Ben Bajarin:
At WWDC last week when Apple discussed the MacBook Air, the crowd did not cheer or applaud when they announced the speed of the processor. Instead, the crowd went wild when they announced the new metrics for battery life.
If anyone asks you what Apple is about, show them this video.
Ben Bajarin:
The fallacy most make when critiquing Apple’s service challenge is to believe that Apple needs to out-innovate competing services. The truth is, all they need to do is out-integrate them.
Integration is a huge part of Apple’s advantage, but its services still need to offer what users want. For instance, I was impressed with the OS X Maps demo where you can look up an address and send it to your iPhone. That type of integration will win people over. However, you still have people that use Dropbox because they feel it’s better than iCloud.
This looks cool. You can send the photos to be printed and delivered to someone or you can pick them up yourself at Walgreens, CVS, Target or Duane Reade. Of course, you can also email them.
Tom Witkin built a beautiful app in Poster and I’m really happy for him. Poster is an app that I’ve used and tested since it first came out, and it’s still my favorite. However, I worry that the folks at WordPress will ruin it. They shouldn’t try to incorporate what Tom built into the official WordPress app, they should throw theirs away and make Poster the new official app.
If you’re interesting in mixing, you should take a look at these tips.
Every monday should start off with a good dose of humor and sarcasm about the latest rumors. I enjoyed this article by Chris Rawson.
If you had any questions on what data Apple may provide to authorities, this should answer them for you.
Clearly I need to stay here.
Some of the worst jokes ever, but that’s the point.
Every word of this story is true because I wrote it. I even took the picture of what I saw.
I met with the guys from Prss this week to check out what they’re doing around Newsstand magazine apps. What they already have is impressive, but I got a little peek into what’s coming on the platform and it’s amazing. Watch these guys.
Another great way to use CSS.
Only in Canada can shit like this happen.
Bummer.
If you don’t know who the Pixies are or why this sucks, kick yourself in the balls or have someone do it for you.
There’s some funny stuff in here.
Peter Alguacil:
One could argue that by making the user interface behave as if it is backlit, Apple is treating iOS 7 as a more integral part of the device itself. It’s not a mock front-lit interface with shadows and textures, it is a representation of the actual physical screen.
Some interesting thoughts in this article.
The same person that designed Steve Jobs’ yacht.
I don’t usually link to my Angry Mac Bastards podcasting work because it’s not everybody’s cup of tea (NSFW by intent, lots of swearing). But this one’s important, because we talk about App Camp for Girls, a non-profit that we feel very strongly about. We felt strongly enough to put our money where our mouths are on this one – AMB is very proud to be a contributor to this project.
I couldn’t care less if you listen to the podcast. But give App Camp for Girls money if you can and if you think the cause is worthwhile.
It’s been an interesting few years for Apple. Despite high sales numbers for its products, Wall Street has been beating on the company and analysts as a group have wondered if Apple has lost its mojo. Today’s keynote should put that nonsense to rest.
One thing that became very clear to me early on in today’s keynote is that Apple was having fun again. They were really enjoying themselves.
One of the highlights of the keynote address was whenever Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, took the stage. He was jovial and interacted with the crowd very well, often cracking jokes about the lack of skeuomorphic elements in the new design.
It was light-hearted and Federighi would laugh right along with the crowd. It helped put the crowd at ease about a slew of important announcements that would come throughout the event.
To me, the fun was coming from the confidence Apple had in the products they were announcing. It’s not hard to enjoy yourself when you know the products you are going to introduce will be accepted and applauded by the people you’re releasing them for.
The announcements, like the design changes to iOS 7, were certainly not a sure thing. There was wild speculation on what exactly Apple would do, scaring a lot of people into thinking that iOS 7 could end up as flat as Windows 8. Of course, that didn’t happen.
Let’s not forget Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, joking with the crowd about giving a sneak peek of the new Mac Pro to 5,000 of his closest friends. And then in a remark that will surely go down in keynote history, Schiller said after introducing the Mac Pro, “Can’t innovate anymore, my ass.”
Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, was all smiles as he introduced iTunes Radio and talked to attendees about the new service. This was especially true when he revealed the ad-supported service would be ad-free for people who purchase iTunes Match.
Of course, you can’t talk about the keynote without mentioning Apple CEO, Tim Cook. Tim looked relaxed during his portion of the keynote and didn’t linger on a lot of needless numbers. He exuded confidence.
The entire Apple executive team looked confident in their products and judging from the reaction inside the keynote room today, the developers responsible for making apps for the platforms seemed confident in Apple.
That’s great news for consumers.
I don’t think there is any surprises with the new version of OS X. Some desktop improvements and deeper integration with iOS. That continues a move Apple began with the last version of OS X in bringing the two OSes together in a way that makes it easy for users to sync and share data. Maps, Notifications, iBooks and iCloud Keychain are all going to be great additions to OS X.
The idea of the Thermal Core on the Mac Pro reminds me a lot of the Cube. I wonder how much of that technology Apple looked to for the Mac Pro. Overall, this looks like an incredible system—lots of power and expandability is just what the pros were looking for.
There is no doubt that iOS 7 is a great looking operating system. In fact, I liked everything that I saw, except the icons on the home screen. I don’t know what it is, but they seemed kind of odd to me.
Apple will stream the WWDC keynote live today so everyone can watch. Clearly this is the best way to stay up-to-date on the event, so I won’t be doing a live update myself. I will post my thoughts on any announcements after the keynote.
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Mark Zuckerberg posted the following statement regarding PRISM, the NSA program that allegedly taps into user data mined from major Internet companies like Facebook:
I want to respond personally to the outrageous press reports about PRISM:
Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers. We have never received a blanket request or court order from any government agency asking for information or metadata in bulk, like the one Verizon reportedly received. And if we did, we would fight it aggressively. We hadn’t even heard of PRISM before yesterday.
When governments ask Facebook for data, we review each request carefully to make sure they always follow the correct processes and all applicable laws, and then only provide the information if is required by law. We will continue fighting aggressively to keep your information safe and secure.
We strongly encourage all governments to be much more transparent about all programs aimed at keeping the public safe. It’s the only way to protect everyone’s civil liberties and create the safe and free society we all want over the long term.
I cannot make this shit up people.
First, we have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government—or any other government—direct access to our servers. Indeed, the U.S. government does not have direct access or a “back door” to the information stored in our data centers. We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday.
Given the way Google lies, this could be seen as confirmation of PRISM.