Thursday, January 28, 2010

Who Got What Wrong - After the Apple Event

Guessing what Steve will pull out is a bit of a “mug’s game”. We all should know that by now.

Part of the mystery is not in the device or service, but what fantastical future we see Apple providing for us. Apple doesn’t promote or market these events…in fact, they hardly say a word, sending out only a invitation. In watching the media frenzy, I wonder how many people understand this, because when the blog-o-sphere doesn’t get what “they” want, the collective hue and cry makes them seem like a slighted lover holding a padded bra.

Not Apple’s fault you got your hopes up. You wanted to believe in every fantasy out there and so you did. That’s about your religion - not Apple.

Then there’s the Whispers. About a sales rep speaking higher than his pay grade, he’s a “insider with exclusive access”. Some CEO who blabs for a bit of self-promotion on every front page (but he’s not at the event…hmmm).  Part of this is genuinely newsworthy - but for week’s we’ve seen fanboy renders and ridiculous articles that make the product everything from the Second Coming to the moment Apple lost it. Speculation, endless speculation, that drives traffic, that angers readers, that drives traffic, that engorges fanboys, that drive’s traffic, that also drives stock prices unnaturally high in expectation and hinders entire market segments. If you’re financially involved in Apple, in some commercial way, shape or form, I’d imagine you’d feel it almost your ouroborostic duty to create, conflate, regurgitate and re-gorge on every other bit of speculation out there.

Not Apple’s fault your stock dropped after the launch. You wanted people to believe you knew something you didn’t, that you were something you were not. Makes writing easier if you get your own “Princess Diana” to promote/slate/reconcile, I guess. A proper journalistic source? Sorry - you don’t even appear relevant this morning - you’ve been caught with a sock in your pants.

This is not a healthy ecosystem. Replace “the media” with “the banks” and We The People would have had them in front of Congress by now.

If you’re disappointed in Apple this morning, I’d say you’re blaming the wrong people.

Posted by admin on 01/28 at 08:35 AM
Posted in: IT notes   Project 52  
Permalink

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Best quote of the day:

“Spiteful words can hurt your feelings but silence breaks your heart.” 
Oooh, so true.

Posted by admin on 01/21 at 03:57 PM
Posted in: Idle Chatter   Personal   Project 52  
Permalink

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The 27th cometh for the last of a 1000 times

Ever since my trusty Newton was cancelled by the just-returned Steve Jobs over a decade ago, people have been speculating about what to expect in a new Apple Tablet. What they mean to say is that mouse-based computing was even back then beginning to suck. So will does Jan 27th mean to computing? Let’s prognosticate!

I think we can all agree - we’ve all had about enough of the Apple Tablet vapor/rumor-mill over the years. In some ways, I’m too nervous to even contemplate what the experience will be like on one. My experience with Sony smartphones never prepared me for an iPhone life; no-one saw it coming. It was new, fresh, a complete rethink of the phone experience, and while it’s not perfect, it’s a damn better world because of the iPhone.

I say that because people today poo-poo the Mac and it’s graphic interface, and there are generations living now that have no idea what it’s like to boot up a tape-drive and wait 5 minutes for a text adventure to start. And rightly so: these were neanderthal systems and the more advanced graphic systems left this branch of early hominid-interface far, far behind. You have to know where you came from to appreciate where you’re going.

For years, there was a constant howling about what the next steps should be. I genuinely missed my Newton (I still have one, a 2100, sitting on a shelf - near pristine and unused) but the downsides were too much to bear in this connected world. For years, at every coming of a MacWorld, the whispers that a new “tablet was coming” drove bloggers into a delicious madness.

Such speculation considered the Tablet to be a small, light Mac. With Apple’s current success, desires morphed it into a big iPhone. Big iPhone = Dumb Tablet, at least to me. The core of the iPhone’s success is it’s ability to move small bits of information to and from you - a photo, a video, a web page, a tweet. Small screen, small consumption.

Enter the Apple Invite for the 27th of January 2010:

image

Looks like whatever it is, it’s primarily a creative device. The Zapruderization of the invitation has already fueled another day’s speciousness and speculation. The truth is, as we always already know, not to be found on webpages anywhere. This is the age of the news we want, not the news we need.

I know nothing other than what I’ve experienced with the iPhone (v1 & v3), my Newton, a decade of experience with Macs and my desire for a Star Trek slate handed to me by a pretty yeoman. But since blogs are a suckers game…I’m in.

What I’d like to think is this:

  • It’ll have a new interface on a stable file system: It’s not going to be a big iPhone or a Half-Mac. It’s going to involve the immediacy you find in an iPhone and the depth of a real creative device. I can’t imagine a creative tool without a descending filing system, even with tags, too many visual clues would overwhelm selection, so I’d also expect the iPhone to upgrade its flat UI very soon too
  • Hardware: The card shows a thin, round-edged border, so there’s a good likelihood when closed that the Tablet will be similar in feel to a big phone; which is to say, very ergonomic. I have faith in Apple in this regard - say what you want about any of their products, they feel good to the touch.
  • I’m going to guess it’ll not have a removable battery but a moulded one like all their other products - we’re beyond throw-away batteries.
  • Yes, it’ll be wireless - it has to be these days. Will it be 3G? Only if there’s a way to have 2 devices on the same number, but without that I doubt Apple would niche the system by making you get a second phone account. With AT&T. Think about that a second and you’ll know I’m right.
  • The paint splatters everywhere give the impression of color, texture and density. Were I a betting man (and we know from past history it’s best I don’t) I would worry if I owned Wacom and PainterX stock. Possibly Adobe should worry too - this could be the cornerstone of an attack on the Creative Suite that could work if the apps were sold cheaply enough. You’d need the Tablet to use them; a reverse of the “Razor and Blades” theory, sure, but there’s plenty of other blades in the App Store, and it’s a way to get even with Adobe for the crap that CS4 and especially Flash have become.

    • But that’s all I can guess at, given what we all know; anything more is a mugs game. I’ve got the credit card warmed-up and parked in the garage, raring to go. I’ll let you know what happens to my bank balance in a bit over a week..

    Posted by admin on 01/19 at 10:07 AM
    Posted in: Gadgetry   IT notes   Malarkey   Project 52  
    Permalink

    Sunday, January 17, 2010

    Ellipses…

    Last year was the year to cut back on commas. This year, ellipses…

    See what I mean?

    I blame my poor grammar on living abroad for 11+ years - use it or lose it. I’ve also noticed my speech as become more lazy, less articulated, almost texan. Then again, don’t all Americans sound like either George Bush or Woody Allen?

    Is it too late to make a resolution?

    Posted by admin on 01/17 at 09:43 AM
    Posted in: Idle Chatter   Living in Holland   Project 52  
    Permalink

    Tuesday, January 05, 2010

    Oh, and one more thing…

    This design needs to die.

    It was a quickie - what, back in 2004?

    Die, die, die…

    Posted by admin on 01/05 at 04:29 PM
    Posted in:
    Permalink
    Page 1 of 2 pages  1 2 >