While I usually don’t quote entire posts, this one from my buddy Kevin Lipe is worth it:
What I don’t get about this whole thing is this: Why the hell does Adobe feel like it has to “beat Apple”? Adobe makes application software and browser plugins. Apple makes computers, phones, and operating systems (and yeah, they have pro apps, but ask anybody who uses them: they sort of half-ass all of that these days).
Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, recently showed up with a small entourage of deputies at Adobe’s corporate offices in San Francisco to hold a secret meeting with Adobe’s chief executive, Shantanu Narayen.
The meeting, which lasted over an hour, covered a number of topics, but one of the main thrusts of the discussion was Apple and its control of the mobile phone market and how the two companies could partner in the battle against Apple. A possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft were among the options.
Forget all those pleas for civility based on simple respect for other human beings. There’s an even better reason to watch what you say about other people online: one of them might just snap and try to kill you. And don’t assume simple things like distance or sanity will protect you.
These are the lessons of the saga of Breana Greathouse, 25, who drove several hundred miles from Kansas City, Missouri to Ottumwa, Iowa, to shoot a certain Forrest Jamison, whom she blamed for posting derogatory comments about her on the Internet. Fortunately her Midwestern odyssey, which the Coen Bros. might want to consider adapting for the screen, ended in failure when she was arrested by Ottumwa police for waving her gun around like the unhinged maniac she is.
Meetings may be toxic, but calendars are the superfund sites that allow that toxicity to thrive. All calendars suck. And they all suck in the same way. Calendars are a record of interruptions. And quite often they’re a battlefield over who owns whose time.
In my experience, most people don’t schedule their work. They schedule the interruptions that prevent their work from happening.
Sparrow is a minimalist mail application for Mac. It was designed to keep things simple and efficient. No fancy stuff here… just your mail and nothing else.
Here is my experience:
11:15 AM — Downloading .dmg from their site. Disk images is named “Sparrow-latest.dmg” and clocks in at 7 MB.
11:16 AM — The disk image is named Sparrow–298. I assume 298 is the build number. No installer, just an .app file and a shortcut to drop it into /Applications. Nice and simple.
While the idea of Apple owning Dropbox makes me nervous, Shawn’s right about this:
In its current state as “exchange for the rest of us” MobileMe seems neither exciting nor ambitious. As a web-app, me.com is beautiful and extremely functional. But I for one never use it. Instead I use the native OS X apps. And iDisk? Well, that is also collecting dust.
What would be exciting is an open service that bridged the gap for all the data which is shared between our Macs, iPhones, and iPads. What could be more ambitious than killing the USB cable?
The screen is amazing on this device, there is absolutely no glare, it has a very paper like quality to it. It doesn’t matter what kind of light you have it in, no reflections or glare. That though is a major problem because this device needs some light – well a lot of light. In the model that I am testing the backlight either is broken or eludes this testers ability to turn it on.
Moleskine introduces two new hybrid tools designed for making it easier the simultaneous use of paper, phone and internet utilities: a Smartphone Covercompatible with iPhone 3G and 3GS, and a Tablet Cover, iPad compatible. Both Covers are combined with blank notebook pages. They are conceived as analog-digital ultra-portable workstations for the contemporary nomads.
This is cool; Moleskine products are excellent. I keep a large ruled notebook in my bag at all times for quick notes, thoughts or doodles. I can’t wait to see one of these cases in the wild.
David Caolo, the latest interviewee in Shawn Blanc’s “Sweet Mac Setup” series:
My main computer is a well-worn, 2GHz Intel Core Duo MacBook Pro with a 15″ display. This machine has been in 5 US states and three countries; it’s missing three keys and the bottom is badly scratched. It’s also the most reliable workhorse I’ve ever owned. I’ll continue to use it until it dies or refuses to run essential software, whichever comes first.
