Speaking of podcasating, I also guested today on the Clockwise podcast where we covered the future of laptop keyboards, whether VR can be good at anything beyond entertainment, the growing importance of encryption, and a watchOS 3 check-in.
MPU 349: MPU+, A Corn-u-copia of Nerdiness
This month’s MPU Feedback show includes more on the iCloud vs. Dropbox debate, macOS Sierra, more on the new MacBook Pro, and Katie is super-excited about her VESA mount.
Sponsored include:
- Casper: Because everyone deserves a great night sleep. Get $50 off with the code ‘MPU’
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- The Omni Group We’re passionate about productivity for Mac, iPhone and iPad.
- Sanebox Stop drowning in email!
TextExpander Public Groups
TextExpander has a new feature called Public Groups. With it, anyone can offer to share a TextExpander group publicly. There are already several interesting public groups. I have shared my “foreign thanks” group that automatically expands to say thank you in the language of choice. For instance typing “klingonthanks” renders “QA TLHO'” (of course in all caps).
Because the public groups are served up from the TextExpander.com site, when the original author makes alterations to the list, it automatically pushes the change out to subscribers. So if you look at my foreign thanks list and find a language I left out, let me know and I will update it for everyone. I plan on publishing several more of my more useful TextExpander groups through the TextExpander Public Groups in the next month. Keep your eyes out.
If you’re a TextExpander subscriber, I recommend checking out the public groups. You can even subscribe from iPad and iPhone and you’ll find quite a few that are even more useful than my “foreign thanks” group.
Touch Bar on an External Keyboard
Daniel Jalkut recently wrote this piece about the Touch Bar coming to an Apple external keyboard. That would allow for the Touch Bar to be used with desktop Macs and MacBooks used in clamshell mode. Daniel thinks they’ll eventually get there.
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“I find it impossible to believe that Apple would go to all this work, both on the Touch Bar itself, and across the entire range of its own apps and OS features, unless it had a grand vision for the Touch Bar that extends way beyond the internal keyboard of its premium notebook computers.”
I agree. I’m certain it would need more charging (and perhaps a bigger battery) than the current external keyboard and I’m guessing it will be pretty pricey but I fully expect a Touch Bar enabled external keyboard to eventually show up from Apple.
Mac Observer Podcast Guest
I recently joined Jeff Gamet on the Mac Observer Daily Observations podcast to talk about the book business.
LumeCube’s Life Lite
The LumeCube team has a new photo/video-friendly light that fits in your pocket, the Life Lite. I own a LumeCube and love it. Being able to light my subject from the back or side with a little bit of tech I can keep in my pocket is awesome. I went ahead and backed the Life Lite so now I’ll have two.
A Mac Nerd Spends 30 Minutes with the Microsoft Surface Studio
A few days ago my wife needed to go to the mall and to her surprise I asked to go with her. My destination was, for the very first time in my life, the Microsoft Store. Specifically, I wanted to check out the Surface Studio, Microsoft’s innovative new PC that looks like an iMac but also tilts down to resemble a drafting table to take advantage of Microsoft Windows’ touch computing features.
It was a Saturday and the Microsoft Store was more crowded than I’ve seen it before. The only time I’d been in this store in the past was to take phone calls because, historically, it is the quietest place in the mall. However, between the virtual reality demonstration and the growing Microsoft PC lines, the store was busy.
A Computer that Tilts
When I stood in front of the Surface Studio it was configured as a traditional computer so the first thing I did was pull it down to drafting table mode. The springs are nicely tuned and you can easily adjust the screen with one hand. There is a stylus that attaches magnetically to the side of the computer along with a minimalist keyboard and mouse.
That adjustment is the big selling point of this computer and if you want a computer that suddenly feels more like a super-big iPad, the Surface Studio delivers, mechanically at least.
I’ve been doing some screencast projects lately that involve time in Windows 10 and while it’s a lot better than Windows 8, it’s still Windows. I’m not trying to bait Windows fans but I have spent time in both operating systems and genuinely prefer macOS (and macOS software developers) over Windows. I’m not the least bit tempted to switch, even for a fancy tilting computer. My real curiosity, however was how well the Surface Studio would work in drafting mode using Microsoft’s one-operating-system-to-do-everything approach, which I recently wrote about.
Overall, the Windows 10 and the drafting table computer work as Microsoft intended. You can select menu items and make selections with your finger but you have to be deliberate and careful. Most of Windows was designed with the idea that you’d have a one pixel sized mouse pointer. In this context, my finger was a blunt instrument and several times Windows mis-read my true touch target. This wasn’t an issue in dialog boxes with white space around the selections but a definite problem anytime I worked in an information-dense area, like menus. In the pre-installed drawing and 3D apps, everything worked well and the apps were definitely tuned for touch. If I paid for my shoes making art on a computer, I’d be very interested in the Surface Studio, Windows 10 warts and all.
In more traditional apps, like Microsoft Word, the touch interface was less useful and more wonky. Word is way more touch-friendly on iPad than the Surface Studio. Those two teams at Microsoft should have lunch together once in awhile, Microsoft is clearly invested in making touch work in Windows and this is a big step but they still have a ways to go.
About that Dial
Another innovation with the Surface Studio is the Surface Dial, a large twisty knob similar to my old Griffin PowerMate. The Surface Dial is both a twist knob and a button. You can set the Surface Dial on the desk or, interestingly, put it on the screen for different features.
In terms of build quality, the Griffen PowerMate is heavier and more solid. (While the Surface Studio itself appears well-built, all of the peripherals felt like they were missing a little heft.) Because the Surface Dial is wired into the Windows operating system the Surface Dial could become something really interesting. I had the Microsoft employee show me some of its features and at this point it’s pretty limited. We got it to work as a volume dial and a zoom dial in a 3D application. In Microsoft word, spinning the dial acts as an Undo. I felt like it should do more. Hopefully they’ll be working on this between now and when the computer ships next month.
Performance Lags
The biggest problem with the Surface Studio was getting it to keep up with graphics intensive interface operations. Apple’s put a lot of effort in both iOS and macOS making the interface pop when you move things around. Pinching and zooming with my fingers on the Surface Studio (when available) was bad. When I tried this, the screen was non- responsive for a moment and then jumped to the screen being bigger or smaller. The frame rate was effectively reduced to one frame per second or two. The Surface Studio hasn’t shipped yet and I’m guessing Microsoft is working on fixing this, but this lag reminded me that Windows as a touch operating system, still is pretty wobbly.
Happy Nerds
I’m clearly not the ideal customer for the Surface Studio. Even if it were running macOS, I’m still not sure how much I’d use a drafting table Mac. macOS and, realistically, Windows are not very touch friendly at this point. Nevertheless, the Surface Studio is different in a good way and I’m glad to see Microsoft innovating again. I think the Surface Studio still needs work but I can see this form factor becoming a favorite for creative folks and I’m really curious to see if Microsoft gives the Surface Studio everything it needs to succeed. If anything, this makes me think of a really big iPad in a few years and how fun that may be.
The best part of my road trip to the Microsoft Store was observing fellow nerds. After spending about 30 minutes putting the Surface Studio through its paces I realized there were three people waiting behind me to try it out. There were a lot of Windows enthusiasts there ready to check out the Surface Studio and they were excited. The vibe was similar the one I felt while standing in line for the first iPhone. That can only be good for Microsoft and Windows fans.
MPU 248 – Managing Subscriptions
There’s been a lot of talk lately about subscriptions. How do you manage them? Are they even a good idea? This week’s Mac Power Users episode tackles subscriptions in truly nerd fashion.
Sponsors Include:
- Squarespace: Enter offer code MPU at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
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- Sanebox Stop drowning in email!
Sponsor: MailButler for Apple Mail Productivity
This week MacSparky is sponsored by MailButler. While Apple Mail has a lot going for it, Apple Mail is hardly a productivity power tool. That’s where MailButler comes in. MailButler adds new features to Apple Mail to make processing, respond to, and acting on your email faster and more efficient.
An example of this is the MailButler Direct Inbox where you can access your most-frequently used mailboxes right from the menu bar. It’s a great way to check in on email without getting lost in email. You can even perform a variety of actions on the email from the menubar without opening mail including replying, archiving, and turning into a to-do item. Integrated to-do support is another productivity boost for MailButler. With one button you can turn an email into a to-do item and continue on with processing your email.
If you’re like me and use Apple Mail on your Mac, you really should check out MailButler. It adds a lot of great features that seriously up your productivity. The entry level plan is free so what are you waiting for? Make your Apple Mail better today. Go check it out.
Podcast Digest Appearance
This week I guested on the Podcast Digest where I talked a little inside-baseball about how I got into podcasting and what it means to me these days.