The Mac Sucks!

As we've recently discussed here at the site, iPhone 3G customers have been complaining about dropped calls, slow browsing, and other unpleasant experiences with the device. Apple has released a software update to the iPhone that they believed would correct the problems users were reporting. According to Gregg Keizer of Computerworld, "the new 2.0.2 firmware has not fixed users' 3G reception problems" as many had hoped. The article says that "Users have been complaining about 3G network problems almost since the July 11 debut of the iPhone 3G. More than 2,000 messages have been posted to the phone's support forum since then, detailing difficulties making calls from areas supposedly covered by a 3G network, and griping about weak signals and slower-than-promised data download speeds."

As Wired reports on its web site, "Apple is giving a free 60-day extension of the service users love to hate -- well, dislike." Apparently, the MobileMe problems are still happening and Apple isn't too proud of the service, saying in a message to customers "We are working very hard to make MobileMe a great service we can all be proud of. We know that MobileMe's launch has not been our finest hour, and we truly appreciate your patience as we turn this around."

The launch of MobileMe resembles the failed initial launch of Windows Vista by Microsoft. Early Vista adopters dealt with poor driver software, system bugs, crashes, etc. The result was that Vista still leaves a sour taste in the mouths of many Windows users. While those problems have largely been corrected, many people still avoid the move to Vista. I suspect these extra months of free service are Apple's way to try to avoid the same kind of stigma becoming attached to MobileMe. My thinking is they're using the free service to keep people running MobileMe while they fix the problems, so that MobileMe doesn't become Apple's version of Windows Vista -- a product they want people to adopt but which burned enough people that the adoption rate is very slow.

A July 25 Computerworld article cites the results of a study saying that the largest software vendors account for fewer software flaws than in past years. The article opens by saying "Thought it might not seem that way, the top 10 most vulnerable software vendors -- and yes, that includes Microsoft Corp. -- are contributing a smaller percentage of all vulnerability disclosures per year compared with five years ago. That's according to an analysis by Gunter Ollmann, director of security strategies at Internet Security Systems Inc.'s X-Force team, which is a unit of IBM."

The article reports that in the past 5 years, the list of the most vulnerable vendors has included Microsoft, Cisco, Sun Microsystems, the Linux Kernel Organization, Oracle, and Apple Inc.

That's something to think about the next time you see one of those smug Apple ads about OS X being especially secure compared to Windows.

It's practically a tradition in the computer industry to see Microsoft as the bad guys. They have a near-monopoly on PC operating systems, office productivity suites, and other products. They also have a habit of squashing their competition. Increasingly, however, it seems that Apple is looking like the bad guys. Whether it's Greenpeace attacking their environmental record, users complaining about Time Machine backup and restore issues, the MobileMe service causing lost email, etc., it seems that angry people are increasingly pointing the finger at Apple. That being the case, it's interesting to see that Apple's own employees have filed a class action lawsuit against the company for its overtime pay practices.

According to the Palluxo.com article linked above, "Earlier this month, David Walsh filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in California against Apple for allegedly violating labor laws. The company's former senior network engineer alleges that Apple wrongfully exempted engineers and network support staff from protections enacted by the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Walsh claims that Apple employees were required to work more than 40 hours a week without being compensated for their overtime pay - in violation of state overtime laws."

As I understand the situation, with the usual "I'm not a lawyer caveat", Apple did things to skirt the overtime laws. For example, the law claims that certain management positions are exempt from overtime. To get out of paying overtime to several employees, Apple classified their jobs as "managers" when they really were no different than other companies' "non-manager" positions. This allegedly allowed Apple to require these people to work overtime and use the letter of the law to avoid paying overtime pay. If true, this is a very shady and exploitative business practice.

How will this turn out? Palluxo.com thinks they know: "Since a lengthy court battle could be very expensive for Apple, it is likely that the Cupertino-based company will this case out of court. Similar lawsuit against Rite Aid ended with a $25 million settlement."

Phishing, or using social engineering techniques to convince people to divulge private information (such as passwords, credit card numbers, and so forth) is nothing new. It's also nothing new that there are people out there gullible enougn to fall for it. While Windows PC users are all too familiar with such attacks, Mac users shrug them off, thinking their system's security is bulletproof and such things can't happen to them. So, it's always interesting when you see Mac users fall for something they think only affects Windows.

According to ITBusiness.ca, hundreds of users of Apple's .Mac and MobileMe services were duped into divulging credit card and other presonal information. The article says that "This particular phishing campaign scammed between 100 and 200 people with mac.com addresses in just one day... The records [snip] included full names, mailing addresses, credit card numbers, card security numbers, birth dates, mother's maiden names, [email addresses, and passwords.]"

According to CNet, Apple has reported that "in very rare cases" a first-generation iPod Nano could overheat, "causing failure and deformation of the iPod Nano." It seems that if you have a first-generation iPod Nano with an overheating battery, you can return it to Apple for replacement. They claim to have traced the problem back to a particular battery supplier.

Today, CNet.com's Tom Krazit penned a story about the experiences of iPhone users around the country. According to the article, iPhone 3G users are seeing dropped connections and slow speeds due to a problem with the Infineon chipset inside the phone. Krazit quotes a Businessweek story claiming the Apple and Infineon are working on a software "fix" for the problem. I may of course be wrong, but I wouldn't think weak signal reception could be repaired in software. Krazit says:

CNET News readers across the country report that many Apple and AT&T customer service representatives are indeed aware of their problems. The iPhone 3G is having trouble connecting and staying connected to 3G networks even in areas that appear to be located within a strong pocket of AT&T's network, as well as on carrier networks around the world. Business Week's sources said that the problems are affecting "2 percent to 3 percent" of iPhone 3G traffic, but there's no official word on just how widespread a problem this is.

The unscientific survey done by CNet indicated that "257 iPhone 3G owners, or 82 percent of all respondents, reported a variety of reception problems, from inconsistent data connections to 3G networks in their area to multiple dropped calls. The problems were reported in 32 states, but seemed to get slightly worse as they traveled west".

I suspect the number of affected users is, in reality, less than CNet's unscientific poll would indicate, but it certainly sounds more common than the "2 to 3 percent" Apple appears to think it is.

According to an anonymous researcher in Sweden, the iPhone 3G is less sensitive to 3G signals than published 3G standards dictate and less sensitive than other 3G phones. CNet.com's Tom Krazit tells us that this means "the phone drops the connection with a 3G tower more quickly than other 3G phones as it moves away from the tower and averages slower data speeds when connected."

We've discussed here before that we think that Apple's software developers must be stretched too thinly, because they seem to be making a lot of basic mistakes that should have been caught in testing and QA. Now, we have to wonder if their hardware engineers are having the same problems.

The old joke that Apple's paying customers are its beta testers is starting to look more like a reality.

Proving that it has indeed learned from Apple's example, Microsoft today unveiled a new technology called "Unwrap Mosaic" which allows a user to do some pretty wild things with digital video. In the demo, Microsoft added a mustache and rosy cheeks to a person in a video. As CNet reports:

"While there are plenty of techniques out there for changing colors in a video and other special effects, adding a full mustache, though, is tricky because although it exists in one place -- the face -- different parts of the face are visible at different times. In the movies, it's done by using a model of the face. But Fitzgibbon's team was looking to create a single tool that would work on multiple types of 3D objects. It's still just a research project. Microsoft has released some of the technology into the public domain. Fitzgibbon also hopes to put a user interface on top of the technology and make it available somehow to the public, though he declined to offer a timetable on that."

It seems to me that Microsoft is taking little steps forward lately to show that it can, indeed, innovate in interesting ways. The (admittedly overpriced and kind of silly) Microsoft Surface technology making its way around the country is one example. Its interface reminds me more of an Apple product than anything I've seen from any company. The Unwrap Mosaic technology is another example of the sort of thing I used to expect from Apple.

In the article, "iPhone 3G: What's the frequency?", CNet blogger Tom Krazit says that there's a possible reception problem with the new iPhone 3G. This problem results in dropped calls and lost data. He's currently collecting information on his blog to try to identify any pattern there might be to the problem. So far, a lot of people have reported dropped calls with the device.

Hot on the heels of the announcement from Steve Ballmer at Microsoft that they would try to mimic Apple's end-to-end user experience, Ubuntu Linux founder Mark Shuttleworth reportedly urged the development of a Linux desktop to rival what Apple Inc. has done.  

Shuttleworth is quoted as telling attendees at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention (Oscon) "Can we go right past Apple in the user experience we deliver?  Certainly, on the desktop experience, we need to shoot beyond the Mac, but I think it's equally relevant [in] the mobile space. The challenge for us is to figure out how to deliver something which is crisp and clean" without sacrificing the community process.

As reported by Computerworld, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer plans to adopt a page or two from the Apple playbook.  "In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1," Ballmer said, "But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving. Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience."

Microsoft, Ballmer said, would change the way it works with hardware manufacturers like Dell and HP to provide a better experience.

It will, of course, be interesting to see how this plays out.

According to Charlie Miller, an analyst at the Independent Security Evaluators (ISE) firm, "For three months, I was walking around with a vulnerable iPhone. [Apple] had the vulnerability and the exploit, they understood the exploit because they patched it on Mac OS X, but then they said the didn't know that [the iPhone] was vulnerable."

This is the same vulnerability Miller used to gain control of a Mac OS X system at the CanSecWest security conference and win a $10,000 prize package.  It took Apple 3 weeks to patch Safari on OS X, much longer to patch the iPhone.

Miller reports "So Apple said 'We ran the exploit and it ran out of memory and it didn't do anything bad.'"  What Apple had apparently not done, he added, was to run the actual exploit line.  "Obviously," he said, "they didn't do a very good job of testing.  They had the source code, and they thought that the iPhone wasn't vulnerable."

The article says the incident made Miller question whether Apple can effectively manage security on its multiple platforms. "I don't think they do a very good job of that," he said.  "They hadn't patched the iPhone since February. For more than four months, it's had vulnerabilities that were patched in Mac OS X."

As CNet points out in its Digital Media blog, Microsoft's now-defunct MSN Music service stopped issuing DRM keys for the music it sold to customers. Yahoo Music made the same announcement last week. As a result, customers of either of those services may no longer be able to access music they paid for. As CNet's Greg Sandoval suggests:

" If Apple ever stopped issuing keys for its FairPlay digital rights management then, just like at Yahoo and MSN, iTunes users would be prevented from moving their music to different machines or devices. That would affect most of the 5 billion songs the company has sold. (Following much public criticism, Microsoft said it would continue issuing keys for another three years and Yahoo is offering refunds.)

To be sure, the likelihood of Apple shutting off DRM keys anytime in the foreseeable future seems remote at best. Apple is the Internet's largest music retailer and may be the largest music retailer overall. The company is riding a wave of excitement over the new iPhone 3G, which besides being a phone and Internet-enabled device, is an excellent music player. Apple appears to be on track to dominate retail music sales for a long time to come. Still, things do change. Who can say what will happen at Apple in 5 or 10 years? That's a long time from now. But the truth is, DRM's threat to iTunes users' music libraries is real."

There are a number of reasons I don't own an iPod or iPhone. Apple's iTunes FairPlay DRM is one of those reasons. DRM is a technology that unfairly burdens those who pay for content while providing little (if any) real deterrence to those would illegally copy and distribute that content. I know Apple (now) offers content that is DRM-free. However, they're still offering the bulk of the content they provide with DRM attached. Until, like Amazon.com and some other services, they offer only DRM-free content, I'm not interested in iTunes and by extension the iPod or iPhone.

I realize that what I'm about to say somewhat contradicts the above, so I will need to explain it afterward... While I don't like the concept of "purchasing" content that is saddled with DRM, I don't have a problem "renting" content with DRM attached. For example, the Rhapsody and Zune services allow you to (in essence) download as much content as your device (be it a PC or a portable media player) will hold as part of a subscription-based service. That content is DRM protected and can only be played on a specific device or devices. I am accepting of DRM in this circumstance because it is serving a purpose for me. It's allowing me to load my media player full of content that I can listen to at my leisure, more content than I can probably afford to actually "own". If I decide that my collection wouldn't be complete without this or that album, I can buy it free of DRM from the same service and not have to worry if my player dies or my subscription lapses. Would I prefer to be able to "rent" content without DRM? Sure. Do I expect that to ever be an option? No, since it would eliminate pretty much any reason to "buy" the content.

So, as I said, it's something of a contradiction. I don't want an iPod or iPhone, because the default situation is that my "purchased" content will be saddled with the FairPlay DRM. At the same time, I do own a Zune because Microsoft's DRM allows me to "rent" content I might otherwise be unable (or unwilling) to buy and try it out for a while. I presume Apple's FairPlay DRM allows for this "renting" concept as well, though as I understand it this isn't the way iTunes operates presently.

Another reason I don't want an iPod or iPhone is the iTunes software itself. For Windows users, Apple has developed a nasty habit of including "non-iTunes" software with iTunes updates by default. I don't like Safari, and don't want it on my PC. I have no interest in the troubled MobileMe service, and don't want that on my PC either. The fact that Apple tries to add these things to my system without my asking for them is unacceptable and, quite frankly, arrogant.

We've covered here how there is a significant vulnerability in the DNS software used to resolve names like "www.dell.com" into their respective IP addresses. We've also covered how the major OS players have all updated their software, while Apple had not done so. According to ComputerWorld, they've released a patch for OS X that they claim fixes the problem, but which the security experts report does not.

Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security Inc. tested Apple's update, and found that even with the update applied, Apple systems were not randomizing the ports they used. Attacks using this vulnerability are reportedly already in the wild, so Internet-connected Macs are indeed vulnerable. Storms is quoted as saying "Essentially, we're at the same place as we were yesterday before Apple released the patch." Swa Frantzen of the SANS Institute, says "So Apple might have fixed some of the more important parts for servers, but is far from done yet, as all the clients linked against a DNS client library still need to get the work-around for the protocol weakness."

Storms suggests that Apple made a mistake somewhere to produce the "nonpatch patch" just released. "Is Apple modifying the BIND distributions from ISC, and somehow didn't realize this repercussion? Or is there some kind of configuration file that they forgot to change? It must be one of those two," Storms said. "If you take the BIND distribution from ISC and patch your system on a Linux box, you're patched," he said. "I don't know what happened to Apple's."

For more information about this "nonpatch patch" click here to visit ComputerWorld.

We've been suggesting for a while here that Apple's development team seems to be overburdened and that they appear to be making significant mistakes that are quite simply beneath the caliber of individuals we know to be working there. We know that they work hard. We know that they care about what they're doing. The only reason for mistakes like this that we can imagine is that the developers are overworked, and QA staff are either similarly stretched too thin or are non-existent. We hope Apple is able to correct this situation. Their reputation is already starting to tarnish...

According to Crave, CNet's gadget blog, it's time for Apple to "fix" its iTunes software .  They describe iTunes as bloated, comparing it to "a kitchen sink full of crud".  They go on to say that "iTunes is a program that a lot of people use, and it's turning into a bit of a national nightmare" because it's trying to do too many things at once.  Author Molly Wood says it best in the following excerpt:

Yes, you can get by without iTunes if you just want media playback. I use VLC and I won't load iTunes unless I absolutely have to. (I've had the laptop I just installed it on for almost six months, and I only downloaded the darned thing so I could get at Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.) And I know there are plenty of alternative apps I can use to manage my iPod. That's not the point.

The seamless iTunes integration used to be the best thing about the iPod. And until people (bless you, Joss Whedon, but you're one of them) stop doing "iTunes exclusives," I'm going to need it or some other program for downloading those videos. I shouldn't have to live in fear of loading it, because it takes so long to launch, it's so bloated, and it's almost certain to drop an update grenade in my lap. iTunes has become anathema to Apple's simple and elegant persona, and it's time for a fix. 

 She closes with the following plea:

I know Apple thinks it's keeping things simple by offering one program with one-stop shopping. But instead, they're creating bloatware that, increasingly, people don't want to use for any shopping. Apple, get out your scrubbing bubbles. It's time to save iTunes. 

Again, I'm forced to wonder if this is another symptom of Apple's development staff having too much on their plate.

 

According to InformationWeek, Microsoft tried an experiment on a group of users who were not going to purchase Windows Vista under any circumstances.  They were told they were watching a demonstration of the forthcoming "Mojave" operating system and asked their opinions.  Reactions included:

"It's awesome"

"The speed is incredible"

"I'd give it a 10" 

Later, they were told the OS they were looking at wasn't Mojave but Windows Vista, the operating system they claimed they were unwilling to buy under any circumstances.  Prior to the experiment, they gave Vista a 4.4/10 rating.  After the experiment, the rating jumped to 8.5.

Based on this experiment, Microsoft believes that much of Windows Vista's problems are in users' heads.  They've hired a marketing firm to help change users' perceptions of Vista.

 

Dell recently announced the release of the Studio Hybrid PC, a small form-factor computer that industry analysts describe as a competitor to the Apple Mac Mini.

 

 

The Studio Hybrid is priced starting at $499.  At that price level, the computer includes an Intel Pentium Dual-Core T2390 CPU running at 1.86GHz (533MHz FSB, 1MB Cache), Windows Vista Home Basic SP1 operating system, 8x slot-loading dual-layer CD/DVD burner, 1 GB of DDR2 memory (667 MHz), a 5400-rpm 160GB SATA hard drive, Intel GMA x3100 video card, stereo audio with 5.1 channel digital output, and a 1-year in-home service warranty.  

Upgrade options include faster CPUs (up to 2.6 GHz Core 2 Duo), Vista Ultimate operating system, up to 4GB of RAM, a 6x slot-loading Blu-ray disc drive (DVD+/-RW and BD-ROM), Sound Blaster Audigy HD, a TV tuner, wireless-N networking, and more.

The system is offered in 7 colors:  Slate, Emerald, Quartz, Ruby, Topaz, Sapphire, and Bamboo.

 

 

For those of you who are curious, here's how the Mac Mini and Studio Hybrid stack up to each other:

Feature/Specification	Apple Mac Mini	Dell Studio Hybrid
CPU	1.83 GHz Core 2 Duo	1.86 GHz Core 2 Duo
RAM	1GB 667MHz DDR2	1GB 667MHz DDR2
Hard Disk Drive	80GB Serial ATA Drive	160GB Serial ATA Drive
Video	Intel GMA 950	Intel GMA X3100
Optical Drive	Slot-loading CD/DVD-ROM, reads DVDs at 8x, writes CD-Rs at 24x	Slot-loading CD/DVD, writes DVDs at 8x, writes CDs, reads CDs and DVDs
USB Ports	4 USB 2.0	3 USB 2.0
Network Interface	10/100/1000 Base-T	10/100/1000 Base-T
Video Connectors	DVI/VGA	DVI/VGA HDMI
FireWire	1 FireWire 400 Port	1 FireWire 400 Port
Size	5.08cm x 16.51cm x 16.51cm	19.65cm x 7.15cm x 21.15cm
Audio Ports	Combined digital audio in/out ports	Analog Audio Jack Digital Audio S/P DIF Out
Wireless Networking	Built-in 54-Mbps 802.11g	(optional) Built-in Draft-N
Remote control	included	optional
Price	$599	$499

For $100 less than the Mac Mini, Dell provides a system which offers a slightly faster CPU, larger hard disk, faster video card, DVD burner (versus DVD-ROM), HDMI video output, and color choices for the case.

Speaking in "green" terms, both systems meet Energy Star requirements.  The Dell Studio Hybrid meets Energy Star 4.0 standards with an 87% efficient power supply (Apple doesn't publish similar specifications on its web site).  The Studio Hybrid is packed in 95% recyclable materials, and comes with a system-recycling kit so that the unit itself can be recycled when no longer viable.

The Dell system includes an in-home warranty repair service, whereas the Mac Mini requires the unit to be returned to Apple or an Apple Store for service.

All things considered, the Dell Studio Hybrid is a worthy competitor to Apple's Mac Mini.

 

 

Rich Mogull and Glenn Fleishman of TidBITS, the "Mac news for the rest of us" site, have been wondering why Apple has yet to patch OS X for the security vulnerability found in the DNS (Domain Name Service) software.  Many vendors have already released DNS patches to guard against exploitation, but Apple isn't among them.  As Mogull and Fleishman point out, "Because DNS is so core to the functioning of the Internet, this vulnerability is perhaps the most significant security problem to face the Internet in the last decade.  All users who connect to Mac OS X-based servers for DNS lookups are at risk..."  In case you're wondering, yes, Windows has already been patched.

We've speculated before on this site that perhaps Apple's development teams are over-extended, being pushed to meet release dates that perhaps their software isn't ready for.   What's our evidence?  Consider:

• The DNS vulnerability discussed above remains unpatched in OS X.
• The recently-released MobileMe service has received a "torrent of criticism" since its launch.  They even lost email for some customers.  Things are so bad that Apple offered 30 days of free service to paying customers.
  
• iPod/iPhone App Store updates caused data loss for some users.
• iTunes 7.7 reportedly doesn't synchronize well with the iPhone , replacing deleted applications, taking an unusually long time to backup, and possibly creating corrupted backups. 
• iPhone users report that the iPhone 2.0 software has problems , such as lag while typing, opening applications, and doing the most basic things.  It's said that many applications, including Apple-made applications, are crashing upon launch.
• Safari lost its edge as the "fastest browser" on the Mac platform to FireFox.
• Security researcher Aviv Raff reports that security vulnerabilities in the iPhone and Safari can be used to dupe users into visiting malicious sites or by spammers to flood an inbox with junk mail.
• After being criticized in the past about installing unwanted software with the Apple Software Update utility on Windows, Apple does it again with MobileMe .

And these are just the recent examples I was able to find in a few minutes of searching.

Given the software development challenges it seems to be facing, it is interesting to note that Apple is rumored to be looking at custom chipsets for future Macintosh models, as these would seem to increase the complexity of Mac OS X development at a time when Apple appears to be having software quality problems.

 

Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal is usually very positive about Apple and its products, so it was a surprise to many of the Apple Faithful that he posted an article highly critical of the new MobileMe service. In that article, Mossberg makes these essential points based on his experience with the service:

"Unfortunately, after a week of intense testing of the service, I can't recommend it, at least not in its current state. It's a great idea, but, as of now, MobileMe has too many flaws to keep its promises. I am not referring to the launch glitches that plagued MobileMe earlier this month, such as servers that couldn't keep up with the traffic and email outages that, for some users, persist as I write this...[snip]... The problems I am citing are systemic."

"...in my tests, using two Macs, two Dell computers and two iPhones, I ran into problem after problem. One big issue is that while changes made on the Web site or the iPhone are instantly pushed to the computers, changes made on computers are only synced every 15 minutes, at best."

"My MobileMe calendar, which originated on a Mac, didn't flow into the main Outlook calendar, but appeared as a separate calendar in Outlook, which was visible only by changing settings. My address-book groups on the Mac, which are simply distribution lists, didn't show up as distribution lists in Outlook, but as separate address books, and they also weren't immediately visible. Apple blames Outlook quirks for these issues, but in my view, it should have overcome them."

Mossberg also points out other flaws with the service, concluding his article by saying that "If Apple does get MobileMe working smoothly, it could be a terrific service. But it's way too ragged now."

I'll start this off with an admission... I don't dislike the iPhone. I've had the opportunity to use the iPhone of a friend of mine who's an Apple fanatic and iPhone addict. It's not a bad little device. It's also, without question, one of the better smartphones out there and better than the smartphone I carry around (the HTC Mogul). But what sucks about the iPhone is not so much the device itself, but the limitations and shackles placed on it by Apple. My HTC may not be as slick as the iPhone, but it doesn't have the limitations the iPhone does.

To start with, I'm not an AT&T Wireless customer and I have no desire to be. Locking the iPhone into an exclusive arrangement with AT&T may have been necessary for Apple to get the device to market, but it ensures that I won't be buying one. Say what you will about Sprint, but I've been pleased with their reliability and coverage (though I'll admit the signal at my house sucks). Even a "jailbroken" iPhone won't work with Sprint (at least not as I understand it).

In my opinion, a cell phone (especially a smartphone) should have an easily-swapped battery. Every cell phone I've ever owned had the option for a simple battery swap. Since a smartphone has uses that extend beyond just talking and web browsing, you're more likely to run the battery down on a smartphone than a "normal" cell phone. While a pop-out battery compartment might have marred the slick one piece back of the iPhone, I consider it a design flaw that the battery can't be replaced in one quickly and easily (without the need for tools).

Apple won't allow third-party developers to share programming knowledge. As Slashdot reported on July 24, 2008, Apple's iPhone SDK confidentiality agreement prevents developers from discussing the SDK or exchanging ideas with others. This means developers can't help other developers resolve iPhone programming issues, share good iPhone coding practices, etc. It's unbelievable to me that Apple has placed such a strong "gag order" on those who are supporting one of its products.

Worse, the iPhone SDK prevents developers from doing many things that make the device more powerful, more intuitive, and more "revolutionary" than it started out. Developers can't touch the iTunes or iPod functionality. They can't even access the music directory on the iPhone. Third-party applications have to completely quit when exited, making true instant messaging functionality impossible. Third-party applications can't integrate with the OS itself, and can't significantly alter iPhone functions. Apple limits application testing to 5 devices, making it virtually impossible to conduct a good beta test. It's often joked that Apple's paying customers are its beta testers, and this rule just reinforces that image. As Gizmodo said, "the massive anticipation for the Pwnage 2.0 tool, the vast universe of applications we're missing out on -- not just pirated goodies, but honest-to-God mission-critical wares -- shows the SDK clearly doesn't provide everything we need it to. And it might never. But the black market app economy can and does fill the void. Apple might seek to shut it down, but the iPhone's two-class app economy may prove to be its greatest strength."

The CrunchGear site has a review of the new iPhone 3G that begins with the recommendation to wait, and not to buy it yet. Why? Here are a few excerpts from the review:

With 60% certainty I predict a minor hardware or, more likely, software update in the next month or to improve the 3G's thus far abysmal battery life.

3G is nominally faster in the right areas - my Brooklyn haunt is not one of them - so if you were expecting improvements over EDGE think again. While most folks in urban areas will see a bump, the iPhone 3G has yet to show marked improvements over the standard EDGE/Wi-Fi combo that worked so well in the first model. I think 3G is a red herring, something Apple threw in at AT&T's request to showcase their network. 3G burns up battery life and does not automatically shut off when out of range.

Without turn-by-turn the iPhone's GPS is useless in the car unless you have a navigator. A Garmin or Tom Tom device is more cost-effective in this case.

All of the sharing systems built into MobileMe already exist in some form elsewhere and everything else can be recreated simply by plugging the iPhone in and syncing to desktop applications like Outlook. So far the push calendar and contacts have been great but they are not particularly noticeable nor was I desperate for their addition.

I know multiple sites have waved their hands over the numbers and found that the 3G is in fact quite long-lasting. In my experience I've found that I can get a full 18 hours of normal usage given I don't do much browsing. I also know that my use case is fairly uncommon - I have 12,246 unread messages right now and I get about ten or twenty every half-hour. However, I don't think it's that uncommon. I've set the auto-fetch to every hour and I've seen some improvement in speed but the battery will be a major issue soon enough - these things get worse, not better, over time and as I recall another device with a similar problem, the Sidekick, eventually petered out to eight hours on a good day and four hours on a horrible one.

Click here to read the review in its entirety.

The UK-based Register web site is a close, but critical, follower of Apple, Inc. This week, they published the following articles of interest to readers of this site:

The iPhone 2.0 update - don't do it, kids

Apple has that syncing feeling over MobileMe

Mac hacks Mac OS X onto MSI Wind

Apple swipes £121 for 'free' MobileMe trial

Sci-Tech Today published an interesting story about the iPhone App Store:

iPhone App Store Thriving Despite Developer Tricks

These are all recommended reading for fans of this site.

According to technology site TG Daily's Christian Zibreg, "If you have been using the MobileMe free trial or paid membership service since day one, then you know that the service did not have an exactly stellar launch." Ziberg says that only now are they able to really take a look at what's missing, what's not working, and what they hope to see from it in the future.

"...it is clear that the service is still work in progress, prompting Apple to offer an apology and give away 30-days worth of free service to people who already have signed up for MobileMe," Ziberg reports.

The article goes on to list the features that aren't working: Contacts aren't available in MobileMe Mail, Gallery photo upload isn't working, Groups are inaccessible, Homepage isn't available, Changes made on a PC or Mac aren't pushed instantaneously, It doesn't run on Internet Explorer and Opera, iCards are gone, iDisk isn't available in Windows, No iDisk sharing, No calendar sync with Vista Calendar, No Contacts sync in Windows Live Mail, No photo sync for Windows, and no Firefox bookmark syncing.

We've theorized before on this site, based on the outcome of Apple's most-recent software product launches that it seems the developers are being forced to meet arbitrary deadlines, putting out products that might not be ready for prime time. I have to wonder if the development staff is stretch so thin now that they can no longer deliver the kind of polish Apple products were known for back in the 1980s and 1990s.

As we've covered in the past, Apple's history for patching OS X indicates a tendency to patch vulnerabilities more slowly than Microsoft patches Windows or the open source community patches Linux. Computerworld carried an article on July 15, indicating that Apple's update service is up 99.9% of the time, while Microsoft's update service is up 100% of the time, and Ubuntu Linux's service is up 98.6% of the time. Even 98.6% is pretty darned good, but it's interesting that Apple makes so much noise in its commercials about how OS X is so reliable, yet it can't manage 100% uptime for its own servers.