I Don’t Typically Do This

I’ve been thinking about Google’s recent decision to pull H.264 support from Chrome in favor of their own WebM codec. Since Apple is the #1 proponent of H.264, many are claiming that Google’s reasoning for doing this is that it gives them a competitive advantage against Apple in the mobile space.

In order for Google to realize that advantage, however, several things need to happen:

1. WebM hardware decoders need to be made available. Decoders have been announced, but no one is shipping one yet.
2. Android phone manufacturers need to integrate the chip into their phone. Assuming they replace the H.264 decoder with the WebM decoder, Android phones will no longer support H.264. In addition,
3. Major content providers, including YouTube, Amazon and Netflix, will need to make their libraries available in WebM. If not, Adobe will need to have Flash ready to decode H.264 in a way that respects frame rates and battery life.
4. Manufacturers of cameras that record in H.264 will need to integrate WebM encoders into their cameras or provide software that will convert H.264 to WebM.

If all these things take place and Apple decides to not support WebM at all, only then Android will have a competitive advantage over iOS when it comes to playback of web video.

In the meantime though, WebM’s uncertain patent situation will actually put Android manufacturers at a disadvantage since instead of facing the same infringement risk as Apple, providing WebM decoders actually increases their infringement risk. Unfortunately for them, “being more ‘open’” is not a valid legal defense.

Hope you weren’t too attached to the iOS home button.

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True, this is a very large number, but most numbers are larger.

— Math StackExchange user Ross Millikan (who attributes it to Martin Gardner) on the number of monkeys it takes to produce Hamlet.

Annie Lowrey writes about how DMB makes money in what many believe to be a dying industry. The secret (at least to those who haven’t spent thousands on concert tickets over the last decade, like I have): the band makes most of it’s money from touring, rather than from selling records.

As Josh Klein puts it:

The gist is that unlike the traditional musician business model (get discovered, get a large amount of money up front, produce shippable versions of your product), they actually - ya know - work for a living. DMB incrementally grows their fan base by constantly reaching their customers directly, and selling them shows instead of records. And while the “record” business is dying, music isn’t going anywhere. Satisfy a core customer need, work your ass off, and you have a viable business. You don’t need to go raising tons of money to have a huge reach.

Hmm, what other thing does this sound like?

(via Hacker News)

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This is the color picker for a Google Calendar calendar. Who in their right mind thought this was an acceptable arrangement?