512 Pixels

James Galbraith:

Apple’s largest all-in-one desktop computer, the 27-inch iMac, was recently updated with a long list of under-the-hood changes, but it’s the strikingly thin design that people notice first. And while the 5mm edge on the new iMac is certainly impressive, you can’t help but wonder if the tradeoffs Apple made for the new design are worth it.

While the 27-inch model does include user-upgradable RAM, Galbraith bemoans the loss of the internal optical drive and Firewire ports. That said, he likes the less reflective screen, speed, speakers, FaceTime camera and the Fusion Drive.

Chris Foresman at Ars Technica:

Apple isn’t giving up on Thunderbolt anytime soon. All of its computers come with at least one Thunderbolt port—save the Mac Pro, which Apple CEO Tim Cook has all but promised would be upgraded in 2013. The latest Retina MacBook Pros include two Thunderbolt ports. And it appears that its Thunderbolt Display is due for a refresh sometime soon.

Though Thunderbolt hasn’t exactly taken the Windows PC world by storm, several motherboard makers now offer options for built-in or add-on Thunderbolt support. And notebook makers are adding Thunderbolt as well—Intel’s booth this year featured a classy-looking HP Envy Spectre Ultrabook for demonstration purposes.

When thinking about Thunderbolt, I can’t help but consider Firewire. While it didn’t take the world by storm, it was an important standard, especially in our Mac-centric world. While I think Thunderbolt holds more promise than Firewire ever did, time will tell if the new standard will enjoy wider adoption than the old ever did.

For months, Poster has been my go-to app for posting to 512 Pixels when on an iOS device.

Today, the app hits version 2.0. The new version includes lots of helpful goodies. If you run a WordPress site, this $3 app is well worth the money.

Be sure to check out Viticci’s review of the update.

Thanks to DesignScene for sponsoring the 512 Pixels RSS feed this week!

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Lindsey Turrentine, Editor-in-Chief at CNET:

We were in an impossible situation as journalists. The conflict of interest was real — a legal case can impact the bottom line of our company and introduce the possibility of bias — but the circumstances demanded more transparency and not hurried policy.

I could have quit right then. Maybe I should have. I decided that the best thing for my team was to get through the day as best we could and to fight the fight from the other side. Every single member of the CNET Reviews team is a dedicated, ethical, passionate technology critic. If I abandoned them now, I would be abandoning the ship.

Shawn King at The Loop:

Anyone else want to join me in calling bullshit on her statement? She didn’t do “everything within my power” to stop it this time. What makes us believe that she will next time?

While I’m not sure Shawn is in a position to say if Turrentine did everything she could, I agree with her statement that she was in an impossible situation.

Journalism only works when its free of restrictions like the ones CBS put on CNET last week. What the tech blog did by recalling its award to the Dish Hopper sucks, and puts its journalistic integrity on the line. That said, Turrentine is being open about what happened.

Here she is again:

Later that evening, we were alerted to the legal conflict for CBS. All night and through to morning, my managers up and down CNET and I fought for two things: To honor the original vote and — when it became clear that CBS Corporate did not accept that answer — to issue a transparent statement regarding the original vote.

That bit about issuing “a transparent statement” is key here, and why I think Shawn’s comment might be unfair. By passing along the official CBS statement, Turrentine exposed CBS to be a censor, turning their own words against them. In an impossible situation, I think she made the best choice she could. Quitting would not change the policy, and ignoring it would just lead to her losing her job. Painting CBS in to a corner on this was the best call any editor in her position could have made.

Here’s his tweet on the matter:

Hello all. Sad to report that I’ve resigned from CNET. I no longer have confidence that CBS is committed to editorial independence.

His resignation comes in the wake of CBS forbidding CNET from covering or giving CES Awards to products whose owners were litigation with the parent network.

This isn’t the first time a book has popped up leaking a software announcement from Apple. I used Aperture 3 for ages, but last year started storing all my photos on Dropbox. While time will tell if I ever go back to Aperture, there’s no denying the current app is feeling forgotten.

This weekend, my wife and I drove to Little Rock for a wedding.

As I mentioned on Twitter last night, the groom is one of my oldest friends. In fact, we met in second grade and have been close ever since. It was a blast seeing him marry an awesome woman.

Being in any wedding is an honor, and it usually means a lot of work before, during and after the ceremony itself. I ran errands, moved cars and packed bags, all while spending time with old and new friends.

Mushy stuff aside, it was the first time I’ve really been at a disadvantage not having a smartphone.

The chapel and hotel were 45 minutes apart from each other, in a city I’ve only visited a handful of times. I had to call and text people whose contact information I was given just the weekend. I wanted to take high-quality photos of all the happenings.

All of these things would have been much easier with an iPhone in my pocket.

Instead, I had to make sure I followed someone in traffic, or ride with a buddy with a smartphone. I had to manually enter contact data, which is a real bummer on my flip phone. I carried my Canon S100 around as much as I could, and probably took fewer photos than I would have otherwise.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Stephen, you put yourself in this position. You can’t really complain about it.

You’re right, and this weekend is a great example as to why I decided to turn off my iPhone. I was able to spend quality time with friends without tweets, emails and iMessages interrupting. However, the lack of modern conveniences was a stress all weekend.

If this weekend has taught me anything about this experiment, it’s that the balance between my iPhone being a distraction and a tool is a fine one, but a goal worth attaining.

It’s a goal I believe I can hit, but man, 10 months sure seems like a long time to go.

Today is a dark day for the Internet community, and a stark reminder of just how powerful of a disease depression can be.

Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

CNET, on the “Best of CES” finalists page:

The Dish Hopper with Sling was removed from consideration due to active litigation involving our parent company CBS Corp. We will no longer be reviewing products manufactured by companies with which we are in litigation with respect to such product.

According to this note, Dish might not be the only company that will be denied coverage in the future.

Sure seems like censorship to me. This is what happens when media outlets are owned by larger corporations.

I’m 100 percent sure Steve Jobs would yell at whoever decided to put a QR code on this thing.