Mark Hackett runs the small non-profit Operation Broken Silence in Sudan. Join us for the latest episode of Mac Power Users to hear David and some other Hackett guy talk about data management so far from home, the power of Apple’s apps like Pages, and his move to the iPad Pro.
The argument goes that while there were a lot of companies started with the idea of building cars at the inception of the automobile industry when the dust settled, there were only a few left. By that time, those companies had such an extreme advantage that there simply was no room for new start-up car manufacturers to get any traction. Thompson then applies this to technology, arguing that the platforms and integrations built by Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Amazon represent that same extreme advantage. How could someone that wants to make their own mobile phone platform (or whatever gizmo follows the mobile phone) get any traction without all the back end pieces the big four have spent ten years (and billions of dollars) creating? The more I think about it, the more I agree.
The reason this is important is because a lot of us (myself included) had always assumed that at some point, this phase of technology would come to an end by a brand new disrupter completely displacing the current leaders. Now I’m not so sure. Ben Thompson is one of the smartest people writing about the technology industry. If you don’t have Stratechery on your RSS feed, you should.
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Time is your most precious resource. You need to know how you are spending it. But time tracking is no fun, especially when you forget to start or stop a timer. What’s more, having to worry about starting timers all the time makes you lose focus quickly.
The idea of developing ideas over time (I call it “cooking ideas”) is a frequent topic on my podcasts. Recently Brett Terpstra explained how he uses mind maps for much of the same process and how mind maps help him cope with ADHD when it comes to planning. It’s an excellent post. I get an email about once a week from someone that stumbles into the idea of cooking ideas from listening to my podcasts and they are always shocked at how useful it is. As we head into the new year, maybe you’ve got a project in mind that you’d like some help with. I’d recommend trying this technique. If you’d like to learn more, here’s a podcast that explains it. It’s almost 8 years old now, but it still works.
The iPhone has become the primary device for many different types of tasks for a lot of people. On this episode of Mac Power Users, Stephen and I look at the current state of the hardware, software, and services that make up Apple’s most popular product.
Brydge has announced a new iPad keyboard. This one combines their excellent build quality with a built-in trackpad. I love that Brydge has embraced the “keyboards for pro users” market and I hope other manufacturers are paying attention. Combining an iPad with superior hardware and software is what the platform needs most. I have the existing Brydge keyboard and I have to admit, when I use it, it feels like I’m on a MacBook. So much so that I frequently find myself reaching for a non-existent trackpad. I hope this works as advertised.
Tim Stringer is nerdy in all the best possible ways and uses automation to run his Mac and iOS devices. He’s also gone far down the rabbit hole of web-based automation. Today he shares some of his favorite automation tips and tricks with us on Automators, episode 40.
PowerPhotos is sponsoring MacSparky.com this week and this is the perfect time to pick it up and start cleaning up your Apple Photos library. I use Apple Photos for all of my photo management but there are certain features that are just too close to the “power user” end of the spectrum for Apple to ever ship them with Apple Photos.
That’s where PowerPhotos comes in. If you have photos scattered across multiple libraries that you want to merge together, have a library that you want to split up because it’s gotten too large, or want to get rid of duplicate photos, PowerPhotos can help you get your photo collection back in order.
PowerPhotos gives Apple Photos the tools it needs, but Apple didn’t provide. With PowerPhotos, you can work with multiple Photos libraries and store them wherever you want, including on an external drive or a network drive. You can also split up your giant library into smaller ones by copying photos and albums with a simple drag and drop, preserving metadata such as descriptions and keywords along the way. Or, if you already have multiple libraries, use PowerPhotos to merge them while weeding out duplicates along the way. PowerPhotos also features a powerful duplicate photo finder, a browser to let you see your photos without even opening up Photos itself, a multi-library search feature, and more.
PowerPhotos has all those tools you’d want for Apple Photos but Apple will never add. As we head into the new year, why not take control of your Photos library with PowerPhotos? You may recall an app from the iPhoto days called iPhoto Library Manager that gave you a similar set of tools. PowerPhotos is by the same developer, and it’s just as reliable.
