Apr

29

Apple vs. Adobe – The Flash Debate

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Perhaps some of you have heard about the recent hullabaloo between Adobe and Apple over Adobe’s Flash technology and Apple’s lack of support for it on it’s mobile products (iPod, iPhone and iPad). Adobe claims the web experience is poorer without Flash support and that Apple is protecting it’s business interests by locking this feature out. Apple claims it is a technology issue – that Flash is buggy, causes Macs to crash, is a closed system, doesn’t support Open Standards and is yesterday’s technology.

Now, Steve Jobs has been known lately for his very short terse emails to customers correspondence with him lately, even spawning a parady devoted to creating the Steve Jobs email. However, there is nothing short about his recent post on Apple’s website concerning this debate and his clarification of Apple’s position. Here’s an excerpt:

Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.

The avalanche of media outlets offering their content for Apple’s mobile devices demonstrates that Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content. And the 200,000 apps on Apple’s App Store proves that Flash isn’t necessary for tens of thousands of developers to create graphically rich applications, including games.

New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind.

Steve Jobs
April, 2010

It makes for fascinating reading and you can read it in it’s entirety here:

Steve Job’s Thoughts on Flash


Postscript: Looks like Adobe has responded. The Wall Street Journal’s Alan Murray interviewed Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen Thursday afternoon. The video is below. The battling visions continue.

Apr

22

I Play, You Play, We all Play An iPad

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This is just great – Lang Lang ends his concert by playing Flight Of The Bumblebee on an iPad:

And this Centenarian’s first computer is..

Apr

11

My First Week With The iPad

Filed Under Fun, Very Very Cool, Views, iPad, iPhone | 1 Comment

So, it’s been a full week since I’ve had this coveted device. There are people selling them to those outside the U.S for thousands of dollars – I kid you not. The following are my early impressions of this new category of computing device and yes, I’m writing this post on the iPad.

First off, this is a beautiful piece of technology. The screen is gorgeous – although it is a finger print magnet (easily wiped away with a soft cloth – not included) – very clear and bright. The scrolling is extremely easy and responsive and text and images look marvelous. The virtual keyboard is simple to use and very precise especially in landscape mode. It’s not a full width keyboard, but it’s close and the auto-correct feature is very accurate.

Although I have a great laptop and an iMac as a server I’m finding myself turning to the iPad for my day to day Internet use – email, web browsing, news and research. I can even support my clients remotely using some very useful tools already upgraded and available for the new platform. This is what Apple was thinking – a device between a smart phone and a laptop. Some of my pet peeves will be addressed by the new iPhone 4.0 software just announced and presented by Steve himself – yes, this was indeed a huge week for Apple followers. Multi-tasking, app organization, a unified email inbox, multiple Exchange Accounts, business services and much more coming to the iPhone in the summer – although we won’t see these features coming to the iPad until the Fall!

The iBook app provides a very natural experience of reading. I found myself immersed in a book the other evening, turning the virtual pages and I almost forgot that I was using an electronic device. I honestly can’t see purchasing paper magazines and books unless it’s something very special. I have all my Apple technical manuals on my iPad in an easily accessible (and light!) device. I’m actually using Amazon’s iPad Kindle reader for those! Now, we’re not there yet. I downloaded the Time Magazine app an d although it was interesting to check out it’s navigation is a bit confusing and the price ($4.99) is really out of touch with what it should be. The only reason i bought it was because Steve Jobs was on the cover and for the novelty. Zinio is a magazine reader app, but its rendering engine is a bit slow.

That said, a great example of the possibilities for interactivity and creativity is the recently released Alice In Wonderland for iPad:

The battery life is remarkable. This is one of those rare times (I’m not sure it’s ever happened) where the claims have exceeded expectations. I’m noticing 12 plus hours of use without a problem.

Web browsing is a joy and the screen real estate really shines here. Video looks great and the built-in sound is very good.

I purchased Apple’s iWork suite for iPad (Pages, Keynote and Number) and the apps work as advertised. Very intuitive and written for the touch interface. And this is perhaps one of the important aspects of this new platform. This is above all a Touch Operating System. There is no traditional file system – files and folders- just apps, swipes, gestures etc… It’s refreshing and easy. I think this will be a real hit with young kids and older people who find using a mouse, saving files (finding them!) difficult to navigate.

And the apps. These will be what defines the iPad. Just as they did with the iPhone the App store and the legion of developers out there will make or break this fledgling platform. I’ve downloaded some hits and misses and it will be interesting to see what develops over the next 6 months. Non-optimized apps work fine on the iPad, but they don’t take advantage of its features and the 2x zoom renders them awkwardly. iPad native apps look great and if you’re into games there is some fun to be had.

When I first saw the previews of some of the interactive apps being planned for the iPad i couldn’t help thinking this was the return of the CD ROM – those interactive multi-media offerings of yester-year – except much slicker. Interactivity is he key here. I feel when i use the iPad I’m interacting with the device – touching it, reading, searching, flicking, swiping – it’s cliche, but this is an uber intuitive device.

There are a plethora of reviews out there and some links are provided below. If you’re using the iPad in Canada you need to have or create a US iTunes account – the Canadian app store does not yet support it – no iBook store, no iPad apps. It is possible to create a US account and a link to doing so is also provided below.

So, am i happy to be an early adoptee? Does it live up to the hype? The answers are yes and maybe. The iPad is a joy to use and it’s potential is still to be determined. However, I believe this will be a very influential device on a number of levels. The consensus is that you have to use one to really get a sense of what this is about and I agree. I am surprised how easily I’ve taken to it although I shouldn’t be – this is what Apple does best. Some critics have said that the iPad is a pure consuming device i.e. it’s not for creating content, but for consuming it. Now, it is definitely a very savvy consumer-driven device. However, I think there is plenty of room to be creative whether that be drawing, writing, image and video editing etc..It’s not a MacBook Pro by any stretch, but we humans are quite resourceful:

There will always be room for improvement and of course version 2 of the iPad will sport new features (a camera?) and when the new 4.0 OS arrives it will all get that much better. The iPad will be in Canada soon so don’t succumb to those crazy Craig’s List and eBay Pirates. All in good time.

Pro: Andy Ihnatko in the Chicago Times

Con: Slate’s “You Don’t Need An iPad”

Potential: Liberal Arts And The iPad – you have to scroll down a bit to get at this interesting article

Gushing: Stephen Fry’s Time Magazine Interview with Steve Jobs

iPhone 4.0: The Keynote by Steve Jobs and more info on the consumer and business features

And for those of you who have been asking: Setting up a US iTunes Account in Canada

P.S. I got some fun feedback on the un-boxing video – I know it was silly, but it was fun to produce with my nephew. He wants to do one for other new Apple releases so it may not be the last.

Apr

5

My Very Own iPad

Filed Under Fun, Very Very Cool, iPad | 8 Comments

Yes folks, the Apple gods have shone down upon me and bestowed a 64GB iPad unto my bosom. Okay, it’s Easter/Passover etc…And it’s true – I am now in possession (or should I say possessed) by a 9 x 7 glass/aluminium technical, magical marvel. I’ve spent the day prodding and playing with the new addition to the family – and there’s still 64% battery left! A full review is forthcoming. Until then I decided to really geek out and make one of those ridiculous un-boxing videos. My partner in crime has been my nephew Ben Barrett (it’s his fault really – okay, I made him help me). So, enjoy…

P.S. I want to thank my client and friend Sebastien Centner who stood in line with his two boys in tow in Miami and graciously included me in his wildly insane iPad purchases for his family.

Apr

3

A New Day

Filed Under Apple News, Fun, Very Very Cool, Views, iPad | Leave a Comment

Macmedics-Technophile
April 3, 2010: iPad Launch Day (not us, but in the US)

We are about to  - it’s already started – be inundated with a lot of iPad coverage. There are already 1700+ approved iPad optimized and specific applications in addition to the existing 140000 apps now available for the iPhone which the iPad can run. The reviews are in and the common theme seems to be that the magic of the device is the using of it. It’s difficult to know where to begin here. Steve Jobs is on the cover of Time and Time now has a version of it’s magazine ready for the iPad – and it’s for sale (my oh my, paying for content, what a concept!) – convergence is the word of the day. Stephen Fry interviewed Steve for the upcoming edition. Some highlights:

I have met five British Prime Ministers, two American Presidents, Nelson Mandela, Michael Jackson and the Queen. My hour with Steve Jobs certainly made me more nervous than any of those encounters.

In the design department, Jobs saw the work of a young Briton called Jonathan Ive and asked for a meeting. Ive, underused and ignored for a year, turned up with a resignation letter tucked into the back pocket of his jeans. He left with instructions to unleash his talent. The result was the iMac

[On leaving Apple:] Is this then the curtain dropping on your third act?” I ask. “Will you perhaps leave Apple on this high, a fitting end to your career here?” “I don’t think of my life as a career,” he says. “I do stuff. I respond to stuff. That’s not a career — it’s a life!”

David Pogue of the NY Times wrote not just one, but two reviews – one for Techies and one for everyone else:

The iPad is so fast and light, the multitouch screen so bright and responsive, the software so easy to navigate, that it really does qualify as a new category of gadget. Some have suggested that it might make a good goof-proof computer for technophobes, the aged and the young; they’re absolutely right.

And the techies are right about another thing: the iPad is not a laptop. It’s not nearly as good for creating stuff. On the other hand, it’s infinitely more convenient for consuming it — books, music, video, photos, Web, e-mail and so on. For most people, manipulating these digital materials directly by touching them is a completely new experience — and a deeply satisfying one.

The bottom line is that the iPad has been designed and built by a bunch of perfectionists. If you like the concept, you’ll love the machine.

And he posted a great FAQ as well. Engadget has a great roundup of some of the new app stand-outs which I highly recommend perusing through. TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog) goes over the different user base of this device and it just goes on and on.Unfortunately we here in Canada won’t get ours until the end of the month – unless you’re planning on making a trip to Buffalo to pick one up if any are available. I can’t speak with any first-hand authority about this new device. However, my initial impressions of it’s potential seem to be confirmed by the myriad reviews I’ve read. The iPad is going to have a huge influence on the nature of print magazines (including comic books), content in general by way of how it gets presented, interaction between human and machine with it’s expanded touch interface, the beginning of the end for the traditional file system hierarchy (folders, file listings, filing in general, mice – or lack thereof). We’re in a touch world now and I think it’s going to be fun:

The killer app is whatever the developers dream up for it. As John Gruber said this afternoon, Apple is essentially handing developers a blank slate and saying, “Go ahead. Make something awesome.” In their hands it will be made to do nearly limitless amazing things. Come back six months from now and you and I might have different answers to, “What’s the killer app on the iPad?” but we will have an answer. That one app that makes our life easier/simpler/more fun.