Category: Macintosh

The best thing about the WWDC Keynote: I still like my iPhone

Maybe the application demos dragged on a little longer than they could have, but there was a lot to like about yesterday’s WWDC Keynote: the iPhone 2.0 software looks great, from third-party apps to MobileMe support to improvements in iCal; and the new iPhone 3G is impressive, too. As Apple says (and this is the talking point from the keynote): the new iPhone offers twice the speed at half the price. Now priced lower than many other smartphones, I think this will open the floodgates: the iPhone is about to become a mass consumer device.

What I liked best about the announcements, though, is that I walked away from the keynote still loving my iPhone 1.0. Unlike the updates that came shortly after I bought my first iPod, I will get all the benefits and new features of the new operating system, third-party apps and all. My iPhone won’t get 3G, but I’m really fine with EDGE–and I’m not entirely sure I’d be willing to pay $30 a month to get 3G anyway. And while I still think it’s a typo, Apple’s webpage explaining the 2.0 software upgrade to existing Mac users seems to indicate that we’ll get true GPS, too. Is there a hidden GPS chip already in older iPhones just waiting for a firmware update to wake it up? I doubt it, but either way it’s alright with me. While it would be nice to have real GPS, Apple’s location system using cell towers and WiFi routers works really well in my experience.

So Apple has (finally) managed to introduce a really impressive upgrade that doesn’t leave existing customers–the early adapters–behind. We can cheer right along with those who haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet. Our iPhones may not be the latest and greatest anymore, but they’re still far from obsolete, and the iPhone platform still doesn’t discriminate.

Notes on .Mac to MobileMe transition

Apple has posted a FAQs page on its transition from .Mac to the new MobileMe service it announced at WWDC. I’ll just cover a few of the more burning questions I’ve seen.

  • .Mac to MobileMe transitions are automatic; the subscriber does not have to do anything to activate MobileMe
  • Storage space, which recently increased for .Mac subscribers, is being doubled: Individual subscriptions go from 10GB to 20GB; family packs now get 40GB–20 for the main account and 5GB for each sub-account.
  • You can keep your current mac.com address. You will also get a new me.com address with the same username, e.g., if your .Mac address is jdoe@mac.com, you will also get jdoe@me.com–that’s a pretty cool address, in my opinion.
  • If you have .Mac home pages or galleries, their current URLs will still work. They will also be accessible in a me.com version of the URL.
  • You can use either your mac.com or me.com screen name in iChat (or AOL, I presume). However, if you cancel your me.com subscription, only the mac.com screen name will work.
  • Some .Mac features are being discontinued: Web access to bookmarks (bookmark sync between your Macs and/or PCs is still supported), iCards, .Mac slides, and support for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther sync.

iPhone 2.0, 3G announced at WWDC; both due early July

iPhone 3GFor those of you who weren’t reading the liveblogging of Apple’s WWDC Keynote, the company unveiled both its new software and hardware for the iPhone.

iPhone 2.0–the next-generation of the mobile device’s operating system, will be available in “early July,” the company announced. The new phone itself got a more specific due date: July 11th. The new OS will allow third-developer applications and will be supported by a revamped and re-branded dot-Mac service dubbed “MobileMe,” and will support “always on” wireless updating of contacts, email, calendars, etc. (I may have missed it, but I don’t recall hearing that syncing to-do lists were supported.)

One the hardware side, the new iPhone 3G will feature faster 3G networking, built-in GPS and a lower price: $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for 16 gigs.

More details are available at news sites including Macworld. Apple’s own site had not been updated as of this posting.

Only briefly mentioned was the next version of the Macintosh operating system, referred to as “Snow Leopard.” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said more details would come in an afternoon session, presumably covered under the conference’s No-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

[UPDATE: Andy Ihnatko made a great observation: Apple’s webpage describing the 2.0 software update for existing (i.e., non-3G) iPhones specifically mentions the addition of GPS. As Andy says: “Signif(icant), or typo?”]

Under the wire: WWDC speculation on MacJury

MacJury 807The latest installment of MacJury went live on Friday. In it, host Chuck Joiner and a panel including Jean MacDonald of SmileOnMyMac, John Moltz of Crazy Apple Rumors and Macworld, Jeff Gamet of The Mac Observer and yours truly pontificate about what we expect to see and what we’d like to see announced at this year’s WWDC Keynote (scheduled for today as I write this).

It’s a show with a short shelf life, but in my opinion one of the most fun segments of the series so far. I mean where else will you hear ponies and pink MacBook Pros thrown out as possibilities for a Steve Jobs keynote?

If you’d like to give it a quick listen before the keynote, you’ve got just enough time to download it and hear it before Jobs take the stage. Even more fun, though, might be to listen to it after the announcements and see just how far off base we were.

My thanks to Chuck and the whole panel for making this show so much fun. You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or listen to the show directly from the MacJury website here.

Macworld’s ‘New rules for buying a Mac’

In almost 20 years of purchases, I have never bought a “consumer” Mac for use at home. Since the first Mac I bought for my own use — a IIci with an obscenely generous 8MB of RAM, for those wondering — it’s been pro-level machines for me. The last couple of iMac revs have made me re-think that policy, though. They are more than fast enough for all but the most processor-intensive tasks and most expandability these days is accomplished through external USB ports, not internal cabling. The only time I’ve gone into the innards of my current PowerMac G5 is to put in an extra internal hard drive or add RAM. As the time draws nearer to consider replacing “new Betsy,” I am for the first time, giving serious thought to an iMac.

Macworld has been thinking along the same lines lately, too, it seems. Jonathan Seff and Jason Snell have put together a great piece that “busts the myths” of choosing a new Mac. If you’re in the market for a new Mac and have always eschewed the consumer side of the line (or always thought your primary machine had to be a desktop), the article is definitely worth a read.

MacJury 807: Microsoft v. Yahoo!; Office v. Everyone Else

MacJury 807I’m back on the MacJury for the latest session, along with Jacqui Cheng of Ars Technica, Scott McNulty of The Unofficial Apple Weblog and Warren Williams of the AppleWorks User Group. We had a fun discussion on two topics: Microsoft’s abandoned attempts to acquire Yahoo! and “Can we dump Microsoft Office yet?” It was a lively discussion, with different points of view on both issues, which I always think makes for a better show. One of my biggest concerns on these panels (other than sounding like an idiot), is that everyone will be in complete agreement with each other — that makes for a really boring show. Luckily, we each had some good points to debate.

If you haven’t already subscribed, the show is listed in the iTunes store, or you can just follow this link.

By the way, I’m looking for recommendations for a decent podcasting microphone — preferably a USB condenser mic. Scott and host Chuck Joiner were both using Snowballs, but I’m looking for something a little less bulky and a little more old school.

Bynkii goes stoopid-hunting

There are few things as satisfying to me as taking a really dumb argument and ripping it to shreds with logic and facts. If that stupid argument is delivered with pomposity and arrogance, it’s all the more fun.

Few people have elevated this to the level of sport as well as John C. Welch. A hunting analogy comes quickly to mind, but the more I think of it, the more I realize it’s not so much the hunter-with-rifle-tracks-deer kind of hunting as it is the lion-in-the-plains-gets-gazelle kind. It’s graceful, masterful and can sometimes make you wince at its brutality.

The clueless gazelle this time out is Matt Freestone of Windows Connected, who is clearly talking out of his nether regions in a post that creates a fiction presented as a comparative piece about the compatibility of Mac and Windows operating systems on older hardware. John breaks down his arguments and counters them with beautifully presented facts. Think of it as poetry without mercy.

The piece is worth reading just as a lesson in persuasive writing, but it’s also entertaining as hell. You can almost see Freestone’s arguments squirm under Welch’s attack. In fact, there’s really only one difference between this and a nature channel documentary: in the documentary, I sometimes feel sorry for the gazelle.

The must-read article is on bynkii.com.

Stan Flack, MacCentral and MacMinute founder, passes away

Via a post on Twitter, Rick LePage reports he has received word that Stan Flack, founder of popular Mac news sites MacCentral and MacMinute, has passed away. No other details are available at this time. MacCentral was one of the first major Mac news sites on the web until it was bought and its content incorporated into Macworld.com.

Stan had been ill several times over the past year or so, with MacMinute going on unexpected hiatus due to his medical problems. On June 18th of last year, he told his readers “Monday evening I was rushed to emergency and immediately placed in intensive care due to a serious medical issue.”

In November, Flack faced another unexpected surgery: “At least this time I had a brief warning and the opportunity to alert you as to my circumstances.” he wrote to his readers. “I will be back in the saddle as soon as humanly possible and things will be be back to normal.”

I’ll always remember Stan’s policy of not posting news on Veteran’s Day, instead posting “In Flanders Field,” a poem dedicated to the fallen soldiers of World War I. He was also the first person I know of to “decorate” his site’s logo, changing the stopwatch to an Easter egg or decorating it with a Santa hat. That playfulness and accessibility permeated Stan’s work.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Stan personally, but I was frequently inspired by his entrepreneurial spirit and the example he gave of how much one dedicated person could accomplish when he was doing something he loved. Stan and I shared some friends, and from their reaction to his passing, it’s obvious that he was a very special person.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Stan’s family.

What’s your verdict on the MacJury?

Back in the late-nineties, I produced what would now be called a podcast on the long-defunct “GiveMeTalk” Internet Radio Network. They were mostly 10-15 minute scripted shows, wherein I offered some analysis and commentary on the day’s news. Topics back then ranged from the introduction of candy-colored iMacs to the passing of legendary Mac journalist (when such a phrase could be used without irony) Don Crabbe.

I haven’t spent much time on-mic since then, although I’ve threatened to start up “RandomMaccess Radio” again every once in a while. This week, though, I finally return to the Internet “airwaves” as a member of the “MacJury,” Mac User Group guru and podcaster Chuck Joiner’s latest venture. The show joins his already excellent lineup of MacNotables and MacVoices. MacJury distinguishes itself by convening a panel (the jury) to talk in relative depth about two or three issues of interest to the Mac community, not to re-hash the week’s tech news.

I think this is a great strategy and fills a real void in the Mac podcast space. I like Chuck’s idea of rotating jury members, too–mixing up the panel should keep the discussion and interactions fresh. For episode two, Chuck’s panel included Steve Sande of Movable Beast, Red Sweater Software’s Daniel Jalcut, Rogue Amoeba’s Paul Kafasis and yours truly. We covered the future (and merits) of the Mac Mini, some of the possible consequences of Microsoft’s buyout of Yahoo!, and the iPhone’s dominance among mobile browsers. It was, I think, a good discussion and a fun listen (for geeks, anyway). I liked the way we interacted and had a few laughs along the way.

Panelist or not, I think it’s a good listen and a show with a lot of potential. Give it a try and let me know what you think. The show is now up and available for subscription on the iTunes Store. (Link via Chuck Joiner.)