Another ‘analyst’ clearly earning their money, commenting on iOS making ground on the PSP and DS in mobile gaming:

Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities:

what’s the difference if you play Tetris on an iPod Touch or on a DS? Well, you pay a buck on the iPod Touch, you pay $20 on the DS. Parents prefer $1 or free software. I think the iPod Touch is going to sell really, really well. I really think as the iPod Touch gets more and more powerful, you’re going to see a lot of free games over there.

Yes, because iOS doesn’t already have a lot of free games. And the iPod touch isn’t already selling ‘really well’. Let’s also ignore the primary reasons behind the success of iOS as a gaming platform: huge range, bringing fun and novelty back to gaming, millions of credit cards already being hooked up to iTunes, the ability of bedroom coders to fight alongside industry giants. But, no, it’s all about cheap shit, says the analyst.

Gah.

Also, Tetris. Great example. First, it’s very rarely a buck on iOS (usually $2.99); secondly, it’s a pretty mediocre version, unlike the rather spiffy DS one.

GAH.

…

Just… GAH.

The kind of quote you don’t want to see:

A baton strike came to the side of my face and then onto the top of my head. Directly onto the crown of my head. I felt a big whacking thud and I heard it reverberating inside my head.

I wasn’t sure whether I was bleeding or not. I moved off to the side and asked a police officer if I was bleeding. But he just said “Keep moving, keep moving”. Then I put my hand to the top of my head and looked at my palm and I could see there was blood everywhere.

I then asked another police officer, who was wearing a police medic badge, if he could help me. And he told me to move away as well and told me to go to another exit. By this point blood was streaming down the back of my head and back of my neck.

No, this isn’t a quote from some irate blogger, demonstrating in a hostile regime halfway around the world. This is the account of journalist Shiv Malik at the London student protests (see the 4:31pm entry).

If this kind of thing was happening in a non-Western country, our MPs would be all over the news, saying how disgraceful such actions by the authorities are. But because it’s the UK and the authorities are clearly trying to put a young generation off of protesting for good, MPs and the police alike are denouncing the protestors as hostile scum, ignoring police provocation and kettling.

That’s not to say every protestor is well-intentioned, because that’s clearly not the case. However, what we’re seeing here is a new kind of police presence, one where disorder, dissent and disobedience simply will not be tolerated; it’s a depressing thing from a country that supposedly prides itself on being democratic.

Bloomberg reports that network operators have finally totally lost it. “Wah wah wah,” says the CEO of one or the other or France Telecom, Telecom Italia or Vodafone ‘we don’t pay our taxes’ Group. “iPhones and Android devices are being used LOADS now, and it’s JUST NOT FAIR!”

The argument appears to centre on the fact that mobile operators are whiney bastards who don’t have the balls to charge users by the MB of data downloaded, instead competing with ‘unlimited’ plans; and so rather than charging users proportionately, they’ve come up with a CUNNING PLAN.

Unfortunately, the cunning plan is this: have Apple, Google and Facebook pay for the billions of dollars of investment requires to sort out their shoddy, under-strain networks. No, really. Good luck, guys! I’m sure this idea will pan out swimmingly!

Of course, this level of stupidity has precedent. We’ve already had idiot ISPs saying the BBC should pay them money for having the audacity to create the wonderful iPlayer that loads of people love using (rather than, say, killing unlimited broadband and charging people on the basis of the amount they use, like with electricity and gin).

So, well done, network operators. I’m sure Steve Jobs and his pals are nearly dead through an inability to breathe properly, due to laughing non-stop for several hours.

Hat tip: Matt Gemmell’s hat.

Apple’s soon to unleash its Mac App Store. Similarly to the App Store for iOS devices, it will provide a central location for Mac apps to be bought, and Apple will take a 30 percent cut. In return, Apple will deal with hosting and billing, along with potentially providing visibility for apps from a range of developers.

Lots of people have said this is the Worst Idea Ever, presumably not fully understanding that most computer users never buy an application, and many of those who do get hugely confused during the install process (often running applications from disk images that they never unmount). A one-click purchase followed by a single-click ‘update everything’ button has the potential to revolutionise software purchase and installation.

The problem I have with Apple’s plans is that the existing App Store is horrible. Ignoring for a moment its terrible search and sluggish performance, the service is a bug-ridden mess. Every single time I try to redeem a promotional code, I am greeted with six error dialog boxes. Every time I try to update my apps, I’m told the information being displayed is ‘outdated’ and that I should refresh the page. Often, I’ll find that I’m being presented with an update to an app that’s no longer available, meaning the ‘update all’ button doesn’t work. Connection errors are commonplace. If this was just me, fair enough, but Apple’s support forums are littered with people suffering from the exact same problem—and when one error is fixed in an iTunes update or ‘behind the scenes’, another appears.

For me, this is a head-banging-on-desk kind of frustration, but for the typical iOS device owner it utterly destroys the user experience. If the Mac App Store suffers from similar errors, it won’t be enough of a step-up from the existing software purchase and installation model. For most companies, that would be fine, but for Apple this shouldn’t be good enough.

24 Ways has been running for several years now, providing 24 end-of-year articles for web designers and developers. It’s like advent, except the tasty treats are web design tips, not chocolates.

This year, the company is releasing an annual. The idea is to compile everything over the season into an 80-page book, then fire the proceeds at Unicef. The book’s only going to be on sale until the end of December and is looking for sponsorship, so:

• If you’re a wealthy but charitable sort, sponser the thing (PDF).
• If you’re in the web industry, buy the thing.