tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55873462024-03-23T12:54:29.548-05:00Gordon's NotesCommentary: politics, science, technology and humanity. Secular humanist.JGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-61809976822507414922016-11-21T21:28:00.001-06:002016-11-21T21:29:17.047-06:00I can't recommend the Mac any more<p>I don’t think Mac users should switch, but I can’t recommend any newbies join MacShip.</p>
<p>Aperture users abandoned. Sierra’s scary data shifting behaviors. No updates to Mac Mini or Pro. Airport routers dropped — leaving no AirPlay or network backup options. Mac App store rotting away.</p>
<p>And, above all, the price of the “mainstream” MacBook Pro laptop: $2000.00. Dell has a good enough laptop for $1350 with twice the SSD capacity.</p>
<p>Apple makes a nice pocket computer, but otherwise they’re kinda nuts.</p>JGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-52116248974226965622015-12-15T08:05:00.001-06:002015-12-15T08:30:09.421-06:00Calendaring in iOS, OS X, Outlook 2010 and Google Android/Chrome are all very different.<p>If you’ve ever wondered why healthcare institutions can’t easily share data between computer systems, just take a look at Calendaring in iOS, OS X, Outlook 2010 and Google Android/Chrome.</p>
<p>Google went down the road of calendar overlays. You can have as many calendars as you like and you can share them across a Google Apps domain or between Google users. Public calendars are available for subscription. My current Google Calendar calendar list holds twenty distinct calendars of which 8 belong to my family. (One for each family member, one for entire family, a couple of parent-only calendars that the kids don’t see.) In Google’s world, which is consistent across Chrome and Android, shared calendars can be read-only or read-write. Google supports invitations by messaging.</p>
<p>I love how Google does this, but I’m a geek.</p>
<p>I’ve not used any modern versions of Outlook, but Outlook 2010 also supported Calendar subscription. They didn’t do overlays though, every Calendar stood alone. I never found this very useful.</p>
<p>Apple did things differently. Not only differently from everyone else, but also differently between iOS, OS X, and iCloud. OS X supports calendar overlays and subscriptions, but the support of Google Calendar subscriptions is weird (there are two ways to view them and both are poorly documented). iOS has <a href="http://www.imore.com/how-subscribe-calendars-your-iphone-or-ipad">a very obscure calendar subscription feature</a> that I suspect nobody has ever used, but <a href="http://www.imore.com/how-use-family-sharing-calendars-ios-8">it does support “family sharing” for up to 6 people/calendars (also barely documented)</a>. There’s an even more obscure way to see multiple overlay Google calendars on iOS, but really you should just buy Calendars 5.app.</p>
<p>iCloud’s web calendar view doesn’t have any UI support for Calendar sharing, I’ve not tested what it actually does. Apple is proof that a dysfunctional corporation can be insanely profitable.</p>
<p>All three corporations (four if you treat Apple as a split personality) more-or-less implement the (inevitably) quirky CalDAV standard and can share invitations. Of course Microsoft’s definition of “all-day” doesn’t match Apple or Google’s definition, and each implements unique calendar “fields” (attributes) that can’t be shared.</p>
<p>Google comes out of this looking pretty good — until you try to find documentation for your Android phone and its apps. Some kind of reference, like Google’s <a href="https://support.google.com/nexus/topic/3453510?hl=en&ref_topic=3424348">Android and Nexus user guides</a>. As of Dec 2015 that link eventually leads to a lonely PDF published almost five years ago. That’s about it.</p>
<p>I don’t think modern IT’s productivity failure is a great mystery. </p>JGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-66895623405698231022014-12-27T11:51:00.001-06:002014-12-27T11:51:50.229-06:00Software died three years ago. Why?<p>This is a weird time in software. Lots of things are going away, but few new things are appearing.</p>
<p>As best I can tell Windows software died around 2005. Based on what I’ve seen over the past year, particularly in the Mac App Store, OS X software died around 2011. The Chrome and Safari extensions I’ve looked for, like Pinboard extensions today, were often last updated in 2011 — <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2011/10/dapocalypse-now-google-day-of-infamy.html">around the time Google Reader died</a>.</p>
<p>The iOS app store is such a well known mess that <a href="https://alpha.app.net/johngordon">my</a> fellow <a href="https://app.net/">app.net (adn)</a> geeks can’t find anything new to say, except that <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2014/12/itunes-12-and-iphone-sync-time-to-treat.html">iTunes 12 is probably worse</a>. <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2014/06/apple-kills-aperture-observations.html">Aperture died 6 months ago</a> and yet is still being sold. Yosemite is still months away from release ready. My Google Custom Search Engines return fewer good results. Google Plus is moribund. Windows 8 might be fine but no-one I know uses it. </p>
<p>I can’t speak to Android, except for second hand reports of increasing malware problems. If I strain to find a bright spot I’d say Google Maps is improving in some ways, but regressing in others. Ok, there’s the malware industry. It’s flourishing.</p>
<p>I seem to remember something like this in the 90s, both before and after Mosaic. Long time ago though, I may be confounding eras.</p>
<p>My best guess is that our software development is a lagging casualty of the Great Recession. Good software takes years to create, so the crash of 2009 probably played out in software around 2011. The effects were somewhat offset by involuntary entrepreneurs creating small but excellent products. The Great Recession’s effects started to fade in 2014, but that meant many Creatives were sucked back into profitable employment. The projects they’re working on now won’t bear fruit until 2015 and 2016.</p>
<p>The Great Recession is probably the main driver, but there are synergistic contributors. Apple was probably coming apart at the seams when Jobs fell ill, and it now behaves like a corporation riven by civil war. The stress of the mobile transition, and the related transformation of the software market from geek to mass user, hit everyone. I’ve little insight into how well ad-funded software development is working, but Google’s disastrous Plus effort suggests it’s not all that healthy.</p>
<p>The good news is that there’s hope. Google may turn away from Plus. Facebook is going to have to find new revenue streams. There’s a storm building among Apple’s customers that Cook can’t possibly ignore. Most of all, the Great Recession is fading.</p>
<p>Here’s to 2015. Hang in there.</p>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-85722502641558376982014-06-27T15:16:00.001-05:002014-06-28T10:58:08.445-05:00Apple kills Aperture. Observations.<p>In an alternate universe….</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Today in a terse but clear posting on the Aperture web site Tim Cook apologized for the difficult decision to end Apple’s competition in the professional and prosumer photography market. He promised to fully cooperate with Adobe on a migration path to Lightroom that would convert Aperture non-destructive edit metadata to Lightroom format. All image metadata would be preserved. Group, Album and Smart Album functionality would suffer, but Adobe promised to improve their tools to ease the transition. Aperture sales were immediately discontinued. Support through Yosemite and ongoing RAW image updates for new cameras was promised through 2016. Users were saddened but appreciated Apple’s professional approach….</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That would be a pleasant universe.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in the real world, the announcement that Aperture was dead, and that Apple was effectively abandoning professional photography, appeared via <a href="http://www.loopinsight.com/2014/06/27/apple-stops-development-of-aperture/">Jim Dalrymple’s blog</a>. Aperture remained on sale in the App Store while muddled Apple clarifications showed up in various blogs. Some said saying there would be support through Yosemite, others hinted at helping Adobe with migration to Lightroom. As end-of-life announcements go it was a complete screw-up.</p>
<p>Oh - but <a href="http://www.loopinsight.com/2014/06/27/apple-stops-development-of-aperture/">users of Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro</a> “should not worry about their apps—they will continue as normal”.</p>
<p>Right.</p>
<p>The impact on heavy users of Aperture is heard to overstate. That’s why Gruber’s “<a href="http://daringfireball.net/linked/2014/06/27/aperture-photos">that’s the way the cookie crumbles</a>” earned his feed a Gordon-death-click. Maybe I’ll return someday, but <a href="http://www.loopinsight.com/">The Loop</a> covers the same ground and is a bit less irritating - albeit equally uncritical of Apple. I’m sure Gruber is devastated.</p>
<p>I won’t dwell on the migration path ahead, though it makes <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/03/iphoto-8-to-aperture-3-migration-notes.html">my excruciating transition from iPhoto</a> look like a walk in the park. As of today none of my 20,000 or so non-destructive image edits will convert to Lightroom, much less album/image relationships, image/project, folder/image/project, folder/project comments, geo-tags and more. I won’t even mention Videos (which were never well supported in Aperture or iPhoto).</p>
<p>I’m not doing anything for a while, but one immediate impact is that I won’t be buying any camera that Aperture doesn’t currently support. If Aperture will indeed work on Yosemite then I’ve got years to convert — and I won’t be upgrading to Yosemite if there’s any doubt about Aperture support. (Which means no major Apple hardware purchases next year.)</p>
<p>Beyond Apple’s announcement fiasco, I was struck by the generally dismissive commentary — as though it were a trivial move to go to Lightroom. Happily, now that I’ve killed Daring Fireball, I can say the blogs I follow are relatively realistic about the impact of Aperture’s demise.</p>
<p>It’s not just Aperture users who have grounds to worry. Given Apple’s software record over the past 5 years (iBooks, iMovie, Podcast, Aperture 1, etc) what’s the chance <a href="http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-teases-icloud-centric-photo-app-for-mac-in-2015/">Photos will be safe for serious iPhoto users before 2018</a>? iPhoto users are back in <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2011/05/stuck-in-apple-photo-management-limbo.html">Apple photo management limbo</a>.</p>
<p>On a larger front I’ve written before of <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/search/label/data%20lock">Data Lock</a>, and of how the “Cloud” is making data lock even stronger. I knew the risk I took with iPhoto 2 11 years ago [1]; a path that has led to the dead end of Photos.app.</p>
<p>The way Apple executed Aperture’s termination is a rich lesson in the consequences of data lock (a risk I understood when I signed up with iPhoto long years ago). Does anyone think it will be possible to move from Apple’s next generation Photo app to Lightroom? That’s a far harder problem than moving from Aperture to Lightroom — and that’s nearly inconceivable at the moment.</p>
<p>I can’t do much about the way Apple handled this transition — other than spare myself the temptation of a camera purchase. I can, however, reduce my purchases of Apple products — especially Apple software. I have no faith in Apple at all.</p>
<p>[1] From <a href="http://www.faughnan.com/digcam.html">my ancient web page on digital photography</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Problems: iPhoto 2 through 5</p>
<p>iPhoto has longstanding problems. I knew of them when I started with iPhoto 2, but I took the gamble that the large user community, and the prominence of Apple's multimedia iLife suite, would pressure Apple to improve the product. That hasn't worked. If you're a PC user you should not switch to a Mac for digital photo management, instead I'd recommend Picasa (free from Google). If you're a Mac user, take a close look at iView MediaPro -- though that's a risky choice too (small market, hard for vendor to compete against iLife).</p>
<p>If you proceed with iPhoto, know the risks …</p>
<p><strong>Data Lock - You can check in, but you can't check out.</strong><br />You can export images -- though it's tricky to export both originals and modifications. You can't, however, migrate your albums, smart albums, comments, keywords, captions, etc. etc. I thought iView MediaPro would take advantage of this and sell and import utility, but they haven't. So when you use iPhoto, you marry iPhoto…</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Update 6/28/2014</strong>: <a href="http://www.libertypages.com/clarktech/?p=176">Clark Goble responds with more eloquence</a> …</p>
<blockquote>
<p>as Apple pushes more and more the lock-in of iCloud, of iBooks, and of iTunes video, why should we trust Apple if they don’t have a way to get the data out? This is the thing that some activists have preached for years and most of us have discounted.5 But now I think it’s a real question Apple has unintentionally made very significant. Why should I trust Apple not to lose interest in iBooks if sales drop? (Which apparently they have) iTunes Music isn’t a big deal because there’s no DRM. But the rest? Why should I store files in iWork?</p>
<p>Can we trust Apple? The cavalier way Apple is responding is telling us, no we can’t. And that’s a shame because they could easily have made this announcement in a way that said we could</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I particularly appreciated his footnotes…</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… I remember Apple fans ridiculing people trusting Microsoft with Plays For Sure DRM when that product collapsed and people lost their data. Many of those same people are pretty flippant about locked data today. ↩</p>
<p>I doubt rumors of Apple adding a Lightroom export will include being able to port both your raw data files and the adjustments you made to the files. You’ll either have to export as TIFFs or lose your adjustments simply because the math won’t be exactly the same. Heck, I’m skeptical they’ll export anything beyond metadata and files… </p>
</blockquote>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-15018020745019334852013-09-24T08:50:00.000-05:002013-09-24T09:19:09.729-05:00New age data loss: what do we do when backup isn't enough?A <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2013/08/annals-of-unexpected-my-2009-imac-runs.html">few weeks ago my primary drive began to fail</a>. This was painful because the recovery process exposed lots of rusty plumbing, but I was never worried. I have onsite and offsite backups, multiple iterations of each, using two different technologies (Time Capsule and Carbon Copy Cloner).<br />
<br />
I feel pretty good about data loss due to drive failures or boneheaded mistakes.<br />
<br />
I don't feel good about the <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2013/09/itunes-111-is-unable-to-browse-some.html">iTunes 11.1 making my media disappear</a>. If not for a chance post encounter I probably wouldn't have discovered the loss for months -- at which time recovery might have been impossible. In this particular case the media files weren't lost -- but iTunes 11.1 couldn't recognize media kind metadata assigned by an earlier version of the app.<br />
<br />
Similarly Aperture and iPhoto have been known to lose track of video and images; both have added features to look for orphaned files thanks to past experiences. Users have to know to run these procedures however.<br />
<br />
Even worse are sync errors. Apple's Discussions forum are rife with reports of data loss or corruption related to iCloud use. This is bad when it's obvious, but far worse when it goes undetected.<br />
<br />
We need new approaches.<br />
<br />
We need a utility that keeps a record of deletions, and has rules to notify us of unexpected deletions. That's doable, I'm looking forward to buying a copy.<br />
<br />
I don't know what to do about data invisibility arising from application database corruption or bugs like iTunes media kind metadata conversion failure. That's a lot more subtle. Given Apple's poor record of managing these problems (I can think of several things they could do) I wonder if they'll need someday to be legally liable for gross negligence leading to data loss. In the meantime, I suppose we could Voodoo stick pins in something -- or rant in our blogs, which is probably about as effective.John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-49734131922815590802013-08-03T11:56:00.001-05:002013-08-03T11:56:05.115-05:00Apple and the 2013 tech world - in the doldrums<p>I was in an Apple Store yesterday with <a href="https://alpha.app.net/wickedgood/post/8393528#8393495">a burned-through seven year old power adapter cable</a>.</p>
<p><img title="burnedCable.jpg" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-228SE7qZ2R8/Uf02IgYdotI/AAAAAAAAAVM/wwTvVVkYbsk/burnedCable.jpg?imgmax=800" alt="BurnedCable" width="200" height="266" border="0" /></p>
<p>Our much abused power adapter came with a MacBook purchased in <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2006/11/macbook-core-2-duo-my-amazon-review.html">November 2006</a> [1]. That MacBook runs Lion today; very slowly at first but with various tweaks and fixes it's become acceptable for undemanding tasks. [2] The MacBook is in turn newer than the July 2005 G5 iMac [3] my son used this morning for his <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2010/04/review-mackiev-mavis-beacon-teaches.html">MacKiev Mavis Beacon typing tutorial</a>. That eight year old machine runs pretty well, we barely notice the slowly progressing 5 year old display discoloration.</p>
<p>Trust me, this is all relevant. I'm going somewhere.</p>
<p>At the app store I was told that Apple's policy is not to service anything more than six years old, <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/ts4127">regardless of recalls</a>. The tech then gave me a brand new L-shaped power adapter which works well [4]. He may have been influenced by my very long purchase record [5].</p>
<p>I walked out of the store another happy customer, and I didn't look at anything. There was nothing there I was interested in.</p>
<p>Let me repeat that. <em>There was nothing in the Apple Store I was interested in.</em></p>
<p>That has never happened before. I've also never had a seven year old laptop that's used every day.</p>
<p>It's not that I have everything Apple makes [7]. My <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2013/08/kobo-glo-mini-review.html">new Kobo Glo</a> is a definite compromise; I'd love a less costly iPad Mini, or perhaps an affordable iPad Mini retina, or even a thinner, lighter iPad retina at today's price. Alas, the things Apple makes that we don't already own aren't the things I want from them - or they're too expensive [8]. <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2008/01/gordons-4-rules-of-acquisition.html">Gordon's Laws of Acquisition</a> leave me nothing to look at [10].</p>
<p>This tech lethargy problem isn't unique to Apple. There's no tech hardware anyone makes that we really want or need [9]. And it's not just hardware, there's very little software on the market that interests me.</p>
<p>We are in a curiously quiet time for tech lust.</p>
<p><strong>See also</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2011/10/apple-portables-and-power-adapters.html">Gordon's Tech: A dead MacBook Air power adapter is magically restored. SMC problem?</a> 10/2011 - different machine</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2007/02/macbook-wont-startup-unless-plugged-in.html">Gordon's Tech: MacBook: won't startup unless plugged in</a> 2/2007 - battery problem with this gen machine.</li>
</ul>
<p>- fn -</p>
<p>[1] It's interesting to scroll through posts around then, like my <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2007_02_01_archive.html">Feb 2007 tech.kateva.org posts</a>. My blog posts then were more like <a href="https://alpha.app.net/johngordon">my app.net shares</a> today.</p>
<p>[2] Mostly tweaks or fixes to Spotlight and Time Capsule backup, some Lion features disabled, some states not saved. I switched as part of the <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/06/icloud-transition-went-as-expected.html">very (very) painful MobileMe to iCloud transition</a>.</p>
<p>[3] Wow, that was a problematic machine. The <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2006/10/imac-g5-fans-running-more-often.html">heat / fan issues</a> in the G5 iMac line were appalling, not to mention the <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2010/01/imac-g5-capacitor-repairs-via.html">epidemic of bad capacitors</a>.</p>
<p>[4] Has a thicker cord with more reinforcement. See also Apple's article - <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1630">Mac notebooks: Reducing cable strain on your MagSafe power adapter</a></p>
<p>[5] Now <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/07/my-apple-purchase-records-jumped-from.html">somewhat inexplicably associated with a single AppleID</a> (<a href="https://alpha.app.net/johngordon/post/8400203">discuss</a>), though he couldn't see it there. He had to use my home phone to lookup records.</p>
<p>[6] There are a lot of things I'd like to see, not least vastly better Calendaring and a faster, more useable Aperture, or better replacements for Google's tainted offerings. Problem is, they don't exist. I could probably make good use of an industrial video editing tool, but I don't have time to use one.</p>
<p>[7] I also have two modern Macs that will probably run OS X Mavericks fairly well. Eventually we'll replace the G5 iMac, but it's not like we're in a rush. I'm not even in a rush to get Mavericks, and I rather like the sound of it.</p>
<p>[8] Between the war with Samsung and China's rapid wage growth I don't expect prices to fall.</p>
<p>[9] Things seem even worse for Windows families. The only purchases I hear of are 15yos building gaming machines the way my generation assembled stereos.</p>
<p>[10] Ok, an Apple TV would be useful, but then I'd have to replace my 25 yo SONY CRT with the rabbit ears and the A/D converter. That's a historic artifact.</p>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-73907390258907991652013-03-17T16:46:00.001-05:002013-03-17T16:49:09.407-05:00Device size: clothing makes the choice<p>An <a href="https://alpha.app.net/johngordon/post/3949037">App.net thread</a> reminded me of some analysis I did in the 90s on what device sizes we should build our <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Cloud</span> ASP service against. That analysis focused on pockets and purses; it came in an era when men still had shirt pockets and Jeff Hawkins carried around wooden models of the Pilot until he settled on one that fit his.</p>
<p>Since that time our devices have evolved a bit -- thought not as much as many think. We had slates in the 90s too -- they were just heavy and ran Windows variants or Windows thin client OS. Our clothing may have changed more [3]. Shirt pockets are gone, suit jackets are less common, and pants pockets are larger. Pocket location may also have shifted as men have gotten fatter around the world. (I don't know what's popular in China).</p>
<p>This produces some interesting size options based on clothing. Here's my own personal list of exemplar devices for each transport option with a gender assignment based on typical American practice.</p>
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr><th>Gender</th><th>Clothing</th><th>Device</th></tr>
<tr>
<td>b</td>
<td>None [1]</td>
<td>watch</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>m</td>
<td>Traditional pants front pocket</td>
<td>iPhone 5S</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>m</td>
<td>Expansive pant front pocket</td>
<td>Samsung Galaxy [2]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>f</td>
<td>Purse</td>
<td>Samsung Galaxy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>f</td>
<td>Purse</td>
<td>iPad Mini</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>b</td>
<td>Backpack / shoulder bag</td>
<td>iPad Mini</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>b</td>
<td>Backpack / shoulder bag</td>
<td>MacBook Air 11"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>b</td>
<td>Briefcase</td>
<td>iPad (full) + Logitech Kb/Case</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>b</td>
<td>Briefcase</td>
<td>MacBook Air 13"</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Running through the list, and disregarding whether one wants a phone or not, device options are probably best determined by one's clothing habits. The list also suggests the women should disproportionately prefer the Samsung Galaxy to the iPhone but that men should split 50/50 -- so the Samsung Galaxy should outsell the iPhone 5 about 1.5:1.</p>
<p>If the iPad Mini provided voice services the list predicts the combination of iPhone 5 and iPad Mini(v) would equal or exceed Samsung Galaxy sales.</p>
<p>This analysis suggests a narrow niche for the 11" Air. I have one and I like it, but if I were buying an Air today I'd get the 13". If I'm carrying a briefcase I might as well get the 13" Air or an iPad with Logitech Kb/Case. The 13" Air vs. iPad tradeoff is an interesting one -- for many travel cases <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2013/03/which-is-better-for-work-travel-11.html">I think the iPad wins on power and bandwidth consumption</a> -- but see the comments -- Charlie Sross and Martin Steiger disagree. I can imagine a future version of OS X and OS X hardware with iPad like power and bandwidth use -- in which case I'd go Air.</p>
<p>[1] Swimsuit, running gear, nudist colony.<br />[2] I haven't seen mention of this, but my understanding is that Android handles variant screen geometry more easily than iOS. <br />[3] Our devices must be influencing our clothing styles by now.</p>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-15795115298477114032013-03-03T08:29:00.003-06:002013-03-03T09:05:11.862-06:00Which is better for work travel: An 11" MacBook Air or a (maxi) iPad with Logitech keyboard?<p>I have just returned from a conference where I ran R and Python code on my 11" MacBook Air. It did the job well; Mountain Lion's Full Screen and Mission Control features add real value to this small screen lightweight laptop.</p>
<p>So for this trip the Air was a great device. For most trips though, a full sized iPad with a Logitech keyboard case would be a better work option. </p>
<p>Curiously, this has nothing to do with the touchscreen; it's about other hardware and iOS design decisions. The iPad's advantages include:</p>
<ul>
<li>iOS is a fairly good Exchange/ActiveSync client . OS X is not.</li>
<li>Many iOS apps work in offline mode, OS X apps expect a network connection.</li>
<li>iOS multitasking is constrained. In OS X many apps may simultaneously jump on a network connection, sucking bandwidth and power alike. (Heck, backup may start!)</li>
<li>iOS is, in general, less demanding of a network connection.</li>
<li>iOS and the iPad are designed from the 'ground up' to use less power. That's why an iPad can last for hours, receive a power boost from a mere Morphie Juice Pack, and charge off a meager USB connection. Even the best laptops, like my Air, can't do this.</li>
<li>The iPad can be purchased with an LTE chip, the MacBook cannot.</li>
<li>iOS bandwidth consumption is harder to track than it should be, but it's easier than tracking OS X bandwidth use.</li>
</ul>
<p>Travel is characterized by limited power and limited bandwidth. The AIr is a lovely laptop, but compared to the iPad it's built for a world of ample power and bandwidth. Today, even excluding the touch interface, the Max iPad is a better traveling device for most use cases.</p>
<p>Apple could make the choice harder though. They could make a future version of OS X a much better bandwidth consumer, and they could provide an option to throttle multitasking. The iPad would still have a large power advantage, but this make for a great OS X upgrade.</p>
<p><strong>See also</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2012/11/macbook-air-vs-ipad-waiting-for-keyboard.html">Gordon's Notes: MacBook Air vs. iPad: waiting for the keyboard</a> 11/2012 - I was waiting for the Mini keyboard, but initial reviews suggest the Mini isn't as good a match to an external kb/mount as the Maxi.</li>
</ul>JGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-33664064465970659342012-11-03T11:15:00.001-05:002012-11-03T11:15:25.907-05:00Minor things that drive me nuts: iCloud is not an improvement over MobileMe<p>In an otherwise uncontroversial rant about Apple's net service reliability failures I came across a glaring bit of conventional stupidity ...</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://gigaom.com/apple/when-is-icloud-going-to-be-more-reliable/">When is iCloud going to be more reliable? — Erica Ogg</a></p>
<p>... To be fair, iCloud has been a massive improvement over MobileMe...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>No, iCloud hasn't been an improvement. I suspect Erica never used MobileMe, so she's only repeating what she's read elsewhere.</p>
<p>I used MobileMe, and I've used iCloud. MobileMe was very unreliable when it launched, but by the time it ended it was fairly reliable at what it did across both Windows and Mac clients. In part this was because a lot of bugs had been wrung out of the clients and because Apple stopped adding features.</p>
<p>iCloud was <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/06/icloud-transition-went-as-expected.html">a major regression for MobileMe users</a>, not least because Lion was a wreck. Even under Mountain Lion it's probably not as reliable as MobileMe was towards the end -- when Apple stopped trying to sell it.</p>
<p>So will things get better? I'm optimistic, because Apple's share price has been falling as the company is pummeled by bored journalists and geeks alike. This is a good thing; suffering helps humility, and humility may lead to new thinking on customer service and reliability. We don't need radical changes to OS X -- Mountain Lion is a good enough platform for at least another decade. We do need reliability, and thoughtful improvements.</p>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-28976871775918135232012-09-28T19:28:00.001-05:002012-09-28T19:28:00.322-05:00Why are OS X solutions easier to find than Windows solutions?<p>When something goes wrong on a computer, we all turn to Google. </p>
<p>Almost all. I suppose Apple employees have to use Bing.</p>
<p>I can usually find OS X fixes fairly easily, even though when I need an OS X fix it's often a pretty obscure issue.</p>
<p>Windows 7 is another story. I rarely find solutions. Searches run into unanswered questions, paywalls, and wrong answers; it doesn't matter if I use Bing or Google.</p>
<p>Why is OS X search so much better than Windows 7 search? Windows 7 is still <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems">much widely used than OS X</a>.</p>
<p>Has anyone else noticed this? Maybe it's just me.</p>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-82647773434655222952012-07-24T20:20:00.001-05:002012-07-24T21:48:49.613-05:00Apple's profits disappoint. So what has Apple done for me lately?<p>Apple's margins disappointed today, and the stock dropped.</p>
<div>Coincidentally, I just ordered a Nexus 7 for $200.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Or maybe that's not entirely coincidental. What, after all, has Apple done for me lately?</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Apple forced me to migrate from MobileMe/OS X to iCloud/Lion - causing significant pain for my family and me with zero perceived benefits. Actually, less than zero benefits. Lion is a <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/07/don-try-converting-macbook-core-duo-to.html">slug on our previously lively MacBook</a>, and iCloud has added nothing but <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/06/icloud-transition-went-as-expected.html">severe</a> <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/07/hotel-icloud.html">pain</a> while eliminating iWeb and Gallery.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Apple botched the MobileMe Gallery to iPhoto transition, destroying some user's iPhoto Libraries (I was spared that one).</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/06/aperture-33-is-iphoto-pro-at-last.html">Ten years late Apple enabled iPhoto Library integration</a> -- but incompletely and only with Aperture and Lion (this is actually the least of their sins).</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Apple is <a href="http://www.applebitch.com/2012/07/24/apple-may-change-the-dock-connector-in-the-iphone-5-but-no-reason-to-panic/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+applebitch%2FJgnI+%28Apple+Bitch%29">changing the iPhone Dock Connector</a>. That would be tolerable if they were going to something that was USB standard compatible, but rumor expects another proprietary connector.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Apple <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/07/my-apple-purchase-records-jumped-from.html">screwed up my Apple ID to Apple product records.</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://discussions.apple.com/message/18981899#18981899">Apple doesn't yet have repair support for unlocked AT&T iPhones</a>.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2012/02/apple-potemkin-parental-controls.html">iOS Parental Controls are still broken</a>.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I could go on. Bottom line - Apple has done a lot for me over the past decade, but not so much over the past two years.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>That's part of why I ordered a Nexus 7 today rather than wait for an iPad 8". If the Nexus works I'll wait until next spring to look at the iPad. Maybe. Google is definitely evil, but lately they've been less incompetent than Apple.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Evil is bad, but incompetence is worse.</div>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-60985524586298682992012-07-04T15:47:00.001-05:002012-07-04T15:59:56.203-05:00Computing 2012: The End of all Empires<p>I grew up in a bipolar world.</p>
<p>Yes, the USSR vs. USA, but also the bipolar world of Microsoft and Apple. One was ruthless and ruled by corporate power, the other was a stylish tyranny.</p>
<p>Times changed. The USSR fell apart leaving a Russian mafia state ruled by a mobster, and the USA fell into a spiral of <a href="http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/06/top_secret_amer.html">fear</a>, wealth concentration, political corruption, and institutional failure. China grew wealthy, but turned into a fascist state run by oligarchs and mobsters. The EU has Greece and Italy and the second Great Depression. India, Brazil, everyone has problems, nobody is a secure Power. Now we live in a multipolar world.</p>
<p>Weirdly, the same thing has happened to the world of computing (now including phones). <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2012/07/microsoft-downfall-emails-steve-ballmer">Microsoft's slow collapse is this week's Vanity Fair special</a>. <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2012/04/why-we-tolerate-facebook-but-despise.html">Google joined the Sith</a> and all it got was <a href="https://plus.google.com/111626127367496192147/posts">dorkware</a>, a human-free social network, and a profit-free phone. Post-IPO Facebook is rich and frail looking. Dell, HP, Motorola, RIM and Nokia are history.</p>
<p>Ahh, but what about Apple? Isn't Apple going from power to power -- <a href="http://www.asymco.com/2012/07/04/the-building-and-dismantling-of-the-windows-advantage">even in the old Mac/Windows wars</a>?</p>
<p>That's how it looks - to the press. Today. But I'm just coming off <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/06/icloud-transition-went-as-expected.html">an epic 1 week fiasco involving OS X Lion and iCloud</a>. It ended with me deciding to keep my primary machine on Snow Leopard and reverting my iPhone to iTunes sync after years of MobileMe sync. I'll try again when Mountain Lion is out.</p>
<p>Yes, few people will run into the problems I have had (arising at least in part from an obscure geeky bug with OS X/Unix vs Windows "line termination"). Many people, however, will run into some problems. My experience shows that many months after Apple's grandiose iCloud launch and insane MobileMe/iCloud migration, they still don't have troubleshooting tools and procedures or, amazingly, any way to delete your iCloud.com data. It's as though they thought they'd get everything right the first time -- perhaps because everyone associated with MobileMe was purged.</p>
<p>That's a hell of a miss for a corporation with billions in the bank and a fifteen year history of bungling online services.</p>
<p>Then there's the Apple ID/FairPlay/iCloud problems. My friends are struggling with these. Other friends can't figure out how to manage Ringtones on iTunes.</p>
<p>Perhaps most worrisome of all, Apple is providing mega-compensation packages to its corporate executives because, apparently, they must be retained. An unavoidable step with inevitable consequences. Bad consequences.</p>
<p>Apple doesn't look strong to me. It looks vulnerable.</p>
<p>Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook. None of them are serving me well. None of them are looking all that strong.</p>
<p>All the Empires are falling. My personal balancing act is becoming more complex all the time.</p>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-70595422028608181122012-05-29T08:54:00.000-05:002012-05-29T08:54:22.270-05:00Apple's quality problem is a complexity problem tooMarco Arment, builder of a respected OS X app, writes<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.marco.org/2012/05/28/a-few-more-things-that-should-trouble-apple">Three Things That Should Trouble Apple – Marco.org</a>: </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
... Apple’s software quality is declining.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I’m not just talking about the most recent releases of everything, or the last couple of months — I’ve noticed this trend for about 2–3 years. As Apple’s software has grown to address larger feature sets, hard-to-solve problems such as sync and online services, shorter release cycles, increasingly strong competition, and Apple’s own immense scale, quality has slipped...</blockquote>
I've noticed it for at least that long, but OS X Lion is a particular disappointment.<br />
<br />
Siri is a recent example. After a promising start Siri died. I'll pin this one on Cook. Jobs had his flops, but he usually turned off the marketing until the bodies were buried or the problems were fixed.<br />
<br />
The bigger quality problem though - that one came from Jobs. Some of it had to be the talent distraction of iOS development, but Lion is full of bad choices. Whoever decided to change how files were saved instead of focusing on quality and reliability should find another job.<br />
<br />
Then there's the MobileMe to iCloud migration. Was there really no way to incrementally fix and extend MobileMe?<br />
<br />
It is true that the endless malware race forces developers into disruptive and often imperfectly tested software updates. Microsoft faces this problem too however, and I think they're doing better with it. Apple chose to inflict much of the combinatorial complexity of interactions between iOS and OS X devices, synchronization across disparate data models -- not to mention the crazed, DRM-driven <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/05/apple-id-hell-apple-identity.html">metastatic Apple ID Hell</a> <a href="http://gigaom.com/apple/how-many-apple-ids-should-your-family-have/">family/payer/owner identity and authentication</a> problem. Apple chose to focus on marketing rather than customer value when they created their <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/05/iphoto-to-aperture-summary-and-managing.html">Aperture/iPhoto mess</a> - and Apple continues to market Aperture as a smooth upgrade for iPhoto despite that mess. Rather like Siri, come to think of it.<br />
<br />
Apple's quality problems are far from under control, and I don't think Cooks's executive compensation plans are helping.John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-46311198822396453412012-05-23T00:00:00.001-05:002012-05-23T12:37:03.163-05:00Post-singularity life is burning a lot of neuronsIn 3 days I've tackled three <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/05/mysterious-itunes-100000-error-this.html">monster</a> <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/05/apple-id-hell-apple-identity.html">Apple</a> <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/05/image-capture-hangs-at-process-pegs-at.html">bugs</a>.<br />
<br />
One is with Apple ID infrastructure, one with Image Capture in Snow Leopard, and a third probably arose in an iTunes server during an iOS tunes purchase.<br />
<br />
Two of these bugs defeated Apple 2nd tier support. All of them are likely rare; I will probably never see these particular bugs again. Unfortunately, there are a lot of these bugs arising from interactions of Cloud and software and data.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/05/apple-id-hell-apple-identity.html">One bug I've definitely solved</a> -- it was bizarre. I have a good theory and a test case for <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/05/mysterious-itunes-100000-error-this.html">another</a>. The <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/05/image-capture-hangs-at-process-pegs-at.html">third</a> <em>might</em> be fixed but needs more testing.<br />
<br />
It's mildly satisfying to figure these things out, but it's an insane waste of time and neurons. I could have been learned options trading [1] in the time I've wasted.<br />
<br />
Note that only one of these was OS X specific. Two of them are Apple Cloud bugs. The ones I understand best appear to be complexity problems -- too many moving parts, too many edge cases, too many ways for things to break.<br />
<br />
Post-singularity life does not scale.<br />
<br />
[1] Yeah, there are no good investments any more.<br />
<br />
<b>Update</b>: This Stross essay is pertinent.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2012/05/sf-big-ideas-ideology-what-is-.html">SF, big ideas, ideology: what is to be done? - Charlie's Diary</a> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
... We're living in the frickin' 21st century. Killer robot drones are assassinating people in the hills of Afghanistan. Our civilisation has been invaded and conquered by the hive intelligences of multinational corporations, directed by the new aristocracy of the 0.1%. There are space probes in orbit around Saturn and en route to Pluto. Surgeons are carrying out face transplants. I have more computing power and data storage in my office than probably the entire world had in 1980... </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
... to the extent that mainstream literary fiction is about the perfect microscopic anatomization of everyday mundane life, a true and accurate mainstream literary novel today ought to read like a masterpiece of cyberpunk dystopian SF...</blockquote>
Even dystopian science fiction didn't predict we'd spend all our time keeping our whizzy tools working.John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-29838386855141662752012-05-06T10:46:00.001-05:002012-05-06T10:46:06.894-05:00Where did Apple's Aperture 1.0 come from?<p>I've editing a summary post on my <a href="https://discussions.apple.com/message/18255319#18255319">challenging</a> <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/03/iphoto-8-to-aperture-3-migration-notes.html">iPhoto to Aperture migration</a>. That's made me wonder, again, where <a href="http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2005/12/aperture.ars">Aperture 1.0</a> came from.</p>
<p>Aperture still doesn't use the native OS X tools for file browsing. It is the most un-Mac like product I've ever used.</p>
<p>The image framework was originally based on OS X Core Image, which was, I assume, a descendant of the NeXT imaging engine. So did Aperture start out as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT">NeXT</a> photo management tool?</p>
<p>Unfortunately I can't find anything on the net about NeXT photo management software -- perhaps because NeXT died when the web was young, and also because "NeXT" is a useless search term (modern search engines are not case-sensitive).</p>
<p>Perhaps Aperture 1.0 was an acquisition, but <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Apple">I don't see any likely suspects on Wikipedia's Apple mergers and acquisitions list</a>. Perhaps it was designed to be sold on Windows as well as Mac OS; but then why not emulate iTunes?</p>
<p>It's a puzzle. If I had to bet, I suspect it has roots in NeXT. I don't think it's de novo OS X development.</p>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-48364797046068759922012-02-12T11:07:00.001-06:002012-02-12T12:45:01.029-06:00My iPhoto miscalculation - whitewater world<p>iPhoto is dying.</p>
<p>That much is clear. iPhoto 11's <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2010/10/lessons-in-software-aperture-3-and.html">launch bug problems</a> followed the pattern of the <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2003/12/iphoto-potemkin-application.html">past decade</a>. Unlike past releases though, iPhoto 11 lost important capabilities -- just like <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2007/08/apple-imovie-debacle-pogue-smacks-em.html">iMovie</a> and Final Cut Pro X regressed from prior versions.</p>
<p>That's bad, but what's worse is that, after <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2005/10/apple-aperture-iphoto-replacement.html">seven years of sort-of trying</a>, Aperture is <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/01/iphoto-921-to-aperture-321-it-doesn.html">still not an adequate iPhoto replacement</a>.</p>
<p>Bad on bad news, but the real sign of a dying platform is the echoing silence. When users stop complaining, a software platform is dead.</p>
<p>Fortunately I had planned from this the very beginning. I knew, nine years ago, I was taking a big risk putting my photos and data into an Apple product. Even then Apple had a reputation -- it didn't worry much about customer data. I figured Apple might abandon iPhoto, but I also figured the Mac community would come up with a migration solution.</p>
<p>I was wrong. There's no migration to Lightroom, there is no exit from iPhoto that preserves data.</p>
<p>Where did I go wrong? I missed this ...</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://gigaom.com/2012/02/09/of-funerals-digital-photos-and-impermanence/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OmMalik+%28GigaOM%3A+Tech%29">Of funerals, digital photos and impermanence — Tech News and Analysis</a></p>
<p><a href="http://gigaom.com/2012/02/09/of-funerals-digital-photos-and-impermanence/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OmMalik+%28GigaOM%3A+Tech%29"></a>... Apps like Instagram and Path, both of which I love, actually make this problem worse instead of better in some ways. They are great for sharing quick snapshots of a place you are visiting or someone you are with or what you are eating — and you can share those easily to Flickr and Facebook and Tumblr and lots of other platforms (more than 26 photos are uploaded to Instagram every second). But do you want to save all of these for a lifetime, along with the ones you took of your new baby or your sister’s wedding? Probably not. So again, there is a filtering problem....</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I didn't imagine that geeks would basically give up; overwhelmed by rapidly changing technologies. I didn't anticipate that the 'prosumer' computer platforms would die instead of reforming. I didn't imagine that OS X would go into maintenance mode. I didn't imagine a technology regression of this magnitude.</p>
<p>I expected rough waters, I didn't expect <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/search/label/whitewater%20world">whitewater</a>.</p>
<p><strong>See also</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2012/01/iphoto-921-to-aperture-321-it-doesn.html">iPhoto 9.2.1 to Aperture 3.2.1 - it doesn't actually work</a> 1/2012</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2011/09/migration-of-metadata-from-aperture-to.html">Migration of metadata from Aperture to iPhoto and Google's Picasa web albums</a> 9/2011</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2011/05/stuck-in-apple-photo-management-limbo.html">Stuck in Apple's photo management Limbo</a> 5/2011</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2010/12/aperture-projects-descriptions-and.html">Aperture Projects descriptions and iPhoto Event descriptions - what happens on iPhoto migration?</a> 12/2010</li>
<li><a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2010/10/lessons-in-software-aperture-3-and.html">Gordon's Notes: Lessons in Software: Aperture 3 and iPhoto 11</a> 10/2010</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2010/10/iphoto-11-and-aperture-3-more-bad-news.html">iPhoto 11 and Aperture 3 - more bad news</a> 10/2010</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2009/02/aperture-keyword-hierarchy-does-not.html">Aperture keyword hierarchy does not support inheritance queries</a> 2/2009</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2008/02/aperture-2-consolidating-two-iphoto.html">Aperture 2: consolidating two iPhoto Libraries</a> 2/2008</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2007/12/iphoto-08-dont-embed-metadata-in-jpeg.html">iPhoto '08: don't embed metadata in JPEG originals</a> 12/2007</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2006/03/aperture-cant-import-iphoto-library.html">Aperture: can't import iPhoto Library</a> 3/2006</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2006/04/aperture-woes-and-iphoto-6-image.html">Aperture woes - and iPhoto 6 image export</a> 4/2006</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2006/01/why-are-apple-products-so-risky.html">Why are Apple products so risky?</a> 1/2006</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2005/10/apple-aperture-iphoto-replacement.html">Apple Aperture: iPhoto replacement?</a> 10/2005</li>
<li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2003/12/iphoto-potemkin-application.html">iPhoto: A Potemkin Application?</a> 12/2003 - shipped before it was ready.</li>
</ul>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-85485068826953556382012-01-01T17:01:00.000-06:002012-01-01T17:25:04.814-06:00Has Microsoft lost the malware war?<p>I thought of John Halamka was a fairly careful writer, so this comment caught my eye (emphases mine):</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://geekdoctor.blogspot.com/2011/12/joy-of-success.html">Life as a Healthcare CIO: The Joy of Success</a></p>
<p><a href="http://geekdoctor.blogspot.com/2011/12/joy-of-success.html"></a>... One CIO received a negative audit report because <strong>new generations of viruses are no longer stopped by state of the art anti-virus software</strong>.... No one in the industry has solved the problem...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He refers to a previous post ...</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://geekdoctor.blogspot.com/2011/11/growing-malware-problem.html">Life as a Healthcare CIO: The Growing Malware Problem</a></p>
<p>... A new virus is released on the internet every 30 seconds. Modern viruses contain self modifying code. The "signature" approaches used in anti-virus software to rapidly identify known viruses, does not work with this new generation of malware.</p>
<p>Android attacks have increased 400% in the past year. <strong>Even the Apple App Store is not saf</strong>e.</p>
<p>Apple OS X is not immune. Experts estimate that some recent viruses infections are <strong>15% Mac...</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ok, so those sentences are a huge hit on his credibility. App Store issues are in no way comparable to Android attacks, and that 15% number could only be true for Microsoft Office malware (Duqu attacks a TrueType font parsing engine), or for something none of the Mac guys I read have run into. Nobody I know in the Mac community uses antivirals - even now. The cure is, for the moment, worse than the disease.</p>
<p>So Halamka is a bit lost, but it is true that <a href="http://www.securityweek.com/same-platform-used-develop-stuxnet-and-duqu-created-other-malware">the Stuxnet and Duqu platforms</a> are formidable [1]. That's presumably what Halamka is talking about, and what some CIOs are thinking.</p>
<p>I haven't seen this elsewhere, but I don't track the Windows world all that closely. This will be something to watch over the next few months ...</p>
<p>[1] Even OS X Lion is no more secure than Windows 7 (for now). The only reason those viruses aren't attacking OS X machines is because there's no money in the Mac world. If Macs were used in banks they'd be at least <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duqu">as vulnerable to Duqu as Windows</a>. The future (next?) version of OS X is expected to, like iOS, run signed code only.</p>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-75983145535258249242011-11-20T09:30:00.001-06:002011-11-20T09:54:39.923-06:00Apple and self-delusion<p>Jobs was the best salesman of the past 50 years.</p>
<p>I wonder, though, if deep down he knew what was real and what was not.</p>
<p>His Heirs don't seem to know ...</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/11/19/apple_vp_shares_four_keys_to_company_success.html">AppleInsider | Apple VP shares four keys to company's success</a>:</p>
<p>... Drawing from 20 years of experience at Apple, Greg Joswiak, the company's vice president of worldwide iOS product marketing, has explained four keys to the company's success: focus, simplicity, courage and a commitment to being the best....</p>
<p>... The fourth and final guiding principle that Joswiak shared was Apple's commitment to only enter markets that it believes it can be the best in...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Right. The best.</p>
<p>iWork. iPhoto. Aperture. Calendar.app. iCloud. MobileMe. Must be the very best eh?</p>
<p>Some of what Apple produces is excellent. Some of it is 3rd rate. A lot of it is second rate. If Apple's leadership really believes they are always "the best" they are delusional and Apple will become an average publicly traded company. Another Microsoft, another Google.</p>
<p>Apple's flagship product is the iPhone -- and there are lots of issues with the <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2011/10/iphone-android-cost-difference-is.html">cost/value it delivers</a> <a href="http://www.splatf.com/2011/11/iphone-market-share/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+splatf+%28SplatF%29">compared to Android</a>. Apple needs to work very hard, and with clear eyes, to increase the value they bring to their customers.</p>
<p>Is there anyone in Apple whose job it is to question Apple's own myths?</p>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-24169337493811968682011-08-03T22:59:00.001-05:002011-08-03T22:59:49.505-05:00Lion as a sign of post-Jobs Apple<p>Every review I read uses OS X iCal and Address Book as examples of the worst aspects of Lion. This one is from Macintouch... (emphases mine)</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.macintouch.com/specialreports/lion/review4.html#resind">Macintouch: Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Review (Part IV)</a></p>
<p>... Others, including iCal and Address Book, are downright horrid to use, no matter how pretty they may look. It's as though everyone at Apple was given the directive "make it like iPad", but <strong>nobody coordinated the ensuing work</strong>...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>iCal was awful in Snow Leopard. I didn't think it could get worse, but it is. Address Book was never a great app, but now it's moved into the "horrid" range.</p>
<p>In my use of Lion I get the same feeling of uncoordinated work. Some features seemed aimed at power users, others at people who'd never used a computer before. There's good work, but there's also the kind of incoherence I expect from a Google or even a Microsoft product.</p>
<p>This is, most assume, the first version of OS X where Steve Jobs wasn't available to enforce a narrative. It's a sign of what Apple is likely to be post-Jobs -- less like the Apple we know, more like Google.</p>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-35988403824043300142011-07-04T17:10:00.002-05:002011-07-05T16:46:45.173-05:00The sorry state of 2011 video editing<p>Even I have to admit some things have gotten better over the pasts decade. Digital cameras are one. Aperture 3 is another (but iPhoto 11 is a regression).</p><p>Video editing though -- it really sucks. Honest - it's awful.</p><p>Try searching on "archival video formats". I'll wait ...</p><p>Right. There is no agreement. (<a href="http://www.opencastproject.org/content/video-archiving-what-formats">This discussion is the best I found via Google</a>, <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2008/04/lesson-from-flip-video-your-video-is.html">I wrote this one in 2008</a>.) Photographers justly consider JPEG and TIFF as suboptimal archival formats -- but we're light years head of videographers.</p><p>Next, using iMovie 2008, try to create a decent looking .mp4 movie using Export with Quicktime. Take your time, I'll wait.</p><p>This has not gone well. I suspect the root cause are the video and patent wars that infest video technology. I am certain this is not the only domain where America's insane software patents are damaging growth and progress.</p><p>See also</p><ul><li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2008/04/lesson-from-flip-video-your-video-is.html">Lesson from FLIP Video: your video is doomed</a> (008)</li><li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2011/07/lessons-from-sharing-our-team-videos.html">Lessons from sharing our team videos</a></li><li><a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2011/07/why-i-hate-video-format-codecs-drm-and.html">Why I hate video: Format, codecs, DRM and m4v vs mp4</a></li></ul><div><b>Update 7/5/11</b>: The more I look into this, the worse $30 iMovie looks. Paradoxically, the more interesting $30<b>0</b> FCP X becomes. </div>John Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04498750165598537302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-31587063575071506082010-12-05T09:59:00.000-06:002010-12-05T11:23:09.478-06:00Why you will live in an iOS world<p>Five years ago, just before Microsoft Vista was released, our household CIO made a strategic decision. We would move to OS X.</p>
<p>It wasn't a hard decision. The cost of supporting both XP and OS X was too high, XP's security, debugging and maintenance issues were intractable, and OS X had a much more interesting software marketplace. Moving to OS X would dramatically reduce our cost of ownership, which was primarily the CIO's opportunity cost. Time spent managing XP meant less time spent on my health and on family joys and obligations. [6]</p>
<p>It worked beautifully. One of my best strategic decisions. Yes, I <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2010/10/googles-ad-platform-is-gaping-hole-in.html">curse</a> <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2010/12/aperture-projects-descriptions-and.html">Apple</a> with the best of them, but I know the alternatives. I'm not going anywhere.</p>
<p>Except I am going somewhere. I will fade. So will you, though there's a bit more hope for the under-30 crowd. We <em>might</em> be able to slow the natural deterioration of the human brain (aka "Alzheimer's" and its relatives [4]) by 2030. It's too late for the boomers though, and probably too late for Gen X.</p>
<p>Sure, I'm still the <a href="http://www.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=silverback+gorilla&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=f7n7TOqAJoP4nAfhucXJCg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CDIQsAQwAA&biw=2506&bih=1286">silverback</a> of the geek tribe. I may have lost a step, but between experience and Google I still crush the tough ones with a single blow.</p>
<p>Not for long though. I give myself ten years at most. I won't be able to manage something like OS X version 20, and I don't want to be reliant on my geek inheritor - son #2.</p>
<p>We will need to simplify. In particular, we'll need to simplify our tech infrastructure (and our finances [1] and online identities [7] too).</p>
<p>So our next migration will be to iOS - a closed, curated, hard target, simpler world.</p>
<p>You'll be going there too -- even if you're not fading (yet). The weight of the Boomers [2] will shift the market to Apple's iOS and its emerging equivalents. Equivalents like <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/technology/25chrome.html?_r=1">ChromeOS, now turning into iOS for desktop device with its own App Store</a> [5].</p>
<p>I still have a few years of OS X left, including, if all goes well, the 11" MacBook Air I've been studying. The household CIO's job, however, is to think strategically. Our future household acquisitions will shift more and more to iOS devices, possibly starting with iPad 2.0 (2011) [3].</p>
<p>I expect by 2018 we'll be living in largely iOS-equivalent world, and so will you.</p>
<p>-- footnotes</p>
<p>[1] I miss Quicken 1996 -- before Intuit went to the DarkSeid.<br />[2] The 2016 remake of Logan's Run will be a smash hit. <br />[3] I bought iPad 1.0 for my 80yo mother -- same reasons.<br />[4] 1989 was when the National Institutes of Health needed to launch a "Manhattan Project" style dementia-management program. I wasn't the only person to say this at the time. <br />[5] If their first netbook device doesn't come in under $150 with batteries Google is in deep trouble. Android is not an iOS-equivalent, it's a lot more like XP. <br />[6] <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/technology/personaltech/25pogue.html?_r=2">Pogue's 10 year tech retrospective</a> is a beautiful summary of the costs of making the wrong household tech decisions. He misses the key point though. The real costs are not the purchase costs, or the immense amount of failed invention, or the landfill costs -- it's the opportunity costs of all the time lost to <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/search/label/tech%20churn">tech churn</a>. I've a hunch this opportunity cost is important to understanding what happened to the world economy between 1994 and 2010. That's another post though!<br />[7] Digital identities proliferate like weeds. Do you know where all your identities are?</p>JGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-27141632452595131052010-08-12T23:13:00.004-05:002010-08-23T22:56:07.795-05:00Cloud data: Should I trust (Simplenote) Simperium?<div>
<a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2008/07/full-text-search-and-digital-prostheses.html">My memory prostheses</a> got a nice upgrade when I integrated my Outlook and Palm/Toodledo "notes" into a <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2010/07/migrating-notes-from-toodledo-to.html">single Cloud based repository with powerful OS X (Notational Velocity), Win (ResophNotes), and iOS (Simplenote.app) Clients</a>.<br />
<br />
I'm loving this ecosystem. There's speed, simplicity, data freedom, multi-platform and integration with Spotlight and Windows search (both ResophNotes and Notational Velocity can create local stores with each note a simple text file available for indexing and editing).<br />
<br />
Did I mention Speed and Data Freedom? Just wanted to check. I'm copying a pasting notes from various scattered sources, building a single searchable repository of my memory extensions. It's a good complement to the memory stores distributed in my <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2008/08/strange-loops-google-custom-and.html">blogs</a> and <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2009/08/google-reader-like-and-shared-discovery.html">google reader shares</a> and integrated via my <a href="http://www.faughnan.com/search.html">Google Custom Search Page</a>.<br />
<br />
It's all good fun - until someone gets hurt. Tonight Simperium, the creators of <a href="http://simplenoteapp.com/">Simplenote</a>, had a <a href="http://simplenoteapp.com/news">single ominous blog post</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
Simplenote will be unavailable on the App Store for (hopefully) a short period of time. We apologize to our potential new users. You're welcome to <a href="https://simple-note.appspot.com/createaccount.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">create an account</span></a> in the meantime and we'll let you know when we're back.</blockquote>
Right. Simplenote, you see, owns that Cloud repository I mentioned. <s>They've evidently been booted from the App Store.</s> Their too-brief posting lends itself to grim interpretations.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2009/04/nimbophobia-why-you-should-fear-cloud.html">I do so love the Cloud</a>.<br />
<br />
We must hope that Simperium "simply" violated an API rule with a new release, and that they'll be back soon -- hopefully with a longer news post. For now, however, a <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2010/07/migrating-notes-from-toodledo-to.html">comment on my tech blog</a> is especially relevant ...</div>
<blockquote>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5710205&postID=3847942007286170829"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Blogger:Migrating Notes comment:</span></a> Martin: "... how can I trust the 'Simperium' entity without any further information available?"</blockquote>
Cough. Good question. How do we know, for example, that Simperium isn't a KGB front mining data to be used by Russian crime syndicates paying for Putin's personal submarine? Maybe "sImperium" is a clue.<br />
<br />
The short answer is I don't trust them. I don't trust Google or Apple either Simperium, so it's nothing personal. Or, more correctly, I trust these companies to do what's best for the people who control them within the limits of what they think they can get away with.<br />
<br />
So I don't put anything in my Simplenotes that I wouldn't put in my blog. I keep my passwords in 1Password, not in my Simplenotes. I also don't put anything in Simplenotes that I can't afford to lose. All my notes are synchronized by <a href="http://notational.net/">Notational Velocity</a> (open source, the superb <a href="http://www.resoph.com/ResophNotes/Welcome.html">ResophNotes</a> does the same thing for Windows) to a local store on my personal hard drive, where the UTF-8 plain text files are also backed up hourly.<br />
<br />
I also know that Simplenote is used by some serious geeks, <a href="http://daringfireball.net/2009/07/simplenote">including the notorious John Gruber</a> and the authors of ResophNotes and Notational Velocity. It it should vanish something like it would be recreated.<br />
<br />
So I don't trust Simperium, but I'm not worried about them either.<br />
<br />
Or at least, not panicky.<br />
<br />
PS. All of this stuff is basically free. Simplenote.app is very cheap, and ResophNotes and Notational Velocity are free (donations accepted and encouraged - I gave!). The Simplenotes cloud service is normally free, I paid for premium service. This, by the way, is a bit worrisome. I'd rather Simperium had a clearer revenue stream.<br />
<br />
<b>Update 8/13/10</b>: Simplenote responds in comments. They took themselves offline to fix an error in how they configured their update. I expect next time something like this happens their blog post will be more informative.<br />
<br />
<b>Update 8/23/10</b>: Simplenote update just appeared in the App Store. So they're back at last.<br />
<br />
--<small><a href="feed://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user/06457543619879090746/state/com.google/broadcast">My Google Reader Shared items (feed)</a></small>JGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-13715489072471560532010-04-30T08:17:00.001-05:002010-04-30T10:30:52.855-05:00Stross on the post-PC world – mostly right<p>Charles Stross is in good form with <a href="http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/04/why-steve-jobs-hates-flash.html">an essay on the post-PC world</a>. It’s the world we’ve been expecting since <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2004/10/gbrowser-google-microsoft-and-netscape.html">Netscape Constellation (1996)</a> and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/network-meet-larry-ellison-the-software-supremo-with-an-ego-to-match-his-income-1269887.html">Larry Ellison’s proto-netbook</a> (1995). That world became real for me in <em>2007</em> (yes, it was <em>that long ago</em>) <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2007/06/apple-victorious.html">with the iPhone</a> and in 2008 with the <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2008/10/microsoft-lessons-from-target-trutech.html">Target netbook</a> [1].</p> <p>I agree with almost everything he wrote, with one big exception….</p> <blockquote> <p>… Moreover, the PC revolution has saturated the market at any accessible price point. That is, anyone who needs and can afford a PC has now got one…</p> </blockquote> <p>Uhhh, no. PCs are not cheap. Not at all. <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2010/01/computing-for-rest-of-us-ipad-and.html">The iPad is cheap</a> [3], but PCs are very expensive.</p> <p>Yes, you can buy a “PC” for a pittance. It makes a crummy boat anchor though. If you want it to do something useful you need to buy internet service. Where I live that’s about $600 a year – year after year. Unless you bought a Mac, or are geek enough to go without, you need to buy antiviral software. In theory you also need to $150 or so for Microsoft Office. And good luck with backup.</p> <p>But that’s not the real cost.</p> <p>The real cost is that you need an IQ-equivalent of 110 or higher, and a love of debugging and troubleshooting. For most of the population, that’s absolutely unaffordable.</p> <p>PCs are very, very, expensive. <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2010/01/computing-for-rest-of-us-ipad-and.html">The iPad 2.0, or its rivals to come, can be the poor person’s computer</a> [4].</p> <p>So Charlie got this one point wrong – but it only strengthens his overall argument. My four month old quad core iMac running 10.6 is an anachronism [2]. Its era is passing. Welcome to the third era of the personal computer.</p> <p><font size="2">[1] I thought things would blow up in 2009. Didn’t happen! Microsoft dropped the price of XP to about nothing and crawled back enough control of the netbook to stun the market (same thing they did with Palm in the 90s by the way). It’s </font><a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2009/01/squeezed-2009-netbooks-android-and.html"><font size="2">still going to happen</font></a><font size="2">, but that’s not the first time I’ve been wrong on transition times. I’ve since learned to take my time estimates for technology transitions and triple them.</font></p> <p><font size="2">[2] Charlie also omits the role Digital Rights Management (<a href="http://notes.kateva.org/search/label/drm">DRM</a>) plays in driving this transition. DRM is one of the reason there’s so much good software being produced for the iPhone. Your CDs may be worth money some day.</font></p> <p><font size="2">[3] Not least because of the pay-as-you-go capped data plan. That’s as big a deal as the device. Yes, I know iPad’s require a <em>PC-as-peripheral</em>, but <a href="http://notes.kateva.org/2010/04/apple-next-mobileme-becomes-ipad-host.html">that will change within the year</a>.</font></p> <p>[4] Of course that’s what the original Mac was – the “computer for the rest of us”. Closed architecture. All applications were to be vetted by Apple. Strict UI standards. Heavy investments in usability and design. Single button mouse. It worked too – it really was easy to use. Much easier to use than OS X. Almost as easy to use as the iPad. History doesn’t repeat, but sometimes it spirals.</p> JGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-41098836667192189772010-03-12T08:52:00.001-06:002010-03-12T08:55:54.353-06:00Tech churn 2010: How do you share a family file?Twenty years ago we knew how to share files on a Mac. You created users and groups. When you accessed a share you entered a username and password. You could save a shortcut to the desktop and MacOS would store the credentials.Things weren't that much harder with Windows 95 a few years later.<br /><br />That was then. In the bright shiny world of 1990's tomorrow a <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2010/03/os-x-snow-leopard-connected-as-mobileme.html">share/permissions bug in the combination of 10.6 + 10.5 + wireless networking</a> put 45,000 zero length files with numerically iterating names in our "parents only" shared folder.<br /><br />It's not the first time I've run into architectural issues with OS X's post-obsolete permissions framework; although 10.6 is exceptionally bad things have been more or less downhill since 10.3.Back at the corporation we have Microsoft SharePoint - or whatever it's called now. Microsoft keeps rebranding it to hide the bad news. SharePoint makes OS X 2010 look relatively benign.<br /><br />I don't know how well things work with home Windows 7 network shares. I suspect it's better than OS X, but I don't think the Windows home file share appliance market is doing well.<br /><br />I'm getting that old <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnut_the_Great">King Canute and the unstoppable tide</a> feeling. I'm using something that's completely broken, but the ether isn't filled with the screams of fellow geeks. The path I'm on has clearly been abandoned; the days of being able to share files with one's wife, but not the kids, on a home machine have passed.<br /><br />Unfortunately, there's no clear alternative. We're in tech churn -- the turbulent white water between technology transitions. We could do all our home file sharing using Google Docs, but, frankly, gDrive sucks and backup is a pain. We could use a drive hanging off the Time Capsule perhaps, but I doubt that's much better and, ironically, you can't easily back up a drive hanging off a Time Capsule. We could use MobileMe, <a href="http://tech.kateva.org/2009/10/mobileme-massacre-begins.html">but ... sigh</a>. I could buy a Windows machine to use as an SMB share, but that's a maintenance pain. Everything I read about OS X Server tells me not to go there.<br /><br />Maybe Apple will deliver a home file share appliance this year with integrated backup. I'm not holding my breath though.The bottom line is that there's no good solution for home-based group file sharing in 2010 on OS X, and probably not any platform. It's a tech regression - we're stuck until something better emerges. That will probably take years.JGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587346.post-86010323543027410382010-02-28T13:46:00.002-06:002010-03-04T22:00:22.193-06:00Snitty Apple Console message<div>I've been having OS X issues lately, so I've spent time in the Console (yes, the days of full function OSs are limited).</div><div><br /></div><div>I liked this particular message:</div><blockquote>2/28/10 10:32:19 AM [0x0-0x294294].com.microsoft.<b>Excel</b>[6407] Sun Feb 28 10:32:19 Stanford-MacBook-2.local Microsoft Excel[6407] <error>: The function `CGPDFDocumentGetMediaBox' is obsolete and will be removed in an upcoming update. Unfortunately, this application, or a library it uses, is using this obsolete function, and is thereby<b> contributing to an overall degradation of system performance</b>. Please use `CGPDFPageGetBoxRect' instead.</error></blockquote><br /><small></small>JGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.com0