Not so mobile me
I signed up for a 60-day trial of Apple’s new MobileMe service today only to find it is not currently compatible with OS X 10.4.11, more commonly known as “Tiger.”
The latest version of Mac OS X is 10.5.x, or “Leopard.” My home machine runs Leopard; my PowerBook still runs Tiger - and the preference pane that is supposed to be Mobile Me is still the old .Mac.
Which means, unfortunately, that all of Apple’s instructions regarding how to sync my iPhone and laptop are useless.
Hopefully an update will soon be forthcoming …
WALL-E and Mac OS X
Did you catch the Mac start-up sounds in WALL-E?
Teresa and I took the kids to see WALL-E last night (great movie, paradigm-breaker, lots of fun). One particularly interesting part for long-time Mac users are the Mac start-up sounds that accompany WALL-E’s and EVE’s reboot cycles. Notcot has already noticed that EVE is an iPod of the future (can’t wait to get that incredible laser attachment) but you never would have guess that the rusty, clunky WALL-E runs Mac OS X.
There weren’t wholesale signs of recognition among the crowd in the theatre that I could recognize, but I’m sure that the levels will rise in future years …
New iMac
Teresa, the kids and I just got home from the Apple store in Pacific Centre, where we picked up a new iMac.
First impression: wow! The screen is amazing and the speed is great.
Second impression: Apple Migration Assistant failed to assist, and all our user accounts, data, and applications are still on the old iMac.
Time to do some research …
HP Scanjet G4010: Not actually Mac compatible
I just bought the G4010 and am having the exact same problems as this poster on Apple’s support forums … which leads me to believe that the G4010 is not actually Mac compatible, as HP claims it is.
1. If I power-up the scanner while the iMac is running, the mouse pointer freezes, and the only way out I have found is to restart the computer. Bluetooth mouse or USB mouse are the same. This is very irritating.
2. If I leave the scanner powered up all the time, whenever I wake the iMac from sleep it causes the HP scanner application to launch and a blank scan is started. I have to abort the scan and quit the application. However, I use the scanner only occasionally, so really don’t want to leave it powered up.
And, of course, that HP’s software is a steaming pile of you know what.
AppleInsider rips Adobe AIR
Interesting take from AppleInsider on the Adobe AIR thing:
Adobe lists a variety of phone makers and chip manufacturers as its partners in the Open Screen Project, but notably excludes any mention of Microsoft, Apple, and Google. How will ARM, Intel, and Cisco have any relevant impact on pushing Flash on Microsoft’s desktop, Apple’s mobiles and the Mac, or Google’s web apps and Android platform?
And how are the existing licensees of Adobe’s Flash Lite on mobile phones (LG, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, and Verizon Wireless) going to do anything to promote Flash-based rich Internet apps when their devices can’t even run the full version of Flash?
Adobe seems to be hoping that nobody notices these problems and that its vigilant marketing efforts can entrance the public into thinking that a drawing app extended into an animation tool and then retrofitted into a monstrous hack of a development platform is a superior technology basis for building web apps compared to the use of modern open standards created expressly to promote true interoperability by design rather than retroactively.
Brands are results, not causes
Here’s a response I posted this morning on a Seeking Alpha story on Apple’s brand that seemed to imply it was all about marketing:
“All Day Breakfast” hit the nail on the head.
What people who don’t really understand branding don’t understand is that the best branding, the longest-lived branding, and the most financially remunerative branding is branding that is a result, not a cause.
The brand is authentic because it first arises from actual value and actual experience.
Brands that are invented via marketing alone are typically short-lived, expensive, and doomed to crash and burn. The product and the client experience need to be what the branding says in order to generate long-term value.
(The comment’s not showing up yet on Seeking Alpha … I had to sign up … they have an email authorization … I haven’t got the email yet … )
OpenMac: ugly but cheap
Please see the comment on this story from David Boone. This whole company appears to be a hoax - Gizmodo has the story.
PsyStar Corp’s new OpenMac is a game changer for Mac switchers. It’s not pretty, and it’s not small. But it is very, very cheap.
Here’s the basic box. It’s available without any extras for $399.
And here’s the price … loaded up with a big hard drive, faster processor, 4 GB of RAM, a fast graphics card, and 3 FireWire ports:
I’m tempted to pick up one, but a couple of things hold me back.
First of all, I love Apple fit and finish. Aesthetics are important to me, and I don’t want objects in my house that I don’t love. Secondly, I’m fairly certain Apple’s next OS update will include some code checking if it’s on an OpenMac, and potentially brick your computer. (I’m also fairly certain that enterprising hackers will find a way around that, but I’m not the type that likes to do open heart surgery on my operating system.)
But I bet a lot of potential switchers will pick one up - primarily technical types who have wanted to check Apple out, but have not wanted to drop the grand or more that is the current price of admission (Mac Mini aside).
And the end results will actually be good for Apple with an expanded market, OS sales to anyone who antes up, and a cheap entry point to Mac that does not compromise the Apple brand.
iPhone is a trojan horse for Mac software development
I’m watching VP of iPhone software for Apple, Scott Forstall, in today’s Apple Event.
He’s demo’ing the API and development environment, and my first thought was: this is a trojan horse for Mac OS X development.
Thousands of developers are going to want to write applications for the hottest mobile device on the market … and as they do so, they’ll all be learning how to program for a Mac, using the same tools - the same development environment.
This is going to pay dividends for many years to come.
iCapital for iPhone
This is a big, big deal:
KPCB’s iFund is a $100M investment initiative that will fund market-changing ideas and products that extend the revolutionary new iPhone and iPod touch platform. The iFund is agnostic to size and stage of investment and will invest in companies building applications, services and components. Focus areas include location based services, social networking, mCommerce (including advertising and payments), communication, and entertainment. The iFund will back innovators pursuing transformative, high-impact ideas with an eye towards building independent durable companies atop the iPhone / iPod touch platform.
“A revolutionary new platform is a rare and prized opportunity for entrepreneurs, and that’s exactly what Apple has created with iPhone and iPod touch,” said John Doerr, Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. “We think several significant new companies will emerge as this new platform evolves, and the iFund will empower them to realize their full potential.”
“Developers are already bursting with ideas for the iPhone and iPod touch, and now they have the chance to turn those ideas into great companies with the help of world-class venture capitalists,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We can’t wait to start working with Kleiner Perkins and the companies they fund through this new initiative.”
Let a thousand flowers bloom.
FastCompany.tv on AppleTV
I’ve been wondering lately if the shows that Scoble is putting on FastCompany.tv will be available on AppleTV.
See, here’s my problem: I’m interesting in the shows that Scoble (and presumably other) will be doing. They’re with fascinating people doing interesting things. All great and good.
But the times when I’m browsing are NOT times when I’ll kick back and watch a 15, 20, or 30 minute show.
I’m usually browsing to take a quick break - it’s lunch, I want to know what’s going on, and I surf my favorite blogs and PopURLs for a couple of minutes. But my break is short - I’m not going to put my feet up and just watch something.
So the only other alternative is to let the video run while I’m working. Sorry, that’s a non-starter. I need to focus and be intent on what I’m doing, and I can’t have a running distraction like a podcast or a video.
So …
I need FastCompany.tv to be available in my evening downtime, when I might look for something to watch on TV. Most shows on regular TV are a waste of time, but there are a lot of great podcasts - and I’m thinking FastCompany.tv shows would be among them - that I’d like to surf and watch.
But that would mean that FastCompany.tv would need to put its shows on either YouTube or the iTunes directory.
So … the question is … will they?
UPDATE:
I see on Robert’s latest post that FastCompany.tv will be available via iTunes. See #4 of what they’re working on … “RSS Feeds that work with iTunes. That’s the first thing to fix after the developers get some sleep (they were up most of Sunday night working on this).”
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Sparkplug 9 is John Koetsier's blog on life, the universe, and everything,
but mostly the stuff you see big in the tags to the left.
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