All in all, I’m impressed with iPhoto on the iPad. It’s a great mobile solution for editing pictures, and I have no doubt that any photographer worth his salt could churn out quality images without running to his computer. But as big of a leap forward as iPhoto for iOS is, and as enticing as its portability can be, it doesn’t make a good enough argument for ditching that desktop altogether. Not yet.
Year: 2012
On Android Tablets
As pointed out by John Gruber, TechCrunch is reporting that Asus has only sold 2,000 or so of its Transformer Prime tablet..
2,000. Since December.
As Gruber remarked, Android isn’t winning in the tablet space.
(While the Kindle Fire has surely sold better, Amazon’s custom stuff on top of Android really puts the Fire in its own class, next to the Nook tablet.)
That said, dozens of Android tablets have come out since December, when the Prime shipped, and dozens more will ship this year.
I don’t understand why OEMs keep making these things. Do they each think that their tablet will be the one to make it, breaking the streak? Google might be ready to “double down” on the tablet front, but it really seems like whatever the company can do, it will be too little too late. The iPad is nearly uncatchable, if that.
Furthermore, why do sites like the Verge and others keep spending so much time reviewing these things?
Amazon CEO Plans to Recover Apollo 11 Rockets From Sea Floor
Billionaire Jeff Bezos announced plans to recover from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean at least one of the F–1 engines that carried the Apollo 11 rocket into space.
Founder and CEO of Amazon.com, Bezos already has his hands in several extreme undertakings, such as the private spaceflight company Blue Origin.
Bezos reported March 28 on his blog that a team of engineers has recently used state-of-the-art deep-sea sonar and found the Apollo 11 engines lying 14,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. He wrote that he is currently making plans to raise them.
The space nerd in me is excited. I hope Bezos is successful.
51% of US Households Own An Apple Product
While that’s impressive on its own,, these facts mean Apple’s got one hell of a future:
- 63% of those aged 18–34 and 35–49 own Apple products, while only 50% of the 50–64 group do, and 26% among those 65 and older.
- 61% of households with children own an Apple product, versus 48% in those without kids.
On That New iPad Screen
Vivek Gowri & Anand Lal Shimpi:
The new iPad is externally very similar to the iPad 2, but my feeling is that there’s a much larger step in usability from the iPad 2 to the new iPad than there was from the original to the iPad 2. It’s a difference that has nothing to do with form factor and everything to do with the Retina Display. The iPad 2 took the original iPad and made it better or more refined in every way – thinner, lighter, faster – but the experience didn’t change radically. The Retina Display represents a fundamental change in how you visually interact with the device. The display is really the center of a tablet’s experience, and with a display that drastically improved, the experience is correspondingly better.
This is why Sam Biddle was wrong.
On That New iPad
The new Apple iPad is kind of a paradox: At the same time it’s both the best possible tablet you can buy, and yet, it’s a disappointment. It retained the crown with an incremental performance bump.
[…]
Apple needs something that fundamentally changes the iPad. It needs something that makes the iPad a different, better sort of object, rather than just a refined one. Look, everyone’s a critic. We’re trying some constructive criticism—a wish list of ideas for a new iPad that actually feels new.
Head.
Into.
Desk.
Toilet-Related Injuries
Congressmen Removed From House Floor After Donning Hoodie
‘A Memphis Notebook’
In episode 6 of the 512 Podcast, Myke and I discuss his error on last week’s show, text files and Evernote.
Why Did NeXT Fail? (Or Did It?)
My mini-series on NeXT Computer:
Installment 1: On the Creation of NeXT
Installment 2: NeXT: The Hardware
Installment 3: NeXT: The Software
Installment 4: NeXT: The Apple Purchase
Installment 5: Why Did NeXT Fail?
Over the last six months, I’ve been looking at the history of NeXT Computer. In the series, I’ve discussed the hardware, the software and more.
I’ve been avoiding, however, the topic of why the company failed. Or, at the very least, almost failed, as Apple bought them in the late 90s.
The answer, like most things in this industry, is complex. Let’s look at some factors.
Pricing & Market
NeXT went after the education market, which had been Apple’s territory. However, it did it with even more expensive hardware than Apple’s. Outside of the LC line, Apple’s systems were pricey in the early 1990s.
NeXT attempted to make up for this by aiming its sales teams at higher education, selling not mere computers, but “workstations.”
It didn’t catch on.
Third Wheel Syndrome
Historically, the PC industry has only allowed for two big players — Microsoft and Apple. IBM and others were in the mix early on, but once the dust settled, there simply wasn’t room for a third wheel. Even though NeXT built its own hardware and software like Apple, it couldn’t carve any space for itself from the ever-present Windows marketshare.
Unraveling
In 1987, Ross Perot invested $20 million in exchange for 16% of NeXT’s stock. He joined the board of directors in 1988.
He sold his stock in June 1991, after the second round of NeXT hardware flopped with a $9,999 price tag. He resigned from the board to focus on Perot Systems.
Around the same period, Steve Jobs was spending more and more attention and time at Pixar, which he had bought in 1986.
After the 1990 hardware didn’t sell well, NeXT stopped making hardware, focusing on OpenStep. The move, while vital to the company’s existence, meant shedding many employees and divisions. When OpenStep didn’t do well, the writing was on the wall for Steve Jobs’ second computer company.
NeXT’s Legacy
I would argue that while NeXT was going downhill, the Apple purchase means the company didn’t outright fail, as some have suggested.
The legacy of NeXT computer is strong. Looking around my office I see the following devices that have NeXT’s fingerprints:
- MacBook Pro
- iPad and iPhone
- LaserJet printers
- Gigabit Ethernet switch
NeXT’s software is the basis of OS X — and therefore iOS. The technology baked in to NeXTStep is what makes Apple’s current operating system software so stable, useful and rich. The development tools used by thousands of people every day to build applications for OS X and iOS find their roots in NeXT tools.
On the hardware end of things, technology like Ethernet, PostScript and more made huge advances thanks to NeXT systems. Additionally, the design of the NeXTCube has come back time and time again with Apple products, as has the willingness to move forward with storage technologies, despite the possible downsides of changing standards rapidly.
We owe a lot to NeXT, without a doubt. The company might not be around today, but its soul sure is.
Syndicate Openings for April
As you may know, the 512 Pixels RSS feed is sponsored via The Syndicate, an ad network with 11 sites, with over 170,000 weekly views. That doesn’t even count the thousands and thousands of RSS subscribers.
We have two openings next month:
- April 9 – 15
- April 23 – 29
If you want to share your product, app or service with a bunch of good-looking, well-read people, get in touch.