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Daring Fireball: Hope You Enjoy the Smell of Napalm in the Morning

Hence the patent suit against HTC. That’s all about Google — about creating a situation where Android is no longer a free operating system for handset makers in the U.S., because the cost of using it is an expensive legal defense against Apple.

via daringfireball.net

Wow. That quote from Gruber makes so much sense. That’s why you sue HTC, not Google. Google might give away its operating system for free, but if it ends up costing millions in legal fees, maybe Microsoft’s licensing is a better option for companies like HTC, Motorola, etc., after all.

Of course, with Microsoft’s new OS using a lot of the same UI ideas that Android does (multitouch and whatnot), it may not pay to use Windows Phone 7, either. Apple could just as easily sue you for that. So what phone OS is left for these companies to target?

This is going to get really interesting. I’m still not sure that the media isn’t playing the whole “War between Google and Apple” up quite a bit, just because sensationalism sells, but there’s definitely some small amount of fire to go along with all this smoke.

The Movie Studios' Big 3D Scam - movie studios - Gizmodo

> This problem will get even worse when you all get sucked into buying a 3D TV for your living room where the size of the screen fills even less of your view. And now there’s talk on the rumor mill of re-releasing *Titanic* in 3D? Watch out for a flood of classics being shoved down the fake stereoscopic pipeline and into your Blu-ray player for an extra $10. Hopefully Cameron will continue to help set a higher standard.
via [gizmodo.com](http://gizmodo.com/5493832/the-movie-studios-big-3d-scam?skyline=true&s=i)
I’m usually not a big fan of Gizmodo, but this is a revealing article about the movie industry and its push for 3-D.

Fight over 3-D screens heats up with high-pressure tactics | Company Town | Los Angeles Times

> Paramount has taken the unusual and aggressive step of telling theaters with a 3-D-capable screen that if they choose not to show it in 3-D, they won’t be provided with a 2-D copy to show instead.  > > “It’s an underhanded threat,” said one California theater operator who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals. > > Walt Disney Studios, meanwhile, is looking to keep as many 3-D screens as possible for “Alice in Wonderland,” which has grossed more than $220 million domestically in its first 12 days.
via [latimesblogs.latimes.com](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/03/fight-over-3d-screens-heats-up-with-high-pressure-tactics.html)
I really wish the public would wise up and realize that 3D is nothing more than a cheap ploy by the movie industry to raise ticket prices, but until they do, this sort of thing is going to happen more and more often.

It’s only a matter of time before most movies come out in 3D; what are the studios going to do then? Force movie theaters to spend more money on upgrading to 3D capability on all their screens? Who is going to pay for that?

Stop paying more for blurry, dark movies, people.

Rubenstein on why the Pre has not been as successful as Palm would like

> If we could have launched at Verizon prior to the Droid, I think we would have gotten the attention the Droid got. And since I believe we have a better product, I think we could have even done better,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm’s CEO.
via [macworld.com](http://www.macworld.com/article/147227/2010/03/palm.html?lsrc=rss_main)
I agree with half of this statement. Palm definitely has the better product. But I don’t think an earlier release would have given Palm the “success” the Droid received, necessarily.

How successful the Droid actually was, few people know. We still don’t have complete sales figures. But it appears that at least the opening couple of months were pretty good. I still think the Droid’s audience was limited to über-geek males by the silly marketing campaign Verizon put out. But maybe they knew that audience was their best shot at any sort of success.

The Pre, on the other hand, has much more potential for wider market appeal. Women, in particular, would be much more likely to want a Pre or Pixi over a Droid, I’d guess. So if the Pre had been released on Verizon sooner, AND Verizon had developed a wide-reaching marketing campaign and put as much money behind it as it did the Droid, then yeah. I’d say Rubenstein would be right. But that’s a big IF.

I almost want to pick up a Pre, just to play around with WebOS more. If I could get one unlocked and not bother paying for monthly service, just use it via WiFi, that might be interesting.

I just hate to see Palm in this position. It has the best product to compete against Apple, but no one is buying it. It’s sort of the same position Apple was in throughout the ’90s. If Android stopped getting so much undeserved positive press, Palm would have a much better shot at making a go of it. They wouldn’t overtake the iPhone any time soon, but they don’t have to.

GREAT article, as always, from Counternotions

Windows then, Android now. That the latter is open source may be technically interesting but strategically insignificant.

(via counternotions.com)

Anti-Google sentiment may finally start picking up steam in the main stream tech press, if many of the stories I’ve been seeing about the Nexus One flop are any indication. It’s about time.

Counternotions, of course, has never drunk the Kool Aid on Google. This article is a great read, and sums up my feelings on Tim Bray’s quotes from earlier this week perfectly. The whole thing comes off as a controlled media sham. As if “dis Apple on your first day publicly” were a condition of his contract.

People are starting to notice that Google “doth protest too much” about its so-called altruism on the Web.

Or, as Jobs allegedly put it so bluntly, “Don’t be Evil” is bullshit.