An awesome photoessay by Time Magazine.
The neat part is that the press had only about 30 seconds to shoot. After that, it was a private discussion.
NetNewsWire to Support Google Reader
From today’s NewsGator press release:
You spoke and we listened: in response to customer demand, NewsGator’s best-of-breed consumer RSS applications now work with Google Reader. Google Reader will become the online companion to and the synchronization platform for our award-winning RSS reader applications – FeedDemon and NetNewsWire.
In conjunction with this announcement, NewsGator is making changes to several of its consumer RSS Readers. NewsGator will continue to support all its individual end-user applications for enterprise customers. However, NewsGator will continue to develop and support only a sub-set of these applications for free consumer use. FeedDemon and NetNewsWire have new versions for consumers that we encourage you to download as soon as possible. NewsGator’s other individual end-user applications will not continue to be supported for free consumer users after August 31, 2009. Again, all of NewsGator’s individual end-user applications will continue to be supported for paying Enterprise customers.
Wow. I for one, am excited. I like Google Reader and NetNewsWire, and now I can use them both easily.
Apple Warns Against Jailbreaking
As designed by Apple, the iPhone OS ensures that the iPhone and iPod touch operate reliably. Some customers have not understood the risks of installing software that makes unauthorized modifications to the iPhone OS (“jailbreaking”) on their iPhone or iPod touch. Customers who have installed software that makes these modifications have encountered numerous problems in the operation of their hacked iPhone or iPod touch.
Examples of issues caused by these unauthorized modifications to the iPhone OS have included the following:
Device and application instability: Frequent and unexpected crashes of the device, crashes and freezes of built-in apps and third-party apps, and loss of data.
Unreliable voice and data: Dropped calls, slow or unreliable data connections, and delayed or inaccurate location data.
Disruption of services: Services such as Visual Voicemail, YouTube, Weather, and Stocks have been disrupted or no longer work on the device. Additionally, third-party apps that use the Apple Push Notification Service have had difficulty receiving notifications or received notifications that were intended for a different hacked device. Other push-based services such as MobileMe and Exchange have experienced problems synchronizing data with their respective servers.
Compromised security: Security compromises have been introduced by these modifications that could allow hackers to steal personal information, damage the device, attack the wireless network, or introduce malware or viruses.
Shortened battery life: The hacked software has caused an accelerated battery drain that shortens the operation of an iPhone or iPod touch on a single battery charge.
Inability to apply future software updates: Some unauthorized modifications have caused damage to the iPhone OS that is not repairable. This can result in the hacked iPhone or iPod touch becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone OS update is installed.
Apple strongly cautions against installing any software that hacks the iPhone OS. It is also important to note that unauthorized modification of the iPhone OS is a violation of the iPhone end-user license agreement and because of this, Apple may deny service for an iPhone or iPod touch that has installed any unauthorized software.
Apple has also claimed jailbreaking can crash cell towers.
Sure, jailbreaking can lead to problems, but the fix is just an iTunes restore away. However, that last bit about “becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone OS update is installed” sounds like Apple may be getting ready to play hard ball with jailbreakers.
That said, it seems like Apple may be overreacting to something that only a slim percentage of users have experimented with in the first place.
Apple at CES? [Update: No]
The Wall Street Journal is reporting Apple will attend the 2010 Consumer Electronic Show. 2010 of course, is the first year that Apple won’t be at the Macworld Expo:
Apple plans to attend the show’s 2010 version, marking the first time in memory the Cupertino, Calif., consumer-electronics giant will be there.
No news on a Jobs keynote, however:
At a dinner with journalists this week in San Francisco, CEA’s Shapiro was asked whether he’s invited Jobs, who recently returned from medical leave, to keynote the show. Yes, Jobs has been asked, but nobody from Apple has gotten back to him, Shapiro said.
This isn’t the first time he’s contacted Jobs and not gotten a response, he said. The journalists at the table took note of a fellow traveler in their midst — Jobs provides very few interviews. “I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one in that position,” Shapiro then said.
I don’t see Jobs doing a keynote for a couple of reasons.
First of all, early January — right after the holidays — is a horrible time to announce a product.
Secondly, if the company wanted to continue to have Jobs present keynotes in January, why not just stay at Macworld? There, the company could control every aspect of it, whereas at CES, Apple would be just another member of a much larger show.
That’s not to say Apple won’t be at CES. I think it’s a great opportunity to get their products in front of a lot of people and other companies, but don’t count on seeing Jobs — or any other executives — on stage.
Microsoft and Yahoo Ink Deal
The terms of the agreement – which covers search only – is 10 years, in which Microsoft will have an exclusive license to Yahoo’s core search technologies as well as the ability to integrate them into Bing, the companies said.
Bing will be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo sites, but Yahoo will continue to use its technology and data in other areas of its business, in particular its display advertising. In fact, each company will continue to maintain its own separate display ad business and sales force, they said.
Yahoo’s sales force will have direct relationships with both companies’ premium search advertisers, while the self-service ad platform for both companies will be Microsoft’s AdCenter, which will continue to set prices for the automated auction process.
Sounds like Yahoo just got neutered. I hope they spend more time developing their better products like Flickr now that their search engine is Bing with a Y! logo.
So That’s What They’ll Be Selling
Apple Insider, on Microsoft’s retail plans:
The retail locations will sell Microsoft software and first-party hardware, such as Zunes and Xbox 360 consoles. Third-party Windows software and Xbox games will also be available.
[…]
Last week, Microsoft’s tentative plans for its retail locations leaked online. It exposed that the company intends to imitate Apple stores, down to their layouts and even the presence of a dedicated “Guru Bar” for help.
The proposal, from design consulting firm Lippicott, includes a bright, open layout where the center and edges of the store are dominated by computers showing the “seamless” link between Windows PCs and peripherals. Themed areas would push specific products, such as home theater PCs, netbooks or Windows Mobile and Zune devices.
The reference store would have a Guru Bar – labeled as an Answer Bar or Windows Bar – that would directly copy the Genius Bars at Apple stores and let customers make appointments either for help or just to ask questions. The number of products would be kept to a minimum to avoid the confusion present in stores where most Windows PCs are sold today.
If this doesn’t cement the idea that Microsoft is grasping here, I don’t know what does.
Retrospect Adds PowerPC Support
Yes, you read that correctly, according to Macworld:
EMC Corp. on Tuesday announced that EMC Retrospect 8.1 is now available through its distribution channels. The new release of the venerable Mac backup and archival software application adds back support for PowerPC-based Macs and also improves performance on Intel-based Macs.
A curious development, considering 10.6 is dropping PPC support.
Apple Tablet to Re-Invent the Album?
The “Cocktail” project would see a further evolution of such ideas. “It’s all about recreating the heyday of the album when you would sit around with your friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to the music,” one executive familiar with the plans told Financial Times. The problem is that most of today’s digital music audience has little or no recollection of the album’s heyday.
“It’s not just a bunch of PDFs,” said one executive. “There’s real engagement with the ancillary stuff.” One reported feature is that songs can be played directly from these interactive booklets without going into iTunes to play the tracks—though it’s not clear if iTunes must be running for the magic to work.
[…]
Financial Times sources also indicate that albums with this new format could be launched at the same time as a long-rumored Apple tablet device, which would be capable of viewing the interactive material. The entertainment industry believes the device, which is described as a “full-featured, tablet-sized computer,” could be a potential revolution. “It’s going to be fabulous for watching movies,” one unnamed entertainment executive told Financial Times. Book publishers are also reportedly in talks to offer e-books on the device as well.
Touting a tablet as the key to a better, richer music experience is interesting, but not compelling enough — on its own — for Apple to bring such a device to market. I would like to see this for iPod touch and iPhone users, which I’m sure it will be.
On the Mythical Apple Tablet
AppleInsider has once again stirred up the rumors surrounding the Apple tablet:
It seems like a long time coming. Nearly two years have past since AppleInsider exclusively reported in September of 2007 that Apple’s next big product initiative would be a modern day reincarnation of its beloved-but-defunct Newton MessagePad. And it’s believed the device had been slowly evolving as an R&D project for at least a year prior.
The 10-inch, 3G-enabled tablet, akin to a jumbo iPod touch, is the latest brainchild of chief executive Steve Jobs. That distinction, as insiders will tell you, carries its share of baggage. Under the critical eye of Jobs, contours must be precise, each pixel of the interface has to match a particular vision, and there can be no fault — no matter how slight — or it’s back to the drawing board.
As such, AppleInsider has observed silently as the project was reset at least a half-dozen times over the past 24 months. Each time, development was frozen and key aspects of the device rethought, retooled and repositioned. At times, those close to the Apple co-founder had their doubts that it would ever see the light of day, just like a smaller PDA device he canned a few years after returning to the company.
However, the past six months have reportedly seen the critical pieces fall into place. Jobs, who’s been overseeing the project from his home, office and hospital beds, has finally achieved that much-sought aura of satisfaction. He’s since cemented the device in the company’s 2010 roadmap, where it’s being positioned for a first quarter launch, according to people well-respected by AppleInsider for their striking accuracy in Apple’s internal affairs.
In the past, my biggest issue with the Apple tablet rumor was with the potential market for the product. Tablet PCs have never really taken off outside of a few specific niches. It boiled down to this: the average user doesn’t want or need a tablet PC, so why would Apple make one?
If Apple does something new, it makes sure it can do it well. That’s why Apple is late to many markets, such as the MP3 player and smartphone markets. Yes, Apple was late to the scene, and yes, they’re kicking everyone else’s ass. The tablet market is ripe for overhaul, and in the last year, the potential hang-ups for an Apple tablet have been addressed in two ways: iPhone OS 3.0 and the App Store.
Instead of thinking about an Apple tablet as a smaller, touch-based Mac, it makes more sense to think of it as a larger, more versatile iPod touch. The iPhone OS has evolved so much that it is closer to a computer OS now more than ever. I already find myself — as many users do — taking my iPhone with me to meetings and other events where I would have taken my MacBook before for notes, task management, email and more. With features like copy and paste, search and an ever-present Internet connection, there are very few things I can’t do with my iPhone easily, and that number is shrinking.
And then there’s the App Store. While part of me would love to see the Apple tablet run Mac OS X applications, the reality is that it will more than likely only run App Store apps. Which is fine, given the massive number of them available. Having an additional device to run those applications will only dump more fuel on the fire.
If — or when, if AppleInsider is correct — Apple announces a tablet, it will further blur the line between notebooks and mobile devices… maybe even redefine them. That’s right up the company’s alley.
App Store Promo Code Issue Rectified
TUAW:
Recently, we reported that developers were not able to request promo codes for their iPhone apps if the app had received a 17+ rating due to having an embedded web browser, unfiltered 3rd party content, or contained excessive violence or sexual content. This restriction severely limited the ability of the developers to distribute promotional copies of their software to generate publicity and awareness of the app.
Several other outlets picked up on the story, and developers sounded off as well. Luckily, it seems that Apple has been listening: over the past few days, we have received word from a number of developers stating that they are now able to request promo codes for their 17+ apps. While Apple has not made any official comment on the issue, it appears that they have quietly conceded this battle to the developers, once again enabling them to distribute promo codes as needed for all of their apps.
This was a ridiculous issue with the App Store, and it’s encouraging that Apple once again responded with positive changes to their rules, but this is something that should never have happened in the first place.
The Death of Handwriting
Time:
Cursive started to lose its clout back in the 1920s, when educators theorized that because children learned to read by looking at books printed in manuscript rather than cursive, they should learn to write the same way. By World War II, manuscript, or print writing, was in standard use across the U.S. Today schoolchildren typically learn print in kindergarten, cursive in third grade. But they don’t master either one. Over the decades, daily handwriting lessons have decreased from an average of 30 minutes to 15.
I know I write very little most days. It is pretty sad.
On Pay Walls
But I say he’s very much wrong that charging readers for access to news is a credible solution. It would just make things worse. If the Times and/or Post were to erect a pay wall, I see things playing out as follows: they lose most of their readers; ad revenue declines accordingly; the revenue they make from readers who do pay won’t even make up for the lost ad revenue; and so by switching from free to paid access they’d actually sink further into the red.
The consumer psychology of web subscriptions for news just doesn’t work out. It’s right there in the language we use to talk about newsstand prices for print periodicals: per copy. A dollar for a newspaper or a few bucks for a glossy magazine feels like a fair price for a copy. Trees have been cut, presses have been rolled, trucks have been driven to get that copy into your hands. Even subscription pricing for printed newspapers and magazines is always stated in the context of how much you can save compared to per-copy prices at the newsstand.
What feels like a fair price for a copy of a web page, on the other hand, is nothing. They’re just ones and zeroes.