As the netbook form factor exploded onto the computing scene last year, Linux gearheads everywhere rejoiced in the notion that they finally had a toe-hold into the mainstream computing world. Hardware manufacturers almost universally offered price-leading netbooks (many <$300) with some flavor of Linux pre-installed. Unsuspecting bargain hunters sucked them up but quickly realized none of the software they wanted (or already owned) would run on their new, tiny laptop and the familiar buttons on the screen didn’t do the same thing as the ones on their other computers. Consequently, Linux-based netbook manufacturers saw a 35% return rate. The open source community got their collective bubbles burst when netbook owners shunned their beloved kernel in favor of the six-year-old Microsoft retread, Windows XP. Redmond happily obliged by offering the home version of their old reliable OS to netbook makers for thirty bucks, effectively jabbing the entire Linux community right in the nose. Sure Linux is free, but $30 is really close to free and certainly worth it (for most users) to avoid learning a new operating system.
Fast forward to this year. Look up the word failure in the dictionary and you see a Windows Vista logo. Incompatible, bloated, overbearing and slow are the words frequently used to describe Microsoft’s current OS offering. Installing Vista on a netbook is like putting a Sumo wrestler into a Smart Car. Even a company as obtuse as Microsoft could see that Vista is a complete non-starter in this sub-compact hardware category. But wait, Redmond has a new + improved OS, Windows 7. Is it like every one of its predecessors? Bigger, flashier and feature rich to the point that nothing but the latest, fastest hardware will run it?
No.
As betas trickled out to developers it quickly became apparent Microsoft did something they’ve never done before. They made Windows 7 trim and fit to the point that it runs as good as XP on very minimal hardware. It only took a few days to see 7 popping up on YouTube running on a Dell Mini 9 or Asus Eee PC. And it wasn’t just running, it was running quite well! Windows 7 beta quickly became a very hot item, seeded to every file sharing site you can imagine. The next announcement from Microsoft surprised even me, a long-time Windows developer and MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) subscriber for over 12 years. They said they were making the Windows 7 RC (release candidate) available to everyone for one year! FOR FREE! Now there’s a free version of Microsoft’s latest operating system and by the way, it runs great on the average netbook. Ouch, Linux faithful. If $30 XP was a jab to your nose, free Windows 7 is a right cross to your chin. Down you go.
The referee is counting and I don’t see any sign of the penguin getting up.
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Anybody remember Friendster? How about AOL? Twitter? Bingo! I’m sure that last one rings a bell, even to the non-techies of the world. You can’t tune into a news channel these days without hearing the word tweet every few minutes. I know when my 56 year-old minister asks me about Twitter that its’ cool factor is nearing an end and the technorati will soon abandon it for the next big thing. Being of considerable years myself (53), and having spent the past thirty years in the computer field, I’ve observed and participated in this technical upheaval with more than a passing interest. As I’ve watched the crowds moving from AOL to Friendster to MySpace to Facebook I’m reminded of a similar phenomenon of the non-technical social networks, nightclubs. Although I haven’t been a “clubber” for many years, I have kids in their early twenties and their recounts of social behavior don’t differ much from my own recollection of post-pubescent revelry.
Social networks are only cool as long as the tech elite and others of the “in” crowd grace them with their presence, pronouncements and participation. I knew that Twitter had peaked when the mainstream world made Ashton Kutcher’s million follower milestone newsworthy and Mr. Kutcher proclaimed the event to be as epic as landing a man on the moon. Give me a break. Certainly, the “A List” found Twitter, making the most popular tech pundits like Leo Laporte with a mere 50,000 followers seem insignificant by comparison. About the only thing as certain as Twitter’s “king-o-the-hill” status is its inevitable decline to Friendster-like obscurity. It is just a question of how long it will take. That is largely a function of when a cooler replacement emerges and lures the fickle A-listers away. As with all things social on the street, tech-trendies flock to what’s hot in cyberspace. Today, AOL is about as relevant as Studio 54.
Facebook has almost sent MySpace to the waste bin much the same way MySpace replaced its predecessors like Friendster. To me, that makes Facebook’s Mark Zukerberg the biggest goof on the planet. While he may be technically brilliant for his design of the social networking giant, I think he was a complete idiot for turning down the reported $1.8 billion for his 30% stake in a company with only $150 million in annual sales. To put the numbers in mere mortal terms: If I owned a company that had total sales of $60,000 per year and turned down an offer of $720,000, my relatives would have me committed and rewrite my will. Assuming my company had no operating costs (a silly notion), that’s a factor of 12!
Maybe Facebook will will be different and nothing will emerge to displace its’ popularity. For Mr. Zuckerberg’s sake, I hope so but rather doubt it. Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps he has more technical brilliance up his sleeve and Facebook will evolve into something that keeps the tech-savvy enamored and engaged. History paints a very different picture though. Coolness is perishable. It’s almost like everything social is born with an expiration date and through no fault of their own they waste away just because the clock keeps ticking.
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When the first iPhone became available two years ago, I wanted one worse than anything. Unfortunately, I was locked into a contract with Verizon that wouldn’t expire for ten months. Of course, by the time that contract was done we knew the 3G version of the phone was eminent, so I waited a tad more. The lines (and frenzy) subsided a few days after the 3G launch, so I went and got my 16 GB phone at my local Apple store for $299 and said goodbye to Verizon. I was completely thrilled.
The first couple of months were rocky. I had to restore the thing no less than four times before Apple fixed enough bugs in the 2.0 software to keep the phone from crashing into an un-bootable state. Since then, life with my device has been grand. It has become so much a part of my daily existence, I don’t know how I got along without it.
Last Monday at the WWDC keynote we got the official word that the 3GS model would be available this month with a beefed-up processor, a compass and voice commands that my 3G wouldn’t have. My techno-lust immediately went into overdrive. As soon as the day’s sessions were over I went to Apple’s website to see just how much this new bangle would set me back. To my chagrin, the 16 gig model was $399 and the 32 gig was $100 more and I wouldn’t be eligible for an AT&T upgrade until 12/15/2009. Crap! At that point I’m thinking I’ll get my “S” model for Christmas. I’m an admitted fanboy, but I’m no idiot (my opinion only, think what you like). There’s no way I’m going to pay double what a new AT&T customer pays, no matter how much I want the phone. Its not the $200, its the principle. I immediately sent a “nasty-gram” to AT&T Wireless expressing my dissatisfaction with their pricing model. From what I hear, I was not alone.
As I prepared to write this, I visited Apple’s site again to make sure I had my facts straight and a curious thing happened. The $399 – $499 pricing was the same, but my upgrade eligibility date changed from 12/15/09 to 7/15/09! I thought this was a fluke, so I went to the AT&T site and the results were the same. Something has changed (in my favor) in the last week. Did AT&T cave to the mass protest from 3G owners? I’ll be curious to see what happens on July 15th.
Update: AT&T has made it official. On their site:
“we are changing the date when some iPhone 3G customers are eligible for our best upgrade pricing on the new iPhone 3G S. Beginning June 19, iPhone 3G customers eligible for an upgrade in July, August, or September will get our best upgrade price of $199 (16 GB) and $299 (32 GB).”
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A friend of mine sent me an e-mail asking how my WWDC experience was. I replied: “It’s like drinking from a fire hose!” That response may have been a bit melodramatic, but I still stand by it. The conference presents so much information so concisely its difficult (if not impossible) for a mere mortal to absorb it all. If you’ve ever seen a video of an Apple keynote you have an idea of how polished their presentations tend to be. Even though the subject matter was different, every session I attended at this year’s WWDC was put together that well. Instead of talking about new Macs or iPhones like in a keynote, the session presenters talked about new code constructs, OS X Leopard features or any of 100+ different subjects at varying levels of detail and complexity. The labs were done just as well. The first floor of Moscone West was over half lab space, filled with enough new Apple hardware to make any fanboy think he was at the North Pole with Santa Steve and the four labs I attended were staffed with knowledgeable, helpful engineers. As is customary with Apple, nothing gets done half way.
I spent the week attending five sessions (or labs) per day and every one of those sessions were professionally architected and excellently presented. As impressive as that may be, Apple orchestrated over 280 sessions and labs for more than 5000 developers and from everything I’ve been able to gather, they all went well. In fact, I had a difficult time deciding which session to attend on several occasions. There were typically over twenty sessions and labs available for every time slot and odds were, there would be more than one that interested me. Fortunately, Apple will post video of all the sessions on their site so I won’t have to miss anything.
As valuable as the presented material was, the availability of Apple engineers and their willingness to help was of equal worth. Every session ended with a Q & A and I gleaned a ton of information without ever stepping up to the mic. The four labs I attended proved to be some of the best time I spent all week because the engineers were available to answer my questions and provide guidance for my specific problems. I also enjoyed the 100Mb internet connection whenever I plugged my Mac into one of the lab’s hardwire ethernet connections. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never experienced a connection anywhere near that fast. I took the opportunity to download all the available SDKs and iPhone OS versions and snuck in a HD movie download to boot. The new James Bond flick downloaded both versions (>4.5GB) in about 10 minutes! My 5Mb connection at home usually takes a couple of hours. But I digress…
My only regret was not having enough time to mingle with other developers. While Apple provided lots of seating and internet connectivity outside the sessions and labs, I just never seemed to have the time to take advantage of it for fear of missing some of the prepared material. This is one thing I’ve vowed to change next year. No doubt, I’ll be back!
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I quit my last job because the promised 15% travel turned into something closer to 50%, so getting on an airplane is not my idea of a good time. Be that as it may, I can’t wait to fly to San Francisco this Sunday to attend my first WWDC (Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference). Aside from providing an escape from Houston’s already oppressive 90+ degree heat and 100% humidity, the Bay Area is hosting nothing less than “nerdvana” for five days next week. I really try not to get caught up in all the fanboy hype, but as WWDC draws closer, the Apple rumor mill output goes off-scale, piquing my anticipation.
Everybody tends to focus speculation on Monday’s keynote, and while I’m excited about it I must admit [as a fledgling Apple developer] the lineup of sessions and labs I’ll be attending has me more excited than Johnny Five in a Barnes & Noble. If Apple delivers half of what they promise on their web site, the trip will be well worth the three grand I’ve invested in it. There is a ton of new technology to cover this year, even by Apple’s standards. OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) is looming on the horizon, iPhone OS 3.0 is due to be released this month and we don’t even know what new magical hardware Mr. Schiller will introduce during Monday’s keynote. There will probably be a new iPhone, maybe a larger tablet-like device. Speculation ranges from the probable to the completely implausible but what is certain: Apple will spring something surprising, they always do. I’m getting stoked just writing about it all.
It’s easy to lose sight of what the “D” in WWDC stands for amidst all the speculation and hype, especially if you’re on the outside looking in. As I try to plan my week using the published schedule of sessions and labs, I get snapped back to reality in short order. This is going to be real work! I even wonder if my poor brain still has the capacity to assimilate all the information being offered. It’s going to be like drinking from a fire hose. Compounding this dilemma, I’m certain I’ll be attempting at least a portion of this task with a (hopefully)mild hangover. Oh well, all I can do is give it my best shot and hope to capture what I need.
Beyond everything I just described, what I most look forward to is the intangible. I’ll be immersed in all the Apple goodness with the people who build OS X, the iPhone OS and the applications that run on them. Me, right in the middle of the event that all the blogs, news and fanboy sites will be focused on next week is like an escape from the every-day, mundane routine and a pilgrimage to the center of the Apple universe. For a few short days this is where it’s happening, and I’m going to be a part of it. Cool.
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I sorted through an iCal problem the other day and I thought I’d share it with everyone. I, like many others subscribe to a couple of calendars in iCal on my Macs, namely U.S. Holidays and the Houston Astros schedule. The problem is, if you sync calendars via Mobile Me, calendars you subscribe to can’t be published and won’t sync to an iPhone or iPod Touch. There is a way to work around this and it’s fairly simple. The only tools you’ll need come with your Mac. Here’s what you do:
- In the iCal menu select <Calendar><Find Shared Calendars…>. This will launch your browser and take you to published iCal calendars on Apple’s download website.
- Find a calendar you want and right-click (control-click) its’ “Download” button and select “Copy Link”.
- Paste the link into a new browser window’s address bar but DO NOT PRESS ENTER.
- The URL should look something like: webcal://ical.mac.com/ical/…
- Change “webcal” to “http” and hit Enter.
- If you did everything right, what will be displayed is the content of the .ics file that iCal understands.
- In your browser menu, select <File><Save> from the menu and save the file to your desktop. Safari and Firefox will both append a “.txt” to the filename so it looks something like this: “USHolidays.ics.txt”
- Rename the file removing the “.txt” portion.
- In the iCal menu select <File><Import…> and select the file you just renamed and iCal will ask you which of your calendars you’d like to import the new file to. (or you can create an new calendar for the new events beforehand)
- Select one of your calendars and click “Continue”.
- That’s it! The new events will show up in the calendar you specified.
If the calendar you specified is one you publish to Mobile Me, the new events will be published also and will be synchronized across all your Mobile Me machines and devices.
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