Apple vs. PC Rivalry A Sham
Posted Aug 4, 2004, 8:16 PM ET by Pariah S. Burke
From the About.com Graphics Software discussion forum: ”There IS no Apple vs PC or Adobe vs Corel rivalry. It’s all computers and software that do the job and do it well… Forget computers for a moment. Did artists insult one another because one used Koohinoor pens and another settled for Rapidographs? ...Apple vs PC arguments exist only because some people feel superior they know one software, and because they have more time on their hands to rant and rave.”
Related Links
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Get Emote-ional
Posted Aug 4, 2004, 3:08 PM ET by Gregory Han
I personally use Proteus for my everyday
instant messaging, but its always fun to test drive other new chat client that might offer just a little bit more or
something wildly new. EmoteMail diverges from the usual laundry list of
features of other instant messengers and adds an additional dimension to online communication by
capturing facial expressions and indicators of typing speed
with graphical cues. An interesting direction that might not catch on because in a sense, people seem to enjoy the
anonymity of online chat. Might be interesting to cyber with ;)
Instead of dynamically modifying individual characters, EmoteMail relates contextual cues to each paragraph. The prototype uses a camera and a timer as sensor inputs to capture additional information relating to the paragraph. Reminiscent of the commonly used smileys, the EmoteMail client annotates every paragraph with a small black and white thresholded image of the face of the writer. Each paragraph also includes a background colour representing how much time the paragraph took to compose. If the sender changes their facial expression (perhaps as part of an emotionally meaningful communication) then the small camera grab beside each paragraph reflects this. By capturing a snapshot of the face of the writer with every paragraph, the system attempts to display the fluctuation of the emotions throughout the message, rather than attempting to summarize the whole message as a certain mood.
Related Links
» EmoteMail V1 for OS X (2.2Mb) EmoteMail
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iPhoto 4.0.2… or not?
Posted Aug 4, 2004, 1:26 PM ET by Sean Bonner
Yesterday iPhoto 4.0.2 was released on Apple.com and Software updater and just as quickly today it’s been pulled from both sources. No real word on why yet, and no messages boards aflame with complaints so it’s anyones guess at the moment. I’m going to have to assume that we’ll hear much more about this one soon.
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The Apple Product Cycle
Posted Aug 3, 2004, 1:34 PM ET by Sean Bonner
The Apple Product Cycle has been broken down into every step by the folks at misterbg.org, from:
An obscure component manufacturer somewhere in the Pacific Rim announces a major order for some bleeding-edge piece of technology that could conceivably become part of an expensive, digital-lifestyle-enhancing nerd toy.
Some hardware geek, the sort who actually reads press releases from obscure Pacific Rim component manufacturers, posts a link to the press release in a Mac Internet forum.
The Mac rumor sites spring into action. Liberally quoting “reliable” sources inside Cupertino, irrelevant “experts,” and each other, they quickly transform baseless speculation into widely accepted fact.
to:
Wall Street analysts appear on CNBC to explain that Apple’s device will never be able to compete with the onslaught of cheaper Windows-based competitors. Apple’s stock plummets. Idiot technology investors experience a brief moment of deja vu before they return to masturbating to photos of Maria Bartiromo.
Consumers discover that the Windows-based competitor to Apple’s device contains a proprietary digital rights management technology that prevents them from using the device to do anything expect look at family photographs taken in the last 20 minutes.
An obscure component manufacturer somewhere in the Pacific Rim announces a major order for some new bleeding-edge piece of technology that could conceivably become part of some expensive, digital-lifestyle-enhancing nerd toy. The fun begins again…
Related Links
» The Apple Product Cycle misterbg.org
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Motorola V600 + Cingular + Bluetooth + Powerbook = Heaven
Posted Jul 31, 2004, 7:49 PM ET by Sean Bonner
Jon has just spent countless hours digging up every bit of info you need to
get your PowerBook online via your Motorola
V600 from anywhere at anytime.
I’m going to test this out this weekend, I swear.
Related Links
» Motorola V600, Wireless Internet, Bluetooth And The Macintosh idmonsters
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i-PHONO Bluetooth Stereo Headphone
Posted Jul 31, 2004, 8:57 AM ET by Michael Sciannamea
Thanks to reader ShiningBlue for alerting us to a comprehensive review of the new i-PHONO Bluetooth Stereo Headphone from Bluetake.
Related Links
» modtown review: bluetake i-phono bt420 bluetooth hi-fi sports headphone modtown
» i-PHONO BT420 Bluetooth Hi-Fi Sports Headphone Bluetake
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You got your politics in my iTunes!
Posted Jul 30, 2004, 1:59 PM ET by Sean Bonner
This just in from MacMinute - the iTunes Music Store is offering free downloads of the speeches from the DNC. Day one and two up now, three and four coming soon.
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Service Providers throwing wrench into Motorola/Apple deal
Posted Jul 30, 2004, 12:14 PM ET by Sean Bonner
Earlier this week the big news was that Motorola and Apple are planning on releasing a phone based version of iTunes that you can carry around a small number of MP3s (or AAC files) with and play right from your handset. (Yes I know I didn’t blog about it here, I’ve been dealing with some legal chaos in another part of my life which has my time a little stretched) Anyway, the followup news is that some Mobile operators don’t like the idea of people putting media on to their phones (presumably over USB or Bluetooth) without using their network. From Forbes:
But analysts think mobile operators will obstruct the partnership unless revenue streams are offered to them. It could make it hard for Motorola to ship iTunes handsets when they launch at the start of 2005.
”The deal implies that fixed broadband connections are a better way to deliver high quality music downloads than mobile networks,” said Ian Fogg, broadband and personal technology analyst at Jupiter Research Europe. “It suggests that operators hoping to profit from music downloads will be bypassed by PC transfer services like this.”
.
Related Links
» Operators could threaten iTunes/Motorola tie-up Forbes
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A Bluetooth iPod?
Posted Jul 30, 2004, 12:07 PM ET by Sean Bonner
Apple’s continuing support of all things wireless has led to countless rumors of iPods with Bluetooth or iPods with wifi and a whole collection of other cable-less options. None of these have been confirmed, but the recent replacement of the three model iPod line with 2 models has sparked even more talk of what the yet unreleased high-est-end iPod flagship might include. 60GB? Color Screen? Bluetooth? Engadget posted this (probably fake) iPod ad that was “leaked” (read: photoshopped) which is more than likely just wishful thinking. In all honestly though, I can’t imagine something like this being too far off. It just seems like a natural progression for them.
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Mike Davidson makes the case for the Apple iPhone
Posted Jul 26, 2004, 7:13 AM ET by Sean Bonner
Mike Davidson is a great blogger who regularly writes well thought out essays. Yesterday he made the case for the Apple iPhone. It’s been on wishlists for years, but Mike thinks there’s a real chance for it to materialize.
The iPod and the Treo are about the same size, they both play MP3s, and yet the iPod only does a few things better. It has up to 40 gigs of storage, as compared to the 1 gig SD card you can stick in a Treo. That’s about 10,000 songs vs. 250 songs (albeit in removable form). The second thing is does better is provide a dedicated music-centric interface. The Treo’s interface must do 1000 things with the iPod’s does only do a few. And finally, the iPod looks a little better than the Treo, and that is a testiment to Apple’s legendary design prowess.
Aside from those three things, however, the Treo dropkicks the iPod right off the playing field. It makes calls, organizes contacts, syncs with PCs and Macs, plays games, runs applications, gets email, surfs the web, checks blogs, has crazy-high battery life, and on and on and on. So if I only have room for one cigarette-pack-sized device in my pants pocket, which one am I going to pick? That’s easy. There is no good reason for portable music players to continue on as standalone units, and Apple, being a smart company, realizes this.
Related Links
» All Hail the iPhone Mike Industries
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Previous Entries
» Accessorize Your Accessory
Jul 24, 2004, 5:43 AM ET
» Find WiFi hotspots on your iPod (Bay Area Only)
Jul 20, 2004, 2:24 AM ET
» 4G iPods Are A Go!
Jul 19, 2004, 10:40 AM ET
» Will we See 60GB iPods tomorrow?
Jul 18, 2004, 11:12 PM ET
» Indispensable Mac OS X products
Jul 18, 2004, 5:30 PM ET
» Thinking Different
Jul 18, 2004, 2:50 PM ET
» 4G iPod leaked!
Jul 17, 2004, 10:59 PM ET
» iPod Updates
Jul 17, 2004, 10:58 AM ET
» First 5 Minutes with AirPort Express
Jul 16, 2004, 12:08 PM ET
» iMac Unavailable Online
Jul 16, 2004, 5:13 AM ET
» Always Bet On Black
Jul 15, 2004, 5:08 PM ET
» OSX DOOM 3 confirmed and will be done “when it’s done”
Jul 15, 2004, 4:38 PM ET
» PageRank Widget for Mac
Jul 15, 2004, 10:46 AM ET
» Apple Is Making Bank!
Jul 15, 2004, 10:41 AM ET
» It’s Official: Next iMac’s To Have G5 Chips
Jul 14, 2004, 7:05 PM ET
» Super Customized iPod Mini
Jul 14, 2004, 6:13 PM ET
» 20 Suggestions for a better Mac Experience.
Jul 14, 2004, 11:19 AM ET
» Sleeker, Smaller iPods in August
Jul 14, 2004, 11:11 AM ET
» O’Reilly Releases 2nd Edition of OS X Book
Jul 14, 2004, 10:43 AM ET
» Airport Express Shipping
Jul 14, 2004, 10:37 AM ET
