of insanity, doubt, and self-recrimination. Next up: redoing the Yankees logo in Marker Felt and re-editing Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining to add an annoying CGI sidekick.