This is great for me. I recently had to cancel my Rdio subscription but now I can keep using the service. I still get the feeling Rdio is under intense pressure in what seems to be a cutthroat industry. They've had layoffs recently and The Verge article indicates Rdio's change to a freemium business model is in response to Spotify. That appears to be the case. I'm starting to wonder how much longer they're going to be around.
“We wish our friends at ‘American Idol’ continued success.”
If AT&T really wished them continued success wouldn't they keep sponsoring the show? That could just be me though.
It's a lot less about the food itself and more about how much of it one is eating. Balanced meals seem to be the key. It can be a balance of even relatively unhealthy fast food.
I wouldn't worry about the future of the Mac. I get the feeling it's going to be around a long time.
When you no longer need a Mac to program an iPhone or iPad then you can start being worried.
Today's apology won't entirely satisfy Snapchat critics, but is a wise move nonetheless for the young company as it faces perhaps its biggest PR disaster to date.
It's not only that this appology is a day late and a dollar short (which it is) but also that Snapchat, a company whose core product is private messaging, seems to not take privacy as seriously as they should.
Related: iMore can show you how to delete your account.
Gmail is very open when Google wants it to be.
Mr. Fechner's A Future of Mobile Computing presents a believable future for computing. The idea is that sometime in the future a single hub device (perhaps a *shudder* phablet) with different size and kinds of screens acting as portals into one device. I will refer to this theory as “one device, many screens” . I was in agreement with Mr. Fechner right up until I read this:
However, agreeing and implementing required industry standards and the willingness to cannibalise existing product franchises and therefore large revenue streams is what makes us get there much slower. Apple might have something similar in the drawer already, but won't release it while their current portfolio is still blossoming [sic]?
I have to disagree with Mr. Fechner on that last statement. What helps make Apple great as a company is its willingness to kill popular devices and replace them with something better. I’ll turn it over briefly to Mr. Lopp to explain:
In an Apple music event announcement, Steve Jobs got on stage, gave the usual state of the business update, and then he did something I’d never seen before. He killed a wildly successful product.
In Someone is Coming to Eat You, Mr. Lopp briefly chronicles how Apple killed the incredibly popular iPod mini. Replacing it with the markedly superior iPod nano. Apple didn’t milk the mini for what it was worth, but replaced it with a better product when they had something good to replace it. Mr. Fechner’s assertion that Apple’s success (read greed) is responsible for holding back the industry is off the mark. If Apple wanted to release new products only after they’ve sufficiently milked existing lines, it’s possible Apple may never again enter a new product category in our lifetime.
Conversely, I find it highly likely the rest of the computer industry is responsible for delaying the “one device, many screens” future Mr. Fechner imagines. Much of the industry is too busy chasing Apple’s current success, spending less and less time looking to supplant Apple. They’ve spent a lot of time skating to where the puck is currently instead of hitting the puck to make it go a different direction. Samsung didn’t appear to be interested in the “smart watch” business until well after the Apple watch rumors started. Windows Laptops and Chromebooks are looking so similar to Apple’s MacBook Air it’s uncanny. The iPad was just a big iPod touch until everyone else figured out how to copy it.
Apple hasn’t entered a new hardware product category for a few years but I believe that’s because whatever they’re working on isn’t ready. Unless Apple has really clamped down on security since Fall of ’13, we should already be seeing hardware leaks for a watch or TV. I haven’t seen anything that looks remotely close to a finished product.
Mr. Bajarin wrote back in November that Smartphones are Becoming the Hub of our Digital Lifestyles. In the article, Mr. Bajarin briefly chronicles iBeacons and how Apple seems more keen on making the smartphone a hub like the Mac has been in the past. While this approach and “one device, many screens” aren’t mutually exclusive outcomes Apple has a very specific way they like to do things. The rest of the industry should move on if another strategy makes sense. They shouldn’t take the future hostage so they can become the next Apple. That’s not how Apple became who they are today. Apple sees a future, creates and polishes it repeatedly until they think they have it right. Samsung’s watch isn’t anywhere near polished.
Mr. Fechner’s computing future is compelling idea shared by many. I think it’s a great idea. The reasons we aren’t there yet have nothing to do with Apple’s greed. The industry seems to be missing the forest for the trees. They try to create highly successful one-off products instead of building a future that’s refined and useable. Blaming Apple because computer companies need glasses (smart or otherwise) isn’t helping us get there.
On the one hand, the tech press clamors for more innovation at a faster pace from Apple; on the other, when the company redesigns every single visual element in the entire OS, bugs are held up as evidence of a deliberate conspiracy rather than honest (and as anyone who has ever worked on software would understand, inevitable) mistakes.
I know many have felt like this for a long time. Mr. Gruber succeeded in putting it into more eloquent terms.
I've made minor visual changes to the site since it launched in March of 2013. I never really thought to give visual changes a version number but I've seen it on a few other sites do it and I like it. I think it's a simple way to keep track of the changes. I'll include a screenshot of the site each time a new major version comes out so folks can see the visual history of the site by searching the archives if they choose (I've always wished other sites would do this).
Some of the details of the old site were bothering me (prompting the changes). Below is a change log on what's new. I use Squarespace as the backend for my site. I worked off and on again on this redesign for two months with various templates and designs. I finally decided to further customize the one I already had.
I hope you like the changes. I'm not a designer but I think Squarespace’s great templates keep me from making utterly terrible design decisions. Just as with Keynote, it’s pretty hard to make a Squarespace site ugly. Hopefully my site is a few levels above that.
Twitter blew up today with artwork suggestions for the Accidental Tech Podcast. Marco Arment spent a decent portion of the day retweeting some of the good ones. As you may know finding anything in your Twitter timeline mere days after it happens is next to impossible. I didn't want this artwork to be lost to the enevitable march of time that is Twtter. So I created a Tumblr for them to live. It's called ATP Artwork.
This is what happens you put geeks in charge of advertisements. For Samsung's sake I hope this ad doesn't run much at all.
Update: It seems Samsung has had issues with advertisements before.
Note: Trash can is on the left.
Normally, I hate online galleries but this one by Macworld showing the relative size of the new Mac Pro is ok by me.
No doubt about it my acquisition of the Matias Mini Tactile Pro was prompted by Mr. Blanc's two article series on clicky keyboards. In April of 2012 Mr. Blanc reviewed clicky keyboards. In September of the same year he took a look at some tenkeyless clicky keyboards. I use my MacBook Air in clamshell mode at my desk desk which makes an external keyboard vital. I started with an Apple Wireless Keyboard but was tempted to get a clicky keyboard after reading Mr. Blanc's fantastic articles. I found this section to be particularly persuasive:
As a computer-nerd-slash-writer, I am always looking and advocating for the right tools. But for years, I have always equated “writing tools” with “software” — I own more text editors than I have fingers to type with — but it never dawned on me until recently that a good keyboard could be equally as important as a good text editor.
I looked around and considered the various keyboards available. I knew I wanted a tenkeyless keyboard (so as to keep my mouse in the same zip code as the keyboard) and if possible I wanted it to be Mac specific. As a newer Mac user I felt that a Windows keyboard might be confusing (especially since I occasionally need to make use of a Windows machine and know several Windows keyboard shortcuts that I employ while on Windows). After checking out a few other sources on clicky keyboards I decided on the Matias Mini Tactile Keyboard.
The Matias, as I like to call it, is significantly larger than the Apple Wireless Keyboard. To some it may look ugly and seems a bit cheap at first. Everything but they keys are encased in white plastic. There's no way around the fact that white plastic looks tacky. The one thing is has going for it is that it's a strong plastic. However, I don't like the aluminum on the Apple Wireless and The Das Model S (encased in black plastic) doesn't look that much better to me. It could be that there just isn't a great substance out there with which to make a keyboard.
The keyboard itself is USB which means it necessitates a cable to connect to your Mac. This isn't as clean as a bluetooth keyboard you could put at your desk with your Mac and then take to a coffee shop or library with your iPad. However, considering the audible click produced by the keys on the Matias you're likely to get thrown out of both establishments faster than you can say "This never would have happened if Steve Jobs were still alive."
The keycaps are laser etched so they aren't supposed to wear off. They will feel a bit strange if you're coming from a keyboard with pad printed letters. It wasn't a foreign feeling for me coming from the also laser etched Apple Wireless. I occasionally need to look at my keyboard to type something so it will be nice to still read the keycaps in 6 months.
The shape of the keytops are both a blessing and a curse. They are cylindrical which means when you hit them precisely they feel rather nice. Unfortunately that also mean if you are not a well disciplined typist like myself missing a key by too much causes the higher edges of the keys to press into your finger. This isn't terribly comfortable. I guess the moral of the story is for me become a better typist so I don't feel this as often.
Speaking of typing, did I mention this keyboard is clicky? My family knew I was ordering a clicky keyboard and that it would be louder but it was only after I started using it I think they felt as if they worked in a factory running loud machinery. It takes a while to acclimate to the sound. They're still getting used to being able to hear me type from a mile away, but I imagine it will eventually fade from their conciseness as they get used to hearing it. Luckily for them I'm not a terribly disciplined writer so it's not as if they hear the keyboard going for hours on end starting at 6 am.
Anecdotally I feel like I'm able to type faster and more confidently on the keyboard. There's a good chance this is a placebo effect but it's a good one if it is. I decided to do a few to test to see if I was right. I took the same typing test Mr. Blanc used and here are the results. I did four test on each of the two keyboards and averaged them to find the scores.
The results are interesting but I'm not sure how much they say. I do seem to have a slightly better WPM on the Apple Wireless than the Matias (which I attribute to the lower profile of the Apple Wireless). However this test only consisted of writing letters I see on a screen. Typing something I'm thinking in my head is a totally different game. Thinking and typing simultaneously slows my typing speed dramatically.
The keyboard has a row of Mac specific function keys. They are laid out almost exactly like the keys on my MacBook Air's built-in keyboard with minor exceptions. For instance, the F4 opens Dashboard instead of Launchpad (I prefer this behavior). F5 and F6 are normally dedicated to backlit keyboard brightness but since the Matias isn't backlit they are left blank. I've mapped F5 to Launchpad and at this time F6 does nothing.
Overall I like the Matias. It feels more rewarding to type out a long blog post or a paper on it as opposed to something like an Apple Wireless Keyboard. The Matias feels solid. I like it and hopefully it will last for years to come (I get the feeling that it will). It's a tad pricey at $130 and it has an even pricier bluetooth cousin for $170. The Matias Mini Tactile Pro is not going to make you a better typist but it might make you a happier one.
There's still sanity out there. I hope this ruling starts a chain reaction ending with significant reform.
(Via Mr. Brooks)
For the past year Lego has been releasing games on the iOS App Store. I've played a few of them and they have all been disappointing in comparison with the phenomenal console games Lego is known for. The iOS games are scaled down versions with fewer characters and levels. They are shadows of the games they portend to represent.
Enter LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga for iOS. I still remember getting the original console game for Christmas six years ago (for Nintendo Wii if you're curios). It was a great game. This new iOS version is not like the other Lego games for iOS. This version is a legitimate port of the full console game and it's fantastic. When I saw it was released I freaked out and when I started playing it I freaked out again. The game is really great on the iPad. You get Episode I for free and Episodes II-VI can be unlocked with various In-App purchase options (full game IAP unlock costs $15). I haven't yet purchased the full game but garunteed I will soon.
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga for iOS is a full featured port of the console game. It's fantastic and you can try it for free. This is the top notch work I've come to expect from Lego and their partners.