The Author – Bart Busschots
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Feb
7
Some Thoughts on Steve’s Thoughts on Music
Filed Under Computers & Tech on February 7, 2007 | 9 Comments
Steve seems to have caused quite a bit of debate with the article he published on the Apple web site yesterday titled Thoughts on Music. Steve starts very sensibly by explain how we got to where we are now. He points out that Apple had no choice but to add DRM to the iTunes store or it would never have become a reality and he argues that Apple got a very good deal for customers with their FairPlay DRM. This is a point I’ve argued with Des for years now. What’s nice about this article is that Steve doesn’t simply defend FairPlay and leave it at that, instead he spells out three possible alternatives for the future. He’s luke-warm on the idea of keeping things as they are, positively against even trying to open up FairPlay (and makes a strong case for why it simply wouldn’t work) and finally argues strongly in favor of the third option, an end to DRM on legally downloaded music. This quote is just music to my ears (pun intended):
Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat.
[tags]Apple, Steve Jobs, Music, DRM[/tags]
Feb
5
Windows Vista – First Impressions of a Mac OS X User
Filed Under Computers & Tech on February 5, 2007 | 4 Comments
I just got my first go on Vista (with Aero). I didn’t get to play with it much so these really are my first impressions. I’ll be playing about with it quite a bit over the next few months so I’ll post with more details later. I’ve been hearing for ages how much like OS X Vista is so I was expecting to say ‘wow, this feels familiar’. That was my first reaction, but not because it reminded me of OS X, no, because it reminded me of Windows XP. Sure, it looks much shinier than XP but the user experience is basically the same. There is no big paradigm shift. This is not like the jumpt from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 or arguably even from Windows 2000 to Windows XP. I was basically underwhelmed.
[tags]MicroSoft, Windows, Vista, OS X[/tags]
Jan
11
iPhone – Next iPod or Next Newton?
Filed Under Computers & Tech on January 11, 2007 | 2 Comments
I had promised in my immediate MacWorld 2007 keynote reflections that I’d do a more in-depth article on it later but on reflection the Keynote really was just the iPhone so you’re getting this article instead!
In the buildup to his big announcement of the iPhone Steve Jobs showed us a time-line with other great Apple innovations, he was very selective though. Probably one of Apple’s most revolutionary products was the Newton, the first PDA, and it was a flop! On the other hand, the iPod with it’s really simple UI was also a great Apple innovation, and it has taken over the world! So much so in fact that the terms iPod and MP3 player are interchangeable in many people’s minds! Regardless of what happens I believe we will look back on the iPhone as something new and something special. The question is, will it be looked back on like the Newton, revolutionary, great, ahead of its time, but ultimately a failure, or like the iPod, a revolution that took over the world?
[tags]iPhone, Apple, iPod, Newton, MacWorld[/tags]
Jan
9
MacWorld 2007 Imediate Reaction – WTF, Leopard?
Filed Under Computers & Tech on January 9, 2007 | 4 Comments
OK, first off, WTF … what happened to Leopard? I want to know when the next OS X will be out and more importantly what will be in it! I’m just shocked that software did not feature at all in the keynote. No new iTunes, no iLife 07 and no Leopard. What can I say, that’s a pretty big aspect of my predictions blown right out of the water!
So, in short I expect to hear lots about Leopard, very little about the Macintosh line (apart from the usual gloating about its greatness 🙂 ), and a good bit about iTunes in the form of the iTV, movies for more people and a cool iPhone.
On the plus side I did say more movies and TV Shows, iTV and the iPhone so I guess three out of four ain’t bad!
[tags]MacWorld 2007, Apple, Steve Jobs[/tags]
Jan
9
.Mac – The Devil is in the Implementation
Filed Under Computers & Tech on | 6 Comments
Apple really go out of their way to push .Mac so a little over three months ago I decided to give their 90 day free trial a go. I may as well see for myself what all the hype is about right! On paper .Mac is great. The iDisk is a wonderful idea, the idea of syncing your application settings, calendar, contacts email …… is wonderful. However, I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase the devil is in the detail, well, with .Mac it’s similar, the devil is in the implementation.
[tags]Apple, .Mac[/tags]
Jan
8
Musings on What iLife 07 May Bring
Filed Under Computers & Tech on January 8, 2007 | 2 Comments
A pretty major omission from my MacWorld 2007 predictions is iLife 07. No idea why my brain wasn’t tuned in to the fact that every MacWorld I remember seems to have brought an iLife release, so why would the year be any different? You could argue that with Leopard on the way iLife may come later in the year, and that was my view for a while, but I’ve changed my mind. Anyhow, regardless of when it does come out I want to discuss what I’d like to see in it.
I don’t really use iMovie or iDVD enough to have anything interesting to say about them. I used both twice in iLife 06 and each time it was a problem-free and rewarding experience. I have a lot more experience with the other iLife components so I’m going to concentrate on those, namely iTunes, iPhoto, iWeb & GarageBand.
[tags]MacWorld, Apple, iLife, iTunes, iPhoto, iWeb, GarageBand[/tags]
Jan
4
MacWorld 2007 Prediction Time
Filed Under Computers & Tech on January 4, 2007 | 6 Comments
Well, it’s that time of year again, Steve Jobs is hopefully about to release some totally unexpected surprise on the Mac community, I am of course talking about MacWorld. As normal I’m going to put my money where my mouth is and make some predictions. So far my success rate has been descent but this year I feel I’m shooting in the dark much more, what with the Intel move being complete, the Macintosh line-up being all fresh and complete, and the iPod line looking pretty fresh and up-to-date too. So, now that I’ve made my excuses, on with the predictions!
[tags]MacWorld, Apple, Steve Jobs[/tags]
Jan
1
Running NMAP on Intel Macs
Filed Under Computers & Tech, Security, System Administration on January 1, 2007 | 4 Comments
Before I switched to an Intel based Mac I had always used NMapFE as my nmap front end. Since I only need to run nmap on my G4 MacMini at home and my G5 PowerMac at work I didn’t notice until today that NMapFE doesn’t work in Intel Macs. I had recommended NMapFE to Allison of the NosillaCast and she replied to tell me it didn’t work for her. I tried it on my own MacBookPro and sure enough, it doesn’t work. So, I went hunting for a good nmap GUI for Intel Macs and eventually came up with a good solution. The bad news is that this solution involves installing three things separately. But, don’t worry, all three are small and painlessly simple to install.
[tags]nmap, security, Mac, OS X[/tags]
Dec
30
Simple Java Configuration Files and no XML in Sight
Filed Under Computers & Tech on December 30, 2006 | 55 Comments
The last time I discussed Java configuration files it was from the point of locating them on the disk the right way. This time I want to comment on the content of configuration files. There seems to be an obsession with XML in the modern world. Some people seem to think that shoe-horning XML into their applications will somehow magically make them great. I don’t want to completely put down XML because it most certainly has its uses. In fact I use it quite a bit to store complex and potentially incomplete data sets. However, using XML to store simple configuration information is over-kill and makes the configuration file needlessly complex to edit and needlessly complicates your application. Unless you’re writing something huge or some thing complex the chances are you’re configuration file won’t need to be complicated. The chances are all you really need are some name-value pairs to specify a few parameters. If this is the case Java comes with a wonderfully simple solution right out of the box, .properties files.
[tags]Java, XML, Configuration Files[/tags]
Dec
24
If You Can’t Out-Perform them, out -Innovate Them!
Filed Under Computers & Tech on December 24, 2006 | 2 Comments
So far in my life I’ve witnessed the tail end of one real revolution in the way humans interact with computers (HCI), the introduction of the mouse into every-day computing. Sure, the mouse was invented before I was even born, but it didn’t really take off till a few years after I first started using PCs, when Windows became the dominant OS. I can remember, just, being a computer user in the days when the keyboard was your only input device. I remember moving to Windows and discovering the mouse. There have been a few occasions since when I thought I was seeing the start of another HCI revolution but none of them ever really worked out. The touch-screen has had a minimal impact but it hasn’t really taken off. Perhaps it will some day, probably when the multi-sense variety become common, but not yet. However, this week I got to use a computer in a whole new way, using a device that is, as we speak, winging it’s way to countless millions of homes. I am of course talking about the Nintendo Wii, or more specifically, its controller.
[tags]Wii, Nintendo, HCI[/tags]