It’s got to kill Apple management to have a co-founder saying things like the company should make Android phones.
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Speaking of VAIOs⇢
The Verge walks through the strange history of Sony’s PC line.
Phraseology 2 released
Two years ago, I reviewed Phraseology, an iPad writing app, and was impressed with it.
Version 1 of the app offered powerful tools, including paragraph re-arranging, URL schemes, TextExapander, Markdown previews and lots of export options.
In my review, I came to this:
This app was built for writers, and it shows.
For a period of time, Phraseology was the writing app for iPad, in my opinion, but today, the landscape is very different. Byword is great, and Editorial brings a level of power that is nearly impossible to match.
Once Chance With Jony⇢
This week, Myke, Federico and I discuss how little we know about baseball, then move onto Evernote for iOS 7 and Unread for iPhone. After talking about what Mac Myke should buy for his studio, we make some weekly picks.
Sponsored by Squarespace (use code TALLYHO2 for 10% off), Freshbooks and CleanMyMac2.
On Sony VAIOs and OS X⇢
Nobuyuki Hayashi:
Most of Sony’s executives spends their winter vacation in Hawaii and play golf after celebrating new year. In one of those new year golf competitions back in 2001, ” Steve Jobs and another Apple executive were waiting for us at the end of golf course holding VAIO running Mac OS” recalls Ando; 2001 is the year, Mac OS X shipped and I am speculating this is Intel-version of Mac OS X, they hid for four and half years since then.
Apple donating $100 million in equipment for Obama’s ConnectED initiative⇢
The Associated Press:
Apple is pledging $100 million in iPads, computers and other tools. AT&T and Sprint are contributing free Internet service through their wireless networks. Verizon is pitching in up to $100 million in cash and in-kind contributions. And Microsoft is making Windows available at discounted prices and offering 12 million free copies of Microsoft Office software.
Obama was to announce the commitments Tuesday at a middle school in the Maryland suburbs near Washington. Also in the pipeline: an addition $2 billion that the Federal Communications Commission is setting aside from service fees over two years to connect another 20 million students to high-speed Internet.
Satya Nadella named Microsoft CEO⇢
Tom Warren:
It’s official: Microsoft’s CEO search is over. Following recent reports, the software giant is appointing Satya Nadella as its new CEO to replace Steve Ballmer. 46-year-old Nadella will take over immediately, allowing Ballmer to retire early. Nadella had been part of a number of candidates that Microsoft was believed to have interviewed for the role, with the company originally pushing to name its Ballmer successor before the end of last year. Despite the search extending into 2014, the timing of the CEO announcement is important as it places Nadella in charge ahead of the closure of Microsoft’s Nokia deal and its ongoing reorganization.
Jared Sinclair, on Unread⇢
Jared talks through some of the design decisions he made when designing his new app.
Review: Unread: An RSS Reader for iPhone
Since iOS 7 landed last year, several venerable iOS apps have seen their place eroded by newcomers. The new UI and APIs have given countless developers new ways to tackle old ideas.
When I find an app I like, I stick with it. Heck, I rarely change where apps sit on my homescreen. I’ve used the same RSS client on my iPhone for years — Reeder. Reeder is great. In the wake of Google Reader, the developer has supports a ton of account types, and the UI overhaul for iOS 7 is pretty good.
30 years and one day in the making⇢
Apple:
On January 24, 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh. And with it a promise that the power of technology, put in the hands of everyone, could change the world. On January 24, 2014, we sent 15 camera crews all over the world to show how that promise has become a reality.
From sunrise in Melbourne to nightfall in Los Angeles, they documented people doing amazing things with Apple products. They shot over 70 hours of footage — all with the iPhone 5s. Then it was edited and scored with an original soundtrack. Thanks to the power of the Mac and the innovations it has inspired, an effort that normally takes months was accomplished in a matter of days.
On QuarkXPress
A couple of weeks ago, Dave Girard wrote up a piece over on Ars Technica about QuarkXPress, the page layout software. He opens the article with this:
As the big dog of desktop publishing in the ’80s and ’90s, QuarkXPress was synonymous with professional publishing. In fact, it was publishing. But its hurried and steady decline is one of the greatest business failures in modern tech.
Quark’s demise is truly the stuff of legend. In fact, the story reads like the fall of any empire: failed battles, growing discontent among the overtaxed masses, hungry and energized foes, hubris, greed, and… uh, CMYK PDFs. What did QuarkXPress do—or fail to do—that saw its complete dominance of desktop publishing wither in less than a decade? In short, it didn’t listen.
Mr. Macintosh⇢
Sometimes, it really is better if ideas never make it out into the real world.
Update: Dr. Drang just reminded me of The Talking Moose. Old Apple is weird.