Apple

I love my Apple Mighty Mouse, but I have had one gripe.  The scroll ball’s utility has declined steadily over time.  It gets gunked up the more I use it and eventually stops scrolling down.  This makes it annoying to use and difficult to read web pages.  Recently I found a remedy.

Take a clean white sheet of paper.  Set it on a flat surface and roll the scroll ball vigorously on it for about a minute or so.  Roll it up and down, side to side, and in circles.  The purpose is to dislodge all the gunk and free up the ball.

After this my Mighty Mouse works like new.  The scroll ball functions better than it has for the past year.  I tried this on a mouse at work and you wouldn’t believe the crap that came out.  If you are seeing a decrease in performance then give your mouse a little TLC.

Twistori is doing something special today for Apple’s WWDC Keynote. They have launched a special page that replaces the original words (love, wish, hate, etc.) with WWDC related words like wwdc, apple, iphone, steve, and keynote.

Twistori has one of the best implementations of the Twitter API and it is neat to see them extend it for events like this.

Come this December, I will have been a Mac user for 6 years. I got my first mac (a sexy little iBook) for Christmas. My uncle was working at Apple in Cupertino which provoked me to look into Apple computers.

After my first visit to apple.com I got intrigued by the veil of mystery that surrounded the Mac. At the time I didn’t know anyone that owned one. This presented me with the opportunity to be the first to learn about the technology. I could safely fiddle to my hearts content without anyone telling me a better way to do things. It gave me a chance to take the longest way possible to arrive at the simplest solution and learn new things along the way.

I had plenty of friends that knew about Windows. I even had some that knew about Linux. Due to this fact, I would always be second best. I wouldn’t have the chance to learn as much. If they asked what I was working on it would eventually lead to just giving me the answer. As long as there were others that used these operating systems, I would always be second best in my mind.

With the Mac I had free rein to explore until I saw fit. I could come up with my own weird ways to do things without anyone telling me to do it differently. I developed my own opinions on software and created new habits.

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For those of you who aren’t super obsessed Apple Fanboys, you may not know that one of the biggest Apple events, Macworld, is right around the corner. In fact, it all starts on Tuesday 1/15 and Steve Jobs will tell us about those amazing and shiny new products that Apple has been working on. But I am not talking about Macworld. What interests me are the weeks that lead up to it.

The weeks, or even months, before Macworld is when people start “leaking” information that someone on the “inside” has passed along. In addition, you also see speculation about where the industry is headed and the products that are “definitely” going to be released. Some rumor sites post lists of their readers ideas and speculation, most of which sound as if there origins are in a science fiction story. We hear stories about really cool technology that doesn’t really sound feasible. In the end, most of the rumors and speculation are usually wrong and way off the mark, but this doesn’t negate their value. In fact, these fake rumors are just as important as the products that are actually released.

All these fake rumors were created by someone’s imagination. They dreamt of things that they would like to see invented and instead of shooting down an idea because it was unrealistic, they ran with it. They told others about these ideas and somewhere along the way it turned into, “Company A is going to release product B according to a reliable source.” The fact is, a companies innovation is limited to their creators imagination. If people stop dreaming and start saying “this isn’t possible” or “it can’t be done” then innovation will come to a standstill. Some of the greatest products are a result of people following their imagination.

I don’t believe that all, or even most, of these rumors are started by employees at Apple or other tech companies, but their idea could still make it there. Someone may hear about this idea and try to make it a reality. These creative individuals may even start their own company or find their way into one that is already established.

Remember to take the rumors you hear with a grain of salt, but don’t stop enjoying these fantasy products that may show up in the future.

Here is an interesting blog post from an ex-apple employee by the name of David Sobotta. He makes some interesting points on the future innovation of computing.

He makes a good point about a lot of Apple’s great ideas come from Steve himself. What happens when Steve decides it is time for him to retire and hand the reigns off to someone else? I really hope that when that time comes someone at Apple can step up to the plate and fill Steve’s shoes. If not then that could spell out the downfall of Apple.

Go over and check out Mr. Sobotta’s blog, he has some very insightful posts ranging from the current state of technological innovation to his time spent at Apple.

The Zune.

I really really wanted the Zune to be outstanding. I wanted the press to get a hold of it and actually dub it the device that will dethrone the iPod. This has not happened. It hasn’t necessarily gotten bad reviews, it is just good. I was actually a little bit puzzled that my fellow Mac fanboys do not share my disappointment that the Zune was not the iPod killer.

Why do I want the Zune to be amazing? It is quite simple actually. If Microsoft made a product that the media was raving over, what would Apple do? They would make the iPod better by leaps and bounds. Apple wouldn’t sit around as their “golden child” got trampled by a competitor, they would go out and make it regain its throne. I am not saying that I am not satisfied with the iPod by any means, I just think that Apple can do better. I feel like they have a lot of cool things that they are planning to do with it but are holding out so they can release it in a steady stream and gain more revenue. This isn’t wrong from a corporate standpoint, but it doesn’t really benefit me the consumer.

So far it seems like the Zune isn’t necessarily bad, it just has some broken features. The biggest example is the wifi. It is an excellent idea but the limitations cripple it. I understand that the restrictions are in place to keep the record labels happy, but I believe that they could have made the restrictions a little more laid back. Also it could have been made a little bit more viral, they could have allowed you to re-share songs. That ways if “friend A” gives me a song that I like then I can pass it to “friend B” so that he can get a taste of it as well. Also it would have been neat if they could not only have done sharing but also a broadcasting type of thing. This way if you and your buddies are taking the train or something somewhere you could all tune into one Zune as if it were a radio station. One major thing that the Zune is lacking is Podcast support. I am a huge fan of podcasts and believe they are an excellent source of entertainment. The mere fact that the Zune does not support podcasts is a deal breaker for me.

Overall I think it is a good thing that the Zune has come in to battle the iPod, it will help force Apple’s hand to put more neat idea’s into the iPod. I am hoping that they incorporate the wifi functionality except do it better and hopefully include what I said above. Also, Apple could adopt a better interface to compete with the one on the Zune. I like the minimalistic one but it is starting to show its age. The form factor of the iPod is fantastic. I don’t want them to change the metallic back and polycarbonate front that they have used for so long. They can change up the screen layout and do some interesting stuff with the clickwheel, but in general I want it to remain the same. The last main difference means very little to me and I think that Apple’s approach is the better one. That is the built in FM tuner. I don’t need to have radio on my iPod and would personally like it to stay the way it is without it. Apple offers the FM radio add-on for those who want it and I think that is the way it should stay. That way people that want it can have it and it doesn’t add bulk to the iPod for those of us who don’t need it.

Overall I think it is good that the Zune has been brought into the market. It will force Apple to keep innovating and make the iPod better. As always, Arstechnica has done an outstanding job reviewing the Zune. You can find their review here.

If you have ever visited a site like digg.com or slashdot.org then you will probably know what I am talking about. It is probably one of the most annoying things that goes on on the internet. What I am talking about is people flamming eachother based on which operating system that they use. People that use Mac will bash Windows and Windows users will bash the Mac.

First off I just want to get this out of the way. I am a Mac user, I love Mac and everything about it. I also use a Windows computer at work and have Windows XP and Vista installed on my Mac. This post will not be Windows bashing or Mac praising, this is a neutral stance on one of the most annoying problems.

OS flame wars is a plague on social websites that discuss things regarding to technology. It usually starts when someone mentions something about one OS or another. For example someone posts on a forum a cool trick to do in Windows, then a Mac user (often referred to as a “fanboi” by the other opposing side) will come in and say that everyone is stupid for using a Windows computer. Thus the flame war has started. Now it will go back and fourth with Mac and Windows users will argue who is right and why.

These are pointless. Do they actually think they will change the other persons mind by attacking them and telling them they are stupid? If the person was even remotely interested in switching they will do it on their own. This happens on tech websites so I would assume they know something about tech. One thing people do not realize is that it is not always easy to learn a new OS, this goes both ways. They are very very different from each other. This goes for both ways, I use a Mac primarily and just started using a PC again a few months ago and it wasn’t the easiest to get back into it. I have to relearn how to do certain things and very few things are the same.

Another thing to notice is that these people use the machine they use for a reason. They wouldn’t be using the OS they use unless they believed it was the best option. Also, most likely they know the pitfalls of the OS of their choice and have found their own way of dealing with it. When a Mac user starts flaming a PC user and says, “well Window’s has a lot of viruses”, do they believe that these people do not know this? I am positive they do and use virus protection software to protect myself. They are also smart when surfing the web, remember these are tech guys and gals we are talking about. Also when a Windows user starts bashing a Mac user and says that they are just using toys and dumbed down machines, this is not really necessary. The person has the machine that works for them and by insulting them will only make them mad and want to fight back. Telling them these things will not make them switch.

Each OS has their benefits and drawbacks. The users usually know about these and use their machine accordingly. Also these people don’t really listen to each other. Instead they just reiterate the same things over and over.

Instead of fighting they should embrace the other OS. They don’t need to switch but should be happy that it is there. With more products in the market it will force companies to innovate and make good products. What motivation would Microsoft or Apple have if the other was gone. If they have no one to compete with they would just let their OS sit, or just make very small updates to get people to buy another copy or computer. It is important that both of these companies stay in the market.

These flame wars are pointless and a waste of time and energy. I won’t say it is a certain demographic that does it because I don’t believe it is so. Whatever it is that is causing this needs to be stopped. It is because of this that I am sometimes turned off from reading things dealing with tech on the internet.

Like I said, I am not bashing on one group or another (sorry if it seemed like it, it is hard to give example of both sides without being long winded) rather I want to address the issue at hand. I am not talking about friendly jokes between friends, like telling your windows buddy that your OS is better for…. It becomes a problem when it is harsh and mean and putting down another party. I am sick of hearing that I “dugg” a story because I am a fanboy. I obviously dugg it because I thought it was interesting, if that makes me a fanboy then so be it. I digg what I like and what difference does it make to someone else.