I've been meaning to write this for some time, and for all the time I delayed the more poignant the point I wanted to make started to become as new news came out further solidifying my angle. When I begun writing this article the iPad had not yet been revealed, iPhone OS 4 was not on the map and Apple had not yet purchased Lala. You've probably just noticed that all of these events in fact point toward Apple embracing the web more and in this article I will point out why this is not the case because I believe Apple's agenda here is similar to something we've already seen in recent history.
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Member since:2005-11-10
Safari on the iPhone / iPad.
WebKit being open doesn’t matter - because the compiled WebKit binary on iPhone OS is up to Apple. If they don’t want feature X, then feature X doesn’t go in. Apple don’t have to lock down WebKit to lock down the web.
I agree that it’s unlikely that another browser will be 99%. But what about H.264? That has a complete and total monopoly across the web and devices. H.264 is where IE6 was. As explained in the article, I think Safari on the iPhone OS will veto features Apple don’t like and that the App Store will inhibit choice (if it hasn’t already).
Member since:2006-11-14
webkit from apple is the only rendering engine on apple's mobile devices hence apple is in absolute control over what web technologies will be supported on their devices and they have a potential here to be where microsoft was with IE6.
But apple business model does not scale and iphone/ipad will most likely never dominant enough to command the web to be tuned to its features and bugs.
It is fairly easy to give examples of where IE6 domination hindered the web Can you show of example of where h.264 did the same? h.264 concerns only those who are starting to be too big to matter or to those concerned with free software philosophies.
Most FOSS audio/video players can encode and decode the codec and most online contents are served through flash.
Most if not all practical problems about h.264 on the web will be solved by VP8.Hardware support of the codec will start rolling soon, all major browser will support it, flash, too will support it
Apple just accelerated the push towards html5, i doubt they will have the muscle to corner the html5 world to their liking, chrome is there to make sure that wont happen
I simply dont have a concern about the web anymore. Nobody will be able to will the web to their liking anymore and there are too many players and this will only force the web to gravitate towards the least common denominator, ie standard bugs, behaviors and expectations.
Member since:2007-02-22
Which does not imply its relevance.
(Also, "open source == free" logical fallacy.)
Google's best interest lies in Google-controlled and Google-monitored access to the web.
Member since:2010-05-31
I don't know whether this relates to your comment, and you're probably already aware, but, FWIW, AAPL has already filed for a patent on webkit: http://pulse2.com/2010/05/23/apple-files-patent-for-webkit/
Member since:2007-02-17
KHTML is prior art for webkit (since webkit is actually a fork of KHTML), as is, to a lesser extent, Trident, Presto and Gecko.
Patents are supposed to be awarded only for new inventions. Where is the innovation in webkit? Webkit wasn't even the first to be standards-compliant to the acid3 tests level, Presto was.
Finally, given the patent provisions in the GPL, and also given the fact that KHTML code (on which webkit is based) is GPL code, then even if Apple do get a patent for webkit (stranger things have happened), then Apple are obliged via the provisions of the GPL to give every downstream recipient of Webkit unrestricted license to use that patented invention.
Member since:2009-03-19
Whomever runs that site is an idiot. If s/he spent 5 minutes fact checking s/he would realize that Apple applied for a trademark, not a patent.
"So in summary... Google has pulled the plug on support on a protocol they've helped popularize, after years of promising interoperability, for reasons that are dubious at best, and in a way that leaves people who don't jump to the new Hangouts app unable to talk to their contacts without any feedback that their IMs aren't getting through... And they've done that with no warning to anyone. I imagine there's a bunch of people out there wondering where some of their buddies have gone, or why their messages aren't getting responses, because this isn't documented anywhere." Google really messed this up. Such a dick move.
The Tizen Greek Community has some screenshots of a very recent build of Tizen running on a Samsung GT-i8800. It looks wholly unremarkable.Joint statement to The Next Web from Microsoft and Google: "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube's API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks. Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time." Good to know these children stopped acting like little pricks. Can we have full Google support in Windows 8 now, please?
Yahoo is acquiring Tumblr, the microblogging and social networking website, for $1.1 billion USD. Tumblr offers little revenue but lots of eyeballs if Yahoo can monetarize them. Now Yahoo is bidding for Hulu, the streaming video service. After years of ineffective responses while Google, Facebook, and others took large chunks of the online advertising market, Yahoo is fighting back. Can Yahoo reignite the momentum it had at the turn of the century? What do you think?"Sources have described iOS 7 as 'black, white, and flat all over'. This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements." I couldn't be happier.
"Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues."
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently."In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies."The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing.
Member since:
2006-11-14
Safari will be the next IE6.
Are you talking about safari or webkit?
Safari as a web browser is not going anywhere anytime soon and its existence only serves to force web developers to aim for lowest common denominator and hence will prevent anybody from locking up the web.
webkit is developed in the open and apple cant lock it down even if they wanted to.
Google's best interest lies in people having free access to the web. They join the cellphone business to guarantee this access. They will enter the ipad space with devices running android and chromeos soon.
Nobody will be able to get commanding power microsoft had with IE6 over the web. There are simply too many powerful players at the moment.