On the heels of announcing a new mixed reality headset, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is swinging hard at Apple’s mixed reality headset (which isn’t real yet). TMO Managing Editor Jeff Butts and Ken discuss the Meta and Apple metaverse stances. Plus, following up on physical media and Lufthansa’s back and forth on bag trackers.
Mark Zuckerberg
Creator of the iPod Tony Fadell Shares Concerns of Zuckerberg's Metaverse
Creator of the iPod Tony Fadell recently showed concerns about Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse. Fadell also spoke about the end of the iPod.
Gizmodo Plans to Publish the Facebook Papers, Explaining the Decision
Partnering with experts from NYU, Mass Amherst, Columbia, Marquette, and the ACLU, Gizmodo is planning to publish the Facebook Papers. It would be the first media outlet to do so.
We believe there’s a strong public need in making as many of the documents public as possible, as quickly as possible. To that end, we’ve partnered with a small group of independent monitors, who are joining us to establish guidelines for an accountable review of the documents prior to publication. The mission is to minimize any costs to individuals’ privacy or the furtherance of other harms while ensuring the responsible disclosure of the greatest amount of information in the public interest.
I look forward to storing a copy of the archive.
Apple and Facebook Are on a Collision Course
We’ve reported a lot on The Mac Observer about the growing tensions between Apple and Facebook. Bloomberg News has a good writeup of how things turned sour between the two tech giants, and why this may be just the beginning.
In March 2018, Facebook Inc. was in the midst of a scandal involving political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica and was facing serious questions about its stewardship of its users’ personal data. A commentator on MSNBC asked Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook what he would do if he were in Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s shoes. “I wouldn’t be in this situation,” Cook said…. The feud has escalated rapidly over Apple’s forthcoming update to the software that powers its iPhones, which includes a requirement that developers get explicit permission to collect certain data and track users’ activity across apps and websites. Such a move could undermine the efficacy of Facebook’s targeted advertisements. In December, Facebook took out full-page ads in a trio of U.S. newspapers saying it was “standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere” by opposing the changes, which it describes as an abuse of market power.
[Updated] Tim Cook Links Facebook Model to Real World Violence in Speech
Tim Cook took aim at Facebook during his speech at a European data privacy conference, linking its business model to real world violence.
Mark Zuckerberg Alleges Apple's Privacy Protection's Will Hurt Small Firms
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg used the company’s earnings call to claim that Apple’s planned privacy protection will hit small firms.
Examining the Feud Between Apple and Facebook
James Titcomb has a op-ed in The Sydney Morning Herald where he pieces together the Apple-Facebook feud.
Over the past six months Facebook has become Apple’s chief antagonist, airing its gripes with investors, the media, its own employees and even the regulators writing the rules that will govern digital services for the next decade.
That is despite the companies not being traditional rivals: Apple sells hardware and runs subscription services; Facebook gets 98 per cent of its income through advertising.
I think the fundamental difference is that Facebook is doing everything in its power to become a mediator for reality. But so far it’s a mediator on platforms that it can’t control, and Apple is chipping away at some of the tools Facebook relies on, like targeted advertising.
Mark Zuckeberg Fights European Regulators
In a court filing in Dublin, Ireland, Facebook says if a decision by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is upheld, the company would have no choice but to abandon Europe because of its bad business practices.
If the decision is upheld, “it is not clear to [Facebook] how, in those circumstances, it could continue to provide the Facebook and Instagram services in the EU,” Yvonne Cunnane, who is Facebook Ireland’s head of data protection and associate general counsel, wrote in a sworn affidavit.
The decision Facebook’s referring to is a preliminary order handed down last month to stop the transfer of data about European customers to servers in the U. S., over concerns about U. S. government surveillance of the data.
Mark Zuckerberg Doesn't Want to Put an "Apple Watch on Your Face"
Facebook has unveiled its Oculus Quest 2, and Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t want VR products to be like “putting an Apple Watch on your face.”
Mark Zuckerberg: Apple's App Store 'Deserves Scrutiny'
Apple’s App Store “deserves scrutiny,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a new interview with ‘Axios on HBO’.