Tag: Apple

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Bob Speaks Technology

Episode 1: Objective-C and iOS Programming

The inaugural episode of Bob Speaks, my little personal audio podcast that is really just me speaking about anything on my mind. Today I talk a little about what I have been working on: Objective-C and iOS Programming.

A thank you to http://www.podcastthemes.com/ for the music for this podcast.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:04 — 4.2MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

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Technology

Apple’s Podcast App

Apple has released a dedicated Podcast app for iOS and, like most things, it is …

POLARIZING THE INTERNET!

Oh no, who didn’t see this coming?

Head on over to Curious Rat and read his thoughts, he nailed it.

  • This is a simple app … so if you are looking for all of the advanced features of your favorite podcast application, you are not going to find them (shout out to my favorite: Instacast).
  • It’s a free app.
  • I, personally, like the funny tape deck UI that is under the cover art. It’s funny and I only have to see it as often as I want to because I usually start a podcast and then … DO SOMETHING ELSE. If you are a person who feels the need to stare at your podcast app while it plays, find something else.
  • Definitely a 1.0 release. There are some obvious missing things (like syncing your library over iCloud), but this is an initial release of what is supposed to be a simple podcast listening application.
  • We really need to lighten up about the UI decisions that companies make. It is fine to state what you like better, but stating, definitively, that a design or design decision is the WORST POSSIBLE THING THAT YOU COULD HAPPEN IN THE UNIVERSE is not just ridiculous … it’s juvenile. Let’s try and be better. I’m guilty of this too.
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Technology

Contrived Apple Kerfuffles

A week away and so much crud being written about technology. I’ll just comment briefly on the main Apple controversies that erupted over that time.

Non-upgradability of new MacBook Pro

Honestly? I think Apple was very clear with where they were headed with every single design they have rolled out since the … iMac? This is a complete non-issue. If you don’t like what Apple is selling, go elsewhere.

Here are two articles that pretty much echo my thoughts on this completely:

It is just not a big deal at all. Next please?

Sandbox Rules in the Mac App Store

I think Apple has been pretty transparent about their application stores that it is meant for the average consumer. On iOS you don’t have an option … besides jail-breaking the device.

On OS X, you do (and you still will after Mountain Lion).

Which is why TextExpander going away from the App Store makes perfect sense and is a complete non-story … again.

Ben Brooks over at The Brooks Review pretty much pulled his thoughts from my mind.

There are always going to be apps that I need to go outside of the App Store to grab for my Mac because that is how I use my Mac. It would be immensely useful if every piece of software could be downloaded through the App Store, but Apple has decided to leave open the ability for people to install software outside of the App Store and the rules are going to push out programs because there is another avenue.

It is a non-story for the Mac because there IS an alternative.

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Technology

WWDC 2012 Keynote Thoughts

I’m not going to rehash everything, so if you want to learn more about what Apple talked about yesterday you can follow these links:

I recommend watching the Keynote, you’ll get the information you desire from there. I’ll close this out with some thoughts:

  • Ping is dead … long live Facebook integration?
  • How much longer can the 13″ MacBook Pro hang on!? Someone must be throwing 13″ 1280×800 screens at Apple because they didn’t even bump up the resolution to the 13″ Air’s 1440×900. I can come up with many reasons why it is still in the lineup, but each update just makes it painfully more obvious that the 13″ MacBook Pro is the strangest laptop in the lineup.
  • Here is how I see the Retina MacBook lineup coming down to: 11″ MacBook Air, 13″ MacBook Air, 15″ MacBook Pro and … that’s it? Pixel-doubling/quading on all of them and simplifying the lineup. In this case I’d like to see the “Air” moniker dropped so it is back to just MacBook and MacBook Pro, but I’m strange. I get the feeling that next-year’s MacBook Air refresh will see the Retina display. Anyone have the Intel roadmap on-hand to see when that might happen?
  • If/when the Air goes Retina … I can see the 15″ MacBook Pro getting an updated Retina display that pixel-doubles the 1680×1050 resolution instead of the 1440×900. Smooth transition up with sizes from the Air to the Pro. Right now it is all about economics.
  • No desktop updates (Mac Prop non-announcement doesn’t count) so there has to be something coming for that. Even a processor bump would be appreciated for the Mac mini and iMac (again, I’m not talking about the Mac Pro). Of course, we have the Mountain Lion release coming up in July so maybe they are holding onto something for that.
  • Mountain Lion and iOS 6 both look like nice updates. Really not much to say here.

That’s it. Anything else I write on the WWDC Keynote will be more specific than this.

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Technology

Mac Pro “Update”

The Mac Pro update was a small CPU upgrade. That’s it.


However the above tweet gives me a little hope that maybe Apple has something bigger on the horizon. If Apple was really going to drop the Mac Pro, not being able to get the older CPUs would be a great time to do it … why go through the testing process for the “newer” processors when you can just drop the line that you plan on killing anyway.

I have no idea what is holding Apple back from rolling out the new E5 Xeons, but I still hope that they roll something out. Mountain Lion is due in July, so maybe the desktops will get their updates then (the iMac and Mac mini were also sitting on the sidelines today).