Jacqui Cheng has a look back at the 12-year history of Apple’s music-playing software.
Year: 2012
Thankful →
Thomas Brand:
In one week I will be running the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis Tennessee. I am asking you to help me in my fight to keep young cancer patients like Josiah running. During this day of thanks, remember the one thing so many of us take for granted, our good health, and consider donating to this charitable cause. I have never asked you for a subscription. Never showed you an ad on Egg Freckles. Instead of joining my fan club, help me by running alongside Josiah, and raising $5,000 towards the cure of cancer. Please donate today.
I’m looking forward to seeing my friend Thomas next week, and I’m thankful for what he’s doing for my son.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Out of the Box →
James Gowans:
Does iOS ship with everything you need out of the box?
In an attempt to answer that question, he has been using his iPhone with only five non-stock apps, two of which are built by Apple. Again, Gowans:
And maybe that’s the real reason behind all of this: the less time I spend trying out some new or improved app, the less time I spend tinkering with settings or worrying if Dropbox or iCloud is the better synching solution, the less time I can spend with my eyes glued to a 3" glowing rectangle, means more time I can spend doing things that really matter. Like writing an essay, building a fort with my kids, or enjoying a glass (bottle) of wine (whiskey) with my wife. It’s that simple.
I like it.
The 512 Podcast Episode 039 – A Lick of Paint →
This week, Myke and I discuss Apple’s new iMac and canceling projects.
iPhoneless: Podcasts & Music
I listen to a lot of podcasts, mainly in my car, or while riding my bike. While Instacast HD is awesome, using my iPad mini in either of these locations is not.
After digging out an old HP-branded iPod, I discovered it’s clickwheel had gone to the great parts bin in the sky.
So, after ridiculing the iPod nano on my podcast, this weekend, I bought a black one. (The other models, with their bright backs and white glass look ridiculous to me. At least with the black mode, the glass kinda fades in to the metal when you aren’t staring at it.)
I re-subscribed to the 15 or so shows I keep up with, and am syncing them to my Nano via a cable.
This isn’t a great setup. While I can live with iPod nano’s goofy iOS-like interface, I’ve already forgotten to sync my iPod to my laptop at the end of the day a couple of times. I’ve set a reminder on my computer, so hopefully I won’t have that issue in the future.
Speaking of the iPod nano, I suppose I should share my thoughts on the device.
The hardware is pretty impressive. The glass front is flat, and where it meets the rounded aluminum back is nice and tight. The lightning connector feels great (as it does on other devices), and the giant volume rocker and play/pause button on the side of the device feels good too.
Battery life seems awesome, and I assume the Bluetooth works as advertised.
Unlike the last iPod nano, this generation is easy to use with one hand. While the interface is a little weird, it makes more sense than it did before on the watch-style player.
For my uses the Nano is perfect. It’s small, has enough space for my podcasts and a decent sub-set of music collection. At $149, it was a no brainer after I realized using my iPad mini for podcasts on the go was just plain silly.
From the Creators of iPod →
The design is still striking.
OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2 Supplemental Update 2.0 →
That’s one hell of a release name there, Apple.
The Golden Headphones Awards Return →
Here are the answers you need for this form:
- The 512 Podcast
- Stephen Hackett
- Any episode of The 512 Podcast
- “When Stephen Hackett learned how to use Skype on the air.”
- The 512 Podcast
- Not worth answering
- Anyone who has been on my show
- The 512 Podcast
- Again, not worth the time
- Meh
- “Anything that means Stephen Hackett could win something.”
On TWI & Friction-Stir Welding →
TUAW has some cool information on the friction-stir welding Apple is using on the new, yet-to-be-shipped-OMG-WHY iMacs.
On Apple’s Desirability →
Emil Protalinski at The Next Web:
What do kids aged six to 12 want for Christmas this holiday season? Is it the highly-anticipated Nintendo Wii U? Sure, but much like everyone else, they want an Apple iPad more.
In fact, out of the top five products out there that kids want, four of them are from Apple: the iPad, the iPod touch, the iPad mini, and the iPhone. It makes sense for the phone product to be in last place, since many kids at that age simply don’t make that many calls, though I’m sure a few of them already know how to send a text.
One quarterly results call to rule them all…
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MG Siegler, on the Surface RT →
Ouch:
Look, the Surface is not as awful as I’m making it sound. But in no way is it good. And for this price, in this market, it needs to be. And really, it needs to be great because Microsoft is once again playing catchup. I’m sure the Surface will improve over time — and I suspect the Surface with Windows 8 Pro will be a much more useable machine — but only because it has nowhere to go from here but up.
The problem is that the competition is constantly improving as well. In this price range, the iPad destroys the Surface. And then there are several tablets priced well below the Surface that are also a lot better and feature far more robust ecosystems.
So here I am, $650 lighter, hoping Microsoft can somehow improve this thing via several more daily software updates. I’m not holding my breath. Instead, I think it’s time for a robust drop test — right into the garbage can.