Facebook coming to Ping?

Facebook didn’t last more than a few hours on Apple’s new Ping social network system. Why? Miguel Helft in The New York Times:

Facebook blocked Apple from that because Ping had the potential to send so much traffic Facebook’s way and cause “site stability” and “infrastructure” problems

While Ping would integrate nicely with Facebook, it does present the social network giant with additional competition that could far exceed Twitter.

Facebook:

We’re working with Apple to resolve this issue. We’ve worked together successfully in the past, and we look forward to doing so in the future.

Why can’t we all just get along?

AAPL to hit $1,000

You gotta hand it to any stock follower who picks prices up to five years in advance. Enter Cody Willard who predicts AAPL to hit $1,000 by 2015:

Why so confident about Apple’s positioning for the next decade? Apps, apps, apps. We are changing how we interact with the Internet as we move from browser-based/keyboard-based computing, to app-based/touch screen-based computing.

Who else has so many apps that run on so many different devices already owned by tens of millions of customers? No one.

Apple TV: Hit or Miss?

You can’t even buy the new Apple TV but already the prognosticators are weighing in. John Patrick Pullen in Fortune:

The previous version of Apple TV was dubbed “take two.” Will the new model be known as “strike three?”

Why the hard knocks for a device not even on the shelves? Steve Jobs three months ago:

No one wants to buy a box. You just end up with a table full of remotes, a cluster of boxes… and that’s what we have today.

Imagine the scenario one year from now. Netflix, Boxee, NFL, MLB, NBA, and all network channels streaming, one way or another, through iPhone, iPad, iPod touch—to Apple TV.

The Leaning Tower of Ping

Ping is the iTunes version of social networking for music. Yet another way for iTunes users to find music. Wade Roush of Xconomy thinks Ping could be Apple’s undoing:

There’s no integration with Facebook or even with your contact lists, so it’s virtually impossible to find real-world friends to connect with. For a social networking tool, this is a bit of a problem.

Agreed. Ping is Apple 101. Start with something simple and elegant, then expand. Imagine TV shows, movies, books, and especially apps—all built in to Ping, which then connects direct to Facebook and Twitter.

Adding a social networking interface, on top of all of iTunes’ other functions, is like grafting another limb to the forehead of an octopus. It’s just too much.

Agreed. And yet iTunes works for over 100-million dedicated customers. How long before Apple revamps iTunes?

Don’t Be Evil: The Movie

Consumer Watchdog’s take on the Don’t Be Evil video featuring Google CEO Eric Schmidt as ice cream salesman.

We’re satirizing Schmidt in the most highly trafficked public square in the nation to make the public aware of how out of touch Schmidt and Google are when it comes to our privacy rights. America needs a ‘Do Not Track Me’ list and Google is Exhibit A in the case for it.

The video is hilarious, and paints a stark contrast to Google’s carefully crafted persona.

Does Apple’s Pricing Structure Bother You?

Kate MacKenzie in Mac360 analyzes the logic behind Ben Kunz commentary on Apple’s use of pricing decoys.

Is Apple spreading prices and products over a migration line just to get me to spend more money, or, is Apple giving me more for the money I have to spend?

Yes. Duh.

Yes. That Kate MacKenzie.

An App Store for Apple TV?

Where’s the App Store for Apple TV? Don’t rule out Apple’s ruling your living room. Peter Burrows in Bloomberg Businessweek.

A big question will be whether Apple opens an App Store for Apple TV. If it does that, and history repeats itself, thousands of developers might then race to create programs suited to the TV.

Is Apple thinking in this direction? Yes. If Apple TV sells millions and millions of units at $99, you can bet the farm there will be Apple TV apps.

Google vs. Jobs

Seth Weintraub in Fortune on the activation debate between Apple and Google:

A Google Spokesperson told me: “The Android activation numbers do not include upgrades and are, in fact, only a portion of the Android devices in the market since we only include devices that have Google services.” —meaning that Jobs’ assertions were wrong.

It doesn’t matter. Google’s Android wins the unit market share war. Apple wins the revenue and profit war.