Nov 27 2012
Tuesday News: Fake Facebook Update Status; Android usage down; One company seeks to teach the world to code
Beware the False Privacy Notice Posted All Over Facebook – A fake copyright notice spread around Facebook yesterday claiming that under the “Berner Convention” if you declared your copyright over uploaded photos and facebook statuses, you would be able to prevent Facebook from reusing them without your permission. There is no Berner Convention, it’s the Berne Convention and the terms of service may or may not control the copyright. I say may not because terms of service are becoming increasingly litigated. One California court found that the Sign Up TOS by Facebook was enforceable but other courts may not.
Still, this disclaimer has no real legal effect. Facebook posted a response stating that the copyright rests with the owner of the media, but that Facebook enjoys its non exclusive license to reuse the content in whatever way they want.Lifehacker
Educational outreach program Pixel Academy looking for a place to call home – Because our world is being increasingly dependent on technology, I’m becoming convinced that rudimentary coding skills should be taught in school at an elementary level and forward. It’s another language and one that our kids should learn to speak at an early age. Pixel Academy is a group of people (and devices) that are looking for secure and stationary place to teach kids code in NYC. VentureBeat
Low Commerce And Web Usage On Android – Henry Blodget is wondering why so little of the online traffic comes from Android devices despite Android based smartphones outselling the iOS mobile platform in the US and abroad. IBM did a recent study of Black Friday sales which showed that iOS devices accounted for 20% of sales and Android devices only 5.5%.
Mobile users make up approximately 27% of all of the traffic at Dear Author. About 2/3 of that mobile traffic is from iOS users and 1/3 from Android users. Talking Points Memo shows a similar discrepancy. Either the Android platform isn’t as easy to use for web browsing or, as Josh Marshall posits, maybe Android people just have fuller lives and don’t spend as much time on the internet.
What do you say, Android users? Business Insider
Amazon Raises $3 Billion With First Bond Offering in a Decade – Businessweek – Amazon is offering bonds to fund the purchase and renovation of Amazon’s new headquarters. Amazon issued bonds in 1999 at 4.75%, 10 year convertible notes. Amazon, which had no bonds outstanding, sold $750 million of 0.65 percent three-year notes that yield 38 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries, $1 billion of 1.2 percent five-year debt with a 63 basis-point spread and $1.25 billion of 2.5 percent securities maturing in 10 years that yield 93 basis points more than benchmarks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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Nov 27, 2012 @ 05:26:59
I can’t speak for other Android users, but in my case, I’m generally near a computer of one type or another, all of which I find more convenient for doing online stuff than my Galaxy. When I’m away from a computer, I usually stick to the essentials, because I don’t really enjoy browsing with such a small screen. And much as I enjoy DA, it’s not essential.
Also, Android devices tend to run the range from top of the line stuff to pretty basic devices for consumers who want an upgrade but don’t intend to use their device for all that much. So a lot of people with Android devices probably do use them less. Whereas with Apple devices, I don’t think there’s the same range, or at least not the same distribution.
Nov 27, 2012 @ 06:22:00
I’m an android user. I use my phone a lot for browsing, but have my (non native phone browser) set up to identify as a desktop because so many mobile version of sites are rubbish. Also, my phone is quite fast enough to handle them and the screen large enough to display them legibly. Seriously, what else is the point of a fast powerful phone if not to have a full featured browsing environment?
Nov 27, 2012 @ 07:09:10
Ah, Henry Blodget writes another inadequately researched story and jumps to an unwarranted conclusion. I am shocked, shocked.
To expand on what Meri said, Androids are on a much wider range of phones, including pay-as-you-go phones and less powerful phones. So it’s not just people who aren’t interested in browsing as much, but also people who can’t necessarily afford expensive data plans. Android is replacing Nokia’s Symbian OS in developing countries, for example. In my not-wealthy midwestern city environment I see a lot of Android phones. It’s only in the last couple of years that iPhones have become more common outside the college student and upper-middle-class suburban populations.
iPhones have always dominated the data stream, from the time they were introduced, probably because they started out being geared more toward using apps. I remember a few years ago I was shocked that a friend of mine streamed Pandora in her car rather than listening to the radio or her iPod. So much data consumption! Now that attitude seems so quaint. But it’s still an expensive choice.
Nov 27, 2012 @ 07:28:38
@FD: I don’t have the fastest, most powerful, most expensive Android device on the market. I have a fairly basic smartphone that suits my more modest needs: regular phone stuff, decent camera for when mine’s not on hand, and browsing when I want it – which is not that often. I have a very limited plan for my phone by choice, and I don’t often exceed it. And even if I did have that full-featured browsing environment and bigger screen like you do, I’d still prefer the convenience and size of a computer; to each her own. For you, your smartphone is obviously much more multifunctional, but we both get what we want from it.
I suspect people like me, who tend to choose the smaller and cheaper (as Sunita noted) devices, make up a sizable portion of Android users – thus the disparity between iOS traffic and Android traffic.
Nov 27, 2012 @ 07:39:23
@Meri: No disagreement here – I was just pointing out that high end users of android may disappear from browsing statistics because their devices don’t identify as mobile browsers.
Nov 27, 2012 @ 07:39:44
I have three Android tablets and an iPhone. If I’m traveling I may use a table to check in on a web site. If I’m at lunch and want to settle a dispute or browse a bit I go to my iPhone for information. Otherwise I’m usually near a computer and find that more pleasant to use. The tablets tend to be for media consumption or games.
Nov 27, 2012 @ 07:41:10
@FD: No, the full browser would still register as an Android device.
Nov 27, 2012 @ 07:51:05
When I was at my old job, setting up the corporate top of the line Android phones and teaching the nontech people how to use them was in our department and every single one of them came back within a week to complain about trying to do things on the screen and how tiny it was and how it wasn’t instinctive to use. The standard response was to shrug and tell them that we understood and that was why they were given a computer with wi-fi access. Then duck as the angrier ones chucked their smart phones at your head.
Nov 27, 2012 @ 08:26:41
I have an android smart phone because I couldn’t find a basic flip phone when mine finally died. I think the only app I use with any regularity are the weather bug app and the gps for directions. In general, when I have the time to surf the web, I’m near my full computer, so why should I try to on a smaller device?
Nov 27, 2012 @ 09:50:59
We’ve ordered a small tablet with Android 4.0 and expect we’ll be one of those low-usage customers. Email, voice mail, text messages and a rare browse are about as sophisticated as we’ll get.
Nov 27, 2012 @ 11:56:15
I have a blog feed on my phone and sometimes catch up on blogs when waiting somewhere, but I have to click through to a website to comment or follow links. Too slow and awkward, so I’ll just mark the post unread and follow up when I’m on my computer. That requires a strong incentive, though.
Nov 27, 2012 @ 13:58:06
As an aside, I accidently bought a Kindle book yesterday because I was browsing Amazon’s full site on my iPhone. Somebody tweeted about cheap kids books and I wanted to try giving one as a gift. As I was trying to zoom in to find the Give as a Gift option I accidentally hit the One Click button. :)
Nov 27, 2012 @ 14:02:53
When I bought my Android, I bought it primarily for calls and texts. That I could go online was just a bonus. I do use the phone quite a bit for internet-junk now, but a lot of it is for specific reference/information and not for browsing or shopping. It’s definitely not that I have a rich personal life, I am online almost constantly, just from my laptop. Maybe Android users are more likely to have home computers and iPhone users have their iPhones as their primary point of internet access?
Nov 27, 2012 @ 14:05:30
@MaryK: And THAT’S why I refuse to set up 1-click. You can only buy kindle books via 1-click on your computer but it allows me to buy them with no 1-click set up on my phone.
AMazon is always on me to set up 1-click and a pay-pass. I refuse because they LOVE you to make mistakes like that.
Nov 27, 2012 @ 17:31:10
@MaryK: Amazon will let you return accidentally-purchased ebooks.
Nov 27, 2012 @ 17:50:24
@Susan: Yeah, I decided to keep it though. It was only .99 and I’m interested in kids books anyway.
Nov 27, 2012 @ 18:59:50
@Jae Lee:
Actually, iPhone users are more likely to be early adopters of technology and therefore are more likely to own computers (Macs, of course, as well as own their own domain names.) Or at least according to a survey of iOS vs Android users conducted last year by Hunch. It’s not the most scientific research, but the infographic is amusing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/16/iphone-vs-android-users_n_928275.html
Nov 28, 2012 @ 00:15:45
I use my Android smartphone for calls, texts, Words With Friends, Kindle, the occaisional browse, and to indulge my kids in their newfound Angry Birds obsession. Most of the time I spend on the internet is on my netbook, which is just as convenient as my phone when I am at home, which is most of the time because I’m a stay-at-home parent.
I do have to be careful of where I touch to scroll down when looking at a book in the Kindle store on my phone because twice I have unintentionally hit the buy button. Returns are a snap, though, so at least it’s a minor inconvenience.
Nov 28, 2012 @ 01:20:28
I got a Samsung Galaxy 3 because I didn’t want an iPhone. I use it for the internet when I’m not at home. I’ve used DA on it. However, when I’m at home and not at my computer, I tend to use the iPad which has a much bigger screen. I picked my phone for something I could fit in my pocket. It’s great, I have it when I’d never have lugged the iPad around.
I suspect when Android tablets start to rival iPad sales, you’ll see more people who do their interwebbing on Android devices. Anything that is convenient as a phone is small for web browsing.
Dec 02, 2012 @ 16:37:56
Well, when I had my Android the software was so incredibly awful that there wasn’t much I could do with it. Every time I tried to use the browser it either crashed or took so long to load I just ended up exiting out of it and waiting until I could get to a desktop. Every app I tried to use crashed when I opened it so really I only ever used my Android for calling and even then it was barely worth that.