May 29, 2013
Video of Tim Cook’s D11 interview
Watch for yourself.
WWDC Expectations
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is only a couple of weeks away and everyone is wondering what the company will unveil during the keynote address. As much as we all have long wish lists for what we would like to see, I think it’s important to balance those with realistic expectations for what’s likely to happen.
The important thing to remember about WWDC is that it is a developer conference. It’s not a place where Apple is going to show off the newest iPhone or iPad 1. These are Apple’s flagship products and they demand separate events. Entire industries watch these products because they shape what will happen in the mobile space. They are that important.
So, don’t expect an iPhone or iPad at WWDC 2.
If not an iPhone or iPad, what can we expect in the way of hardware from the conference? Personally, I would look squarely to the Mac side of Apple’s product line.
The Mac is still an important part of what Apple does, but I don’t know that Apple would hold a special event specifically for a Mac product anymore. If they did, it would have to be quite a spectacular product.
For me, the Mac products fit well with a Tim Cook keynote at WWDC. That’s all I really expect from Apple in the way of hardware at the conference.
That leaves us with the one thing that everyone does expect from the conference — the introduction of iOS7 and OS X. The operating systems are why most of the people attending WWDC go to the conference.
This is where developers get one-on-one time with Apple engineers and get advice on how to make their products better 3. WWDC is also the place where developers learn about the new APIs they’ll be able to use in the operating systems and any changes they’ll need to make to take advantage of them.
iOS 7 is the thing everyone will be watching and talking about. Since Jony Ive took over software design, people expect the operating system to move to a more flat design, rather than the skeuomorphic design that Apple has favored for years.
Personally, I don’t think that Apple will take it as far as what some might think. The way I envision iOS 7 is more of a modernization of the look and feel of the operating system. Kind of like what Apple did with OS X over the years.
Take a look back at the first version of OS X with the Aqua interface and compare that with what we have today. You can see a lot of the same types of elements in the OS design, but it’s more modern — it’s smoother and less dramatic in its effects.
OS X will be very interesting for me. We have shifted our attention away from the Mac operating system over the past few years, but part of what we have come to expect from Apple is deep integration with all of their products and services.
That’s what I’ll be watching for with OS X. The continued integration between iOS and OS X, through apps and services, like iCloud.
There is no doubt that WWDC will be an interesting conference for developers. I suspect the promise of iOS 7 and OS X will cause a lot of talk for days and weeks to come.
If you are going to write an article that Apple will release the new iPhone or iPad at WWDC, don’t do it. ↩
If you write a story after WWDC stating that since there was no iPhone or iPad, the keynote was a bust, you are just stupid. ↩
This is why consumers want developers to go to WWDC too. Better products make us all happier. ↩
May 28, 2013
Live blogs of Tim Cook’s interview at D11 ∞
9to5Mac is at the event and is updating live. Of course, AllThingsD has a live blog as well. It starts at 9:00 pm ET.
Remember “Clumsy Ninja”? ∞
Apparently the game is still coming.
Designing blogs for readers ∞
How about that for a novel idea — design your blog so it’s better for the reader. There are a lot of great ideas and thoughts here. You don’t have to follow them all, but it’s a good read to get an understanding of what works for readers and publishers.
The Sweethome ∞
The Sweethome is the sister site of The Wirecutter, our electronics leaderboard. It’s a list of the best home gear, each item chosen mindfully and with many hours of research, interviews with the world’s most knowledgable experts and testers, all in service of backing up our own testing and opinions. It’s not a blog. We don’t do news and we don’t post multiple times a day–we just want to help you pick out great gear and get on with your life.
The Wirecutter is a great site and it looks like The Sweethome will follow in its footsteps.
Apple stock got mugged ∞
Philip Elmer-Dewitt:
Spooner, a Canadian money manager and financial columnist, likened the burst of short selling to a “swarming,” a violent street crime where “an unsuspecting innocent bystander is attacked by several culprits at once.”
I hate Wall St.
The pros and cons of having a crazy-ass beard ∞
For the record, having food stuck in your beard is not a con.
Principles of flat design ∞
Carrie Cousins looks at five characteristics of flat design.
Sony’s moneymaker: Selling insurance ∞
Hiroko Tabuchi for The New York Times:
> Although Sony sells hundreds of products as varied as batteries and head-mounted 3-D displays, it so happens that Sony’s most successful business is selling insurance. While it doesn’t run this business in the United States or Europe, Sony makes a lot of money writing life, auto and medical policies in Japan.
> Its financial arm accounts for 63 percent of Sony’s total operating profit last year. Life insurance has been its biggest moneymaker over the last decade, earning the company 933 billion yen ($9.07 billion) in operating profit in the 10 years that ended in March. If you are one of those interested to get a life insurance plan, visit lifecoverquotes.org.uk for complete details.
I’m happy that Sony is making money in one portion of its business, but I find it really sad that the maker of the iconic Walkman is selling insurance.
Canadians complain their money smells like maple syrup ∞
The national treasury released a new plastic bank note in November 2011, and they have received hundreds of emails from residents who are convinced that the bills have an added fragrance.
’They all have a scent which I’d say smells like maple? Please advise if this is normal?’ wrote one concerned citizen.
Canadians are so cute.
May 27, 2013
Douchebaggery at the WSJ ∞
Says it all in the title. “As Apple Feels Bite, Hon Hai Looks to Diversify.”
The stupid Apple pun alone is enough to make me want to punt someone in the crotch. But the contradictions in the article are what sends me into a rage. The implication is that because Apple’s demand has dropped off so sharply, Foxconn is desperately looking for business. But the point is made that over the past few years, Foxconn has dramatically increased manufacturing capacity and is looking to do more with it, including making their own branded products.
‘Not Apple’s Fault’ ∞
John E Sununu, former Republican senator from NH, for the Boston Globe:
Senator Levin and his staff believe that it is wrong for companies and individuals to engage in behavior that avoids taxes. They hoped that calling out Cook might generate support for legislation that targets companies like Apple. Instead, they mostly provided a lesson in the complex, convoluted, and often uncompetitive nature of America’s corporate tax code. They also provided a reminder that those responsible for the mess were asking the questions, not sitting at the witness table.
Oxygene for Cocoa, from RemObjects Software ∞
Thanks to RemObjects for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS this week. Oxygene for Cocoa is a new and modern programming language and development tool chain for creating Mac and iOS apps.
It is not a bridge or an abstraction layer, but full-featured language for the Objective-C runtime, giving you direct access to all the great APIs of the platform and letting you create truly native (in every sense of the word) apps.
The language is based on Object Pascal (but this is not your daddy’s Pascal!), it is well-rounded and provides many advanced language features that will change the way you look at writing code.
And as if that was not enough: if you are so included, the same great language also lets you natively target Android/Java and .NET development, as well – time-proven and well established on those platforms for many years.
Find out more at remobjects.com/oxygene.
Dog Beards ∞
We posted about cat beards, so it only seems fair.
May 26, 2013
Feral games bundle: Six games for $20 ∞
Beginning today game fans can pre-order the bundle through Sunday for US$19.99, which includes LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, DiRT 2, Battlestations Pacific, The Movies: Superstar Edition, Tropico 3: Gold Edition & Batman: Arkham Asylum. Those who pre-order this weekend will get a US$10 virtual coupon towards the purchase of any other Feral Interactive game from the Macgamestore which must be redemmed by the end of June.
Great looking games for $20.
May 25, 2013
Microsoft caught lying about iPad size ∞
This is not to scale. Microsoft has drawn a 10.1 inch tablet 36% larger than a 9.7 inch tablet (140×78 pixels vs 102×79). This is so far off you can visually see it’s wrong.
Come on Microsoft, stop being dicks.
Megadeth’s “Super Collider” coming June 4 ∞
I can’t wait to get this.
May 24, 2013
The Crossroads of Sabbath ∞
The Crossroads of Sabbath walking tour is an opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Ozzy, Geezer, Tony and Bill and learn about the environment that shaped them. The tour lasts approximately 90 minutes. The route has been programmed to finish at one of the finest pubs in the country where excellent ales and Thai food might tempt you.
I would love to do this.
Where Reuters try not to look like assholes ∞
Apple has operated almost tax-free in Ireland since 1980, welcomed by a government keen to bring jobs to what was then one of Europe’s poorest countries, former company executives and Irish officials have said.
That’s the opening to a Reuters story where they try to convince people they dug up this dirt on Apple. The only problem is that Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer are the ones that revealed this during the senate hearings earlier this week.
Reuters assholes.
Don’t get photobombed by death ∞
These tips for taking wedding photos are hilarious.
Don’t get photobombed by death. LOL!
iPhone 5 TV Ad: Music Every Day
Lovely.
Elderly Japanese artist creates traditional art using MS Excel ∞
Beautiful work using something so mundane.
“Can the Maker movement save Radio Shack?” ∞
But there is a single, bright spark in the gloom. RadioShack now finds itself closely tied to one of the most disruptive and exciting new trends in the entire economy: the Maker movement, in which tens of thousands of hobbyists make supercool projects using robotics, microcontrollers, and 3-D printing.
In another life, I worked at Radio Shack as a teenager, because it was one of the few retail jobs a computer nerd could do without being completely bored out of his or her skull. Nothing would make me happier than to see Radio Shack reemerge as the go-to place for hobbyists building cool shit. I just doubt whether it’s enough to save the company the way it is.
“If You’re Obsessed With ‘Winning,’ You Don’t Understand the Mobile Market” ∞
What Harry McCracken says is what we’ve been saying on Angry Mac Bastards for years – there’s this absurd “Highlanderism” among pundits who think that mobile is going to play out just like the PC business did in the 90s. It’s not going to.
May 23, 2013
The Loop Magazine Issue 2 available ∞
The Loop Magazine Issue 2 is now available for download from Apple’s Newsstand.
There’s a great line-up of writers in this issue including Joe King, the co-founder of Denver-based rock band The Fray, UI expert Matt Gemmell, iMore Editor-in-Chief Rene Ritchie, Peter Cohen, Stephen Hackett, and The Next Web’s Managing Editor Matthew Panzarino.
You can download The Loop Magazine from the App Store.
Amplified: I Was a Co-Ed ∞
Jim and Dan talk about Tim Cook’s senate testimony and discuss the issues involved in owning a company in the US but manufacturing your products abroad. Later they delve into Google’s new 3D maps, a very young musician’s incredible rendition of Van Halen’s Eruption, the new Xbox one, and more.
Sponsored by Hover (use code DANSENTME for 10% off), Shutterstock (use code DANSENTME5 for 30% off), and Squarespace (use code DANSENTME5for 10% off).
OmniPresence ∞
OmniPresence is the best way to sync all of your documents across all of your devices. And it works on most web hosts, including OS X Server, which means you can store all of your data yourself.
The folks at The Omni Group are some of the best developers around.
MacBook Air in CSS3 ∞
Very impressive.