I'd have named it "Andy" for Android, but Iris is cool. Image from source, CNN
Steve Jobs was really infuriated by Google's Android smart phone operating system. Jobs may have had a case if the software actually stole actual Apple code, or was involved in some sort of corporate espionage or something. But it seems like he was just pissed that someone decided to rival the iPhone.
Well, imagine what he'd think of Iris.
[Excerpt]
Siri, Iris and the dream of just talking to our phones
The only scene I really loved in "Star Trek: The Voyage Home" was when Scotty tried speaking verbal commands to a Macintosh Plus. Keyboards always seem to get in the way of doing what I want to do -- and nowhere is this as apparent, or frustrating, as on smartphones and tablets. . . Read more at: CNN
Jobs throws Murdoch on the barbie. Image from source, Huffington Post
As the first bits of the new Steve Jobs biography leaked out, right-wing world was positively giddy about what Jobs thought of President Obama and his policies. Ostensibly liberal, Jobs still was a mogul. One who has his beloved products made in China, for instance. Well, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and countless others were gushing over these details. Hannity gave every few words that annoying uptalking thing that he does. All of this despite the fact that Jobs wanted to help run Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.
Something tells me they're not so thrilled with this. . . [Excerpt]
Steve Jobs: Fox News 'A Destructive Force In Our Society'
. . ."You're blowing it with Fox News," Jobs told him over dinner. "The axis
today is not liberal and conservative, the axis is
constructive-destructive, and you've cast your lot with the destructive
people. Fox has become an incredibly destructive force in our society.
You can be better, and this is going to be your legacy if you're not
careful." Jobs said he thought Murdoch did not really like how far Fox
had gone. "Rupert's a builder, not a tearer-downer," he said. "I've had
some meetings with James, and I think he agrees with me. I can just
tell.". . .
I can surely understand why Steve Jobs was perturbed about Google's Android phone and tablet operating system. After all, more phones are sold with Android than with Apple's iOS. But I'm not sure I agree with his reasoning, or am even sympathetic. After all, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates basically stole from Xerox when they created the Macintosh and Windows, respectively.
I might agree if Google actually stole technology. But if they're merely making a similar product? Whoop-de-friggin'-do! Edison didn't have exclusive rights to making records or record players. There are many manufacturers of very, very similar dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, refrigerators, cordless phones, televisions, stereos. . . I understand wanting to trounce the competition. But you don't get the eternal right to no competition. I'm starting to wonder if the upcoming Steve Jobs biography is going to sully his image more than enhancing it.
[Excerpt]
Jobs tears into Google in upcoming biography
Google can only hope that Steve Jobs' final vendetta doesn't haunt the Internet search leader from his grave.
The depths of Jobs' antipathy toward Google leaps out of Walter
Isaacson's authorized biography of Apple's co-founder. The book goes on
sale Monday, less than three weeks after Jobs' long battle with
pancreatic cancer culminated in his Oct. 5 death. The Associated Press
obtained a copy Thursday. . .
As a PC-user for over 25 years, I have very little nostalgia for Apple, its products, or its founders. I often found Apple products kind of cloying and cutesy, sometimes trying too hard (the iMac that looked like a little white ball), or not trying hard enough (the toilet-seat laptop). But, I do recognize Steve Jobs' contribution to the 20th and 21st century, and find it sad that he died so young. For even though I didn't much use his products until relatively recently, I do believe that the popular products produced by Apple spurred even non-Cult-of-Mac people to want MP3 players, to want zippy computers, to want tablet computers, and most obviously, smart phones. RIP, Steve.
[Excerpt] Steve Jobs Dead: Apple Co-Founder Dies At 56
. . .Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple. . .
Oh, the Cult of Mac must be in full swoon at this news. I've always thought that Steve Jobs was pretty cool (in the 80s he was kind of adorkable), though I've had unpleasant run-ins with his company's followers. I think that without Jobs, the 2000s and beyond would look a bit different, and probably not as plugged in. And even if Apple has produced some ugly things (the toilet seat notebook), some things that didn't age well (the original jellybean iMac), and some irritating fans, they've also pushed the computer and media world along with them. It's doubtful I'd have an Android phone/music player without Steve Jobs.
[Excerpt]
Steve Jobs steps down from Apple
The man who brought us the iPod, iPad and those tiny white "buds" that snugly tuck inside ears is stepping down from his position as Apple CEO. Steve Jobs formally announced his resignation today, sending shock-waves through the tech and business world. . .
So, Big Brother is Steve Jobs? I suppose it could be worse. I mean, he's something of a cult leader, I guess. And many of his legion of fans are kind of snobby and elitist. But it's better than finding out that it's Glenn Beck.
[Excerpt]
Al Franken To Steve Jobs On iPhone Tracking: I Want Answers
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) wants answers. After reports Wednesday that Apple's iPhones and iPads secretly store information of the user's location, Franken wrote Apple CEO Steve Jobs a strongly worded letter. . .
iLaughed. Because this hilarious video is only a slight exaggeration of the total lust some "cult of Mac" people lavish upon any Apple product. Yeah, it's pretty nifty, but it's a phone, people! Warning: very, very salty language.
Wait, wait, wait. I thought this sort of thing only affected Windows-based products! Isn't that what the Cult of Mac is always saying? Poor Steve Jobs. First he had an iFail at his iPhone demo, and now this? Bill Gates has probably hurt himself laughing by now.
Apple has suffered another embarrassment. A security breach has exposed iPad owners including dozens of CEOs, military officials, and top politicians. They—and every other buyer of the wireless-enabled tablet—could be vulnerable to spam marketing and malicious hacking. . .
As I've said before, I'm something of an Apple-phobe (MacPhobe? iPhobe?). After many years on the PC platform in the graphics industry--the sign industry being nearly exclusively PC--I have had many run-ins with obnoxious Mac artists. So it isn't an entirely irrational stance on my part. But for a liberal, I am staunchly against change in this area.
That doesn't mean that I don't recognize that some iProducts are kinda nifty. They've got a built-in "cool" quotient. But I do notice that the coolness wears off as soon as version 2.0 or the iSomethingNewer comes out. Remember the toilet seat iBook? Yeesh. And I get annoyed by products that are overly simplified. I like figuring out how things work, I don't need them to assume that I'm iStupid.
So I watched with a wary eye as the newest iThing, the iPad was introduced. OK, so it's a touch-screen computer with no keyboard. Um, OK. It's snazzy and stuff, but I'm a touch typist. No problem, it has an optional plug-in keyboard! Which makes it a touch-screen desktop computer. Whatevs, y'all. I'm probably missing the boat here, and it's going to be the wave of the future. Or something. But where have I seen that name before?
Many of our memories are colored by nostalgia, rendering them better or at least more prized then they have any right to. For instance, old computer and gaming systems from my past, like the Atari 2600 and the Commodore 64. Both offer little entertainment value today. If you don't believe me, buy one on eBay, and see how long you play with it after opening the box.
But the memories are fond ones. Now, what about a product you rarely have used, and have no special memories for? That would be the case for me, with this video about the evolution of Apple Computers (yes, two posts in a row about Apple). Outside of my 1984 senior high school computer class, and the rare times when I've had to, I've not used Apples. No iAnything for me. So when I look at this video, I see mostly a mixture of undistinguished and often times ugly beige and grey computer boxes.
It's not until two minutes in to the video that some color and interesting designs come into play, with the iMac (unless you include that toilet seat looking laptop). The rest look no better (and sometimes worse) than the equivelant HPs, IBMs and Packard-Bells of the day. So thinking of Apples as sleaker, more refined and "a step above" design-wise is more recent than I thought.
In any event, I do enjoy seeing the evolution of almost anything, so it is interesting, whether you're in the Cult of Mac or not.
Every few months, Apple's Steve Jobs releases a new and improved product. Sometimes it's an iMac, sometimes it's an iPod, this time it's a new version of the iPhone. Wait, didn't the first one just come out? I mean, the last one was heralded as perfection, wasn't it? What can it do now, Julienne french fries?
It would seem that this time, Apple had a few Microsoft-like glitches with the debut. Good. The Cult of Mac needs to be reminded that Apple is just a corporation, not a religion.
[Excerpt]
Apple iPhone v2.0 software on Saturday: Still M.I.A.
Approximately 36 hours after the release of the iPhone 2.0 firmware, existing iPhone customers still can't download it. iTunes says it's unavailable. Apple should have done better.
We already know that on Friday, there were severe activation problems with the iPhone 3G. This isn't exactly a surprise, perhaps, after the new in-store activation procedures and AT&T's dismal performance last year. . .
