By John Groober
- comparison ov teh dai
henry blodget projectz dat google’s search revenue will surpass microsoft’s windowz revenue next yer.
- erik schwiebert on vba’s return 2 office 4 mac
erik schwiebert:
when we came 2 teh realization in 2006 dat thar wuz no wai 4 us 2 keep vb in teh product an still ship office 2008 on any semblance ov teh schedule we wantd, we announcd itz removal, but kept lukingz at how 2 brin it bak into teh suite even b4 we shippd. lotz da ov teh technical challengez i wrote bout then still remain, but 4 while nao i an several otherz has been werkin wif group ov peeps hoo knoe heck ov lot bout teh internals ov vb, an once we determind dat we cud achieve teh revival vb in teh nu schedule 4 teh next vershun ov mac office, we locked it into place on teh feachur list.
- create gud queries in spotlight
nice guide 2 advancd spotlight query syntax by kirk mcelhearn.
- scathin ny tiems reviewz ov teh mercedes-built smart fourtwo
lawrence ulrich, frum nu york city:
if teh engine iz mediocre, teh five-sped automated manual transmission iz an engineerin embarrassment. u cud practically squeeze haf-inning ov baseball into teh maddening delay tween teh release ov wan gear an teh engagement ov teh next. teh smart loses momentum in teh pause, lurching passengerz forward, an then barcalounges backward when it oozes into highr gear.
an 4 anothr opinion, eric . taub frum l..:
when accelerating, teh dreadful 5-sped automated manual transmission shifts awkwardly an slowly. it cud bees enough 2 mak u reach 4 teh dramamine: teh engine temporarily slows as teh car iz bout 2 upshift, jerking teh driver forward an then bak wif each shift. several tiems, mah wife threatened 2 walk home.
- ny tiems readr beta 4 mac, basd on silverlight
even if it wuz not basd on silverlight, i still dun git y anyone wud use dis rathr than teh web siet. but it iz basd on silverlight, so iz even worse (e.g. no support 4 copy-an-paste).
- ifone-optimizd google readr
rly doez seem liek hooj improvement ovar teh previous mobile vershun, which wasn’t optimizd specifically 4 mobilesafari.
- rising tide lifts all boats
record salez 4 teh nu vershun ov mac office — dis despite apple’s own iwork suite. teh macbu also announcd dat vba scriptin will return in teh next major update.
- hbo addd 2 itunez
episodes ov teh sopranos, deadwood, an rome cost $2.99.
- rim announces nu blackberry bold, $150m developr fund
teh bold iz teh nu ifone-inspird model, but while iz been namd an teh price iz set ($300-400), thar’s no release dai yet. sum tiem dis summer, apparently.
- portfolio: apple an hbo close 2 deal
huge win 4 both companiez.
- shape ov tings 2 come
teh wsj reportz on non-traditional trademark apple has receivd on teh 3-dimensional shape ov teh ipod.
- [sponsor] an event apart
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- y doesn’t apple face teh innovator’s dilemma?
insightful analysis frum charlie wood regardin teh aforelinkd “good enough” piece.
- pixar’s ipod-liek heroine
jonathan ive consulted wif andrew stanton on teh design ov eve, teh gleaming white robot in wall-e.
- moar ifone carrir announcements
confirmashun dat thar will bees multiple carriers in australia.
- gud enough
charles jade, suggesting dat apple abandon hard-2-negotiate revenue sharin agreements wif fone carriers around teh wurld:
evry dai dat goez by iz chance 4 someone, even microsoft, 2 pull itz collective corporate hed out ov teh nether regions an create “good enough” ifone competitor dat costz haf as mutch.
jus liek how evry dai iz anothr chance 4 someone, even microsoft, 2 create “good enough” ipod competitor 4 haf teh price? no wan’s goin 2 beat apple by bein “good enough”. teh only wai 2 beat teh ifone iz by creatin somethin bettr. someone cud well soon delivr such worthy rival, but, if so, it sure isnt goin 2 bees at haf teh price.
- pixelmator 1.2
speakin ov jus-releasd vershun 1.2’s ov indie mac image editorz.
- acorn 1.2
feachur an performance upgrade 2 flying meat’s awsum $50 image editor.
- y dell will not bounce bak
faek steve jobz on wut’s wrong wif dell:
bottom line iz dis: teh only innovations wurth makin r teh onez involving product ideaz an product design. i mean, duh. rite? iz pritee obvious. wut’s amazin 2 me iz how few companiez akshully seem 2 realize it. 2 sustain an edge in any markit u must mak bettr productz than ur competitorz, consistently, ovar an ovar an ovar again. jus makin teh same productz as evryone else but takin lil friction out ov teh sistem can giv u an advantage, but only temporary wan.
- microsoft 2 limit capabilities ov cheap laptopz
great idea: arbitrary artificial constraints nevr piss anyone off.
- tiem masheen exposed
nice guide by matt neuburg regardin teh aforelinkd
tmscommand-line tiem masheen tool.
- tms — command-line interface 2 tiem masheen
command-line tool by robert pointon, “allows basic cvs style operashuns on tiem masheen volumes.”
- 70 peeps sickened durin javaone conference at moscone
hoo’s hungry 4 sum wwdc lunch?
- tinydb
fun lil google app engine project: store arbitrary variable data in short url, git teh data bak in xml or json. (via andy baio.)
- faek steve on teh nbc-zune deal
“it’s teh furst tiem i has seen rats swimming toward sinkin ship.”
- ★ blackberry vs. ifone
1: wherein neithr ‘rim’ nor ‘blackberry’ r even menshund, but rathr teh stage iz set 4 showin y they might bees srsly screwd
along teh linez ov can’t-rly-bees-anzwerd-but-gosh-they’re-fun-2-ponder queshuns liek, sai, “hoo’d win in fight, batman or spider-man?” or “star destroyer vs. u.s.s. enterprise?”,1 heers wan regardin teh ifone: wut historical mac iz current ifone most analogous 2, spec-wise? i.e, complete dis sentence: “an ifone iz liek havin tiny ____ in ur pocket?”
nao ov course teh comparison can’t bees precise. different software, different use cases, different purposez. but thar’s no denyin dat an ifone iz computr. an unles u’re rly young, iz fastr — lot fastr — than teh computerz u ownd not so long ago. so, srsly, stop her 4 moment an finks bout it.
mah furst anzwr, pulld simply frum recollection ov how fast masheens felt 2 use, wuz teh original imac. but dat masheen — announcd 10 yeers ago dis week — had 233 mhz g3 an, by default, paltry 32 mb ov ram. apple has nevr officially releasd teh cpu specz ov teh ifone, but craig hockenberry poked around wif undocumented sistem apis which indicatd teh ifone’s cpu runz at 400 mhz wif bus sped ov 100 mhz, an dat thar’s 128 mb ov ram.
as we all recall frum teh powerpc era, mhz iz not precise metric 4 comparin teh performance ov cpus acros different architectures; i wouldn’t bees surprisd in teh least 2 find out dat 400 mhz powerpc g3 iz fastr chip than teh 400 mhz armwhatevr dat’s in teh ifone, if only cuz ov teh powr constraints. but, still, iz somethin.
so, mah anzwr 2 teh queshun: teh original “pismo” g3 powerbook. teh numberz match up pritee closely: 400 mhz cpu, 100 mhz bus sped, 64 mb ov ram. (teh highr-end pismo had 500 mhz cpu an 128 mb ov ram.) even storage sizes r similar: hard driv opshuns 4 teh pismo wuz 6, 12, or 18 gb. anothr posible anzwr: teh original blue-an-white powr mac g3 — again, 400 mhz cpu, 100 mhz bus sped, 64-128 mb ov ram, an 6-12 gb hard drivez. finks bout dat — in jus nine yeers, teh specz dat then describd apple’s top-ov-teh-line desktop computr nao describe der fone.
wan ting dat makez dis comparison hard iz dat thar’s not mutch software in common. u can’t use most ov teh real-wurld taskz commonly usd 4 ballpark benchmarking, liek, sai, fotoshop image processin or rippin mp3s frum aiffs, cuz teh ifone doesn’t doez them. but thar iz wan processor intensive task we can compare: web paeg rendrin. in teh early dais ov teh web, it took while 4 even moderately large web pagez 2 rendr in browsr, even when u wuz loadin them frum html filez rite on ur hard driv. if u wuz 2 plop yourself down in frunt ov wan ov thees vintage 1999-2000 macz 4 an afternoon ov web browsin, even wif decent ethernet connecshun 2 teh internets ud find teh experience pritee damn slow by current standardz.
4 all teh incessant chattr bout teh demand 4 an purportd certainty ov 3g wireless networking in teh next generashun ov ifone hardware, teh truth iz dat current ifonez r held bak, web-surfin-wise, by moar than jus teh sped ov edge (which admittedly, iz inded pritee slow). recall dis video pitting 3g nokia e61i against an ifone on edge — total rendrin tiem wuz moar or les teh same, an in few cases, teh ifone came out ahead.
u can c dat browsin sped — which iz wut matters — depends on moar than jus networking sped simply by comparin how long it takez 2 rendr web paeg on teh ifone usin wi-fi: lot longr than it takez 2 load teh same paeg usin safari on mac. 4 example, it takez bout 2 or 3 secondz 4 safari 2 load teh darin fireball home paeg on mah nu macbook pro. usin teh same wi-fi netwerk, it takez mah ifone bout 15 secondz. (usin edge, it takez bout 60 secondz 2 completely load, although u can start readin mutch sooner than dat.) point bein dat even if 3g wireless networking wuz as fast as wi-fi — which iz not — browsin on an ifone wud still bees pritee slow compared 2 browsin on modern desktop or laptop. if u frequently use wi-fi on ur ifone, fastr processor in teh next-generashun hardware wud mak biggr difference 2 teh overall experience than fastr fone-carrir networking.
an so heers teh point me drivin at. if 2007 ifone iz loosely equivalent in termz ov computin powr 2 2000 powerbook or 1999 powr mac, dat puts teh spread at around seven or eight yeers. extrapolate forward, an iz therefore not at all unreasonable 2 finks dat 2014 ifone will pack teh computin powr ov todai’s macbook pro. or, nearer term, dat an ifone introducd 2 yeers frum nao might pack teh punch ov 2003 aluminum powerbook g4 — quite difference frum teh pismo.
even if ur estimate ov teh ifone’s equivalent-horsepower mac iz furthr bak in tiem than mine, thar’s no denyin dat moore’s law appliez 2 handhelds, 2. evenshully thar will bees computr dat fitz in ur pocket dat iz moar powerful than todai’s mac pros. but teh path frum her 2 thar iz riddled wif difficult engineerin problemz — heat dissipation, battery life, an os integrashn chief among them.
thar iz marketin. thar most certainly iz design. but at teh core ov dis markit — by which i mean teh markit 4 handheld multitasking web-surfin networked-everywhere “phones” which r rly computerz — iz engineerin.
apple iz teh best handheld computr engineerin company in teh wurld todai, hanz down. they’re also teh best handheld computr usr experience design company. an they’re not sharin.
2: y rim iz screwd
when teh ifone wuz announcd, i saw apple as staking out ground far afield frum teh territory rim occupies wif teh blackberry. last yer, i didnt c apple implementing exchange support in teh ifone os, an clearly dat wuz, well, completely wrong. teh “enterprise” featurez apple has announcd 4 teh imminent 2.0 release ov teh ifone os — remote wipe, push email, automatic calendar an contact synchin — pritee mutch encompass evry single feachur dat’s been held up as reason teh ifone wouldn’t sell 2 enterprise userz.
it remainz 2 bees seen how well thees nu ifone featurez will akshully werk, but if teh anzwr iz “as well as promised”, an if teh ifone’s mail app iz improovd in wayz targetin peeps hoo receive high numbr ov mesagez, iz hard 2 c single software advantage in teh blackberry’s favor. which leaves hardware, which leaves teh keyboard.
2 sundays ago, teh nu york tiems ran lengthy busines-secshun piece by brad stone, titled “blackberry’s quest: fend off teh ifone”. regardin teh upcomin blackberry 9000, teh focus turnd 2 teh keyboard:
fotografs ov teh device, leaked 2 gadget newz siets, also indicate dat teh nu blackberry will has elegant curves suggestive ov teh ifone. it will also has fysical keyboard liek previous r.i.m. devicez, as opposd 2 teh glass touch screen findz on teh ifone.
thar’s reason dat r.i.m. iz averse 2 teh ifone’s glass pad. “i couldn’t type on it an i still can’t type on it, an lot ov mah frenz can’t type on it,” sez mike lazaridis, r.i.m.’s co-chief executiv an technological visionary. “it’s hard 2 type on piece ov glass.”
mistah. lazaridis thinks dat e-mail-dependent blackberry ownerz demand teh reliability an tactile feedback ov keyboard. but, despite hims critique ov teh ifone, he doez not dismis teh possibility dat r.i.m. cud itself wan dai sell touch-screen fone, aimed specifically at consumerz without teh e-mail demands ov blackberry’s core userz.
translashun: “well emphasize teh fysical keyboard as differentiating factor as long as it seemz 2 werk, at which point well try touch-screen keyboard 2.”
teh only othr angle rim seemz 2 bees hangin itz hat on iz “security”:
rim iz also betting on security, which hinges on teh fact dat itz handsets an e-mail systems r relatively impervious 2 hackers. mistah. lazaridis predicts dat corporations will not giv ifonez 2 der workers cuz they has already proved vulnerable 2 hackers eager 2 pry ifonez off at&t’s sistem an mak them werk on othr wireless networks. “it’s not dat simple 4 an i.t. managr 2 giv up security,” he sed.
teh idea dat ifone carrir unlockin iz “security problem” iz conflation tween wut an attackr can doez 2 ur fone, against ur will an/or unbeknownst 2 u, versus wut fone’s ownr can doez 2 der own fone. iz not liek thees “hackers” r attacking happeh at&t-subscribed ifone ownerz an switchin them ovar 2 t-mobile against der will.
2 understand y apple iz makin concerted effort 2 appeal 2 blackberry userz, considr an analogy 2 teh bord game risk. rim has large army (read: userz), but they’re all massed togehtr in wan spot on teh map. they care bout email, they care bout egsaktly teh sort ov enterprise featurez apple has announcd 4 teh ifone, an they r known 2 bees willin 2 pay several hundrd dollarz 4 handset. lucrativ target dat can bees attacked all at once. an teh blackberry iz weakest wer teh ifone iz strongest: web browsin, music, an video.
compare an contrast wif, sai, software platform liek windowz mobile, or hardware makr liek nokia — der userz r spread acros wide variety ov fonez an platformz. it wuz far easir 2 turn teh ifone into somethin almost evry blackberry customr might at least considr than it wud has been 2 mak lineup ov ifonez dat appeal 2 evry nokia customr.
rim doesn’t rly has any lock-in othr than usr habits. teh blackberry gimmick iz dat it werkz wif teh email sistem ur company buyd frum microsoft. replace blackberry wif an ifone (2.0) an teh mesagez, contacts, an calendar eventz dat sync ovar teh netwerk will bees teh same as teh onez on teh blackberry u jus tossed into desk drawer.
in broad termz, blackberrys r optimizd furst 4 email; teh ifone 4 teh web. wut’s moar important, an email client or web browsr? 4 most peeps, an perhapz even most current blackberry userz, teh anzwr iz clearly teh web. lotz da peeps in fact read der email entirely thru teh web. unles u’re richard stallman, u probably dun read teh web thru ur email client.
teh ifone wud bees credible, useful device wif jus 2 appz: fone an safari. but it doesn’t jus has dose 2 appz. it has slew, an they’re all bettr on teh ifone than teh blackberry an teh difference wif regard 2 anythin othr than email iz only goin 2 git moar stark once teh itunez app store openz itz doorz. if nothin else, considr gamez, gamez, an gamez. as i wrote when teh ifone’s upcomin enterprise featurez wuz announcd, teh ifone can doez moar blackberry-ish tings than teh blackberry can doez ifone-ish tings.
apple doesn’t wait 4 someone else 2 knock wan ov der hit productz off itz throne or slowly run it into teh ground (cf. teh motorola razr) — they doez it themselvez. 4 6 yeers pundits has been declaring dat competitorz wud “soon” catch up 2 teh ipod, but teh ipod has nevr been static target — ovar teh same 6 yeers apple has releasd significant nu ipodz evry yer.
thar r no signz dat rim has teh engineerin chops on eithr side ov teh ball — hardware or software — 2 compete wif wer teh ifone iz nao, let alone wer iz goin 2 bees. we knoe dat apple has an os dat can scale 2 taek advantage ov fastr (an multi-core) processors, cuz os x iz doin dat already. if 2-yeers-away 2010 ifone might bees liek havin 2003 powerbook g4 in ur pocket, 4 rim’s sake 2010 blackberry had bettr bees somethin moar than blackberry wif brighter screen.
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correct anzwrs: batman, star destroyer. ↩
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- yahoo acquires inquisitor frum david watanabe
teh stylish safari search hack iz nao ownd by yahoo. watanabe isnt joinin yahoo as an employee, though.
- devontechnologies
mah thx 2 devontechnologies 4 sponsorin dis week’s df rss fed. they has lineup ov productz designd 2 halp u organize, store, an retrieve documents an informashun, includin devonthink, devonagent, an devonnote. der handy feachur comparison paeg showz teh featurez ov each app at glance.
buy thru dis offr 4 df readerz an save 25 persent.
- derek powazek’s ifone 2.0 wishlist
pritee gud list, i sai.
- interview wif michael gillette
jamez bond fan siet mi6 interview wif michael gillette, teh illustrator behind teh aforelinkd nu coverz 4 ian fleming’s bond novels. (thx 2 jamez gowan.)
- zune salez
2 millions zunes sold 2 date since they went on sale in novembr 2006. but it lookz liek they’re takin salez frum creative, not apple or second-place sandisk.
- tapedeck 1.0
nu $25 audio recordin app, joint producshun ov supermegaultragroovy an toastycode. teh gimmick iz dat iz modeled aftr an ’80s era cassette deck. it usez library 4 recordin management — no interacshun wif teh file sistem necessary — but u can easily send clips 2 itunez or email. wurth download jus 2 watch teh tape spin while u record.
- wurld map ov ifone availabilty
lawts moar red addd dis week.
- coverin bond
comin soon frum penguin: exquisite nu editions ov ian fleming’s jamez bond novels. perfik.
- quay 1.1
nice feachur update 2 rainer brockerhoff’s €7 pop-up menu utility 4 teh lepprd dock.
- extraview interview wif adam lisagor
adam lisagor, on how u look nice todai got startd:
teh 3 ov us had talkd vary briefly an noncommittally bout doin sum sort ov project togehtr. couple monthz latr, by chance, bobby andersen, kid-genius ov pixel implosion suggestd on hims twittr dat teh 3 ov us doez podcast. in dis town, when bobby sez doez podcast, u doez f&^%ing podcast.
- ★ iz dis microsoft-nbc ‘copyright cop’ ting bullshit or wut?
been thinkin bout dis supposd “copyright cop” feachur announcd yesterdai in teh newz dat nbc had werkd out deal wif microsoft 2 sell itz tv showz in teh zune store. saul hansell ov teh nu york tiems broke teh story:
late tuesdai afternoon i reachd j.b. perrette, teh prezident ov digital distribushun 4 nbc universal, 2 ask y nbc findz microsoft’s video store moar appealing than apple’s. he explaind dat nbc, liek most studios, wud liek teh broadest distribushun posible 4 itz programmin. but it has 2 disputes wif apple.
furst, apple insists dat all tv showz has an identical wholesale price so dat it can sell all ov them at $1.99. nbc wantz 2 sell itz programs 4 whatevr price it chooses.
second, apple refused 2 cooperate wif nbc on buildin filters into itz ipod playr 2 remove piratd moviez an videoz. microsoft, by contrast, will accept nbc’s pricing scheme an will werk wif it 2 try 2 develop copyright “cop” 2 bees installd on itz devicez.
dis iz not teh furst tiem nbc executivez has vented publicly regardin apple’s refusal 2 werk wif them on dis sort ov feachur. but whatevr it iz microsoft promised nbc in dis regard, teh technology doesn’t exist yet:
similarly, teh copyright filtering sistem iz still in development an itz exact form has not been set. mistah. perrette sed teh plan iz 2 create “filtering technology dat allowz 4 playback ov legitimately purchasd content versus non-legitimately purchasd content.”
he sed dis wud bees similar 2 systems bein tested by microsoft, google an otherz dat r meant 2 block piratd clips frum video sharin siets. nbc iz also werkin wif internets survis providers liek at&t 2 put similar filters rite into teh netwerk.
but so how cud dis possibly werk? wut cud microsoft doez dat wud satisfy thees demands frum nbc? u, teh usr, has video file in format supportd by teh zune. how egsaktly doez ur pc or teh zune itself determine whethr teh content ov teh video infringes on an nbc copyright?
google’s scheme 4 youtube involves centralized database ov “id filez” creatd frum videoz uploaded by copyright holderz. when u upload nu video, der tool creates an id “fingerprint” an attempts 2 match it against teh database ov id fingerprints frum teh reference videoz submitted by copyright holderz. regardles how well dis scheme werkz 4 youtube (an it doesn’t egsaktly seem 2 has eliminated copyright-infringing material), it doesn’t seem feasible 4 desktop playr, unles microsoft planz 2 host such database centrally an require teh zune desktop software 2 upload “fingerprints” an wait 4 an “ok” b4 allowin u 2 sync nu videoz 2 ur zune.
smellz bit liek magic, though, 2 expect “fingerprint” sistem 2 accurately identify an episode ov particular tv seriez. nbc cud doez somethin liek watermarking — addin sum sort ov barcode-liek image 2 evry frame ov teh showz it wishez 2 protect. it doesn’t seem 2 far-fetched 2 imagine they cud doez it in wai dat wud bees non-distracting 2 human eyes but easily parsed by computr, but it also soundz liek teh sort ov ting dat cud bees easily smudgd-out by future vershuns ov video encoding software.
iz teh sort ov sistem dat needz 2 bees extremely accurate. if teh matching algorithm iz 2 permissive an fails 2 identify mutch ov teh material iz supposd 2 catch, wut’s teh point? but if iz 2 strict, an incorrectly flags non-infringing video an blockz u frum watchin them (or, worse, “removes” them frum ur video library — an note dat “remove” iz inded teh verb nbc jerkos has usd when describing dis dystopic feachur), well, dat’d bees infriatin, 2 sai teh least.
teh only feasible opshun wud bees 4 teh zune (an itz desktop counterpart) 2 only play drm-protected media. i.e. disallowing any video filez othr than teh onez u purchase or rent frum nbc partner siets, disallowing even videoz creatd wif ur own camera. dat wud werk, but teh obvious problem wif teh idea iz dat it wouldn’t sell. it’d bees wan ting if microsoft wuz teh company wif 70 persent share in teh handheld media playr markit, but they’re not. they’re teh company wif 4 persent share.
microsoft iz craven, an they’ve been known 2 engage in boil-teh-ocean sorts ov software projectz b4, but they’re not stupid. or at least not so stupid as 2 finks dat anythin along teh linez ov wut they’ve promised nbc wud accomplish anythin othr than killing teh zune. so i finks they’ve pulld fast wan on nbc, promisun them somethin they has no intention 2 delivr.
update: perhapz dis whole post wuz waste ov pixels. microsoft spokesperson adam sohn told cnet: “microsoft has no planz or commitments 2 implement content filtering featurez in teh zune family ov devicez as part ov r content distribushun deal wif nbc.” but so y doez nbc’s j.b. perrette finks otherwize?
- blackberry 9000 video tour
doubt anyone at apple iz losin sleep ovar dis. i especially luv teh wai u’ve got 2 rub ur thumb liek crazed junkie 2 moov teh mouse pointer haf an inch in teh web browsr.
- unicomp customizer keyboard
jake seliger on teh unicomp customizer keyboard, modern vershun ov teh “buckling spring” keyboardz ibm usd 2 mak:
todai, buckling spring keyboardz r nevr or almost nevr shippd wif computerz. fortunately, unicomp has accomplishd wut matias couldn’t an producd an awsum modern vershun in teh customizer. keystrokes r crisp an precise. teh “shadow key” problem dat bedeviled teh tactile pro iz absent, an teh customizer itself iz solid, recalling slab ov stone, unlike teh fragile, mushy keyboardz most pcs ship wif.
The only downside is that the meta keys are for Windows, not Mac. You can remap them using the Keyboard & Mouse panel in System Prefs, but you’re stuck with that ugly Windows key. Unicomp might do well to sell a Mac-specific version, or to at least offer Mac-specific keycaps you could pop on yourself.
- when iz teh next release planned?
panic’s cabel sasser, responding 2 coda usr hoo’s worried dat iz been five whole monthz since teh last update:
company liek adobe, which has hundredz ov engineerz werkin on fotoshop, releasez wan vershun evry 2 or 3 yeers, an maybe single bug fix release in teh interim. 4 teh most part, were all cool wif dat, myself includd! :)
but shareware company dat has, sai, wan or 2 peeps werkin on product, iz somehow expectd 2 doez releasez evry few monthz — even free major onez — or peeps start gettin itchy.
- nbc offerz free episodes ov teh office an 30 rock 2 ifone an ipod touch userz
commershul-free, but crummy quality. (via macdailynews.)
- y apple iz moar expensive than amazon
reg braithwaite on y teh music industry has problem wif teh itunez store’s dominant posishun:
they wants consumerz usin devicez in proprietary silos liek old-fashioned cell fonez, wer u pay 4 teh track, u pay 4 teh bits transferred ovar teh air, an then u pay all ovar again when u wants 2 use few secondz ov teh track as ring tone.
as soon as they can break dis pesky ipod-itms-ifone nonsense, teh labelz wants 2 git bak 2 dictating wut u pay an how often u pay. teh labelz wants 2 doez busines wif peeps liek microsoft. microsoft getz it: all teh peeps hoo buyd music usin msn music? they can buy it all ovar again at teh zune store.
- ★ regardin teh ifone keyboard
comin frum teh aptly-namd blackberry enthusiast siet crackberry, i wuz intrigued by dis list ov “top 10 reasonz teh ifone iz no blackberry”. nevr havin usd blackberry, i dun knoe as mutch bout them as i’d liek — me generally wary ov spouting off regardin tings i has nevr usd. but dis list iz weak sauce.
few itemz r reasonable — e.g., video recordin,1 voip 4 wi-fi, an gps — but they’re also egsaktly teh sort ov tings teh ifone seemz likely 2 support in teh not-so-distant future. (voip 4 wi-fi seemz liek sure ting once teh ifone app store hitz teh street.) othr itemz on teh list r jus sad — #10 iz dat teh ifone iz hardr 2 use wan-handd an therefore not usable while drivin car. an #1, bafflingly, iz “the ifone third-party appz debacle”:
sure teh ifone sdk has been releasd, an thar might bees sum great appz in teh werkz, but in mah opinion, dat’s 2 lil, 2 late, as they sai.
methinks al sacco, teh author ov dis crackberry list, iz deeply misinformed regardin teh imminent ifone appz markit, but well knoe teh anzwr 4 certain in few short weekz, so thar’s no use spilling pixels ovar it her.
teh item on teh list dat interests me iz #2, regardin teh ifone’s lack ov fysical keyboard — clearly fundamental difference tween teh 2 platformz, an subject ov debate evr since teh ifone wuz unveild.
wan ting wurth notin iz dat thar doesn’t seem 2 bees any measurable demand at all frum current ifone ownerz 4 fysical keyboard on future ifone hardware. mah own opinion iz simply dat teh ifone keyboard werkz lot bettr than i expectd it 2. but, nevr havin ownd fone or pda wif blackberry-style qwerty keyboard, me in no posishun 2 compare.
dis, 2 me, iz teh queshun: wut doez ifone ownerz hoo doez has experience usin fonez wif fysical keyboardz finks? so i askd jus dat on twittr, generatin 2 threads ov repliez: her an her. i encourage u 2 read them yourself.
teh general consensus:
it rly doez taek week or so 2 git teh hang ov teh ifone keyboard, an bout month 2 git gud at it.
most admit teh ifone’s keyboard isnt quite as gud as fysical wan, but once usd 2 it, iz gud enough 2 bees happeh.
few claim 2 type fastr on teh ifone. handful, liek dori smith an alex king, admit 2 still usin both regularly, an dose peeps tend 2 liek teh ifone keyboard teh least. (i suspect teh only wai 4 someone accustomd 2 blackberry-style keyboard 2 git usd 2 teh ifone keyboard iz 2 switch fol-tiem. teh necessary muscle mems iz 2 different.)
in short, even ifone userz hoo previously ownd fonez wif fysical keyboardz seem happeh.
but heers teh rub: if it takez week ov use 2 git teh hang ov teh ifone keyboard an month 2 git gud at it, how doez apple convince current blackberry/treo/sidekick/blackjack/whatevr ownr hoo iz particularly skeptical bout teh keyboard? few minutez pecking away on demo unit in an apple store r likely 2 yield disappointin resultz.
e.g., laura lemay, hoo responded thusly:
doez u wants akshul ifone switchers, or peeps liek me hoo rly wants 2 liek teh keyboard but dun an therefore won’t switch?
dat’s not 2 sai dat evryone hoo won’t switch cuz ov teh ifone’s keyboard wud, if they did switch, grow 2 liek it. teh point iz dat sum hoo wud will nevr knoe cuz they won’t buy an ifone in teh furst place cuz they dun finks dat they wud. “it takez couple ov weekz 2 git usd 2 it” meanz u’ve got 2 taek it on faith.
in teh grand scheme ov tings, teh pocket ov ifone resistance comprising peeps currently usin fysical-keyboard fonez iz not dat hooj deal. apple iz lukingz at teh ifone markit as ipod-sizd: 100 million fonez in teh next five yeers or so. teh grand total ov existin smartfone userz pales in comparison. even if thar’s not single already-usin--smartfone usr left hoo iz goin 2 switch 2 an ifone, it wouldn’t prevent teh ifone frum bein mas markit succes. most ifone userz — an especially most future ifone userz — r comin frum regular mobile fonez wif numeric keypads. an no wan can argue dat typin on teh ifone doesn’t beat teh pantz off gimmicks liek t9.
but, in teh near term, i doez finks apple covets blackberry switchers in particular. everythin bout teh enterprise featurez dat apple has announcd 4 teh upcomin ifone 2.0 software seemz catered 2 appeal 2 blackberry userz. teh keyboard iz perhapz teh single biggest advantage rim has wif thees customerz. i doez not finks apple iz goin 2 release an ifone wif fysical keyboard (“iphone enterprise”?), but if they did, it’d bees wan ov dose steve jobz “yer ago he sed thees tings wuz crap an nao he’s tellin us dis wan’s awsum jus cuz iz frum apple” movez dat driv sum peeps — bless der hearts — spittle-flying-out-ov-der-mouths crazy.
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i buyd $135 flip ultra video camera at teh end ov march, an has subsequently fallen in luv wif it. but it strikez me dat an ifone wif video recordin an slightly bettr lenz (than teh current ifone) cud completely obviate teh ned 4 flip. ↩
- ★ subsidize dis
arik hesseldahl in businesweek, “y at&t cud deep-discount teh ifone”:
teh hooj ting bout teh next ifone wuz supposd 2 bees high-sped internets acces an toolz 4 busines.
sez hoo? i knoe, evryone wif even single toe dabbled in gadget-bloggin iz callin teh next-gen ifone teh “3g ifone”, but when has speculashun evr accurately predictd next-generashun ipodz? 3g networking cud well bees teh least ov wut’s cool bout next-generashun ifone hardware.
as 4 toolz 4 busines, they’re comin 2 all ifonez, not jus nu onez, when teh 2.0 os shipz in few monthz.
instead, iz lukingz liek ifone 2.0 iz all bout price an dat evr-awkward relationship tween apple an at&t.
so sez wan report, usin wan anonymous source, frum scott moritz, “reporter” wif an appallin track record regardin apple an teh ifone. teh same scott moritz hoo reportd in july last yer dat apple had cut bak itz producshun ordr on ifonez basd on “trading note” frum miller tabak, note which, it endz up, didnt akshully exist. an, as we knoe nao, apple went on 2 sell moar ifonez than expectd in 2007, not fewr.
so aftr yer ov charting nu wireless busines model by sellin teh vaunted ifone at premium pricez, teh nashun’s biggest fone company cud resort 2 teh oldest trick in teh cellular book: hooj discounts.
doez u rly finks anyone at at&t has seen or knowz teh detailz regardin teh next-generashun ifone, given dat they furst laid eyes on teh original wan jus b4 itz debut at macworld expo?
although it has sent millions ov nu customerz at&t’s wai, dis unique markit advantage known as teh ifone will only last so long. wif evry passing month, rival device makerz r introducin nu handhelds dat attempt 2 replicate teh wide array ov innovations — startin wif sheer simplicity — dat apple usd 2 rock teh wireless wurld les than yer ago. none ov thees nu fonez has duplicated apple’s formula 4 succes yet, but it cud bees only mattr ov tiem.
soundz lot liek wut peeps wrote bout teh ipod in 2002: competitorz haven’t caught up yet, but surely they will, cuz, well, jus cuz. in teh same wai dat surely, evenshully, ford an gm will start makin carz as well-engineered an designd as teh germans an japanese, cuz, well, cuz.
published reportz dat furst appeard on teh web siet ov fortune magazine [sic] suggest dat at&t, which has an exclusive five-yer deal 2 sell teh ifone in teh u.s., iz prepared 2 subsidize teh device by as mutch as $200, slicing teh purchase price as low as $199 4 customerz hoo sign 2-yer survis contract.
no, it wuz not published reportz, plural. it wuz wan published report, singular. by scott moritz. all teh othr reportz regardin dis purportd $200 at&t ifone subsidy wuz basd on moritz’s report 4 fortune — no additional sourcez or original reportin 2 corroborate dis subsidy story.
such discount cud cause surge in demand.
i find dis theory intriguing, dat when pricez go down, demand “could” go up. wif dis sort ov deep economic insight, iz no wondr peeps read businesweek.
at last count, apple had sold sum 5.4 million unitz, teh vast majority ov them 4 at&t’s netwerk, even wif price tags ov $400 2 $600 — essentially unheard ov in teh u.s. cellular markit.
except 4 teh 30 or so different $400-800 fonez at amazon, dis iz vary gud point.
yet wif rival smartphones liek research in moshun’s blackberry an nu palm treo sellin 4 as lil at $99 at sum carriers, competitive pressures r buildin.
cuz thar wuz not any $100 blackberrys or treo yer ago?
at&t bringz in bout $90 month frum each ifone usr, reckons john hodulik, analyst wif ubs investment research (ubs).
i wondr if hodulik iz aware dat teh rate planz r published, an dat they mak $90 per month sound liek vary unlikely average?
“when apple cut teh price on teh ifone by 33% earlir dis yer, it stimulated demand,” he sez. “if dis nu price turnz out 2 bees true, it wud doez it again. iz liek déjà vu all ovar again.”
again wif dis intriguing theory ov lower pricez creatin highr demand. perhapz they shud giv teh ifonez away 4 free — perhapz demand wud then go even highr.
teh article endz wif speculashun dat teh next generashun ifone hardware, if iz calld somethin othr than jus “iphone”, might fall outside teh purview ov apple’s “iphone” exclusivity deal wif at&t. i.e. dat der existin deal might cover only teh original ifone, an dat apple iz free 2 shop teh upcomin “iphone pro/mini/nano/steampunky olde timey handset/whatevr” 2 othr carriers. (i wuz thinkin along similar linez 2 dais ago on teh twittr.)
hesseldahl mentions dis in teh context ov explaining y at&t might push 4 dis $200 subsidy:
thar’s also been speculashun, considerd unlikely, dat at&t might bees floatin teh idea ov an ifone subsidy 2 reinforce itz marriage wif partner as notoriously slippery an heavy-handd as apple.
dis comez so close 2 uncovering teh obvious an glaring problem wif $200 at&t ifone subsidy, but, alas, hesseldahl an hims keen economic mind walk rite past it. teh problem iz dis: y wud apple allow at&t 2 sell ifonez 4 haf teh price ov wut ifonez cost in apple’s own storez (includin dis wan)?
subsidies only werk when they’re sold in conjunction wif 2-yer contracts. iz posible dat apple cud doez teh same, an sell subsidized at&t-contract ifonez in apple storez, but dat wud mean abandoning teh innovative (an vary appealing, vary successful) model ov activating nu ifone at home, via itunez, rathr than sitting around in store 4 45 minutez makin uncomfortable small talk wif salesman while waitin 4 ur credit check an ur old fone numbr 2 transfr ovar.
ud finks dis might bees wurth menshun.
- ★ hooj fan
aftr readin dis mornin’s blurb on teh egregious fan noise in psystar’s supposd mac clones, mah frend cabel sasser emaild wif story, includin documentary video footage, regardin apple’s 2005 developr transishun kits — intel-basd pc hardware housed in powr mac cases intendd solely 4 use by developrz durin apple’s transishun frum powerpc 2 intel processors.
i encouraged sasser 2 publish dis important story on hims own well-regarded cabel’s blog lol, but, alas, due 2 schedulin constraints at panic, he estimated such publicashun wouldn’t bees feasible 4 anothr few yeers.
wut happend iz dat cabel’s an mah mutual frend craig hockenberry, iconfactory co-founder an lead developr, had, at dat tiem, recently undertaken project 2 greatly reduce teh ambient noise in hims office, movin servrz 2 hims garage, unplugging seldom-usd devicez, replacing noisy equipment wif quieter alternativez, an so forth. concerned dat teh developr transishun kit masheens wud bees noisy (as hockenberry told me, he “fully expectd it 2 bees teh normal pc pos hardware”), he askd teh panic crew — hoo receivd wan ov teh furst dtk masheens sent 2 third-party developrz — bout fan noise.
writez cabel, “we took quick video 2 quell hims fears.”
cabel continud, “suffice it 2 sai craig’s response contained all-capz commentz dat r unprintable her. we waited lil while, then sent him follow-up video wif lil moar… explanashun.”
- ★ stopped clock
thar’s streak ov incredulity in teh old inbox regardin dis item, wherein i agred wif jim cramer’s bullish taek on apple’s stock, which (teh incredulity) stems frum teh fact dat cramer can bees bit ov buffoon an/or cuz as recently as january 29 he wuz recommending sellin apple, which wuz at teh tiem sellin 4 liek $131 share an which at dis writin iz at $169.
but, () dat january 29 piece wuz bout teh tech sector as whole, not apple in particular, an most ov teh stockz cramer warnd bout in dat piece (e.g. dell, garmin, google, microsoft, texas instruments, an vmware) r in fact down or flat since then; an (b) even if cramer iz often or even usually wrong bout apple, it doesn’t mean he isnt rite dis tiem.
teh man rly iz egsaktly rite on dis particular point: dat young peeps — by which let’s sai we mean anyone hoo shouldn’t yet bees embarrassed 2 bees livin wif der parents — r buyin apple productz in both remarkable numberz an wif remarkable devotion. apple’s strength in dis markit iz both wide an deep, an it includez both ipodz an macz. (i suspect studentz r hooj reason y apple’s laptop salez r growin even fastr than der desktop salez.1) an, investor-strategy-wise, i also finks cramer’s rite dat dis particular point regardin apple’s popularity an iconic status in teh young-an-cool markit iz wan dat most apple analysts r overlooking or underestimating, if 4 no othr reason than dat thees analysts r old-an-not-cool.
iz potenshul gold mine. teh youngr wan iz, teh moar disproportionately wan tends 2 care bout wut’s cool.2 apple’s kit iz vary cool, an der competitors’ kit ranges frum “not cool” 2 “totally lame”. when u’re old an evryone around u iz doin or buyin somethin u dun understand, u finks they’re assholes; when u’re young, u doez it/buy wan, 2. todai’s studentz dun has preconceptions (or misconceptions) bout macz dating frum teh ’90s or ’80s cuz anythin pre-ipod iz prehistoric frum der perspectiv.
in short, apple’s strength in dis markit iz egsaktly wut separates it most frum teh tech sector as whole.