Steve Jobs announced yesterday that a Mac equivalent to the iOS App Store is coming soon. Naturally, the tech community has rattled off its usual arguments about ‘control’ and ‘openness’ and ‘Steve is a ninja and therefore cannot be trusted’.

Interestingly, though, most developers are positive about this development. Loren Brichter of Atebits/Twitter perhaps sums up best why the Mac App Store is a good thing over on Cult of Mac:

Find developer website
Click download link
Unarchive
Drag to Applications folder
Launch app
Find registration button
Go to developers website
Click buy
Enter credit card information
Click buy
Wait for email
Open license email
Copy license
Paste license

vs.

Click “Buy”

Prior to Apple’s event yesterday, rumours abounded about iOS being directly integrated into Mac OS X, perhaps replacing Dashboard, but this thinking wrongly dismisses iOS apps as being inferior to their desktop cousins.

Instead, Jobs says Apple has simply learned from and been inspired by its mobile devices; it’s clear that cross-pollination of ideas is the direction the company is heading in rather than integrating iOS directly into Mac OS X.

Read more about my thoughts on Mac OS X 10.7 (‘Lion’) over at TechRadar.

Lovely quote from Fraser Speirs, responding to people sceptical about his school’s ‘iPad for every pupil’ approach:

What the iPad has allowed us to do is to bring digital resources up to the same level of availabiliy as paper resources in our teaching. It’s unthinkable that pupils would only have one or two hours of access to books each week, yet that was the position with digital resources before we deployed the iPad.

Sadly, I’m increasingly thinking that whatever happens on a more widespread basis in the UK, it’ll likely have more to do with the likes of the RM Slate than the iPad, despite the RM device being pricier than the iPad, having a battery life of “over three hours” (compared to the iPad’s all-day charge—essential for school and work use) and lacking the app ecosystem that’s been a major component of the success of the project at Speirs’s school.

A leading industry analyst has declared that “Apple is basically fucked” after Apple’s 2010 fourth quarter results revealed that iPod sales had declined by 11 percent.

With the ubiquitous music player the only important product Apple makes, the leading analyst dismissed Apple’s record $20.4 billion revenue and $4.31 billion profit as “a blip” and said “it’s not like we just make shit up as we go along, you know,” adding: “If I were you, I wouldn’t even bother to sell your Apple shares, because the company really is that fucked—by the time you try, it’ll be too late.”

Another leading industry analyst agreed, pointing out that Apple was “closed”, “not open”, “somewhat shut” and “blinkered”, again pointing to the disastrous 11 percent decline in iPod sales as the “final proof that Apple is done”. Writing off the 27 percent jump in Mac sales and 91 increase in iPhone sales (to 14.1 million), he added: “Look, the iPod is where it’s at, and it’s clear Apple is losing that battle. I predict that within the year, Apple will be lucky to sell whatever’s left of its battered reputation to Acer for ten bucks and change.”

Yet another leading analyst chimed in: “It’s unlikely that Apple will survive the year. The drop in iPod sales will really hit Apple, and the tiny number of iPad sales—just over four million—won’t be enough to help the iPod maker struggle into 2011.”

Retro Gamer won a GMA last night (‘Best Games Magazine’), which is rather nice. Since it’s the only games magazine I write for, I’m going to take all the credit.

Meanwhile, if you’re a fan of Infocom, Steve Meretzky, leather goddesses, Phobos, or Leather Goddesses of Phobos, buying the latest issue of the mag (complete with flying Mario advent calendar cover—I kid you not) would be a good idea, since it includes The Making of… Leather Goddesses of Phobos (by yours truly).