Apple, Google, & the future of the internets

I thought this might be an interesting summary of a few things floating around the internet of late. I know we have both Apple fanboys and Windows jocks alike on this blong. We've been surprisingly respectful on issues of technology so far, so lets see how long we can last before we all take a collective dump on civility and TEAR THIS PLACE APART! Actually, I'm just curious if you guys think Apple and/or Google are heading in the right direction. BEGIN!

Charlie Stross: The real reason why Steve Jobs hates Flash.
I don't get the title. The piece seems less about Flash than it is an excellent forecast on the future collapse and rebirth of the computer industry...

Apple are trying desperately to force the growth of a new ecosystem — one that rivals the 26-year-old Macintosh environment — to maturity in five years flat. That's the time scale in which they expect the cloud computing revolution to flatten the existing PC industry. Unless they can turn themselves into an entirely different kind of corporation by 2015 Apple is doomed to the same irrelevance as the rest of the PC industry — interchangable suppliers of commodity equipment assembled on a shoestring budget with negligable profit.

Christina Warren: Apple versus Flash versus HTML5

A solid analysis of why Flash will be a non-entity in the future, and why it has little to do with Apple. With a cool graph, here. In fact, Windows seems to agree. (bummer for vector-based animators, of course)

Bobbie Johnson: Apple iPad will choke innovation, say open internet advocates

Wade Roush: The Apple Paradox: How a company that's so closed foster so much open innovation

Kyle Conroy: What if I had bought Apple stock instead?
Ugh.

It is also worth noting where Windows seems to stand on this front: Here, and here.

Lastly, Jon Stewart: On Apple's response to the stolen iPhone prototype. Granted, who knows if Apple forced the police to burn Gizmodo's headquarters to the ground, Either way, Mr. Stewart sums it up perfectly with "Appholes".

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Appholes
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

How the iPod Saved America from Being Sad Forever

It's the first iPod commercial ever. Contrast it with the "unplanned" "spontaneous" "expression" of "group enthusiasm" at the Microsoft store. Sure; to be fair, one's a produced advertisement, and the other is a WELL-produced advertisement oooooOOOOOOoooo! ZING!! BURRRN!!!22!

I'm thinking, however, about the success of the iPod product line, and the genesis of that success. Sure, the interface is great--navigating that much content with what is essentially one big button is no small feat. The form factor is simple, almost generic, allowing anyone to integrate the thing into their personal style. The ads emphasize personal freedom and joyful abandon and an unapologetic love of music and dancing to said music (and again with the generic thing).

This has all been discussed over and over, but the one factor I've never heard mentioned when trying to understand the iPod's success is the release date, October 23, 2001. A little over a month after 9/11. Everyone in America was still pretty bummed, if I remember right. We thought nothing would ever be the same; that we'd all have to be vigilant and well-informed and serious for the rest of our lives. We didn't, it turns out. Our culture was still there, and we are who we are, for better or for worse. It didn't take long for reminders of who we are to creep back into daily life, and now here we are. Hello!

Makes me wonder, if the iPod doesn't occupy some special place in the American psyche, because it helped come to a timely rescue. Did these simple, happy, ads stick in our heads; not simply hawking a music player, but as a reminder that there were still good reasons to be consumery, dancey, slightly oblivious Americans? Are we repaying the iPod for helping us not be sad forever?