Ryan Jones makes a great argument (one I’ve also used) and even better charts to illustrate his point.

Dan and Jim talk about the release of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, Apple’s quarterly earnings report, guitars, and more!

Sponsored by DocuSign, Sourcebits, and Hover (coupon code DANSENTME or 10% off).

Definitely a nice guitar.

Apple on Wednesday updated its Podcasts app for iOS, adding a significant number of improvements. While many people complained about the first version of Podcasts, I was quite happy with what they brought out. Many of the things that people thought should be included in this app seemed to be on the high-end side of the fence. I contended when the app was first released, and still believe today, that Apple made a useful app for the majority of users, leaving the high-end market for its third-party developers.

Having said that, it is good to see Apple paying attention to one of its newest iOS apps with so many improvements.

According to Apple the following changes have been made to its Podcasts app:

• Significant improvements to performance and stability
• Podcasts in your library now show the number of unplayed episodes
• Top Stations now show the podcast title if artwork is missing
• Playback speed is now remembered when playing the next episode
• Fix for a problem where the Subscribe button is inactive
• Resolution of an issue where Top Stations artwork may not appear

John Paczkowski:

In February 2010, Google told Samsung that Samsung’s “P1” and “P3” tablets (Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Tab 10.1) were “too similar” to the iPad and demanded “distinguishable design vis-à-vis the iPad for the P3.”

Oopsie.

Yeah, Apple’s been busy today.

Avid have posted a knowledge base article on Pro Tools compatibility with Apple’s OS X Mountain Lion. While the article talks about Gatekeeper, it doesn’t say that Pro Tools will not work with the new operating system.

I’ll be installing Pro Tools on Retina MacBook this weekend to see how it works.

Todd Bishop:

Apple sold 1.3 million Apple TV devices during the June quarter, an increase of 170 percent over the same quarter a year ago.That still qualifies as a “hobby,” according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, who disclosed the number in response to an analyst’s question on the company’s earnings conference call. But here’s an interesting data point: Microsoft sold 1.1 million Xbox 360s worldwide during the same time period.

Doesn’t mean anything, but still interesting.

Jason Schwartz for Boston magazine:

Back at the softball field in Dracut, Schilling is still having trouble fathoming what happened. “I’ll find myself in the middle of the day, just aching,” he says. He concedes that he’d promised his employees 60 days’ warning if the money ever looked like it was going to run out, but argues that the situation was moving too fast for him to keep sending updates. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell anyone,” he says, “it’s I didn’t know what to say.”

If you read one article about the massive implosion of “Kingdoms of Amalur” video game maker 38 Studios – founded by former Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling – let it be this one. It’s an incredibly in depth look at the company’s rise and fall, and the dangers that celebrity hubris bring to such an enterprise.

Tim Kiladze for the Globe and Mail:

Right after Apple Inc. announced its profits on Tuesday, the first news reports all fixated on just how badly the tech giant missed earnings estimates of $10.37 (U.S.) per share. The main message: this was horrible news. … Analysts shouldn’t be paid to tell us where they think earnings will come in. They should be able to coherently explain what the earnings mean and what to watch out for. They’re in the business of analysis, after all.

Kiladze nails it. After last night’s earnings report, in which Apple exceeded its previous guidance for the quarter, financial reporters quickly noted that Apple missed analyst expectations. But analysts are consistently wrong about Apple’s earnings, so why do we put any stock in these people’s guesses at all?

MacStories is pleased to announce their first eBook, MacStories Features: OS X Mountain Lion, for $6.99. With a detailed review of Mountain Lion, numerous sections covering its new apps and features in depth, and 30% of its proceeds going to the American Cancer Society, MacStories Features: OS X Mountain Lion is a great way to learn about Mountain Lion, support MacStories, and fight cancer all at once.

David S.F. Portree for Wired:

On 10 June 1977, former Skylab Deputy Director John Disher, NASA’s Director of Advanced Programs, directed NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, to conduct an in-house study of the feasibility of reusing Skylab in the Space Shuttle program. On 16 November 1977, MSFC engineers J. Murphy, B. Chubb, and H. Gierow presented results of the study to NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight John Yardley. Before coming to NASA in 1974, Yardley had managed Skylab assembly at McDonnell Douglas, the Orbital Workshop’s prime contractor.

A fascinating look inside a NASA program to fix America’s first space station and use it as a way station for the Space Shuttle. The projected costs were fairly modest, and would have kept Skylab operational through the 1980s.

Skylab is a footnote to the history of America’s space exploration. Skylab was crippled from the start because of damage incurred at liftoff, and only hosted three crews.

Delays associated with the Space Shuttle program doomed any chance of the Skylab reuse effort coming to fruition. It re-entered Earth’s atmosphere in 1979, breaking up into pieces and crashing into the ocean near Perth, Australia.

Matt Gemmell:

Piracy isn’t a symptom of social disease. Well, it might be, but your bank manager won’t care about that inconsequential detail. Piracy is a symptom of failure to find an effective business model.

So many good points in this article.

Sprite Cow looks really cool.

Jordan Robertson for Bloomberg:

In the 15 years that computer hackers have gathered in Las Vegas for the Black Hat conference, an event where unknowns can become stars and tech heavyweights are skewered for security failures, one company has been noticeably absent: Apple.

…

That will change Thursday when Dallas De Atley, manager of Apple’s platform security team, is scheduled to give a presentation on key security technologies within iOS, the operating system for iPhones and iPads.

Folks from Apple have certainly attended security conferences in the past, but this is the first time that they’ve actually spoken at this event, according to its general manager.

Jeff Blagdon for the Verge:

A ruling from the Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court in Germany turns a new page in the ongoing legal saga between Apple and Samsung, clearing the way for the Korean maker’s redesigned Galaxy Tab 10.1N, but extending a German ban on the smaller Galaxy Tab 7.7 to the entire EU.

Apple has been trying to get the Galaxy Tab 10.1N blocked for months, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. The German courts say it’s different enough from its predecessor.

One of the best backup applications for your Mac is Mike Bombich’s Carbon Copy Cloner, now up to version 3.5. The new release brings Mountain Lion support and has “transitioned” to a fully paid application – while Bombich worked for Apple, the software was donationware. Mike is no longer at Apple and he wants to get paid!

CCC creates automated, incremental and bootable backups and makes backing up simple and easy.

The new version costs $39.95 but is on sale for $29.96 for a limited time.

Igloo Software is the best way to collaborate at work, whether you want to improve the way one team shares information or connect people and processes across your entire business. Think of it like an intranet you actually want to use. Igloo’s digital workplace is delivered in the cloud, so it works on any device – from iPhone to iPad to Mac – anywhere you are.

The Igloo team is always working to make their platform better. In fact, they update the platform every 90 days. Pearl, Igloo’s latest software update, instantly brings over 20 new features to every Igloo customer. Updates include social content archiving, support for multi-lingual content, instant translations of user generated content and social analytics.

Igloo for teams starts at just $99 a month for up to 25 users.

You can also sign-up to win a Krups Heineken tap of your very own.

Steven Sande:

In a strangely humorous case of “what goes around comes around”, the law firm that helped Chinese manufacturer Proview win a US$60 million settlement against Apple for use of the trademark “iPad” in China is now suing Proview to get back at least $2.4 million in legal fees that have been left unpaid.

A couple of pieces from Banksy.

By examining last apple’s statement about in-app purchases in iOS 6, I can say, that currently game is over. Currently we have no way to bypass updated APIs. It’s a good news for everyone, we have updated security in iOS, developers have their air-money.