tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36971802011-11-02T23:09:55.081+02:00MacBloQsA one-horsepower "blog and pony" show, commenting on events, discussions and futurism in the Apple world. Being too lazy to write real articles, we stoop as low as to produce brief insights - analysis, discussions, fast inwinations... eh, inspirations, etc <BR>Anything that can be produced in the span of time between powering up a PowerBook and starting a "crown-jewel" barbecue party is within our reach - as long as it doesn't mean having to get up from the armchair...Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comBlogger311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-1150880025354092412006-06-21T11:53:00.000+03:002006-06-21T12:00:35.373+03:00Returning quietly from the nightI decided at one point that most of what I had knowledge of had been told or hinted at here, and so I laid low for a while... for quite a while, as it turned out (look at my last entry below). A lot has happened since, and a good deal of the products and introductions I mentioned have by now come to be or - Apple being Apple, as any casual observer may verify - Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-848728912002-11-21T17:28:00.000+02:002002-11-21T17:28:22.020+02:00To NightOwl: When OS9 is the better choice
It is one thing for the online Mac community - more precisely, the Mac-related web sites - to live their own, self-contained life; after all, that kind of virtual existence is what the Internet is all about. But it is quite another thing when the sites evolve into a meta-existence, ranting against each other and thus focusing on themselves and each otherPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-840577732002-11-05T15:28:00.000+02:002002-11-05T15:28:38.583+02:00OSX - the real hardware mover and shaker
Software development is always substantially slower than hardware development these days, again because the level reached by now is "sufficiently good" (that is, tolerable for the customer rather than awe-inspiringly great). This is one area where Apple is substantially better than MS - the upgrades over the last three years (OS8/9 as well as OSX) are Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-836523112002-10-28T10:27:00.000+02:002002-10-28T10:27:37.646+02:00Kartoo's visual search enginePeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-835206322002-10-25T22:42:00.000+03:002002-10-25T22:42:44.140+03:00edit your blog:Chewing up three pieces of Apple news
In the last week, three major events have signalled a radically better future for Apple. The first one is the publication of IBM's plans for a PowerPC based CPU, named PPC970, which will be about twice as powerful as the best G4 available at the moment. Even more importantly, its physical details ensure that it will be easily developed beyondPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-833462142002-10-22T14:21:00.000+03:002002-10-22T14:21:09.053+03:00The Future of Apple
Recent comments from "industry observers" and "market analysts" have suggested that Apple's decline in market share and stock price is permanent and inevitable. While comments like that seem to be a cyclic inevitability, the response from macaholics are equally predictable: Apple's demise has been predicted time and again without ever coming to pass, its technologies "just Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-830566452002-10-16T14:27:00.000+03:002002-10-16T14:27:38.326+03:00edit your blog:"... comes to those that wait ... and wait ..."
While two reasons for MacOS X' glacial release progress - especially until the beginning of this year - have been the unexpected difficulty in marrying the Mac GUI and the NeXT/*nix underpinnings, and the parallel clashes between the "old" and the "new" program development culture, a third and less conspicious factor has added at Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-828620462002-10-12T01:48:00.000+03:002002-10-12T01:50:05.000+03:00Building the next OSX - part 1
In one sense this BloQ is a continuation of the ".... and other GUI terms" series, but it is inverted since the goal is to suggest outlines for the kind of UI that OSX could have been. I wish Apple had spent some time thinking their UI philosophy through before developing OSX, rather than making something that is an almost totally reactionary, anti-Mac hodge-podge, Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-826623182002-10-08T03:17:00.000+03:002002-10-08T03:17:09.536+03:00Not killing Classic? - Yeah, right!
In spite of the clamor of protests when Apple announced the demise of OS9 boot-uppability in new Mac models introduced after December 2002, they were probably right in doing so. Apple is not blocking users from booting in OS9 in presently owned models or in models presented before January 2003 but sold after that date. All they are doing is not using manpower Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-826584742002-10-08T01:45:00.000+03:002002-10-08T01:47:17.000+03:00Melée, hotch-potch, and other UI terms (3)
Is the "page" metaphor used in Internet browsers more intuitive than the "file/folder" metaphor? Apparently - it takes very little time for new users to understand the idea of browsing back and forward, and the necessity of knowing an address where a page can be found (though the structure of the address itself is more confusing). One explanation might Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-823360042002-10-01T02:20:00.000+03:002002-10-01T02:20:37.653+03:00Don't crow over the eating of .mac ditto
As recently reported on many Mac-sites, and as witnessed by all present iTools users who received a personal email about it, Apple has decided to "extend" the deadline for erasing all iTools accounts (and the data saved there) that have not yet been "upgraded" to a .mac account. Fifteen more days before Data Armageddon. So how should we react?
A number ofPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-823173142002-09-30T18:55:00.000+03:002002-09-30T18:55:28.046+03:00Melée, hotch-potch, and other UI terms (2)
The Dock functionality is hard to metaphorize - the maritime function implied is definitely too distanced to carry any associations beyond the single metaphor. Since the term seems to be used simply historical reasons (NeXT) is therefore unproductive, a new metaphorics should be developed (unfortunately, Tray is already in use). The term Docklings is Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-818749152002-09-20T18:37:00.000+03:002002-09-20T18:37:37.546+03:00Melée, hotch-potch, and other UI terms (1)
If there is one positive thing to come from the abrupt change of GUI occurring in the change from MacOS 9 to Mac OSX, it is the renewed awareness one gets of the importance and functionality of the interface between user and hardware. Here are a few thoughts about that.
The playful Finder of the first Lisas and Macintoshes was there to make the user Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-817936772002-09-19T02:01:00.000+03:002002-09-19T02:03:01.000+03:00The PDA Apple should have made (2)
I have discussed this before in a previous MacBloQs, so this is just another brief reference to an article about the Simputer. This is not just the kind of PDA that Apple should have developed and produced - it's THE PDA.
It's inexpensive, it contains the most relevant software, it runs on Linux but might as well have run on Darwin, and it could have been madePeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-817152032002-09-17T12:27:00.000+03:002002-09-17T12:27:25.983+03:00It's the Interface, stupid
"There's all sorts of other devices we would like to see this in. I would like to listen to my music that's on my computer on my stereo. How do I do that? Build Rendezvous into the stereo. I have photos on my computer, but I would like to watch them on my big-screen television. How do I do that? Build Rendezvous into the TV." (S. Jobs, Paris Expo)
Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-816008612002-09-14T21:05:00.000+03:002002-09-15T12:26:22.000+03:00Apple's Mail and Haste - a bug report
Since my last entry in this log, a lot of things has happened: I have upgraded to 10.2. Many applications have changed there, and I will comment on my latest experience with Mail again, but this time in version 1.2 (v544/543).
The IMAP-error:
After successfully having my hosting partner open for IMAP, I turned to Mail in 10.2. My three accounts showed upPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-815969382002-09-14T18:58:00.000+03:002002-09-15T02:06:29.000+03:00How to run MacOS on your September 2003 Mac
This is going to be a three-step piece. Before I get to the specifics of the headline, I want to say something about me and OSX (yes, yes, I know - quit being the teacher!), and then it'll be OSX as Hamlet... and THEN!
I find that OSX has great advantages and gives room for very many new possibilities that was almost impossible to add to MacOS (the Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-813696372002-09-09T23:07:00.000+03:002002-09-09T23:10:31.000+03:00The PowerMac of extension - a Mac Semiotics (3)
The use of plastics in this generation of Macintoshes is a basic semiotic gesture, rather than a mere choice of material. It is humanoid to the touch, conveying shared mutability rather than the delimitation of a foreign, painted metal machine. The semitransparence of the back of the bondi-blue iMac gives visual access to its digital interior, againPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-811923402002-09-05T18:53:00.000+03:002002-09-09T20:30:10.000+03:00The x86 Mac that is not a PC
An innumerable horde of "analysts" and "experts" have predicted - not just recently but ever since Apple launched Mac II, the business Mac - that Apple would inevitably have to shift their hardware architecture to an x86-based one. Continuing to state the obvious, factual arguments for this (as opposed to the "Don't fight Goliath" yells) are probably more well foundedPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-809538752002-08-31T13:42:00.000+03:002002-09-01T00:53:59.000+03:00iMac: the first generation - a Mac Semiotics (2)
Present-day hardware aesthetics include a dimension that hasn't been discussed very often, though it is registered by most people on a subconscious level. It is also the reason the first iMac very soon after its release was to be seen everywhere in those medias that are based on visual representation: adverts, fashion magazine illustrations, even Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-808728722002-08-29T18:31:00.000+03:002002-09-03T11:02:46.000+03:00Woz and the "Iceland" project: is it viable?
The intensity of the rumors concerning Apple introducing a mobile phone as the next node of the Digital Hub have increased over the last few days. Wireless Week is normally non-commital when it comes to the twirls of excitement stirring in the Apple universe, but they have produced an article which presents rumors about Steve Jobs being in contact withPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-808630482002-08-29T11:58:00.000+03:002002-08-30T10:31:54.000+03:00Apple's Mail and haste - report from a user (1)
Talking about the quality of software that Apple delivers, even though Mail is not part of the iApp-sphere, it sure need some improvement too. Yesterday, I wanted to email a lot of friends at the same time (the fact that this had to do with my change away from .mac, because it is too expensive as only an email account, is an interesting coincidence)Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01124055244211541140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-808174312002-08-28T12:56:00.000+03:002002-08-29T01:37:56.000+03:00Symbiotic Ware - an Apple Semiotics (1)
Apple is not a hardware company. Those who say so probably think of the history of Apple - the famous fifty motherboards created in a garage by two tinkerers. Steve Jobs driving from shop to shop, selling these foetoi of the modern computer. It's famous, almost mythical. Those who think of Apple as a hardware company probably think of Apple II and what a Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-807725102002-08-27T15:16:00.000+03:002002-08-29T01:47:19.000+03:00Sweet-Sour Apple Sauce
Two friends of mine, Jacob and Tommy, are not only Mac-buffs but also graduate programmers. They both do cross-platform work - preferably with Java - and have their homes stuffed with Macs old and new. Recently I listened in on a mail conversation of theirs and found it interesting and relevant enough to publish it here. What sparked it off was a problem they had with a Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-807248262002-08-26T15:02:00.000+03:002002-08-29T01:48:53.000+03:00iNabling everyone - the handheld Apple should have made
I have already discussed ways in which I, along with others, feel that Apple have disappointed its customers, and so I would like to be slightly more constructive. Briefly, it is regarding a device that I believe Apple should have developed and marketed.
Listlessly watching cnn the other night, I was arrested by a report of a handheld Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-805678132002-08-22T16:53:00.000+03:002002-08-29T01:50:37.000+03:0010.2: Flattening the Internet Hierarchy
The new version of of OSX should be called "Velcro" rather than Jag-wire: it has more hooks than a square metre of that stuff, and the intentions, possibilities and theoretical implications point in as many directions as the quills on a hedgehog. What's more, the unique ingenuity of the Apple mode of thinking is beginning to take over, now that the dreary Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-805194172002-08-21T15:53:00.000+03:002002-08-29T01:52:04.000+03:00From the Pen, not the Well
In a recent discussion thread on AI, someone mentioned a digital pen as a possible input device for use with InkWell. Given that earlier suggestions on the thread had been pens that somehow uses the touchpad on Power- and iBooks (and other inane suggestions that I won't bother to divulge here), a digital pen for use on normal paper, leaving normal ink traces which were Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-804947142002-08-21T01:27:00.000+03:002002-08-29T01:57:50.000+03:00 Brilliant - even though it is sound!
This is a great piece of writing - published on OS Opinion and not just worth a read: it's worth poring over, digesting, and debating.
The basic suggestion is this: if Apple is to make another iGadget, it should use voice recognition as its primary input method. InkWell or no InkWell, handwriting is a clumsy, slow way of inputting data; you need two hands Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-804326062002-08-19T19:00:00.000+03:002002-08-29T02:00:05.000+03:00No Apple cell phone - it's the bite!
New York Times' article contains at least one major logical flaw: it is intermingling three different OS'es: OSX, Pixo's OS (in iPod), and PalmOS.
The features in 10.2 which are mentioned as indicators that OSX is prepared for a cell phone, may or may not be suitable for such a device - but they are part of OSX.
How on earth would you make OSX run on a cellPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-804303272002-08-19T17:59:00.000+03:002002-08-29T02:01:36.000+03:00"Switch" - to the Oldies Golden Delicious!
At MacOsRumors, a bucketload of vague rumors about Apple's hardware situation over the next "12-18 months" are being spilled over the unwary.
The main message seems to be: "Apple's Switch campaign will increase in intensity over the next months, and Apple will have the hardware to lure customers to Do The Switch". Hello? Anything wrong with this picturePeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697180.post-801045572002-08-11T21:09:00.000+03:002002-08-29T02:02:46.000+03:00Bloq'ed Appendix
My bloqs are often inspired by the discussions on appleinsider (AI no less!), and recently the discussion in several threads in the category Future Hardware has been about the consequences of the introduction of InkWell in Mac OSX 10.2.
Now, I HAD written a looong piece on that, but "blogspot ate my prose!" Which is why I won't say much about it until I have gathered energy by Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05418135000663931947noreply@blogger.com