I’ve just compiled all of my Mountain Lion articles so far so that you can follow what I’ve written so far.
That’s it for now. I will be posting more information as it comes out, but this is what Apple has talked about so far.
I thought that Airplay Mirroring on the iPad 2 was a huge deal, but this just takes it to the next level. Being able to mirror your Mac to a TV connected via an Apple TV 2 might be one of the best things to happen to the education market for a long time.
Imagine removing all interactive white boards, all projectors, and a huge amount of cabling in classrooms and instead using products that will work better in a well-lit classroom.
That’s it. You could get down to just three cables if you wanted: two power cables and an HDMI cable to the TV. The LCD TV would allow for a better viewing experience in the classroom because of the higher brightness and contrast, the Apple TV 2 would allow students to use iPads to present in the classroom at the drop of a hat.
There are problems, as always, but a new version of the “smart classroom” is slowly coming out. No longer are we trying to shoehorn technology into older models (like an interactive white board) but bringing newer technology into the picture and freeing teachers to move around the classroom.
Of course, you can do this in many ways already, but I’m excited to see what Airplay Mirroring can do.
Andy Ihnatko has posted a reply to the recent cartoon over at The Oatmeal about piracy.
Whenever piracy comes up, I often think that one thing missed is that one side is wishing for a world we don’t currently have (free content available all the time for all) and the other is wishing for a world they thought they used to have (content only when we allow it to happen).
I tend to trend toward having no sympathy whatsoever for media companies who decide the the best way to make money is to double-down on making it harder for people to get what they want.
Regardless, this is ugly, and the people really getting hurt are the consumers who want to do the “right thing” and just want to watch their movies and shows. Can’t we all just get past this?
I don’t know who at Twitter has the “in” at Apple, but Twitter is now in OS X as well.
You can tweet from lots of places, it integrates with Contacts, and … I’m sure there is other stuff as well.
That’s. About. It.
This is where Apple has an opportunity to really fix some weaknesses with iOS as well, and OS X could be the place to experiment with it.
Share sheets are just like they are on iOS. Apple even uses a similar button.
Click the button and you get options for sharing whatever it is you are looking at. In Safari? Why not tweet that page to your Twitter account? Useful, and something I use in iOS almost every day.
However, Apple could take this to the next level by allowing 3rd party developers the opportunity to add their own applications to the share sheets. Are they going to? I have no idea, but I hope that Apple takes a cue from Windows Phone 7 (what a TERRIBLE name) and adds the ability for programs to proclaim what they are useful for (I think they are called “contracts” in WP7).
There is room for improvement, of sure.