Well those of you with Mountain Lion as the OS on your Mac have probably noticed something, iDVD is gone. Why? I can think of two reasons. 1) Apple wants people to use iTunes not buy use or make DVDs 2) DVD technology is becoming outdated and Apple is ahead of the times but then why include a DVD player on the Mac?
So for those that still want to burn DVD videos, there is a free opensource software package called burn that will do this for you:
Directions:
We discussed this topic in project management last night and I showed the following video as part of the lesson. This is a breakdown of Steve Jobs presenting. Its a great video:
Remember Logo? I remember being a kid (maybe 6-7 years old) and learning how to program the turtle to draw fun shapes. This was an awesome piece of software and surprisingly its still available today. Although today its called Scratch from MIT and doesnt really resemble the old version we all remember. You can actually download the old version though. Have fun!!
MIT Version: http://el.media.mit.edu/logo-foundation/index.html
Download an original version: http://www.sydlexia.com/logo.htm
From the site above “Logo is a programming language that was created in 1967 that was a fairly popular teaching tool in the 80s. It has taken on many forms, appearing on platforms such as the IBM, Commodore 64, MSX, Atari, and Apple II computers. Variants of Logo have been used to guide robots and build shit with Legos. It is still around today, but it is largely defunct. Although it bills itself as a programming language, Logo is really more of a CAD. By inputting text commands into a prompt, the user moves a triangular cursor known as a turtle around the screen to create squares, circles, and other shapes that can be made in Microsoft Paint in much less time. There have been dozens of version of Logo, each with slightly different commands and interfaces. This was even true on a single platform. The Apple II offered versions such as Apple Logo II, Terrapin Logo, and LogoWriter. “
The rumor is that he left because he refused to sign a document that Apple Maps was a failure:
“Apple asked Scott Forstall to leave the company because Forstall refused to sign his name on a letter apologizing for Apple’s Maps app, according to a report. Citing “people familiar with the matter,” The Wall Street Journal reports that Forstall (pictured), a 15-year veteran at Apple, wanted the company to address the poor reception for Maps without apologizing. However, CEO Tim Cook disagreed and sent an e-mail to customers on Sept. 28 stating that Maps “fell short.”” – Source
I think the main question is why did Apple even try to compete with Google Maps? Google has invested so many millions into making their apps perfect. Why did Apple care to compete? Was there really more money to be made by having their own maps? The reason I ask this is because a large % of Apple users had no idea Google made their maps and still has no idea that Apple now makes them. They really dont care. They just want maps and gps. Apple should have never tried to compete with Google on the maps app unless Apple was planning to do something innovative with the product…like what they did when iPhone was first invented. Sure their maps is going to get better and get good but Google maps is really good and is getting better too. Why they chose to compete with that app is beyond me. So here is my message for Apple: Do not compete for the sake of competing and having a monopoly. You will never be better than everyone at everything. Let this be a lesson learned. If you cannot improve something why try to recreate the wheel? Unless you can make that wheel better do not waste your time and energy on it. Why not invest in making iTunes user friendly? It has to be the worst piece of software I have used (from an HCI perspective that is). I could think of a 20 things off the top of my head that Apple would have been better off investing in or improving. Why they thought Apple Maps was a good idea I will never know.
Since I spoke about this last night in class I wanted to post a tutorial for any of my students brave enough to attempt their first app. Here is a tutorial to use Xcode to create your first app:
Remember you do need an Apple developer ID to do this or you can apply for an education one for free that allows you to test the app on your iOS device here:
Yesterday Apple announced the iPad mini. It will perform just as the iPad 3 but it is smaller, 7 inches, which is similar to the kindle fire and other android tablets. So why is this good and bad for Apple?
Its good because now Apple will have a product to compete with the Kindle Fire and Android tablets in the 7 inch range. There were a whole host of people who like that size over the original iPad (myself included so this is a welcome change).
Now what is interesting is that Steve Jobs was against a mini-tablet and I believe this is why:
Apple makes an iPod touch that sells for $199 – the same price as the kindle fire and other android tablets. So if Apple wants to compete with the Kindle, they needed a cheaper device but they could not meet the $199 price point unless they made their iPod cheaper. So what did Apple do? Start the base model of the mini ipad for $329, which is still significantly higher than the kindle. Will people buy this new device? I am sure they will sell millions. Will people who are leaning towards the kindle for the price point buy this? I do not think so. $130 is a lot of people who are struggling with money right now.
Will I be buying this device? Well I already have an iPad so since this does nothing new, I will not be. In the future though, I would prefer this size device to my currect iPad when I replace it. And that is where this device will shine – I think people will replace their current iPads (when they are ready to) with this device. People getting new iPads will get this device, not the larger one. That is where I see the future of this device headed.
To take a screenshot on the Mac:
Command+Shift+3: takes a screenshot of the full screen and saves it as a file on the desktop
Command+Shift+4: Allows you to select which part of the screen to capture and then saves it as a file on the desktop
Looks like apple maps is off to a rocky start as people are starting to use it. Users are reporting getting lost and incorrect directions. Here is a link with some examples:
iOS 6 was released yesterday. For those that have not updated, do so as its a nice upgrade. My iPad 3 feels like a new device. Having just been released there are already directions out there for jailbreaking your device but I have to ask – Why jailbreak iPhone? If you are a tech guy who need that kind of access to your phone why not get a droid?
Link for jailbreaking: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/20/ios-6-jailbreak-a4-devices/