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The Weekly Round-Up: 29.04.05
Iron man, shaken Jobs and rock star Gates...

By silicon.com

Published: Friday 29 April 2005

"I feel just fine. I'm doing great."

So said Steve Jobs when quizzed over his health by jittery shareholders who fear for the future of the company if the head honcho was called to the big Apple store in the sky.

However, critics might suggest "I'm doing great" was something of an overstatement after what has been a troublesome week for Jobs.

He has been accused of sexism and pollution and for good measure found himself at the middle of a bitter row with a publisher – events which lead him to hit out at what he sees as a great deal of "bullshit" being peddled with an anti-Apple agenda across the media and IT industry.

(Nice language Steve. Kiss your kids with that mouth?)

So all in all it's not a definition of "doing great" that the Round-Up is familiar with.

The accusation of sexism was aimed at CEO Steve Jobs ('for the boys') by shareholders at the company's AGM who had grown concerned about the absence of any top level female execs within the firm's hierarchy.

"It is a deficiency we have," he said. "We recognise it and we are trying to solve it."

It's perhaps worth noting that although all seven of Apple's directors are men, that is actually within the IT industry's general 8:1 men to women ratio. So keep an eye on that stat-busting next hire.

The accusation of polluting was levelled at Jobs by a spokeswoman for an environmentally-aware mutual fund called Green Century Funds. She criticised Apple for not doing enough to recycle its products – an accusation Jobs defended vehemently.

Another critic, Sheila Davis, director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition said of Apple: "They have an image of being proactive but they are being really reactive. Other companies like HP and Dell are really stepping forward."

The latest accusations add to an environmental headache for Jobs, whose company has been subject to picket line protests since January this year.

The biggest concern among the green lobby is Apple's iPod batteries and the fact that at weekends Steve Jobs goes out trawling for tuna and catches a great many dolphins in his nets.

(OK, you guessed it, the second part of that sentence was a lie... he really goes out in those boats to dump oil and heavy metals in the ocean – alright, that's another lie.)

Protesters have focused on the fact that Apple's iPod comes with a battery that cannot be replaced easily by consumers and the fact Apple charges $100 for a new battery – a significant percentage of the cost of the iPod itself.

"Most consumers are just going to throw it away and get a new one," Davis said.

(Going off on a bit of a tangent for a second, the Round-Up got the fright of its life this morning walking in to Silicon Towers. A giant iron man, not dissimilar to the one popularised in the children's book by Ted Hughes – the Round-Up imagines - was rampaging down the South Bank, about to attack the offices of Mayor Ken and the London assembly.

On closer inspection the man wasn't moving but rather is a semi-permanent structure made from scrap metal and discarded home electrical goods. He looks like the bizarre love-child of Georges Pompidou and Robocop, with an exoskeleton of wires and cabling.

The reason for his creation is to publicise the long-delayed Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive (WEEE) which will come into effect eventually, supposedly next year, in the UK to deal with the very kind of issues the iPod protesters are combating. See the WEEE man for yourself by getting along to Tower Bridge... or alternatively by clicking here for a very dramatic photo on the story. The WEEE man will remain in situ for the next month.)

But, anyway, back to Jobs. A bad week got worse for the Apple boss with the escalation of a row with a US publishing house which brought out a biography on Jobs which the Apple boss took issue with. He was incensed with the book, entitled iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business.

The publisher, John Wiley and Sons, may regret the unintended offence, as Jobs then ordered all Apple stores worldwide to remove all books by the publishing giant – including those in the 'Dummies Guide' series of 'how to' manuals.

That'll teach them to call him the 'Greatest'.

Although early reports on the book, which is not yet available, suggest it is largely positive in its assessment of Jobs – an assertion backed-up by the title - it didn't stop him banning it from all 104 Apple stores worldwide.

A spokesman for the publisher told silicon.com: "We are concerned about how Apple's action affects our authors and customers."

Of course they shouldn't have been. The publicity around this issue means the book is rocketing up Amazon.com's bestseller list, benefiting far more it would seem from being banned by Apple than sold by Apple.

In fact there's been something of a role-reversal this week at the top of tech's pecking order.

While Jobs was finding himself on the receiving end of some rare negative publicity, long-term business rival Bill Gates has been hanging out with rock stars and attracting plaudits, primarily for his charitable and humanitarian work.

Gates entertained U2 lead singer Bono at his Seattle mansion after watching the Irish rock star in concert.

Gates even admitted to being one of 20,000 screaming fans... which frankly is a rather disturbing image. At least he stopped short of claiming to have thrown his underwear on stage or swooning.

It's no doubt getting harder for U2 fans to convince themselves they're still cool as the band get nearer to the ages our fathers were when they retired, without seeing Bill Gates down the front screaming at the lead singer.

After the show Gates claims Bono came home with him and the two 'hung out'... maybe drank some beers and played some X-box, while still finding time to discuss ways of improving living conditions in the developing world – a common interest of the two.

Upon hearing this news a member of the press asked whether hanging out with Bono had inspired Gates to buy himself one of the U2-branded iPods from Apple.

"Absolutely not," came the in-no-way-predictable answer.

Of course it's not just software billionaires and Celtic rock singers who travel to the developing world... UK students and backpackers have also developed a wanderlust for destinations such as India. As have UK call centre jobs.

And now some enterprising companies are putting two and two together and coming up with a backpacking, call centre-working all-in-one package.

UK graduates are being given the chance to travel to locations such as Bangalore and work in call centres, as our intrepid reporter uncovered on a visit to India this week.

You couldn't make it up.

This does seem to offer something of a curious compromise for many of the anti-offshoring lobby and is certainly a step beyond asking Indian staff to adopt names such as Gordon and Helen in order to put some UK callers at ease.

What's more, the travellers will be earning up to £480 per month – which will put them squarely in the professional echelons of Indian society while still saving their employers the far greater costs of doing business in the UK.

Cunning. And the graduates get to travel the world, which is nice.

It could be a boom area for the travel industry. Perhaps the sportswear industry can look into travel packages which involve stitching trainers in the Far East. Or mining in Africa.

Backpackers could work their way around the world visiting lots of industries that either died off or were economically incentivised to move out of their home country.

Closer to home there is the small issue of the General Election fast approaching. By the time you next hear from the Round-Up we will of course have exactly the same government and same Prime Minister as we do today. There, prediction over.

The media is trying to find the news and the interest behind the inevitable and silicon.com will be bringing you coverage over the coming week of the tech issues central to the election and wider electioneering such as the proposed move to apathy-busting e-voting.

There would certainly appear to be some key differences between the parties which would make such a development an interesting one. For starters people in constituencies that last time out elected a Labour MP are far more switched on to the internet, according to a report out from broadband analysts Point Topic.

Meanwhile the Tory heartland appears largely untouched in parts by the broadband revolution – which suggests a move to e-voting wouldn't be a great move for the Conservatives.

The top two turned-on constituencies, in case you're interested, were both Labour and both in Wales - Cardiff Central and just next door in Cardiff North.

And it's not just politics facing change due to the penetration of broadband.

According to findings out this week from Jupiter Research internet news services are continuing to erode the mindshare and market share of newspapers and magazine... which is good to hear...

Jupiter Research claims the number of adults with internet access who prefer to get their news from the web, rather than from TV and newspapers, has risen by 35 per cent over the last four years.

Good news for the likes of silicon.com but the Round-Up isn't really surprised that discerning media consumers are turning their backs on the 'last week's news tomorrow' brigade.

One of the things silicon.com, like many others in the industry, was reporting on this week was the InfoSecurity Europe show at Olympia.

There were the usual stunts and one-upmanship.

But such things could easily escalate. Our correspondent got chatting to a very nice PR type from one vendor exhibiting who had been asked by her paymasters to tour the show floor and steal as many laptops as possible from all the other stands.

It turns out it may have been a joke but the intention was to show that even attendees at a leading security event aren't quite switched on to all the various ways their security can be breached.

In the end the company let the PR escape with less exposure to criminal prosecution, touring the floor and simply counting how many laptops she could have stolen if she'd been so inclined. (And there is precedent here... one attendee at last year's Gartner security event had a laptop half-inched.)

"Walking around the show, at least 70 per cent of laptops in use on stands were unattended, unsecured and easily accessible for any passer-by to walk off with," said Ian Neale, corporate sales manager at Kensington who clearly wasn't making that many 'corporate sales' if he had time on his hands to get involved with all this malarkey. But the point stands.

Neale added: "It's ironic that these software companies are selling solutions to protect valuable data but have completely overlooked the fact that the easiest way to steal data is to pick up the device it's held on and simply take it away."

And finally, builders, plumbers, maintenance workers and other walk-on characters in adult movies – sorry, other blue-collar workers – are becoming the UK's most mobile-aware workers with gadgets as integral a part of their tool belt as a spanner and wrench.

By the end of this year around 50 per cent of companies in the 'blue collar' bracket will be providing wireless access to systems involved in areas such as service management, inventory and logistics, according to Quocirca research.

An O2 spokeswoman said: "With mobile data devices in the hands of plumbers, maintenance staff, engineers and craft workers, customer service can be moved from the call centres to the doorstep." ...or more accurately to the white van parked outside for several hours while the owner reads the tabloid back pages.

She added: "The real drivers and innovators are to be found on construction sites or under sinks - the blue collar workers who are using mobile to improve the bottom line."

The Round-Up can't help pointing out there are plenty of builders and plumbers who could improve their bottom line – and everybody else's view – by simply wearing a belt. There are some things you don't want to see.

Until next week – UK readers enjoy the bank holiday and the Round-Up will be back again next week. Now read some news: