Google to acquire Nest ⇢

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Google is buying Nest for $3.2 billion:

Larry Page, CEO of Google, said: “Nest’s founders, Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, have built a tremendous team that we are excited to welcome into the Google family. They’re already delivering amazing products you can buy right now–thermostats that save energy and smoke/CO alarms that can help keep your family safe. We are excited to bring great experiences to more homes in more countries and fulfill their dreams!”

Tony Fadell, CEO of Nest, said: “We’re thrilled to join Google. With their support, Nest will be even better placed to build simple, thoughtful devices that make life easier at home, and that have a positive impact on the world.”

Obvious Apple fanboy joke: I can’t wait until people in my Google+ circles can change how warm it is in my house.

Seriously though, I really thought Nest had a future, and now I’m worried that my smart thermostat is going to be mothballed far earlier than it would have been otherwise. I would hate seeing a successful, innovate company like Nest get absorbed and never be heard from again.

Apple’s Verse

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Earlier today, Apple released a new ad, which shows the iPad being used in a wide range of situations and places.

The voiceover has gotten a lot of attention, as it’s from a scene of Dead Poets Society.

Here’s the quote, courtesy of IMDb:

We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, “O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless… of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?” Answer. That you are here — that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

Past the quote, the new ad is pretty typical of what we’ve seen from Apple. Here are some other iPad ads that the company has aired over the years that are in the same vein:

And some iPhone ads:

Of course, there’s “Making a difference. One app at a time.” There’s the iOS 7 introduction video and the one about building the Mac Pro. Don’t forget about the ad about switching to Intel.1

All of these videos are meant to be emotional. They are meant to highlight the connections we can enjoy with each other thanks to what Apple’s products can do.

Every time Apple posts an ad like this, Apple fans post the link to Twitter, Facebook and their blogs. While I’ve done it in the past, every time it happens, I ask myself why.

I don’t pretend to fully understand marketing at this level, but it’s clear to me that at least part of these ads are for the Apple community. Seeing iPads being used to save lives in African clinics or helping children learn their letters or being used under the ocean to save endangered fish reinforces that we chose the right team to be on.

This is in stark contrast to videos like some of the original iPhone ads which introduced and demoed the product in 30 seconds.

Today, everyone knows what the iPhone is. Apple’s gone from talking about features to talking about the impact of those features.

I fear that Apple’s technique is growing a little stale, however.

The ad is fine, but it’s an extension of what Apple’s been doing for the last couple of years. While the Your Verses campaign is clever, and the New Depths page is simply stunning, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.

I’m not suggesting that Apple’s stalling or doomed, but I’d sure like to see the company branch out a bit with these things.

  1. Remember this? ↩

Review: Command-C brings cross-platform copy and paste into the iOS 7 era

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Sharing things between the Mac and iOS devices has never been as easy as it should be. Even Apple’s own AirDrop can’t cross the platform boundary.

Pastebot used to be the go-to application for slinging text and images from the iPhone to the Mac, and back again.

However, Tapbots seems to have forgotten about the app. While it’s still for sale, Pastebot hasn’t been optimized for the iPhone 5’s taller screen, and its website still boasts iOS 4 compatibility.

Enter Command-C.

Command-C is a $3.99 universal app that takes what Pastebot did, updates it for the iOS 7 era, and adds some new tricks.

After downloading the iOS app, you’ll need to grab the free Mac app, which sits in your computer’s menu bar.

The initial act of setting up is easy. The iOS devices prompts you to download and open the Mac app, and the software takes it from there.

The apps talk to each other via Bonjour. There’s no Bluetooth required, so the hassle of pairing devices and remembering to keep Bluetooth on is non-existent.

With iOS 7’s new multi-tasking, you don’t have to worry about making sure the iOS app is awake before invoking a command from the Mac. Since it uses push notifications, Command-C is woken up automatically, on demand. Gone are the Pastebot-era days of opening the app, sitting your phone down, using the Mac app, and going back to the phone.

To send something from iOS to the Mac, simply copy the content and tap on the computer’s name from within the app, and the content will be shared automatically:

Instantly, the Mac app will show a push notification. In this case, I shared a photo:

Clicking on the notification will open the image in Preview (or whatever app is your default for .PNGs), while hitting CMD+V will paste the image itself, as Command-C content is automatically be placed on your Mac’s clipboard.

If text is sent to the Mac, the notification will show a preview of the text, which can then be pasted anywhere.

Sending data from the Mac is easy, too. If launched at login, the app sits, waiting for a key command — by default, it’s Command+Shift+X. Once triggered, the app will show a pop-over, and the arrow keys can be used to select the target device. Pressing Enter sends the content, and a push notification is fired:

In the Mac app’s settings, you can tell it to show a local notification that the content has been received.

If you’re a power user, Command-C offers a nice set of x-callback-url actions.

Command-C can even send and receive data between iOS devices. While iOS 7’s AirDrop can do this, I’ve found myself reaching for Command-C as it’s faster, and doesn’t require an app’s share sheet.

Command-C is yet another app in a long list of examples of third-party developers not only filling in the gaps between Apple’s offerings, but taking advantage of iOS 7 to disrupt a once-settled category.

In short, if it can be copied, Command-C can share it.

The Internet in Your Pocket ⇢

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Seven years ago today, Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone. I’ve long thought that it was Jobs’ best keynote. Coupled with the importance of the topic, Macworld 2007 is a milestone in Apple’s history.

On this week’s episode of The Prompt, Myke, Federico and I dissect the address, complete with commentary, audio clips and references to terrible Nokia phones. We’ve been wanting to do this episode since before The Prompt was a real project, and I’m thrilled how it turned out.

Our thanks to Squarespace (use code TALLYHO1 for 10% off) and Freshbooks to sponsoring the show this week.

Primary source material

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On last week’s CMD+Space, Myke interviewed John Roderick, lead singer for The Long Winters and cohost of Roderick on the Line.

The majority of the interview covers the John’s method for creating albums, but when he’s asked what he likes to be known for, John talks about wanting to shift back to being someone who creates, not just someone who comments.

Around two minutes into the episode, he remarks:

I’ve been writing this sort of commentary on the world and what I was formerly known for — and what I prefer to do — is make primary source material. You know, if you’re making a song, or if you’re writing a story, that is source material. It’s primary. It’s the thing that did not exist before. You’re not commenting. Presumably, your song is not commenting on some earlier song, or if it is, it’s doing it in an inventive way. It isn’t this chattering sort of criticism and culture digestion that is so much of I guess what we call content — Internet content, which is just like, “Oh, this just came out and now I’m talking about it and now I’m talking about this other guy who was talking about it.”

You know, there’s a great wind that comes through that just blows all that stuff out to sea, and all that’s left is that primary stuff.

There were probably a million words written about the Beatles’ first few records when they came out, and none of that early criticism survives or matters. Nobody reads it.

The records are still there.

John’s comments really hit home. This year, 512 will turn six years old, and looking back over the archives, it’s clear that I’ve slowed way down, posting less each month. I think this has a lot to do with it. I’d much prefer to take time to write something of value than setup a linked list post and tell a joke. There’s room for that, and they aren’t going away. However, my work on The Prompt and at The Sweet Setup are steps in the right direction, and I’ll be bringing that sort of work back here more and more in 2014.

Vlcnr app launched ⇢

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John Voorhees at Squibner Software has created a Bionic soundboard app for the iPhone.

I was fortunate enough to beta test the app for some time, and it really is great. In addition to Myke’s standard suspense accents, the “soft Matt” clip is present, in addition to collection of clips that will play at random.

In response to the app, Joe Steele wrote an amazing review:

The sixth of January, 2012 A.D. changed the world forever. T’was App Day, in The Before-Times.

(pause)

Now, in the year 3042 A.A.D. we have only The App to support society.

Seems about right.

$10 Billion ⇢

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Apple PR:

Apple today announced that customers spent over $10 billion on the App Store in 2013, including over $1 billion in December alone. App Store customers downloaded almost three billion apps in December making it the most successful month in App Store history. Apple’s incredible developers have now earned $15 billion on the App Store.

“We’d like to thank our customers for making 2013 the best year ever for the App Store,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “The lineup of apps for the holiday season was astonishing and we look forward to seeing what developers create in 2014.”

Apple posts Mac Pro Environmental Report ⇢

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Apple:

Apple believes that improving the environmental performance of our business starts with our products. The careful environmental management of our products throughout their life cycles includes controlling the quantity and types of materials used in their manufacture, improving their energy efficiency, and designing them for better recyclability. The information below details the environmental performance of Mac Pro as it relates to climate change, energy efficiency, material efficiency, and restricted substances.