John Haro’s Blahg

posts from a technologist and ne'er-do-well
 

Blu-ray Not Coming to Mac Anytime Soon

In Steve Job's way, he engaged in an email thread with a person named Siva on why the new Mac mini did not include a Blu-ray dvd player.  Steve's response:
Bluray is looking more and more like one of the high end audio formats that appeared as the successor to the CD - like it will be beaten by Internet downloadable formats.

When I read Nicholas Negroponte's book "Being Digital" back in1996, he pretty much predicted the death of the video rental store, the proliferation of broadband internet over coaxial cable, and the death of any physical media (atoms) used to transport digital (binary) information. It was soon after that i started the laborious and painful task of converting my CD's to MP3 (back then CD's ripped very slowly and you had to hand type the track names).
I think Apple very smartly can and should avoid putting blu-ray onto the mac and while we are at it, I look forward to phasing out the CD/optical drive entirely. The only time I've used the CD drive in my macbook in the last year was to rip the very last vestiges of my CD collection.

Job's closing reply to Siva's assertion that the medium term benefits were substantial said:

No, free, instant gratification and convenience (likely in that order) is what made the downloadable formats take off. And the downloadable movie business is rapidly moving to free (Hulu) or rentals (iTunes) so storing purchased movies or TV shows is not an issue.

I think you may be wrong - we may see a fast broad move to streamed free and rental content at sufficient quality (at least 720p) to win almost everyone over.

I do not have, and will not buy a Blue-ray player. I will not buy movies or music distributed on plastic transported on trains, driven by semi trucks, and then stored in huge piles in the backs of Best Buy warehoses. Wake up, its 2010.

Filed under  //   Apple   technology  
Posted June 30, 2010
// 1 Comment
 

iPad + Velcro

via vimeo.com

Smart

Filed under  //   Apple   technology   video  
Posted June 4, 2010
// 0 Comments
 

Why I May Actually Buy eBooks from Apple instead of Amazon

An incredibly dim lightbulb went off for me this morning about the iPad, iPhone, iWhatever. It never occurred to me that Apple's app and book DRM would work the same way their other media DRM works, in that you can share with 5 authorized computers.

I find all DRM annoying but as much as I love the Kindle, it is very locked down in that you can not share a book with ANYONE.  I can understand the desire to not have your books posted all over the intertubes for free, but the fact that I could not lend a book with someone in my household bugged me.  I forgive DRM, as most people do, for the convenience offered by the kindle (a devil's bargain).  

So, back to the dim lightbulb.  Apple's ebook DRM is the same as its application DRM and movie DRM, that is, you can authorize the content on 5 devices.  

Books downloaded from the iBookstore can be placed on up to five computers you own that you’ve authorized with your iTunes Store account. You can sync your books to any iPads you own. Audiobooks and ePub files you've added to iTunes will appear in Books under Library. To sync Books to your iPad, connect it to your computer using the cable it came with. In iTunes, select iPad under Devices, then click the Books tab. Choose the books you would like to read on iPad then press Sync. Books will sync to iPad even if iBooks is not installed; to read synced books, download iBooks from the App Store.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4059

I still love the Kindle and for pure reading it surpasses the iPad, but this slightly less restriced level of sharing with Apple is making me think twice.  Or at least making me think about WHERE I buy a book before I buy it.  

Filed under  //   Amazon   Apple   technology  
Posted April 6, 2010
// 0 Comments
 

My .02 On The iPad

Ok, so you want to know what I think of the iPad that I bought for my dear wife that I won't let her use so that I can type this post on it? Here go:

1. It is fast. Really. Surprisingly. Fast. I think the fact that it is fit-to-purpose computing it just seems snappier than even my overpowered MacBook Pro. Switching between applications, zooming, scrolling, keyboard... It's snappy

2. The keyboard is unexpectedly usable. I'm a fast iPhone dual-thumb typist despite not matching what i do on a full keyboard. I'm finding using the same sort of zen-let-the-autocorrect-prediction-work-for-you way that serves me well on the iPhone works doubly well here on the iPad. No, it's not a full size keyboard by any stretch, but it's plenty good for me to write a long email without suffering, or even to write this post. I could see taking this into meetings instead of a notebook.

3. The industrial design is excellent but this is hardly worth mentioning because its the same level of quality we have all grown used to with the iPhone and MacBook. That being said the screen is big and bright and beautiful. Text is crisp and it's easy on the eyes all around.

4. The applications on launch day are impressive. I'll save a list of favorites for another post, but what is important is that there are thousands written specifically for the iPad. Enough to keep you busy downloading for a while and if this is day 1, I can't wait to see what is out next month or next year.

5. It is the ultimate web browser. It's amazingly comfortable and intuitive way to browse. Reading a web page in portrait and intelligently sized for the ipad has a completely different feel than browsing on a computer with even a very large screen. You can actually sit back and browse and it feels more like you are reading a book. Think about it the next time you hunch over the laptop on your coffee table. I can't overstate the importance of this most basic "feature".

 

Thats enough for now.  Its great, Its met my expectations and then some.  Can't wait to get my own :)

 

Filed under  //   Apple   technology  
Posted April 3, 2010
// 0 Comments
 

Board Games on the iPad

via mashable.com

Multi-player board games on the iPad. A no brainer. It will be great to see the great table top game companies embrace the platform as well. Chess is cool, but Settlers of Catan is cooler!

Filed under  //   Apple   technology  
Posted March 31, 2010
// 0 Comments
 

iMockups for iPad

via youtube.com

iMockups looks great. What it really has me thinking about are business and productivity applications for the iPad that could make the iPad a killer-device outside of books, games, video, etc.
I'm already looking forward to the applications The Omni Group  has planned, since I live and die by OmniFocus on the Mac and iPhone, and OmniGraffle could be useful to me in meetings, sketching up system diagrams, software architecture, etc.  

Basically, I'm saying that I'm sick of writing stuff down with a pen.  I'm left handed and I'm tired of ink stains.  Bring it. Down with paper!

Filed under  //   Apple   technology  
Posted March 29, 2010
// 0 Comments
 

IPhone App to Sidestep AT&T? Probably not.

David Pogue of the New York Times writes about Line2, an app for the iPhone that can let you make 'free calls' over WIFI and 3G without using minutes on AT&T.  I've had 3 people so far email me a link and ask me what I think so.

I think its Google Voice, except that Apple so far seems to have decided not to swoop in and kill it.  I feel (especially since it is clearly getting attention) that it could get killed.  But then there is this other side of me that wonders... what if Jobs personally let this stick around just to totally f*** Google on Google Voice.  The "rivalry" between Apple and Google seems has reached a fever pitch (possibly just in the imagination of the press) and would'nt it be fun to think that Jobs is sitting there saying "I'm going to let this one ride just because its NOT Google".

If that or something like it were the case, it could also be a signal of a power shift between AT&T and Apple.  Early on there was no way that AT&T would want to have a phone that allowed you to avoid paying AT&T money.  Nowadays maybe AT&T will go with the flow (a.k.a. whatever Steve wants) to try and keep exclusivity with the iPhone 4.0 release.  

Will I use it?  Probably not.    And I have to pay another $15 for this service on top of the money I already give to AT&T?  At least Google Voice is 'free'.  Who wants to talk on the phone anyhow?  I'd consider getting a MMS only plan

Filed under  //   Apple   Google   technology  
Posted March 25, 2010
// 0 Comments
 

Will Android fragmentation destroy the platform?

via engadget.com

I've said many times before, that I think the answer to this questions is YES. I'm not anti-android, i just foresee the challenges that prevented widespread linux adoption or the difficulties that make releasing *good* versions of Windows so seemingly unlikely.
If I had purchased a Droid I would have been pissed when the Nexus (os 2.1) came out right after, and I'd be even more pissed when Google started offering cool new apps that didn't run on my brand new Droid.
As a mobile app developer, you have to seriously consider this fragmentation before you invest time and money in developing your application. This fragmentation means a fragmentation of your customer base.

Filed under  //   Apple   Google   technology  
Posted March 7, 2010
// 0 Comments
 

Aperture 3 Faces Matches Me With the Fiery Gates of Hell

Filed under  //   Apple   humor  
Posted February 15, 2010
// 0 Comments
 

Mom This Posts For You

Before getting my mom a white MacBook last year, I would not have called her a member of the digital elite.  She's never been scared of computers (she got me my first, an Apple //c, and used it almost as much as I did) but she is not quite hacking the gibson.  However, seems that since the macbook, things started getting weird:  
Last night, when i spoke to her on the phone she said "I love Facebook!" and "I've been reading your blog".  

She has been on Facebook for at least a month and has not ONCE written anything horrifyingly embarrassing on my wall.  It is a brave new world. 

Filed under  //   Apple   humor  
Posted February 12, 2010
// 0 Comments