Macgasm

It’s taken me quite a while to wrap my head around Google’s announcement of their OS, and it hasn’t been easy gathering my thoughts about the implications this would have on Apple Inc.  Said simply, another operating system sharing space with OS X isn’t something that should be brushed off.  Google’s pretty determined to get into other markets, and considering that we’ve been hearing rumors about a fully fledged operating system for two years now, there’s probably a good chance it’s a lot closer to fruition than we may think.

I’ve been saying since my first ten minutes on the Internet that it was eventually going to go cloud on us. I might surprise you, but I’m all for getting my stuff off my hard drive and onto someone else’s network.  Gone are the days worrying about archives, and full hard drives.  It’s not really new news that we’re heading that way, and there’s a list longer than my *ahem* arm indicating reasons why it’s going to be a bad thing, primarily, the case of missing data, and the corporations excellent ability at shedding responsibility.  We’ll need to ere on the side of caution, hell, we’ll need to make sure that the type of scenario listed in the aforementioned link isn’t even remotely possible.

However until we make the move to the cloud full time, we’ll be living in a hybrid world for a while, with a foot on one cloud, and another firmly planted on the ground.  This is where it gets interesting. I can think of one corporation who’s taking this approach, and it might surprise some people–Apple Inc.  I’ve been saying for months that Mobile Me is a giant waste of money, but when I look at it from another perspective, made possible by Google’s announcement, it looks like the online software bundle is the half step needed between this generation and the next.  It’s by far from perfect, but a lot of people seem to rely on it daily, and they feel comfortable doing it now that all those early release bugs have been worked out. Google already has it’s mobile me competitor with their Google Apps bundle, but what they haven’t been able to do is integrate them into devices that need to be able to sync for offline viewing. This is where Apple, and even Microsoft has an extreme advantage, but more particularly Apple.  Which company makes hardware, software, and does miniature cloud services already? Apple.  They have all their chess pieces ready for the fight.  They’re putting machines in front of people, they’re giving them a stellar operating system, and now they can work on that highly anticipated cloud computing sector. Google needs to negotiate with hardware vendors to get them to ship their OS, as would Microsoft, but either could pull it off.

Apple’s got what economists call a comparative advantage right out of the gate.  They only person they’d be negotiating with would be themselves.  They can build the services right into their core applications without people even really knowing.  It would be the most seamless integration into cloud computing possible.  Who else controls a trifecta of magnitude, that would allow them to seamlessly pull off cloud computing? It’s looking like Microsoft is going to be struggling with getting businesses to switch to Windows 7, and Google hasn’t done an operating system yet. Typical users are going to be skittish with such a monumental paradigm shift of this variety, and the less new stuff you’re throwing in front of them the better.

It would be a shame if Apple let the market pass them by and ultimately miss out on the next major technology innovation, but they’d have to be pretty daft to miss the trends.  The next time Eric Schmidt starts asking about Mobile Me innovations I’d be kicking him to the curb.  Does Apple Inc. really need Xerox 2.0?

[photos by: Tech Writer Boy and Skinny Ships]

I spent some time over the last week tracking down some files that were corrupted, from god knows what.  The problem was that the files were changed and I had to restore a previous version of the file that went nuts.  I was scratching my head trying to figure out just how to track down which particular file was screwing things up.  It’s usually easy to do, but when the code was part of large group of files it became a tedious task.  This is where Changes comes in.  It saved my butt and let me track down the code with ease. Essentially what it does is compare both files, and folders to a backed up version, or another version all together. In a matter of minutes I got a listing of all the files and which were different in some way, and was able to replace them with the originals.

If you’re comparing files a lot this app is something you need.  Below is a sample of two different wordpress installs.  As you can see in the screenshot, it also allows you to merge files and pick which versions of the file should be moved to an install.  If you code at all, or work with a lot of text, this app needs to be in your arsenal.

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In this episode, Josh talks about AT&T’s GPS for the iPhone.

[03.0 MB] [0:06:20] [Hosted by: Josh Schnell & Grant Brunner]

How many times have you gone on a subway in New York City and discovered that you got on the last car on the train — only to find out when you get off at your stop that the exit is at the front of the train and you’ll have to walk the entire length of the subway station to get to the exit? If you’re a frequent subway traveler in NYC, Exit Strategy NYC (iTunes link) is a terrific application to help you get the most of your time when hopping from train to train or from subway car to the nearest (convenient) exit. After all, New Yorkers hate wasting time, especially in complex subway tunnels where multiple exits can be found at every single corner of the underground transit system.

I haven’t been able to go to every subway exit, but the ones that I did get to see (or at least were familiar with) were spot on. And having this access from underground is indispensable.

The only recommendation comes from my husband, a subway aficioado and transportation engineer, who says that “in the interest of responsible transit planning, I’d suggest that they list at least the TWO closest doors so that everyone doesn’t line up at a single door.” Good point. :) Here’s hoping that all NYCers start using the app so we can see such lines!

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In this episode, Josh talks about a bug in the iPhone 3GS firmware for bluetooth headsets.

[01.4 MB] [0:03:00] [Hosted by: Josh Schnell & Grant Brunner]

Now that we have access to them, a lot of people are thinking twice about push notifications being a cure-all for our problems. Certainly there are uses for them that will make our lives a little bit easier, but universal application of the technology isn’t all it was cracked up to be. It makes you think a little bit, about why Apple took so long to deliver on the technology. Could they have had a moment of hesitation about it’s implementation on the device, and is it something we really need on our phones? I’m thinking it’s a giant “no”, at least in a carte blanche kind of way.

Let’s stop and think about iTwitter, and their implementation of push notifications. It’s great getting direct messages or “mentions” updated on my phone, but fifty updates every 2 mins is a little bit much to chew on, even for a twitter obsessed geek like me. The aforementioned scenario both illustrates the potential of the technology and the downfall of it all in one swooping brush stroke.

The Positive:

We can get pertinent information pushed to our phones. Could you imagine an application that could be used in family emergency, or even state emergency scenarios? A family member being rushed to the hospital, and a push notification to family members phones would certainly be an advantageous and heralding quality of push notifications. It could quickly become the new emergency broadcast system. Interstate closed? Tornado heading your way? A push notification would excel in this environment.

The Negative:

Do you really want to know that 200 people are currently enjoying a tasty PB & J sandwich while you’re waiting for the subway after a long day at work? Probably not.

After doing some quick research mid post, it seems like MG Siegler over at Tech Crunch had the same thoughts yesterday. He raises an excellent point,

“The problem is that the Push Notification message indicators are not built for heavy use. If you have multiple push messages coming in to you phone, only the latest one will be shown on the screen. And even when you unlock your phone, it’s hard to tell which push messages have come in. Though you can set a badge on app icons to let you know there is a message, if it was overridden by another message, you are forced to open the app to figure out what it was.”

Something needs to be done. We need a log system that lets us go back and read our push notification history in a twitter-like stream. Apple, we’re choking here, and we need something to help us swallow all this information overload. There’s nothing more stressful than being sold on a technology that should help you stay connected, and then have it turn around and create more hassle for you. Don’t we all want applications that are going to help us spend less time doing work, thereby giving us more time to spend with friends? I don’t know about you, but I could use some more time away from work, and not the kind of time away that just means I have more work when I get back.  Technology should make things easier and not more complicated.  Can someone throw me a life preserver over here before I drown in push notifications?

[image by anirudhkoul]

Hivelogic mentioned a great app the other day that I have not come across before. It is called DateLine and is a nice unobtrusive way to have a linear calendar across your desktop. Check out the app here. (via DF)

Our very own Josh Schnell wrote an article about iPhones to get projectors, you can read it here. On that post we got a comment from Chaz French, his website is charlesfrench.com, about using the projector as a lighted virtual keyboard that could be projected onto a surface.

Now, this would make an iPhone OS device even more useful. Having the ability to have a full size keyboard that you could easily type on with speed, yet not have to carry around with you everywhere would be the best of both worlds. I can type somewhat quickly on an iPhone OS device, but I would love to be able to type up something anywhere I am without having to drag a MacBook or MacBook Pro around.

There’s only one flaw in this equation. The screens on the current iPhone OS based devices are entirely too small to be able to type on for an extended amount of time. They are fantastic for quick notes, short emails, or status updates. However, they are not very usable for long blog posts, essays, and longer emails. At present, you would have to prop up the iPhone OS device and somehow project the keyboard. It would be entirely too hard for most to be able to read at any distance. With that stated, I would expect to see a larger device, like the rumored tablet.

In case you have not been made aware of the Tablet rumors, there are a few rumors going around. The first version of that the device will run Mac OS X, probably 10.6 Snow Leopard, be about 8″ diagonally, with all of the bells and whistles of current Macs.

The second rumor is that the device will be approximately four iPhone or iPod touches in a square setup. It would be running iPhone OS and basically be a gigantic iPod, with Wifi, bluetooth, and now a rumored projector chip for a keyboard.

The third, being my own, is that the device would be about four iPod touches in a square format, that would dual boot both iPhone OS and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. I would love to see this so then you could have the best of both worlds. The ability to run the Mac OS, and the ability to run the iPhone OS. I know I haven’t fully flushed out the whole thing yet, but it would definitely be a plus to see both. But that’s just what I want to see.

I can see projectors being added to Macs, particularly a tablet mac, however I do not know if this will ever come to fruition or not. So we’ll just wait and see what Apple does come up with and when they decide to release it.

[Image from Flickr, by factoryjoe]