The Swing Of Things

Now, these kind of experiences (NYT – registration required) I hope is not true for everyone, but how registering twice for an anti-virus subscription can cause your laptop to completely faint out is more than I can understand. At least it should be solvable for less than $800! And they say Apple hardware is expensive.The most interesting part though - this quote from John Dvorak: 

I advise everybody to buy a Macintosh because Apple products are the easiest to use. If you own a PC, you have to find a local nerd, a kid, maybe a relative. Every family has one unless they’ve just moved here from a foreign country. That’s the only solution.

People are coming around to their senses apparently.

NYT tech writer David Pogue on this years C.E.S. in Las Vegas. Exciting stuff. All of 11 products worth mentioning.No wonder why a new server from Apple this week got all the attention. 

MacWorld is coming up at January 14. and what fun would it be without the rumors beforehand? Yep, my own take at what will take place:

The bragging
As always, there will be the usual bragging about how well Apple is doing. We will see sales figures for Leopard, Mac’s, iPod’s and probably the insanely 5 million mark of iPhones already passed. And of course the usual state of the iTunes Store.

iPhone
No new iPhone, but more features. The 1.1.3 update will be released with much fanfare, making ‘your iPhone a completely new phone’ (not so fun for us with hacks). Probably we’ll also see a memory increase. 16GB anyone? Maybe new countries announced?

iPod
No new iPods now, but most certainly memory increases to Nano and Touch (Creative increased their Zen in december remember). Also same update for Touch owners as for iPhones.

iTunes
This would be interesting. The rumors of movie rentals are quite beliveable, and I think they will happen at MacWorld. It is a funny thing that whenever the movie/music guys have trouble they seem to turn to Apple to fix their world, and when they see how successful Apple is, they turn their back on them afterwards. Apple will fix the movie world. And movie/music guys; there is no way you can take Apple’s power away. Just give it up already, and play as they say.
This might be the ‘one more thing’ of the year. Because the main event would be:

MacBook
Yes. And finally! The all new MacBook that will amaze the world. No, it won’t be a MacBook Pro, and it won’t be a new category. The new MacBook, sporting new (colored?) aluminum casing, touch functionality, lightweight, lots of batterypower, small, delicious. There’s no doubt that this will be the main release at MacWorld, the only question is if it will be a regular MacBook replacement with hard drive, fairly large screen, optical media - or if there will be a true sub-notebook as well. A MacBook nano.

Desktops Macs
Not a chance.

Software
I can’t see why. No reason to do anything now about neither OS, iLife or iWork - and everything else is Pro-software that don’t get headliners at this show.

AppleTV<
If the rumored iTunes update will happen, it will make sense to do a rerelease of this. It is a product just waiting for it's right time. Movie rentals through iTunes is very much that time.

Displays
This is most intriguing. A large Apple display - or even TV - has been rumored a long time. What could Apple do to your TV set? Quite a bit they should. They could include the whole mediacenter (AppleTV) functionality in it. For starters. I believe Apple is thinking about this, but am more doubtful if they have reached ready state. At least it would give a whole new meaning to AppleTV. Other than this, I don’t see any display updates now.

So, now we just wait in excitement to see how his Steveness will surprise us again.

This nutcase blogging on c-net is blessing the world with his competence on why Apple should NOT in fact release a sub-notebook kind of computer. He first goes on to rant about all the usual drawbacks of such devices currently in the market, and then he manages to end up with the presumption that Apple will make something like what’s already there - or as he himself puts it:

Now, after reading over the general design of a subnotebook, does that design sound anything like a product Apple would sell? Not a chance.

Not a chance indeed. He apparently fails to see exactly how Apple works. The one thing that is certain, is that if Apple will do a sub-notebook, it will NOT look like anything that is out there. Whenever Apple designs a new product, they start with what is today, then they look thoroughly into all areas where they can improve on the thing. If they can’t, they won’t release it till they can.

One of the most interesting things to observe when Apple enter a new category or release a new/redesigned product is how it is so far ahead of and/or differentiated from other products catering to the same market. In fact, so different that they at the very minimum expand the market category, and sometimes even creates completely new markets (even unintentionally).Look no further than the iPod and iPhone, but also iTunes, iLife software and so on. This is the Apple DNA, no less.

Not all products Apple releases are instant successes of course, but the past 5-7 years I would be hard pressed to find any product that has really flopped (last one I can think of was the Cube). Apple has grown a sense for not releasing a product until both they themselves and the world is ready for it. Which means it can be designed with excellence in mind, be very useful for the consumers and be manufactured for a reasonable price. When all these three aspects are met, the product will be successful (the Cube failed miserably, as we know, on the last one).

I think the consumers are more than ready for a sub-notebook that changes the ballgame, I also think it is now possible to manufacture. It remains to be seen if Apple is ready. I am rather convinced they are.

[EDIT] I have been pointed also to the  iPod HiFi thingie as a sort of lately flop. Could agree to that, and it also falls into same category as the Cube. However the HiFi was hardly a high profiled product.

Don’t even bother to link to this guys so called blog - a funny little site with clip-art spaceships from the ’80s and… buckets. Obviously it is exactly what he wants everyone to do. The retard is attacking IconFactories excellent Twitter app - Twitteriffic - claiming they owe him big time since they got him hooked on an early free version, and now suddenly demand you pay a wholesome 15 bucks, or accept that you are fed some nice looking ads from the Deck. Basically it sounds like the guy had this thing with a syringe, and his brain now is defunct because of the ads blocking the veines. Or something. Bottomline, he uses the same lame arguments as all other freeloaders uses (y’know; all those hairy, bad smelling people that’s always there when the beer is free, and goes home once it’s their round); “We don’t want to pay for this - it’s digital, no one gets hurt, no material is lost, we wouldn’t buy it anyway, it’s not worth anything….” yeah yeah, the list goes on. Most funny argument though;

Don’t worry, my friend. Twitterrific isn’t such a complex app that a half-decent (preferably open-source) coder with a few spare hours couldn’t whip up a decent clone.

So, instead of “whipping up” that decent clone in an hour or so, it’s - well - better to spend the time hacking the existing app instead. Either this Marc Fiszman and his “Odelbee” friends are totally crap at coding (rather obvious) or it actually does take quite a bit of time to make - and support - such an app (even more obvious).
I bet there are SO many people that will just love working with this Fiszman guy over the next years…

Paul Boutin of Slate has some tight deadlines and lots to do - or at least so he says:

But in my career as a writer, I need my phone to do work. I have tight deadlines, and I need to communicate with lots of people in a hurry. When I’m in a tight spot, my BlackBerry always helps me out. It also sends a subtle signal to my correspondents that I’m getting a lot done. An e-mail that says “Sent from my BlackBerry” gives the impression that you’re on the move but still chained to work, e-mailing from the elevator. An e-mail that says “Sent from my iPhone” conjures an image of a doofus who wants you to know he has an iPhone.

Good for him though, but in my humble opinion feeling the need to communicate that you are chained to work and getting things done (or giving the impression thereof) is sending the opposite message. Wouldn’t it be more impressive to let people know you have gotten things done, and even have some time for fun as well? Maybe even reassuring.

Some people still tend to believe that working all the time (or appearing to do so) is good for their career or something. Productivity does not come from working all the time. Productivity in our fast-paced world comes from the right balance between doing work and doing completely different things. Things you enjoy to the point that you forget work. That way I think iPhone is actually doing more to productivity than Boutin would think - maybe even more than his beloved BlackBerry, that it appears he is enjoying quite a bit.

Just got my new Nano (product)red today, and I must say, it is simply one amazingly exquisite little piece of technology. I mean, I was quite happy when I got my iPod mini in those days, but opening the package of the Nano was just pure delight.

Now, those who know me will say I would always fare well with Apple products, but this is beyond that. I have no idea how they managed to cram all the things inside that tiny thing - still with that batterylife, such a wonderful screen and a completely solid full metal jacket. What I know is that I am in love with the thing. Actually I must admit I just can’t keep myself from playing with it. And it’s just an mp3 player! But there’s something with the feeling of it, the color, the screen. Can’t put it down for more than some minutes. Yes, I know the back gets all soddy and scratchy from that. And that cover flow sort of lags. But I don’t care. I think she’s coming to bed with me tonight.

What I do not understand is why Apple are using those boring - no, hideous - images on their webpages to sell this little jewel. On the web, the poor thing looks like some plastic crap (I’m looking at you, Creative). In RL it looks nothing short of stunning. Surely Apple could do better.

Photos on Flicker.

David Pogue is not very amused by Apples move on iMovie. I can agree on the point that the app might be misnamed, but from there to utter bafflement and going on rambling about all that’s missing seems a tad over the top to me. Steve Jobs made pretty clear that this was a complete new way of editing video. Actually a whole new concept of editing video; simpler, faster, easier. All of which iMovie 08 appears to be (I have yet to test it properly). Most of Pogues rant does not hold water - and when he goes on to mention that Apple “rather sheepishly” provided an iMovie 6 download afterwards, he forgets that the installer apparently leaves your old copy of iMovie HD untouched. That’s an iLife first, and should prove that there has been considerations on this.

The whole article ends up as just a big disappointment for no new themes in iMovie HD - because Pogue can still use that version to make his musicvideos. It’s not like it has been eraded from the earths surface. Actually now you just got two nice programs; one for your precious editing, and one for those quick and dirty jobs. My bet is that the vast majority ends up with the latter.

Macworld has a bit more balanced look at the new iMovie 08.

Damien Guard has a nice piece about exactly how superiour (in my opinion) the OS X font rendering is to Windows. Especially for a designer, but I believe everyone deserves to percieve the real beauty of type as much as they do with other kinds of graphics. How would you think about Windows forcing you to see photos with only one aspect ratio, forcing all images into a predefined format - just because someone thought it would look more tidy onscreen? There are plenty typefaces that are excellent for onscreen viewing, and I’d rather see Microsoft implementing/suggesting to use these rather than destroying what in my opinion is art. Windows font rendering is actually pure vandalism, and I suspect it has less to do with philosophy and more about ability.

Up through the years I have been asked quite a lot why I prefer the Mac over a Windows box. Until this last year I have been hard pressed for more than “I just like it better” and the usual suspects of stability and virus/malware issues. But at one point it suddenly occured to me why I “liked” the Mac so much better. It’s all about precision.

I was actually quite reluctant to move to OS X because of what I felt as less “solidness” than the old Mac OS 9 (RIP) - and it’s not before Tiger I’m getting rather comfortable with it.

I find the Mac in almost all aspects - software and hardware - to be a precision machine. This is also why “everything just works” sticks. The Mac does exactly what you want it to do, it is solid state hardware (that also looks good, mind you) but most of all it is the software. Everything is pixelsharp - you’re never in doubt exactly what and where you are clicking (or if you’re clicking at all), response is logic and swift. And most of all, it shows off with precision. Printouts are what you see on screen, colors are what they seem and foremost fonts look the way they really should.

Most of my day I work with documents intended for print, and for me it is pure pleasure to work with a system that really shows the font the way it is going to come out in print. I would be hard pressed to find one good reason for any of these beautiful fonts to be forced into a “pixelgrid” to make them “sharper” and “more readable” onscreen. For what? They are not supposed to be read onscreen anyway. When I read stuff onscreen (or make things for onscreen viewing) I use an appropriate font for that specific purpose. Just like I try to use appropriate fonts for everything else I design.

But I guess some people just have to do their coding/scripting in Bodoni…

via Daring Fireball

Surprising move from the two studios to go for only HD DVD all of a sudden. One can just wonder what large corp is behind that move and exactly how they managed this… I am not mentioning the tactics behind the SCO scam at all!

My first thought though, is actually when will Apple finally enter with HD downloads through iTunes and effectively killing this silly war once and for all.

Via Engadget.