Macworld No More

Well, here I am again. Another year, another Macworld er, uh, Macworld/iWorld. I guess it would sound stupid if they called it iPhone/iPad Case World, which is pretty much what it has become. In fairness, that is a more accurate description of the expo floor. The event taken in its entirety does offer a great percentage of Mac-centric content, but still, the "iOS-ification" of the entire Apple world is reflected quite accurately by this annual event. Many of us are sad about that.
I've been making this annual pilgrimage to San Francisco since 2007, the Macworld where Steve Jobs' keynote address included the introduction of the iPhone. Some might argue things have gone downhill (for Macworld Expo) ever since. It is hard to imagine anything topping the iPhone announcement and to date, nothing has. With Apple's withdrawal after the 2009 event, Macworld Expo wasn't blessed with the 2010 iPad introduction and it's unlikely anything like that will ever happen at Macworld again.
An argument can be made that, along with the Macworld Expo, Apple is in the process of abandoning the most loyal of their minions, the power users (like me) and Apple's decision to stop participating in the Expo was the first step in that direction. Don't get me wrong, I think iOS and all the great devices it runs on are truly life-altering. I'm writing this on my iPad and my iPhone is sitting on the sofa right next to me. Both have become almost indispensable to my daily workflow. iOS devices also comprise the vast majority (approximately 2/3) of Apple's money-minting juggernaut, so I understand why they focus on it. My question is, "Do they have to do it at the expense of the very loyalists who kept them solvent through the lean years?" Would it really hurt a company with over $100 billion in the bank to spend a million or two participating in an event that their users from all over the world pay good money to attend? Don't get me wrong, I'm a freedom-loving capitalist through and through. I own quite a few shares of AAPL and really appreciate the run up since I got in at $73 a share, but I'm also a total Apple gearhead who can't help but feel a bit jilted. As much as I love and rely on my iOS devices, I could never get by without my Macs and all the UNIX goodness of OS X. When Apple was there, the Expo gave fans an opportunity to get some quality "hands-on" time with whatever new Mac was announced at the keynote before anyone else in the country. The experience sort of made you feel privileged and special.
Oh well, enough pining for the "good ol' days".
Well, maybe just a couple more points while I'm bitching.
For me, an iMac and MacBook Pro do everything I need and Apple does a great job of keeping those models on the cutting edge of current technology. But I'm starting to worry for the Mac Pro crowd. Video editors and 3D modelers haven't had their Mac Pros updated significantly in over four years and perennial pro software titles from Apple like FinalCut and Aperture have taken a decidedly "pro-sumer" tack. It's becoming blatantly obvious that people who've historically relied on the most powerful Macs are being ignored. Tim Cook is promising something really great for them in 2013, but so far it's been all talk.
As neglected as the Pros are, I worry more about what may be happening to the rest of us power users. You know, those of us who spend a lot of time using Terminal, Automator and AppleScript. The people who enjoy command line wizardry and automating tasks with apps they create or scripts they write may me in as much danger of losing their mojo as their Pro brethren. Not because we lack good Apple hardware, but we sense a disturbing trend with each release of OS X. The first hint came with the introduction of the Mac App Store. Suddenly there was a clearinghouse for Macs like the one for iOS, but unlike iOS, users can still choose to get apps from anywhere they please...for now. Mac developers now have a gatekeeper to please before their apps can be sold in the App Store and the rules just got a lot more strict. Last year with Apple's insistence that all apps be "sandboxed", lots of our favorite apps got neutered and others will never pass muster with the Apple guard dogs. Simply put, "sandboxing" means an app can only play in its own sandbox, or memory space. This severely limits an application's ability to interact with OS X and other apps. The reason for this is to minimize the chance that an intrusive, poorly written or otherwise unstable app can steal data or compromise the security and stability of your Mac. This leaves developers of apps like 1Password and TextExpander (both rely heavily on calling OS X system functions and interacting with other apps) with the choice of publishing a stripped-down version for the App Store or selling a full-featured version by conventional means, or both, which is almost double work for them. I'm beginning to fear the loss of some really handy and powerful software titles because their developers inability to compete while outside of the Mac App Store.
The problem is, the App Store is quickly becoming the go-to for most users who need or want apps for their Mac (especially noobs) and it's a very financially attractive marketplace for developers. Like users of iOS devices, Mac users can virtually eliminate the possibility of inadvertently installing an unstable or malicious app by using the Mac App Store exclusively. As the store grows in popularity, some of us are beginning to fear a couple of things: 1) Really good apps will get stripped down to get into the App Store and 2) Apple may eventually decide to treat Macs like iOS devices and not allow app installation from anywhere else. The machinery for enabling this second nazi-like behavior is already in place. In Mountain Lion, there is a Gatekeeper app that allows users to choose whether or not they can install apps other than the Apple-vetted ones available in the Mac App Store. It would be a simple matter for Apple to exclude Gatekeeper from some future version of OS X, leaving everyone except gearheads like me with only one option for acquiring apps. This scenario isn't unimaginable. With computer security and privacy concerns constantly on the rise, some even predict its inevitability. It certainly fits Apple's M.O. If it does come to pass, I guess I'll have to jailbreak my Mac the same way I hack my iPhone.
That will be a sad day indeed. Probably as sad as the day I stepped onto the Apple-less Expo floor in 2010.

The Best 5 Bucks You'll Ever Spend for Mac Software

I spend as much time using iOS as OS X these days. I write most of these posts on my iPad and my iPhone is almost like an appendage. That's a testament to iOS's increasing functionality (and my near obsession with Apple toys). Actually, I've been completely spoiled by the ability to do 90% of my work from almost anywhere.

But, enough about me.

In 2009, Apple released iOS 3. With it, we got the much anticipated "Cut, Copy & Paste" capability which many believed was long overdue. After all, Blackberry and Android had it, so many people thought Apple was being wontedly stubborn by omitting it originally. Of course, Apple claimed it was because they were waiting until they could get the functions done properly. No matter the truth of the matter, Apple did do it properly. iOS's implementation of C,C & P includes a rather elegant method for selecting text and other objects. One that is tailored for touch. What is even more impressive is the pop-up menu that appears once you've made a selection. It intelligently lists a set of actions (like cut, copy, etc.) based on the type of data you select and what app you're using when you do it. Like most things Apple does, it is very intuitive and works flawlessly. If you spend much time in iOS, using these functions quickly becomes second nature.

So much so that going back to OS X can leave one wanting. I mean, <CMD + C>, <CMD + V>? Puhleeeease!

Not any more. Now there's PopClip (Now on sale for $2.99 in the Mac App Store). It provides a global method of providing pop-up lists of actions for things you select and it looks strikingly similar to the ones in iOS.  And because it runs in OS X, the developers were free to add a huge list of add-in functions that Apple would never allow on one of their iOS devices. More on that in a moment.

PopClip installs easily and when running, adds its icon to your menu bar (Yes, I know, another one. See Bartender) that gives you quick access to its user preferences and a button to quit the app. There is also a link for downloading add-ins. (Just one more moment.)

When you select text (or other things) in almost any app, PopClip intelligently pops up a list of actions you can choose to perform on that selection. Like the C,C & P functions in iOS, PopClip comes with the standard cut and copy buttons, but the real value in this app is found in the extensive list of free extensions (65 of them as of this writing) available on Pilotmoon's web site. You can transform text, replace text with the clipboard contents, clip to Evernote, Tweet the selected text, dial a selected number in Skype, create an email with your selection, look up selected text in the dictionary and...Well, the list goes on and on and it's growing rapidly. When I first began using PopClip a month or so ago the list of available extensions was only half what it is today.

PopClip is so convenient, I now find going back to iOS makes me wish I had some of PopClip's extensions there. I use the Evernote, Tweetbot and Wikipedia add-ins like crazy when I'm on one of my Macs.  It's a shame Apple will probably never allow that type of system-wide functionality from a third party iOS developer. Too bad. 

I'm Not Addicted, Just Dependent

Internet dependent, that is.  Yes, I do exhibit some symptoms of addiction, but I must admit to enjoying a few days of being completely unplugged.  I doubt that would be the case were I truly addicted.  It happens whenever I come to my lake house.  Here, we have no Internet connection, not even a phone line for dial-up service.  I have to set my iPhone in one particular windowsill to maybe get two bars of EDGE service. We get our TV via satellite, and we've considered doing the same for broadband, but just can't justify the cost for a house we only visit for a weekend every six or eight weeks.  My dad used to say we were so far back in the woods we got our sunshine by mail-order.

For someone who makes a living on-line, I have to say I enjoy an occasional 48 - 72 hour respite. It gives me time to do something I rarely get to do, think.  Not the problem solving, concentration kind of thinking I have to do almost every day, but the random daydreaming type of thinking you only get to do when there are no distractions.  It does a body good to occasionally revert to a simpler time where email and text message alerts don't sound every few minutes and the iPhone only gets sporadic reception. My 14 year-old daughter doesn't see the value in this.  Being disconnected from her on-line community of gaming and FaceTime friends puts her in a most disagreeable mood. It's really fortunate she can still send and receive text messages (although spottily) or we'd never get her to come up here with us.

While serene, this is no panacea.  On those none too infrequent occasions when you need a plumber, electrician or someone else to help with the inevitable breakdowns, absence of some sort of Internet connection reminds me of how much I've come to rely on Google and the on-line Yellow Pages.  It's hard to imagine how out of date a three-year-old phone book can be.  Since disconnecting the hard line phone a couple of years ago, we haven't gotten a new phone book in the mail. It amazes me how many small businesses no longer exist after 36 months!  It's really frustrating to struggle to get a cell signal only to waste it on a recording,"The number you've reached is no longer...".

One thing I am grateful for is my Navigon app.  All it needs to function is a GPS signal.  I made the decision to buy it a couple of years ago and I've been very glad I did on more than a few occasions.  My initial decision was based on the original iPhone's lack of turn-by-turn directions. Navigon is a full-featured GPS navigation app that works on both my iPhone and iPad.  The original version I purchased forced you to purchase the entire continental US & Canada for $79 or Europe for $89.  Today it is a much better value at $29 and you have the option to only download the states you want.  The point is, traveling requires a good stock of off-line maps.  Cell signals are not as ubiquitous as the wireless carriers would have you believe and there's nothing worse than being lost and staring at an empty grid pattern in Google Maps.  Navigon is fully functional anywhere, provided you have a map for the area you're in.  Fortunately for me, that includes the vicinity of our lake house.  We've owned the property for 35 years, but I can still manage to get turned around in the woods.

It's also amazing how many hardware vendors assume availability of an always-on Internet connection.  Over the holidays, my daughter got a Seagate GoFlex Home external hard drive to backup her Mac. The app on the setup CD completely surrenders on step 1 if the Seagate web site can't be reached.  So, I thought I'd just set the drive up manually using Safari to connect to it's on-board web server.  No luck.  It seems the same setup program is hard coded into the device with no way to circumvent it short of completely wiping the drive with Disk Utility.  I wouldn't be afraid to do that for a drive of my own, but the built-in utilities on the device are probably the only way a non-techie like my daughter can manage the rig.  Punt.

Thank goodness I have lots of other fun things to do up here.  There's hiking, fishing, cruising the woods on the four-wheeler and oh yes, writing this on my non-connected laptop.  I'll upload it when I get back home.

AirPlay: The Most Under-appreciated Apple Product(s)

Every Thanksgiving my family hosts a turkey fry.  For the uninformed masses: frying is the most delicious of all the many preparation methods for the bird. Briefly, you dunk a well-seasoned 15 lb. turkey into a big pot of 360º peanut oil for 45 minutes. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Anyway, our annual turkey fry is a 20-year tradition involving close friends and neighbors coming to our back yard Thanksgiving morning and consuming mass quantities of Bloody Marys while I dunk their birds.  This year was typical.  15 turkeys were fried while about 40 of our closest friends got drunk way too early in the morning. After 20 years, the spectacle of two bubbling cauldrons with bobbing birds has become rather commonplace to our visitors, but me controlling my outdoor music system with my iPhone widened some eyes.

Even though I've had an Airport Express connected to my music system for three or four years now, this Thanksgiving it garnered attention when I got a request to "turn it up" when one of our local favorites' tune began playing from my well-crafted playlist. Instead of grabbing some infrared remote or twisting a knob, I retrieved my iPhone from my pocket and thumbed the slider on Apple's Remote app. One of my less technical neighbor's eyes widened and he asked, "How did you do that with your phone?!!" As I explained the basics of AirPlay to him, I noticed several of my guests had stopped what they were doing and began paying attention. Before long, I was giving an impromptu demonstration of Apple magic.

That event reminded me of how much I take my Apple infrastructure for granted. My home network includes an AppleTV (2nd gen) and two Airport Expresses connected to two separate music systems. I have the Remote app installed on all my iDevices, giving me the ability to send all types of media from any of my three Macs and all my iDevices to any mix of three different music/video systems. All this capability cost me less than $300. ($69 for each Airport and $85 for the AppleTV, all from Apple's refurbished stock) That may sound a bit expensive until you price other solutions from Sonos and the like.

My neighbors' fascination with all this capability reminded me of just how wonderful AirPlay is. It is absolutely simple to set up, requires no cryptic instructions to operate and like most everything Apple makes, it just works! Believe me, I've tried the DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance standard employed by Microsoft) hardware and found I had to continually fiddle with it to keep it working. There always seemed to be a permission issue or network problem that needed resolving (or re-resolving) before I could get music or video from my Windows PC to my home theatre. Someone less determined or less tech-savvy would probably give up.  Given DLNA's slow uptake, it appears many people have.

This makes me wonder why more people don't know about AirPlay. It's built into iTunes for free. Is it just something nobody wants? Based on my limited data, (admittedly gathered in a mild vodka fog this Thanksgiving) I don't think so. Maybe it's something Apple simply doesn't push. I seem to recall something about AirPlay capability in some Apple commercial, but the details escape me.  Seems to me, it would be an easy sell. I know I've helped them sell two AirPorts since Thanksgiving, one of which I had to help set up.

Sometimes I hate being the computer guy.

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Apple is Still in Very Good Hands

Since last year's passing of Steve Jobs, speculation about Apple's health have dotted the technical and financial media landscape.  I must admit to some personal trepidation along those lines.  The recent 20% drop of Apple's stock price did nothing to ease those worries.

Yesterday, Businessweek published this interview with Tim Cook.  After reading it, my mind was put at ease.  In fact, I've come to see that Jobs' naming Cook as his successor was the final item of an innumerable list of brilliant moves that made Apple what it is today.  If you have even a casual interest in Apple as a company, this article is a must read.