This raises a few questions and concerns. First of all, isn’t Canonical scared of legal actions from Apple? Apple is not quite the worst software patent troll, and not always the most agressive, but its recent history shows that it takes threats seriously and will use it’s patent on “multitouch”. The patent itself is ridicoulous, of course. As Dana Bankenhorn of ZDNet points out, Ubuntu is trying to go further than Apple has gone regarding Mac’s multitouch integration.

Apple may claim a patent on its mousetrap, but can it claim to control all methods for catching mice?

Of course, that’s not how law works. However ridiculous software patents can be, they are real, and companies like HTC are sweating under their power.

The easy answer would be to point out that Canonical is not based in the US, and therefore not subject to Apple’s patents as long as they don’t sell these products over there. Ubuntu is free, so inclusion of multitouch should not be a problem.

But will Ubuntu’s multitouch framework, dubbed uTouch, actually go beyond previous implementations? The answer seems to be “yes”.

The design team has lead the way, developing a “touch language” which goes beyond the work that we’ve seen elsewhere. Rather than single, magic gestures, we’re making it possible for basic gestures to be chained, or composed, into more sophisticated “sentences”. The basic gestures, or primitives, are like individual verbs, and stringing them together allows for richer interactions.

–Mark Shuttleworth

Mark Shuttleworth admits that what they are doing isn’t a revolution in human-computer interaction, but it “feels like a good step in the right direction.” I believe he is being modest here. Apple has a way of picking the best innovations in the lot, rebranding and perfecting them, and then releasing the next great thing. It has taken what already existed, and then revolutionized the computer industry by making it theirs. They’ve done that with the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, all of which were commercal sucesses. But Apple has also been very strong in the laptop business these last years, and multitouch has been a part of that.

If Ubuntu could make their uTouch framework efficient on all machines and then deliver what they are promising, there would be a revolution. unfortunately, that’s not what’s going to happen.

You’ll need 4-finger touch or better to get the most out of it, and we’re currently targeting the Dell XT2 as a development environment so the lucky folks with that machine will get the best results today. By release, we expect you’ll be able to use it with a range of devices from major manufacturers, and with addons like Apple’s Magic Trackpad.[...]
Window management will be gesture-enabled in Unity, so 10.10 Netbook Edition users with touch screens or multi-touch pads will have sophisticated window management at their fingertips.

–Mark Shuttleworth

The problem here is inherent to Ubuntu’s nature. Ubuntu, as the free OS it is, has to be designed to work on the widest range of devices that it could possibly run on. These devices are the ones that most people own, as they will buy their computer (touchscreen/multitouch included or otherwise) before knowing that they could install Ubuntu.

This means that the progress the Ubuntu has done will not be available for all Ubuntu’s users, not only because Canonical can’t control what hardware their users own, but also because hardware vendors might all have different goals regarding hardware, goals that may be incompatible with Canonical’s vision.

If you already are a fan of Ubuntu, your first reaction may be to think that “choice”–one of the open-source community’s favorite words–is a good thing, and that it’s evil for any OS to be tied to one particular vendor. You’d be right of course, but that’s not the whole story. Innovations in terms of computer interaction need two things.

First, they need the will and talent of the software developers, interface designers and the OS team as a whole. These people think of new ways in which users could interact with their software stack, primarily through the graphical user interface. But the user cannot interact with the software without the use of hardware. This hardware must be adapted to the needs of both the interface and the user. That’s where hardware designers come into play.

Apple’s pioneering in terms of computer interaction these last years has come from the fact that the same company controlled both the hardware and the software. It is not an inherant superiority of the OS itself–or the fact that allmighty Steve Jobs runs the company–that makes Apple appear more innovative, it is their ability to innovate when both ends of the product need to evolve.

Microsoft understood this, and while they’re still not going to be selling their own hardware, they are already setting hardware requirements for Windows v.next. That means that Microsoft will have some say on how hardware should evolve to suit their software. Ubuntu, unfortunately, will not have this luxury.

The nature of opensource makes it free, but this freedom comes with a price. In some respects, Ubuntu is the most innovative OS out there, and Canonical’s uTouch guidelines shows us why. Canonical is willing to try new things, and the UI (user interface) team has had some great ideas, but they are limited by the scope of their company and the type of product that they are distributing.

The answer, of course, would be for canonical to sign deals with PC OEM’s for some Ubuntu-approved computers that would provide the users the “full Ubuntu experience.” That would be if Canonical’s relations with the said OEM’s was easy, but the recent news about Dell’s offerings shows that it isn’t.

If Ubuntu were the future of computing, we’d see some real innovation. Canonical seems to be a company that’s ready to shake things up a little, and innovate in ways that prove they think far beyond just the next product, but they need to have a say on the hardware that their OS is installed on if they really want to make a splash. If they don’t, they’ll always be lagging behind Apple and Microsoft.

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DELL DITCHING UBUNTU MACHINES FROM ONLINE STORE

Dell reassures it’s Linux users by telling them that “this is not a permanent decision, and Dell remains committed to offering Ubuntu,” but most people are not convinced. This decision reaffirms the lack of commitement that Dell has for its Ubuntu offering.

Removing Ubuntu computers from the Dell website is not a decision that has much impact to tell the truth, neither for Dell or even for Ubuntu. Nobody bought Dell computers with Ubuntu pre-installed apparently.

The Dell spokesperson [...] suggested Ubuntu is failing to win over the public. “The reason why they’re not on our main pages is because Ubuntu systems are primarily targeted towards advanced users and enthusiasts, and the vast majority of consumers purchase PCs with Microsoft Windows pre-installed,” reads PC Pro’s article.

This, according to me, is the stupidest thing we’ve heard from a PC OEM’s spokesperson for a long time. Of course most consumers buy Windows machines, and of course only Ubuntu enthusiasts buy Ubuntu. Most people don’t even know there is an alternative.

If it surprised Dell that nobody would magically convert to Dell’s Ubuntu machines by magically finding the Dell Linux website (which you can’t find unless you know it exists), they have a serious problem. I’m sure that Dell knew that if you want to sell a product to someone that knows nothing about it, you must advertise it.

I’m not going to hate Dell for that. After all, why should they advertise Linux when they have no compelling reason to do so. Linux is not their operating system and, as a business, they won’t spend money when there’s no return. My grudge on Dell comes from another source.

Several months ago, I wanted to buy a new computer. I don’t need Windows, so I started looking for a vendor that would sell me a machine without Microsoft’s OS pre-installed. For me, buying a Windows machine equates to a couple of hundred dollars going down the drain. Fortunately for me (or so I thought) I remembered that Dell–one of the world’s top PC brands–sold a few boxes pre-loaded with my favorite OS. I happily typed “dell.com” in my browser, the address where I thought I could fin those machines. After ten minutes of fruitless search in the overly complex website, I found that the only mention of any OS was the “Dell Recommends Windows 7″ near the top of every page.

With a quick Google search, I discovered that Ubuntu machines were sold separately, on another website specifically built for Linux lovers. That’s when I got it: Dell is not selling Linux loaded on computers for the general public, Dell is selling Linux for people who already know they want it. Fair enough, I want Linux. Checking the offers was both quick and disappointing. Six months ago, there were only a few machines preloaded with Ubuntu, all with mediocre specs. Now there was only one: a netbook running UNR. I have nothing against the netbook remix, on the contrary. It’s been my primary OS for a while. But I already have a netbook, and the overpriced Dell offering could do nothing to attract me. There it was: nothing.

Thinking I was doing something wrong, I went back to the main website and selected the tower that interested me most (a high-end XPS). I clicked “customize” and ran though the options until I reached the OS selection. Ah, there it is!

But if you believe all I would have to do is select the radio button next to the “Ubuntu” entry, you will be disappointed: there wasn’t any. In fact, there was no way to even change the version of Windows they were proposing!

I moved away from my screen, head down and seriously pissed off. I had spent almost two hours trying with all my heart to buy a product that did not exist. A product that was so easy to offer.

Now I have a question to ask to Dell. If Ubuntu is only for the Linux enthusiasts, why would anybody buy your Ubuntu netbooks? Don’t you know that “Linux enthusiasts” can install an OS by themselves?

Micheal Dell, the founder and CEO of the company, reportedly used Ubuntu on one of his machines and one Dell spokesman told us that Linux is the superior operating system (as if anyone doubted that). Did they just say so because they kew that only Linux users would hear it anyway? If they did, they’re playing a very low game. If they didn’t, they have to explain their Linux strategy.

Ubuntu’s goal is to go beyond the realm of Linux enthusiasts and to appeal to the general public, but nobody–and I really mean nobody–will ever buy a product that they have to search for actively and that they have never heard about. When Apple started it’s renaissance, it advertised its OS aggressively. Even until recently, it told people why they would like to “be a Mac” instead of a “PC.” Most people understand the difference now, or rather think they do, because Apple spend time and money to inform them. Most people have no clue what Ubuntu is.

I really believe that Dell, or any other company, could encounter a big success if they sold–and advertised–Ubuntu. Better yet, they could differentiate themselves by creating their own, unique Linux Distribution. It’s not that hard (literally anyone could do it) and it would make them stand out much like Apple does nowadays. They’d already have the apps, a community appearing almost automatically that’s ready to help, and millions of tools at their disposal. All they’d have to do then is advertise their OS, much like this:

OMG! Ubuntu! describes the video as “a stunning few minutes of Ubuntu-filled win”. Oh wait, is that a Dell ad? Why hasn’t anybody seen it (apart from people that read OMG! Ubuntu! that is)?

To me, there can be only one reason: courage. Betting on anything that’s not already been proven requires some intelligence and a lot of courage. As of now, the only company who has these two characteristics is Apple. However much I dislike their products, their strategy and their fanboys, this company deserves its reputation. My heart is with them and their proprietary OS, however much they differ from my ideals. Until someone has the guts to stand up to them, I’ll just stand, watch, and laugh. I have no friendship for Dell, even if it continues to sell Ubuntu computers. Its lack of commitment makes them useless to Ubuntu and Ubuntu useless to them.

I’m not sure that Dell is realizing what they are missing.

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Recently, our dear Steve and his friends hosted a press conference about the iPhone 4 antenna problem, rather exaggeratedly dubbed “antennagate.” For those who haven’t been followed the story closely, the newly released iPhone 4 has come with several new features, including video-calling, video-editing on-the-fly, multitasking, and a defective antenna that drops calls when held in a certain way.

While the problem is certainly real, it is hard to asess its extensiveness from the outside. Is the return rate really higher than previous iPhones? Has the issue been amplified by the media?

According to Steve Jobs, Apple’s customers are happier than ever, believe the iPhone 4 is the best iPhone ever and the antenna issue is felt only by an extremely small minority of customers. However, since “Apple loves all it’s users,” they’re going to provide everybody who wants with a fix.

Steve jobs believes that the iPhone problem is actually a bigger one, caused by Apple’s overwhelming success.

“Well, of course the Consumer Reports stuff was bad, and of course we would have liked to get on this sooner. We just got this data. We just learned what was going on. We’re an engineering company. We think like engineers. We love it, we think it’s the right way to solve real problems. I don’t think that’s going to change, and the way we love our customers isn’t going to change. Maybe it’s human nature — when you’re doing well, people want to tear you down. I see it happening with Google, people trying to tear them down. And I don’t understand it… What would you prefer? That we were a Korean company, that we were here in America leading the world with these products… Maybe it’s just that people want to get eyeballs on their sites. We’ve been around for 34 years… haven’t we earned the credibility and the trust of the press? I think we have that from our users. I didn’t see it exhibited by some of the press as this was blown so far out of proportion. I’m not saying we didn’t make a mistake — We didn’t know that it would have these issues, we didn’t know we were putting a bull’s eye on the phone… But this has been so overblown. But to see how we could do better is going to take some time.”

–Steve Jobs, as reported by Engadget

There are several things to retain from this quote. One is that Steve Jobs is again playing the “American protectionism” card, as the company has done (and is doing) against HTC.

“What would you prefer? That we were a Korean company, that we were here in America leading the world with these products…”

That’s pretty lowly of him. I’d very much prefer that he concentrated on the quality of Apple versus its competition than their nationality. Also, if the reports we are getting are correct, Steve Jobs might be lying to the press again.

“We didn’t know that it would have these issues, we didn’t know we were putting a bull’s eye on the phone…”

It’s hard to assess, because the reports about Jobs’s knowledge of the problem prior to the release date are fuzzy at best. We might never know, but that is irrelevant. What is more important is Steve Job’s words about the rain of critics they have received since the phone’s release:

“Maybe it’s human nature — when you’re doing well, people want to tear you down. I see it happening with Google, people trying to tear them down. And I don’t understand it…”

Not only does Mr Jobs not seem to have a personal feud against Google—which is very surprising—but he seems to think that the company’s critics are unjust. This he likens to Apple’s own case. Apple has been making near-perfect products for a while now, and they translate to a thundering commercial success (almost) every time. Now what everybody wants to do is pinpoint the little problems, that are magnified tenfold by the fact that they belong to Apple products.

What he says is true—how many times have we seen criticizm of an Apple product because it is not designed for one particular type of user, or because one corner is not as smooth as it should be?—but I would advise you to take it with a grain of salt. Apple and Google are two higly successful companies, and both rightly so. Just looking at their respective portfolios will give you an idea why. However, once in a while, these companies do stumble.

Google Buzz was a commercial failure—although I still maintain that it is an excellent product. I believe even Microsoft was—and still is—criticized too much on their products. Was XP really that bad when it came out? I don’t think it was much worst than the contemporary version of Mac OS X. The iPhone 4 is top-of-the-notch for a lot of things. However, it seems that antenna issue—albeit not a scandal as some might like us to think—is a serious issue for a lot of iPhone users. Apple’s relativism is not going to change that. Yes, all phones have some sort of antenna issue, but _none_ come near to what the new iPhone’s users experience now. Comparing its products with the competition will not change that. It might even make it worst:

“HTC Corp. said its phone model named by Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs as having antenna signal problems received 35-times less complaints than for the iPhone 4.” reports Business Week

Apple is still being attacked. It has indeed created a bull’s eye both for the press and for the competition with its new antenna design. Some will find the point moot, others as important as their own lives. There are other things that make up a phone of course, and in the end the antenna issue will only be one of many deciding factors for the consumer. Some, like me, might root for Android, but that’s another story. In the meanwhile, we (the press, bloggers, and the general public) should pay attention that we don’t over-criticize a company because of it’s success. Apple should pay attention not to rely too much on Mr Jobs’s reality distortion field.

Disclaimer: I don’t use nor own any Apple product, nor do I use any Microsoft software. I do use some Google services extensively.

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