iOS vs. Android Update Adoption

David Smith breaks it down:

Looking just at the OTA eligible users we again see a promising future for iOS developers. Nearly 80% of users are on the latest version within 15 days.

That compares to just 61.5% of users being on a version of Android released last year. This is in no small part because so many Android phones cannot be easily upgraded.

HT: Gruber

What is the Lord's Supper

A little Westminster Shorter Catechism for the night:

The Lord's Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ's appointment, his death is showed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace.

UAW und VW

Interesting tidbit from Autoblog:

Automotive News reports the UAW has not told Volkswagen of its efforts to unionize the Chattanooga plant. An announcement may come about the program in early April. The plant currently employs more than 2,700 workers.

Perhaps an announcement is too late, if the union is already passing out cards in a bid to get enough signatures to organize. Given VW's willingness to allow the workers to organize, why the quasi-secrecy?

iPads: Get 'Em While They're Hot!

Marco Arment highlights some disturbing reporting maneuvers made by Consumer Reports in an article on the new iPad.

CS 6

Assuming that Adobe hasn't managed to make Photoshop even slower, CS 6 looks very promising.

Give it Back to the Shareholders

Interesting. Michael Dell famously said in 1997 that if he were Steve Jobs he would shut Apple down and give the money back to the shareholders. Dustin Curtis points out that Apple's newly announced quarterly dividend will pay out approximately equivalent of Apple's 1997 market cap every quarter.

The Storm that Didn't Come

I always find watching weather patterns interesting. Today, several lines of storms looked like they were on a collision course with St. Louis, but one way or another missed us. Now the forecast has the storms trying another pass through the area early in the coming morning. I keep thinking I hear thunder off in the distance, so perhaps they shall still arrive.

I do hope if we get storms that they don't put an end to all the flowering trees' displays for the year. The trees look just grand right now.

On Apple's Cash

What could they be planning tomorrow? Perhaps a dividend would be appropriate, but I think it would be wise for them to keep most of their massive $100 billion cash pile in reserve for a rainy day or a helpful major acquisition.

Late Night Haiku XL

CXII. Lightning flashes about
The stormy mid-March night sky,
A tempest held back.

CXIII. I have known the storm,
And heard thunder now restrained,
Mighty hammers stilled.

CXIV. Though rain has past us,
Violent clouds address the sky,
Quarrel with the wind.

Hexane Evanescent

Rob Shmitz wrote a piece today on Mike Daisey, who has given interviews and published articles all across mass media speaking of the horrors he saw at Apple's manufacturing partner, Foxconn, in China. The trouble is, he made them all up:

“Look. I'm not going to say that I didn't take a few shortcuts in my passion to be heard. But I stand behind the work,” Daisey said. “My mistake, the mistake I truly regret, is that I had it on your show as journalism. And it's not journalism. It's theater.”

Public Radio International deserves credit for quickly retracting the story fully (unlike the New York Times, which merely says there are questions concerning the Op-Ed it published from Daisey).

Obviously, there are human rights concerns within the Chinese manufacturing complex. But, Daisey's critiques have always come off troubling, since he has focused on exposing horrendous “truths” about a company that normally appears to be very concerned about worker conditions in China (i.e. Apple). Now the reason it is troubling has become clear: Daisey's “truths” were false. And, while he claims he was purely being theatrical, he certainly didn't indicate that in his NYT Op-Ed or any of dozens of other places he “reported.”