This means marketers won't even be able to get keyword data for searches conducted by users who aren't even signed in. (Cue marketers everywhere raising their fists in fits of rage.)
This makes me smile. Also, Google is open.
(Via Mr. Brooks)
There was all kinds of insanity going on yesterday (iOS 7 release day). I don't yet have a review of iOS 7. It takes a while to get used to, so I'm going to use it for a few weeks, and then post a review. For now, I've compiled a list of complied list on great articles related to iOS 7 (I'm so good at this blogging thing).
Disclaimer: I haven't read all of these, but I trust the people who wrote them, and I do intend to read them when I come across them in Instapaper 6 months from now.
Designed for iOS 7 is App Store list complied by Apple. Warning: This link wants to open iTunes. Assuming you don't have 4 years of your life to devote to waiting for iTunes to open, click this link at your own risk.
iOS 7 Ready Apps is a list of tweets by Mr. Travaini on apps that are ready for iOS 7. Lot's of great stuff here.
Mr. Viticci reviewed a bunch of iOS 7 updates. Including (but not limited to) Instapaper 5, Instacast 4, OmniOutliner 2, OmniFocus 2, and Pocket Casts.
Over on Mr. Blanc's fantastic Tools & Toys is Fresh Apps for iOS 7: Our Favorite Picks for What’s New and Updated. Many more gems in there.
Mr. Blanc has also been hard at work on his own site. He has reviews for the new Simplenote apps, and OmniFocus 2 for iPhone. He also wrote a post about some design details in iOS 7.
Mr. Sparks also reviewed OmniFocus 2.
Mr. Smith wrote about updating Check the Weather for iOS 7.
A Few Thoughts on iOS 7 That Others May Not Touch Enough On and Thus Will Make Me Cranky If I Don’t Post About Them by Mr. Brooks (language warning). I agree with many of his points (including the one about the impreciseness of slide to unlock.
Then there's Mr. Gruber's review of the iPhone 5C, and 5S.
Mr. Ritchie reviewed iOS 7.
Apologies for the haphazardness nature of this post, but this is exactly how yesterday felt to me.
I was an Alfred user for many months (since I've owned my Mac for just over a year, I measure application usage in months not years) before I decided to switch. I knew other launchers, such as Quicksilver, existed, and I had tried many of them, but none of them made as much sense to my mind as Alfred did. I had planned to stick with it. However, there were three things that led me to finally start using LaunchBar.
A couple of writers I admire, and trust (Shawn Blanc, and Ben Brooks) use LaunchBar, and seem to like it a lot. They even did a podcast episode about it.
While Alfred was remarkably faster than using the Dock, or Finder, I still felt like I was having to do a lot of typing to get stuff accomplished with it. Based on what I'd seen, LaunchBar just seemed quicker. To this day I have no idea if this is true or not, but LaunchBar still feels faster.
Currently Obdev (the developers behind LaunchBar) are bundling purchases of LaunchBar with the book Taking Control of LaunchBar. When I came across this, I wasn't originally even planning to purchase LaunchBar, but this book sealed the deal. It's been great so far. I figured out roughly 50% of LaunchBar's features, just by using it consistently. The other 50% I learned from the book. It's 100 pages of clearly written tips, and tricks.
I don't know how long the deal is going to last (it has been going on for a couple of months since the book was released). If you've even considered picking up LaunchBar, I recommend you get it soon. There are some great ways to extend its functionality. It's a solid application with some great history behind it, and a bright future ahead.
Over the next few months, Google's Android and Chrome teams seek to extend their existing lead over Apple. The company will introduce Android OS version 4.4 KitKat, a slew of new Chromebook laptops starting around $199, a Chromepad (touchscreen Chrome OS tablet) and next summer the first Chromephone (Chrome OS replacing Android on the smartphone). The pace of innovation at Google is simply faster than it is at Apple these days.
That's it. There's no possible way the iPhone 5S will sell well. The iPhone 5C is a kids phone, and they kept the 4S. I mean, how desperate are they.
I was stunned to realize they were so far behind. Shut Apple down I say. Give that never-ending pile of cash back to the shareholders. If you don't set the world on fire during every single keynote, you don't deserve to be a modern tech company.
I've spent most of my computing life using Windows. I've used every consumer version of Windows from 95 to 8. As a kid playing games I was content with it, but as I got older it began to frustrate me repeatedly. It became clear that Windows wasn't built for me. I was already a fan of Apple's stuff, and I had used a Mac on occasion. Even before I decided to make my purchase, I knew the Mac would definitely be more my style.
I will briefly mention that Windows is a good OS too. Its good for different people. I'm not one of those people. I use an iPad, and an iPhone. I get too much benefit from using a Mac that I'll ever get from using Windows. I know. I had an iPad, and Windows computer for a while. I used the iPad for anything, and everything I could. It often wasn't the best tool for the job. I still chose to use the iPad because I liked it more. I did not enjoy using Windows. After a while it became clear a Mac was the best tool for me. If I was going to spend any meaningful amount of time on the computer, I wanted to enjoy it as much as I could. I didn't (and still don't) enjoy using Windows.
On June 27, 2012 I became a Mac user, again. We had a Mac sometime before I was 5. I only ever used it for playing games. I also briefly owned a Graphite Power Mac G4 (running Mac OS X Panther in case your were curious) just a few months before I purchased my MacBook Air (abbreviated MBA). The G4 was fun to use for about a day. It was so old I couldn't install anything remotely recent on it. I had to find archived versions of applications just to have something to run on it. I could hardly browse the web because there was so little processing power. But it got me hooked.
More than a year later, I'm sitting in front of a 13" Mid-2012 MacBook Air. This is computer I consider to be my first Mac. I've invested quite a bit into it beyond the purchase price. Good software on the Mac is primarily paid. I used money I earned over the summer to purchase not only the Mac, but OS X versions of some of my favorite iOS software titles.
As far as the overall experience goes, I've found it to be significantly better. SSDs are standard on the MBA, and 4GB is plenty of RAM for my current needs. It's not a perfect machine. The hard drive is two sizes too small at 128GB. Thank goodness I was smart enough to avoid the 64GB machine (that would have been a disaster).
There are a few notable differences between OS X, and Windows that took a while to get used to. One of them is how one goes about installing applications. Particularly the .dmg files that are common for non-Mac App Store application installations. It was strange having to drag the application into my Applications folder. It's not at all strange now, but it is a lot different coming from Windows. The hardest part is remembering to unmount the dmg after I'm done. There were other, similar differences that I learned in time.
A Mac may not be the best option for you, but I will continue to recommend them to friends and family as the ideal computer. It's a hudge relief to not hate my computer every day I use it. There are still workflows that I'm refining on my Mac, but I the tools that allow me to do that are far more plentiful, and refined on OS X. One year in, this Mac is the best computer I've ever owned. To me, that's all that matters.
With its iconic logo, sleek aesthetic, and promise of creativity, excitement, and greatness embedded in its products and message, Apple successfully obscures its bad behavior with its powerful brand.
Let's ignore that most (if not all) major tech companies contract out to countries where worker exploitation is allowed (hurray Socialism). I guess I just missed the article where Samsung is also hiding worker exploitation behind their stellar marketing.
When you so fundamentally don't understand Apple's success, maybe you just shouldn't write about them. That's probably better than the approach Cole took here. Implying people who buy Apple are sheep, and then praising Apple's marketing department.
Apple's marketing department didn't create the iPhone that ranks the highest in customer satisfaction in nine consecutive studies. Apple's marketing department didn't develop the widely popular iPad which arguably created the "tablet market" OEMs now fight to control.
Denial seems to be the way the media copes with Apple's unprecedented success. When facts don't fit with your narrative, apparently you're supposed to just toss them out.
This ad is surprisingly bad. It falls somewhere between terrible, and just plain ridiculous. Whoever approved this garbage probably needs to be fired.
What's not surprising is that news outlets (if you can even call them that) like Forbes write multiple articles about Samsung ads that make fun of Apple customers. Yet somehow, fail to even acknowledge one of Samsung's worst ads ever. Convenient.
Your Instapaper tab should be a refuge from the infinite-scrolling, content-suggesting feeds vying for your attention across the web. A place where the content you know you want to see is supported by design that gets out of the way.
I've been using Instapaper to read later for quite a while now. Actually, it's probably more accurate to say I've been sending articles to Instapaper for some time. Instapaper gets continual use partly because it's really easy to send stuff there. This new design takes that one step further, and makes it way more fun to read it when I'm away from my iPad. The new designs is simply fantastic. The icons, fonts, and responsive design are all great. It makes for a nice little Fluid app.
I've also noticed Instapaper's servers have been lighting fast recently. Betaworks is really going the whole nine yards with Instapaper. They've mentioned new versions of the app are on the way. Now is an exciting time to be an Instapaper user. I would like to congratulate Betaworks on a fantastic job, and I look forward to seeing more. I'd also like to thank Marco Arment. He built a great product, and clearly made the right about who to sell it to. I can't wait to see where Instapaper goes next.
I can't wait for all the cool products Intellectual Ventures is going to be putting out now that they've secured all those patents to protect their innovation.
Apple would be moving in for a kill if they'd done this two years ago.
The Mega 6.3 has a 6.3-inch, 720p display; 1.7GHz dual-core processor; 8-megapixel camera; and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung's user interface.
Those are decent specs for a tablet of that size.
Could you imagine if Samsung tried to make a phone that big? That would truly be crazy. Like, holding a plate to your ear crazy.
Opponents say CAPTCHA prevents those without sight from being fully able to access the Web in the same way others do.
CAPTCHA is so bad, it prevents those with sight from fully accessing the Web. I hope these groups are successful, and that this movement spreads.
I've seen far more user-friendly spam fighters than CAPTCHA. It's time we start adopting them.
Microsoft now claims that Google is purposely attempting to block a YouTube Windows Phone app, and that the search giant's objections "are nothing other than excuses."
Don't be evil.
A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed against Microsoft on behalf of its shareholders, alleging that the firm lied about the financial performance of its Surface RT tablet.
I'm sure this is just a special case. It's not like Microsoft lies to their customers too.
(via Mr. Dalrymple)
Mr. Gruber in The Case for a New Lower-Cost iPhone:
Make no mistake: Apple’s current strategy has been remarkably successful. They sell a ton of iPhone 4S and 4 devices, and have expanded the iOS market by doing so. But there are several factors this year that suggest a change in strategy.
A low-cost iPhone has great potential not only for Apple, but consumers, and developers as well.
Remember this headline? Phil Schiller Says iPhone 5 Scratching 'Normal' for Any Aluminum Product. The Internet was not forgiving.
I've seen a lot of people online criticize the durability of the iPhone. Personally, this isn't an issue for me. I carry my iPhone 4S sans-case, and have dropped it several times on hard, and soft surfaces without receiving noticeable damage. Others are not so lucky. A low-cost iPhone could be just the thing.
A low-cost iPhone (henceforth the iPhone 5C, because rumors) has the potential to be substantially more durable than its predecessors. My guess is that Apple will use a special plastic, or similar, lower cost material (that's easy to product in colors because more rumors) in place of the more expensive glass, and anodized aluminum of previous iPhones. Whatever the material, it will be engineered in a special way for increased durability, allowing Apple to show a video about the production process during the keynote, and mess with their competitors.
It's not unprecedented for an iPhone to have a plastic back. The original iPhone had a plastic piece on the bottom, and the rear of iPhone 3G, and 3GS were encased entirely with plastic. Apple has gotten away from plastic more recently, retiring the white polycarbonate MacBook (which was more prone to cracking). If Apple intends to bring plastic back, they're likely to make it superior to regular plastic in some way.
iPhone sales in general are likely to benefit from more than one new iPhone. Some folks are just fine with buying an "old" iPhone 4 or 4S, but anyone under 40 probably isn't. The constant stream of new Android phones is ridiculous, but it also affords consumers a lot of options to choose from. There's a lower chance someone they know has seen, or owns the same phone. This allows them the ability to show off their new phone to family, and friends. This isn't a particularly logical reason to buy a phone, but it doesn't have to be. Apple only needs to leverage it to sell more iPhones.
Supposedly the iPhone 5C will debut this September, and would become the new low-cost iPhone. The iPhone 4 and 4S get dropped from the lineup entirely. The iPhone 5 either becomes a mid-range option or is also canned. It would be replaced by the iPhone 5S. This scenario means that all sales after September would contribute to devices that are either new, or just one year old. This could allow Apple to safely stop supporting older iPhones sooner, thereby allowing them to become more aggressive with software innovation. This also benefits developers, who will be able to exclusively target newer iPhone hardware more safely than ever.
While this may not be as obvious a benefit, it may turn out to be an important one. Kids these days are getting cellphones at a fairly young age. With the iPhone lineup as it stands today, I'd imagine most parents would be somewhat apprehensive about giving their kids an iPhone 5, or 4S due to the cost of replacement if broken. Also, (relating back to my second point) most kids are savvy enough to know they don't get points with their friends for having an "old" iPhone.
If the new iPhone 5C is less expensive, and perceived as more kid friendly (probably enhanced psychologically by the colors), parents might find them a suitable option. The more pre-teens Apple gets into their ecosystem, the more they are likely to stay. The iPod touch is currently the device getting pre-teens in the door, but things change. If the iPhone 5C proves popular enough, Apple may be able to offer it off contract, essentially as an iPod touch, and kill the iPod lineup altogether (probably not going to happen, but I'll bet they'd love to if they could get away with it).
The iPhone 5C represents a significant boon for Apple. It allows them to further extend their brand, sell more devices, and reinforce their already immeasurably strong ecosystem. It benefits Apple to have a device working to squeeze Android out on the low end (this is one of the purposes of the iPad mini). All the better for Apple if that device is a new, low-cost iPhone they can improve each year as fall rolls around.