Honestly, I’m not surprised. In the mobile market, Microsoft has proven over the years that it doesn’t know what customers want.

Thanks to Doxie for sponsoring The Loop this week. There’s never been a better time to go paperless. Doxie scans your paper – simply, automatically, and with no computer required. Just push the button and insert your sheet. Doxie scans anywhere in your home or office with a built-in rechargeable battery and memory.

When you’re ready to organize, sync scans to your Mac or iPad, just like a digital camera. Doxie’s elegant Mac app creates multi-page searchable PDFs you can save or send to Evernote, Dropbox, or via iMessage. Doxie even works with your iPad with both Apple’s Lightning and 30-pin SD Card Reader accessories.

Available now: the rechargeable Doxie Go for just $199.

An iBookstore exclusive. Coming April 15th, now available for pre-order.

Lex Friedman has a great article on the app economy and some of the excellent work developers do to make the apps we all use.

Seriously? This is what they have to battle the iPhone?

[Via DF]

MG Siegler sums it up nicely.

If it is upheld, the ITC can order any infringing device to be barred from importation into the United States. Apple has alleged that Samsung’s Galaxy, Transform and Nexus devices, among others, were among those made with the infringing technology.

The judge said Samsung did not infringe portions of another patent that detects a microphone when plugged into a headphone jack.

Both the iPhone and the iPod touch make for stellar pocket cameras, and the iPad and iPad mini aren’t too bad in a pinch either. An iOS device isn’t perfect for every photographic need. But it can serve awfully well in many situations where you might once have needed a digital camera.

The App Store sports what seems like a million different camera and picture apps. But have you really gotten the most out of the app that’s included with iOS? Serenity Caldwell offers some solid tips on how to take great pictures using just that.

The baseball management game from Out of the Park Developments is ready for the new Major League Baseball season. $5.

‘A time machine into Soviet childhood’ is how the creators of the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines describe their project.

Similar efforts exist in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Manufacturing beautiful and functional hardware is more difficult than ever due to capital demands and a lack of hardware experience on most startup teams. My experience at Apple taught me some important lessons about hardware design and production that, if heeded by hardware startups, provide an opportunity to bring innovative products to market without suffering setbacks – or even failure – from preventable mistakes.

Sensible advice from a guy who learned from the best.

This actually happened. An e-commerce website had been designed and developed. Launch had been initiated, and it was abruptly taken offline in mid-air.

I can’t even imagine how heartbreaking that must have been.

Having watched Mark Zuckerberg introduce the new Home interface for Android phones, Wall Street analysts wresting with the implications for Facebook, Google and Apple drew on every literary, musical and film reference they could think of, including The Wizard of Oz (“There’s no place like home”), ET (“Phone home”), Simon and Garfunkel (“Homeward Bound”) and, in a stretch, Robert Frost (“Fork in the road”).

Due to a lawsuit by VirnetX, Apple will be changing the behavior of VPN On Demand for iOS devices using iOS 6.1 and later.

Devices using iOS 6.1 and later with VPN On Demand configured to “Always” will behave as if they were configured with the “Establish if needed” option. The device will establish a VPN On Demand connection only if it is unable to resolve the DNS name of the host it is trying to reach. This change will be distributed in an update later this month.

Shawn Blanc does an in-depth review of the camera.

Horace Dediu gives his thoughts on yesterdays news from comScore.

Rian van der Merwe:

Tech journalists can write about privacy and the virtues of quitting Facebook all day long. The rest of the world won’t even hear about it, because they’ll be too busy getting immersed in the lives and identities of the friends they agree with.

He’s right.

You can watch Mark Zuckerberg introduce Facebook Home.

We often hear about how popular Macs are in schools or business from market research firms, but it’s interesting to hear from the students.

Hewlett Packard Co-chairman Ray Lane has stepped down from his position at the company, and is taking two other board members with him. Lane is leaving following a narrow re-election, and G. Kennedy Thompson and John Hammergren, also both elected by a close margin are departing as well. All three are departing in part due to their roles in the Autonomy acquisition scandal that rocked the company in 2012.

I would say the walls are starting to crumble, but I think that started years ago.

Esquire:

No American drinks foam. Give one a glass a third full of the stuff at almost any bar, and he’ll indignantly ask, “The hell is this?” Especially for a pilsner. But the exception to this rule is Hospoda, a restaurant in Manhattan that pours the best drafts you’ll find….its bartenders use Hospoda, a unique tap system to pump out four unique pours, each of which enhance the act of drinking in their own way, because of, yes, the foam.

We thought we’d introduce you to them, and tell you how they pour such strange and delicious drafts.

I may never get to Manhattan again so one of you needs to go to this restaurant and tell me just how wonderful and delicious this beer is.

Forbes contributor Laura He translated Cook’s apology.

Michael Mulvey’s wife’s reaction when he told her about Facebook Home.

Except it has one major flaw.

The entire dashboard is one giant touchscreen. “But hey, that’s so modern. So Tesla,” you might say. And you would be right – but this is where Tesla’s desire to distinguish itself from any old performance sedan ended up shooting itself in the foot.

Some interesting thoughts.

Om Malik:

In fact, Facebook Home should put privacy advocates on alert, for this application erodes any idea of privacy. If you install this, then it is very likely that Facebook is going to be able to track your every move, and every little action.

Very true.

Sad day.