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The Think-iPad Edition Monday, June 24, 2019

The iPad Operating System, by Horace Dediu, Asymco

The Operating System idea here is a bit of a conceit. In terms of the kernel and the core APIs there are vast common grounds between all Apple’s OSs. But what Apple calls an OS is not just the core code but also the positioning of the idea to developers. By branding iPadOS the company is signaling to developers that they should think about the iPad differently.

5 Lessons From Microsoft’s Antitrust Woes, By People Who Lived It, by Steve Lohr, New York Times

The nation’s antitrust enforcers and Congress are stepping up their scrutiny of the tech giants. Disruptive investigations, federal lawsuits and new rules could loom for Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple.

The companies and their executives don’t need to look far for guidance about how this could all play out. One of their top competitors, Microsoft, faced the government’s ire in the 1990s, leading to a bruising battle in federal court.

The Antitrust Suspects: Facebook And Apple Appear To Be Most At Risk, by Jon Swartz, MarketWatch

“There is a pretty good claim against Apple for its exclusive dealing with its App Store,” says Hovenkamp. “This could lead to an injunctive remedy.”

While exclusivity is not inherently anticompetitive, Delrahim noted in last week’s speech, there are cases where a company may use exclusivity “to prevent entry or diminish the ability of rivals to achieve necessary scale, thereby substantially foreclosing competition.”

Stuff

Apple Highlights iMessage Encryption, App Store Privacy, And iPhone Recycling In Trio Of New Ads, by Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

Apple today shared three new ads on its YouTube channel in Australia, highlighting iMessage encryption, App Store privacy, and iPhone recycling, as part of its ongoing "That's iPhone" marketing campaign around the world.

Tasty Deals: Apps Help Find Unsold Food And Reduce Waste, by Kirsten Grieshaber, Denver Post

After a long day at work, Annekathrin Fiesinger is too tired to consider making dinner at home. So the 34-year-old uses her smartphone to check nearby restaurants, hotels or bakeries in Berlin for food being sold for a discount at the end of the day.

The part-time coffee shop worker, who is also studying for a degree in the science of ecosystems, is part of a growing movement of environmentally-aware people in Germany and beyond who are using apps to reduce food waste and try to cut down on climate-wrecking carbon emissions.

Notes

What Happens After Amazon’s Domination Is Complete? Its Bookstore Offers Clues, by David Streitfeld, New York Times

“The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy” is a medical handbook that recommends the right amount of the right drug for treating ailments from bacterial pneumonia to infected wounds. Lives depend on it.

It is not the sort of book a doctor should puzzle over, wondering, “Is that a ‘1’ or a ‘7’ in the recommended dosage?” But that is exactly the possibility that has haunted the guide’s publisher, Antimicrobial Therapy, for the past two years as it confronted a flood of counterfeits — many of which were poorly printed and hard to read — in Amazon’s vast bookstore.

“This threatens a bunch of patients — and our whole business,” said Scott Kelly, the publisher’s vice president.

Tokyo To Allow Students To Bring Smartphones To School, by Jiji, The Japan Times

In its 2009 guidelines, the education ministry banned elementary and junior high school students from bringing mobile devices to school and restricted the use of such devices by high school students at school.

But following a strong earthquake in Osaka Prefecture during the morning commuting hours in June last year, the Osaka Prefectural Government changed its policy to allow students to bring mobile devices to school as a communication tool in an emergency.