By Graham K. Rogers

Opening Gambit:

Apple Stuff

When Scott Forestall was eased out of Apple, there was a great exhalation over the use of skeuomorphism: back to bare aluminium was the expectation. Ken Segall writes on his site that this is the wrong way of looking at things and that skeuomorphism itself has some attractions and will not simply end, although some of the more silly examples -- Contacts and Calendar -- might. My link for this was MacDaily News.

Talking of Jony Ive (in any discussion of skeuomorphism, Ive is the elephant in the room), there was an article this week by Benj Edwards on MacWorld about that original iMac which was one of the things that started Apple's climb back. The article looks at other products that had also used translucent materials before the iMac was released.

There is a local program that uses tablet computers that were bought as cheaply as possible from a Chinese manufacturer although we have heard nothing about this recently -- good or bad. However, Kelly Hodgkins on TUAW has a report on a program using iPads in US classrooms including one that is fairly positive: never observed anything else that has had the impact on teacher personal learning like the introduction of the iPad.

In China, following the resolution of the trademark case over the iPad name, MacNN reports that sales of the Apple device have doubled to 2.07 million units.

We have mentioned of late a number of companies, including Apple, that governments think are not paying all the taxes they might. Katie Marsal on AppleInsider reports that the Australian authorities (where Apple earned $4.87 billion in revenue from Australia with a tax bill for $94.7 million) have hit Apple with a $28.5 million bill for back taxes.

Those of us with OS X Mountain Lion have Messages as part of the installation, but I had a beta earlier with Lion, and some folks may not have updated. We are told by Peter Cohen on The Loop that the beta program is to end on 13 December, so either update or lose it.

There is an interesting tip from Mel Martin on TUAW this time about reversing the direction of the iPhone panorama. If you remember, presuming you have tried this little gem, the user sweeps the camera from left to right. That seems logical to me, but by tapping the arrow, the direction can be reversed.

It is reported by Mikey Campbell on AppleInsider that the beta of 10.8.3, the next update to Mountain Lion, is to be seeded to developers after the Thanks Giving weekend. For those Brits and others who do not know, that is 26 November: next Monday.

Half and Half

We wrote last week that Samsung was sniffing around the decision that ended the HTC and Apple litigation. Electronista has some more on this and why Samsung is keen to find out the details. There was much more on this in an article by Florian Mueller on Foss Patents with some opinions on what the implications are.

There is also some adjustment in the lawsuits Apple and Samsung do have ongoing with John Ribeiro reporting on PCWorld that Samsung Electronics will include the iPhone 5 among the products alleged to have infringed its patents, while Apple is to include Jelly Bean and newer Samsung products: Galaxy Note 10.1 and the U.S. version of the Galaxy S III.

Following the HTC patent settlement, others may be deciding that coming to an agreement may be far better than extending the fights through the courts. Slash Lane on AppleInsider reports that Motorola is considering arbitration that could lead to a global settlement between the two companies.

Other Matters

Although he usually writes on Apple products and was an exec at Apple in the 1980s, Jean-Louis Gassée has a look at the reasons behind the dismissal of Steve Sinofsky and implications of the release of Windows 8. As I have suggested before, this is an opportunity for Apple as the learning curve may make it worth their while to move to the iPad (or Macs) although obviously not all would consider this. His analysis of the potential here ends with the simple, yet important conclusion: Apple can finish the job Sinofsky started.

We might add to this with an item from Kate MacKenzie on PixoBebo who examines the "shape" of Apple and of Microsoft. As Apple has risen, so Microsoft has descended.

Local Items

I cannot watch TV at such times as I have a job like many people, so look for the repeat screenings. One is at 11 am the same day, when most people will be working. The other is in the small hours later on in the week, when most people in the region will be sleeping, before going to work the next day. With 4 channels or more of non-stop sport here, one would think that it might be possible to find one slot that would be suitable for normal people.

A couple of local users have had problems using my site. A quick investigation suggests that one is using the Google DNS servers at 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 which were entered by a ToT technician. ToT's real DNS numbers are shown as 203.113.127.199 and 203.113.24.199 while True uses 203.144.207.29 and 203.144.207.49.

If I get problems with sites loading (or not being recognised) on the Mac, I also try the iPhone. I turn off wifi (TrueMove) and use 3G which access a different system entirely (DTAC) so the chances are that if both fail, there is something wrong elsewhere.

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.