There is a popular meme about how Apple doesn’t give much thought to the little guys as it moves forward with its platforms. My experience with the iBookstore has been the exact opposite. I found out yesterday that I now have my own page on iTunes. Who would have thought that the world’s biggest company would take care of the world’s smallest author so kindly.
Trucks and Cars
In 2010, Steve Jobs made the analogy between PCs and mobile devices with the original trucks and cars. He explained that when we were an agrarian nation and automobiles were new, everybody wanted a truck. Automobiles were expensive things and you only bought one if you needed it to do heavy work. That, however, was temporary. Eventually, people began buying cars and before you knew it most people bought cars.
As the analogy goes, the desktop PCs are the trucks and the emerging classes of tablets and pocket computing devices, such as iPhones, are the cars. When he made the analogy, it made a lot of sense to me but I felt like it was still something pretty distant into the future. I don’t think that’s the case anymore. Looking at my new iPhone, it has a 64 bit processor and is more powerful than anything I could’ve imagined just a few years ago. Moreover, software developers are getting smarter about ways to implement these touch devices in a way that’s quick, efficient, and just better than a traditional PC. (Don’t believe me? Check out Editorial.) I don’t think the desktop Mac is going away but I do feel the swing as more people decide their phones and tablets are “enough”.
This was brought home for me today with some reporting by Horac Dediu. Including iOS and Android devices with traditional computers, in Q3 2008, there were 92 million units shipped, 90% of which were running Windows. Jumping to Q3 2013, using the same devices, there were 269 million units shipped of which Windows was 32%. There were more traditional computer shipped in 2008 than in 2013. You don’t even need fancy statistics to verify this. Just look around you, and you’ll find several people that get by just fine with a mobile device alone.
I’m not saying that laptops and desktop computers are going to go away entirely. There’s a big group of people that are always going to want that kind of power, including me. However, the shift from trucks to cars is in full swing and as the mobile devices get even better hardware and smarter software, this is going to become even more obvious.
More on Microsoft Office for iPad
I’ve written so much about Office and the iPad that I almost feel obligated to pile on every time we get something new. I was all set to do that today (and even started a draft) until I read Jeff Richardson’s post. All I can say now is, ditto that.
October 22 iPad Event
AllThngsD is pretty reliable about predicting Apple events and new iPads on October 22 makes a lot of sense. The one part of this scoop that really grabbed my attention is the idea of an iPad mini with a retina screen and A7 chip. I wonder how Apple could do that at the mini’s current price. Maybe it is a scale thing. Maybe it is entirely fictional. Either way, if they do deliver that product, I am 100% in.
Nest Protect
Today Nest announced its new product, the Nest Protect. It is a combination smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm that received the same love and attention the Nest thermostat did. It has an app and connects to your WiFi. It gives you a warning before it goes off and if it a false alarm (I burn toast, often), you can waive your hand in front of it and it will go off.
I think the tricky part is the price. All of the smoke detectors in my house combined didn’t cost the $130 price tag of one Nest Protect. I suspect the people at Nest aren’t aiming for Home Depot bargain hunters here and I suspect they’ll do just fine with this new product.
Have you noticed the way all of these connected devices are slowly pulling us into the smart-house of the future? I’m loving it.
Dalrymple on Schmidt
Sometimes Jim brings his unique perspective to tech executives in a way nobody else can.
MPU 158: iOS Gems and Delights
Episode 158 of the Mac Power Users is up. In it Katie and I cover some of our favorite iOS 7 tips and workflows along with our favorite iOS 7-ified applications.
Sponsor: Rocket Matter and Free Evernote Book
This week MacSparky.com is sponsored by Rocket Matter, the premier cloud-based law practice management solution. The folks at Rocket Matter get how to run your business in the Internet age and Rocket Matter is the place to go when you’ve finally had it with the expense and pain of trying to do it yourself. This week Rocket Matter is giving away a free ebook, Cloud Planet: A Lawyer’s Guide to Evernote. This book is full of tips and advice to get the most out of Evernote, no matter what you do for a living. Go download the book. You won’t regret it.
Home Screens: Greg Pierce
While there are a lot of app developers, there aren’t many that created an entire genre of applications. Greg Pierce (Twitter) from Agile Tortoise, who dreamed up and created Drafts, the App that holds the right-most position in my dock. Katie and I spent a lot of time talking about Drafts in our iOS Automation show. Okay Greg, show us your homescreen.
What are some of your favorite apps?
Obviously, I’m a heavy user of my own apps – I capture all sorts of things in Drafts (iPhone) (iPad), and use Terminology as the starting point for all my searching, not just for words, but for general information as well.
The day-to-day apps that I use most on my phone are the ones that are entry points to communication: Mail, Messages, Tweetbot (iPhone) (iPad), Riposte andFacebook. Not all of these are necessarily my “favorite” apps, they are the ones that provide me the most utility and all of them are very good.
I love Fantastical. I almost never bothered to enter calendar events using my phone prior to Fantastical, but it made it so easy that I use it all the time now. The natural language text processing is top notch.
Probably my most useful app (across devices) is 1Password, however. It’s my password tool, but also my mobile wallet where I keep all sorts of other important personal information that I need to reference from time to time but don’t want to carry around on paper. Bank accounts, insurance policy info, server configurations, etc. It allows me to be absent minded without worry, and that’s worth so much.
I have two more categories of apps I use a lot: Media and Reading.
I have an A/V folder on my home screen with a few apps that get a ton of use around the house. Rdio, the AppleTV Remote, the remote app for my AirPlay Pioneer receiver, Downcast for Podcasts. All things I use almost daily to control and consume media.
And while I don’t read a ton on the iPhone – it’s always handy to have Instapaper, Reeder and the Kindle app around to kill some time in a waiting room. These are primary use apps on the iPad, however.
Which app is your guilty pleasure?
Not sure I have one. I have a whole page of casual games on both my iPhone and my iPad which provide me a great deal of pleasure, but I can’t say I feel guilty about any of them. I’ve got a significant hours logged Candy Crush, Kingdom Rush, Ridiculous Fishing – but it’s good to relax and not worry about being productive.
I like to get in Minecraft with the kids and build things as well.
What is the app you are still missing?
If I knew that, I would probably be working on building it. Drafts was that missing app for me before I built it. I’m glad it’s filled similar needs for others.
It’s hard, however, to see those gaps. The great apps come along and not only fill gaps, but fill gaps you didn’t realize were there.
How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad?
If I never stop using them, does that count as just once? Sadly, that’s only sort of a joke.
What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPad?
The magic. I’ve had an iPhone since shortly after the first one came out, and I still am in awe of the amount of power and utility that I carry around in my pocket…still doesn’t seem real.
Handy flashlight, too.
If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?
As a consumer, I think Apple does a spectacular job across the board with hardware and software.
As a developer, I have some issues with the App Store marketplace and the development process that I would like to see change – but the beefs are relatively minor ones that are not worth airing here and largely come down to improving communication channels with those of us outside of Apple who participate in the App Store economy.
Thanks Greg. And thanks for Drafts. A lot.
2.9 Million Adobe Accounts Compromised
It looks like they got customer names and encrypted passwords. I feel for Adobe. With a big database like that, how can you truly keep it safe with hackers always probing for another way in. It takes just one chink in the armor.
Did I mention there is a 1Password update out today? Be careful out there.