With the latest-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology, and all-flash storage, MacBook Air isn’t thin on features.
My favorite feature? The backlit keyboard; “What you see is what you type.”
With the latest-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology, and all-flash storage, MacBook Air isn’t thin on features.
My favorite feature? The backlit keyboard; “What you see is what you type.”
Lion is available for download on the Mac App Store – just $29.
July 20th, 2011 | Send to Instapaper
Shawn Blanc wrote a fantastic article, touching on some major flaws in the transition from print to digital media. I would argue, however, that Shawn’s argument, is flawed one; how many people actually read a magazine?
… people who like to read a lot certainly don’t spend the majority of their reading time at a noisy amusement park.
Media-rich, interactive, and social – these “features” help flaunt a magazine’s content. Magazines attract readers based on the cover alone. The same can be said about web design, and an app’s UI. These graphics relate to the reader in a way that no website, or app — like Instapaper — could.
Every writer deserves to have their opinion, their argument, displayed as they see fit. Each article (in a magazine) has equivalence to it’s own website. Every website is different, has a personality — a set emotion the author is trying to convey. When designing Let’s Talk Apple, the goal was to keep the design as focused on the reading experience — the ‘readability’ of my words on the screen — as possible. The layout remains constant, and *can* remain constant, because everything here is my content, my point of view.
Magazines, though different, also have personalities of their own — however, publishers hire many writers, with many different perspectives. I would never expect John Gruber and Shawn Blanc to mimic each other’s design, writing style, or even appear on the same website; they are two very different writers, with very different opinions.
I would argue Instapaper’s success largely rides on the aging success of the print industry. We fill our queue with articles we find interesting, and authors we trust to write something newsworthy. Publishers hire writers based on their ‘likability’ — their ability to connect and touch base with their readers, as well as their ability to write. There is one main difference between Instapaper and a magazine – choice. With Instapaper, I choose who and what, appears in my “magazine”. Publishers, on the other hand, make these choices for me.
Apple has Caught Up with iPad 2 Demand
The US store and many around the world now list shipping times of 1-3 days for the items, the same for other products that aren’t constrained.
See Something, or Say Something
Red dots are locations of Flickr pictures. Blue dots are locations of Twitter tweets. White dots are locations that have been posted to both.
It truly is social networking at it’s best.
With this change, we will no longer offer a plan that includes both unlimited streaming and DVDs by mail.
The change (1) makes sense for Netflix and (2) will sting consumers for a while. Compared to the late fees of old, the change remains a God-send.
The author William Gibson said, “The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.” Ain’t that true? And it’s not just that some of us already live in the future, but we quickly forget what it’s like to live in the past.
Kid’s Reaction to Gay Couple
I’m going to go play ping pong
Utterly brilliant.
I have a small “15 minute glass” on my desk, which helps me mind tasks throughout the day. It’s a delightfully unmediated interface, free of the paternalistic gewgaws that plague a lot of time management programs. I also keep a stuffed labbit around. Because every good workbench needs a mascot.
David’s setup is worth a look, for his writing style alone.
At first it feels like a joke, a parody of the infamous Photo Booth craze. After watching the video, the project becomes truly incredible.
Update: It looks like the project is undergoing investigation by “Apple and the Secret Service.” I can see why people are apprehensive of the project, but (as is the norm these days) a “full-blown” investigation feels like a bit much. To wrap it up, here’s a pretty important snippet from AppleInsider:
McDonald, who holds a master’s degree in electronic arts, maintains that he hasn’t broken any laws, although he does admit that his project might make some people uncomfortable. The artist noted that did receive permission from Apple’s security guards to photograph in the store and first checked with customers about taking their photos with a camera. He also said people who do not want to be part of his project can ask to be removed.
Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off
The space shuttle Atlantis lifted off Friday morning on the final mission of America’s 30-year space-shuttle program, a thunderously poignant moment for fans and veterans of the space program.
It was a marvelous event. My only regret is not seeing the launch in person.
Note: There are some pictures on Twitter, with even better past photos on Alan Taylor’s, “In Focus”.
HP’s WebOS Advertising Campaign
This also indicates that HP thinks youth are one of their target markets for the device, which is kind of odd. There’s nothing very exciting about it right now for younger people, besides perhaps Flash-support in the browser, but once they actually use it I don’t think they’ll find that much of an advantage.
Agreed. The majority of customers purchasing tablets are older – especially in the case of Android, Blackberry, and presumably HP’s WebOS. I would imagine children are being introduced to legacy devices (their father’s old iPhone/iPod Touch, even first-generation iPads).
YouTube’s Cosmic Panda Redesign
I’ve been using the Cosmic Panda “skin” for YouTube for a little under twelve hours now. It makes watching videos on YouTube an even better experience; dare I say, an enjoyable one.
Again, if you are on the Internet, then you keep important things, that you want secured, on the Internet — that’s the very reason we started with passwords to begin with.
I maintain the argument, “Having a good password (with variations) is equally as effective as 1Password.” I have never been keen on the idea of the “master password,” or the password to unlock them all.
Use a great password, have variations of this password, and – most importantly – do not share your password. Problem solved.
“Awake” is an intriguing drama about a detective (Jason Issacs, “Harry Potter,” “Brotherhood”) who finds he is leading an arduous double life that defies reality. Coming Soon to NBC.
I am more than excited for “Awake,” the television series to debut. This was my third time watching the trailer, and thought it appropriate to share it here. Enjoy…
When it comes to presentation, Mark Zuckerberg is no Steve Jobs
“Steve Jobs builds his presentations around our innermost needs and desires,” one Twitter user wrote. “Zuckerberg builds his around normalized logarithmic charts.”
That would be yesterday’s “Awesome Facebook Event” in a nutshell. It was long, confusing, and featured a rather lackluster presentation by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The hour-long event was scheduled to announce video calling within Facebook, though a partnership with Skype.
I haven’t been able to test it yet; both my mother and my browser crashed during the Java install. I have, however, been assured that once the applet is installed, it works well. Here is a link to a video of the feature in action. To try the feature on your own machine, copy or follow the link below:
Apple’s App Store Downloads Top 15 Billion
As you have already read on some unknown corner of the internet, Apple’s App Store has crossed the fifteen-billionth download. There is a reason iOS is dominating the mobile market.
Dropbox: What’s Yours, Stays Yours
We’ve never been interested in rights broader than what we need to run Dropbox. We want to get this language right so that you’re comfortable using Dropbox with no reservations: what’s yours is yours.
The updated terms of service (TOS) agreement is clear and, dare I say, uplifting. If you are curious, my concerns have been addressed.
If you ever end up multiple levels deep in Tweetbot, hitting the back button 5 times to get back to the main timeline can be annoying. Instead, just hold down on the back button and it will send you right back home.
The Tapbots team has shared some of the more obscure features in Tweetbot, my Twitter app of choice.
The award-winning music service that’s taken Europe by storm will soon be landing on US shores. Millions of tracks ready to play instantly, on your computer and your phone.
Any track, any time, anywhere. And it’s free!
Remember to sign-up for (what I am assuming is) the US beta.
These devices will have smallish non-audiophile speakers, but they are guaranteed to be better than those on what ever mobile device is hosting (or streaming) your music.
Tim is talking about connecting an auxiliary cable to a TV or “clock radio” while traveling, to use as external speakers. It is a neat idea for the minimalist-at-heart.
Commenter, Josh Marshall makes one essential addition:
If you include a second cable, with an 1/8″ jack on one end and a pair of RCA jacks (the red and white ones) on the other end you’ll cover most of the remaining cases. 99% of TVs have them.
I’ve been trying to conjure a solution for a very same problem. The best I could come-up with is a more tech-infused solution; the Jawbone Jambox.
WordPress 3.2 Downloaded More Than 330K Times In 24 Hours
WordPress 3.1 was downloaded over 15 million times in less than 5 months. But time marches on, and so does the music. Yesterday, WordPress 3.2, also known as “Gershwin”, was released to the public, and in just 24 hours, the latest iteration of the website and blogging platform has been downloaded over 330,000 times.
These numbers are just incredible.
Looks like the title, “iSteve: The Book of Jobs” is no more, and “Steve Jobs By Walter Isaacson” will be it’s replacement. Good stuff; I was worried.
Twitter Tools is a plugin that creates a complete integration between your WordPress blog and your Twitter account.
We’ll see about that.
Update: It works!
Another stellar update from the fine folks at WordPress. I must admit, the new design was jarring at first, but it has grown on me quite a bit.
All I know is that trying to do what you love as a guiding principle makes a helluva lot more sense then acting out of a sense of obligation.
Verizon’s New Smartphone Data Plans
John Gruber:
What I don’t get is why not offer everyone the $10 for 75 MB plan? Lower the monthly minimum and get more people to switch from feature phones to app phones.
I would prefer to see all carriers drop required data plans on “app phones” and let customers choose whether or not they want to be connected to the internet 24/7. There are many, my father included, who do not use data. A phone is a phone, and (in my father’s case) an iPad is for everything else. Simple and effective.
By allowing you to set a custom field value from within the content of a post, this plugin extends the functionality of the various WordPress blogging apps that don’t yet allow you to access that sort of thing (e.g., WordPress’ official iOS apps).
Shawn Blanc on the HP TouchPad
It’s buggy and has a poor app store like the rest of the other tablets. But what the TouchPad has that the others do not is likability. And that gives me hope that it could be great.
One fundamental reminder: ‘could be’ and ‘is’ are two very different things.
Jealousy is a bitch.