By Graham K. Rogers

Opening Gambit:

Apple Stuff

The same pair on the NYTimes were a little disingenuous in their reporting of Apple's actions this week, when they started their article, "Responding to a growing outcry over conditions at its overseas factories" which is wrong on a couple of counts. These are the guys whose report started the growing outcry and they ought to know that these are not Apple's factories; but that does not seem to be important to them does it? It is Duhigg and Wingfield who found the quotes from the International Labor Rights Forum and the Enough Project, both of which are critical of the FLA. Sometimes you just can't win.

This is China that is being discussed, not Ohio and the obstacles that any such worker organisation would bring are rather large. What many forget is that the alternatives -- no factories, no Apple (or Dell, IBM, Sony, Samsung, Microsoft, HP et al) would make the workers far worse off than they are alleged to be now. As a note, Electronista tell us that Pegatron were taken by surprise by the Fair Labor Association announcement from Apple.

But should Apple stay? Despite the benefits to the bottom line, there is a lot beginning to push them out, so it would not surprise me to see that the company is looking elsewhere (we see that India is getting some investment [MacNN]) and could perhaps reduce its presence there.

This pressure -- perhaps borne out of the fact that 19% of all IT spending in the US on Apple products -- took another twist this week when the company that claims to own the iPad name in China and a couple of other places, had the local authorities remove the real iPad from the shelves in Apple stores after 2 years of litigation. There is irony upon irony here. Chinese consumers want the device made by Apple with all its infrastructure and all the cachet and thousands of Chinese workers are employed making these and other Apple devices, but a nothing company thinks it holds all the cards and for the time being plays its hand to block Apple. A Chinese judge decided that Proview isn't bound by an earlier deal made by its Taiwanese affiliate to license the name to Apple in 10 countries. I bet that surprised a few people: a deal that is not a deal?

As with all of these things, there is more than meets the eye. Jamie Keene on The Verge reports on some of the background to the product removals and the point that the company, Proview (a company that is not flush with cash), is seeking a ban on trade in the device using laws that are meant to prevent sale of counterfeit goods. They should look at Chinese copies of Apple products on sale here. Another angle (as well as some background) was reported by Electronista that would probably be duplicated here: as the raids were carried out, some sellers hid theirs, so there may still be some for sale. The IT center in Bangkok, Phantip Plaza also seems to have things hidden whenever the police make raids (mainly concerning software).

The disturbing part is not sale or imports in China but exports which could affect the worldwide sale of these and the net iPad that may be with us soon. This is where Apple's cash hoard can come into play. Apart from using it to deal with any legal cases arising from these actions (small beer really), there are options to create plants elsewhere: remember Foxconn and Brazil? That might be more strategic that was first imagined.

Not long after the death of Whitney Houston at the weekend, I saw some Tweets concerning a price rise of her music in the iTunes store. Needless to say, all the blame was placed at Apple's feet with accusations of profiteering, but I thought there was something missing from the equation and would wait a day or so. I was right. The retail price of the music depends on the wholesale price as set by the record companies. And the record company was Sony who put up the price of The Ultimate Collection, within hours. iPodNN reports that the Guardian caught this Sony move and confirmed that Apple was not the culprit. Chris Rawson on TUAW looks at the way the initial reporting went for Apple in what he calls a " textbook example of a failure to think first and type later" when the Daily Mail and Digital Spy both led with their chins. He adds at the end, "Neither Digital Spy nor The Daily Mail have issued corrections or retractions to their stories blaming Apple for the price hike, and they probably won't do so." Rawson also links to the Guardian story by Josh Halliday who reports correctly on how the price rise happened (but does not mention the other less-reliable sources).

Another rumour surfaces about a smaller form iPad: this time 8". Lots of sources have been mentioning this over the last few days, following the usual totally reliable leaks from the direction of China. Brooke Crothers picks up the report from the Wall Street Journal and comments on the possibilities here. Another report on CNET from Dara Kerr tells us about a 4G iPad (4G?) that is supposed to be coming to Verizon and AT&T. She calls it the "next" iPad, by which I take it we are referring to the one after the iPad 3. I don't know who she is but when she uses expressions like "as iPad aficionados salivate over the next model" it sounds as if she is the one doing most of the salivating in terms of hits the page might get. With the wide base of Apple customers these days, those who cite the fanboy are a little out of touch and running short of inspiration.

As a possible prelude to the release of the iPad 3, we are told by Electronista that a large US retailer -- Meijer -- is cutting iPad 2 prices to $429 (16GB).

Let's look at some sensible Apple ideas. OS X Daily is always good for a sane look at what we can do with our Macs and this week has come up with clamshell mode. I have heard of this but never used it myself: it is when the notebook computer is shut, but linked to an external monitor which is used as the main display. Apparently this does still work in Lion and we are told this is actually easier now. There are a number of alternatives depending on keyboard and mouse used, but the information is there and is useful.

Not one, but two ideas and I especially like the second one (it is just that I don't often use a second monitor) which shows users how to add the debug menu to iCal, which also reveals another load of hidden tricks. It is a simple one-line command in Terminal:

although I frightened myself as I had forgotten I had left Terminal in full-screen mode. When it started, the screen was filled with all that Unix stuff. Once the command was entered I restarted iCal. My first change was to give myself a 14-day spread in Week view rather than the default 7. Thank you OS X Daily, once more.

Another tip, this time from Topher Kessler, concerns larger type in the calculator with a simple right click which, he reminds us, is still available for the Address Book.

Only a couple of weeks ago or less we looked at the announcements from Apple concerning ripped off apps in the App Store. Those who were producing apps which were just copies, were going to be getting their marching orders. There was a shock therefore over the weekend when an app that had been announced recently and is due for release next week, was beaten to the store by a clone. So is the real one the rip-off? We are told by Megan Lavey-Heaton that Apple dumped the clone Clear app and the real one is coming real soon.

Some people do not realise that once you step outside of the Continental US, or the EU, you really are in another world. AppleBitch whose main writer usually haunts the UK if I remember rightly, had a recent jaunt to Hong Kong and decided to see what it was like buying an iPhone there. It is both tragic and amusing and what he or she (no knowing really) writes will be of little surprise to anyone to the far east of Ipswich. When I was on one of the trips to San Francisco, a smart commentator in the group suggested that Apple was not aware that anything existed outside of Cupertino.

We read in an item by Josh Lowensohn of a rare public appearance by Tim Cook who spoke at a Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference that took place in San Francisco. He apparently discussed the cash that Apple has and, unsurprisingly, the workers in China: both of concern to investors. He is reported to have shown some concern about the worker situation and is quoted as saying,

I realize that this supply chain is complex, and I'm sure you realize this. And the issues that surround it are complex, but our commitment is very simple. . . . We believe that every worker has the right to a fair and safe work environment, free of discrimination, where they can earn competitive wages and where they can voice their complaints freely."

The article also contains a reasonably lengthy look at some of the questions he faced and the answers given, including this one that some pundits should take note of: "Steve grilled in all of us over many years that the company should revolve around great products, and that we should stay extremely focused on a few things, rather than try to do so many that we did nothing well." Of course, some of the commentators will never be satisfied and as ever Rik Myslewski seeks out the negatives. To one of the answers he writes, "Why quibble?" Why indeed.

We read a late item on MacNN that reports the point that Apple is "aggressively" looking for a new production support manager. Have they lost someone? Is someone about to be pushed? Is this for a new product?

Half and Half

Despite what the gnomes of Taipei insist, the ultrabook that they expected to be their salvation after the tablets they produced all sagged like my mother's chocolate cake, was another false hope after all, we are told by Josh Ong on AppleInsider who reports the findings of J. P. Morgan analyst, Mike Moskowitz, whose comments on the way these manufacturers want to be like Apple is revealing.

However, Apple is not averse to some strong-arm techniques when dealing with what may be little more than clones and Pegatron, which has worked hard to become an Apple supplier is being pressurised to choose between the ASUS Zenbook and iOS devices Electronista reports. It was actually a part of ASUS before being spun off, so this may come a little hard

Other Matters

But it is never so simple is it? Dan Lyons who has his own fame as the writer of the acclaimed, "The Secret Diary of Fake Steve Jobs", goes for the throat as he calls Siegler out for hypocrisy: criticising what he himself practises, while at the same time having dubious motives for his main argument. This comes from that App we discussed last week, Path, which may or may not have made mistakes in use of the Address Book. Siegler (and Michael Arrington) apparently have investments in the company that developed Path, so criticism of Nick Bilton whom Siegler accuses of being a pitbull and other negative terms, may have been from less than honest motives.

We read on a number of sources, such as MacStories (Federico Viticci) that VLC should be releasing version 2.0 of its valuable video software.

In a press release, Xerox tell us that it is teaming up with McAfee in an effort to create a system that protects data within a company. The release reads in part: "The threat landscape has evolved to include devices that when originally designed, where never considered a security threat," said Tom Moore, vice president of embedded sales, McAfee. "Now we are seeing the need for security on devices like MFPs to protect confidential and proprietary data, which if lost or stolen, could negatively impact a company and its employees. The partnership with McAfee and Xerox embeds security into the device for better protection."

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Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.