Refreshing the MacBook Air

As a former MacBook Air owner, it looks like Apple solved the two most vexing problems with the original.

Memory

Two gigabytes wasn’t enough. Not then and certainly not now. If you are lining up to get yourself a new MacBook Air, pay the extra $100 for 4GB Ram. Forego Starbucks for a few months or sell blood. You won’t regret it.

4200 RPM

The original MacBook Air had a 4200 RPM hard drive. This was a remarkably slow hard drive. Sometimes I just wanted to reach in and start spinning it with my finger to speed it up. By making everything SSD, the new machine will feel like a screamer despite its lackluster CPU. My Apple spies are already telling me this is the case.

In addition to solving the above problems, the long life battery, instant on, and increased screen resolution don’t hurt either. It will be interesting to see who buys the 11” versus 13” models and how they get used. Regardless, those who thought an Apple sub-notebook was beyond hope (especially after the release of the iPad) can now rejoice (and go to their nearest Apple store). If I was in the market for a new MacBook, I’d be looking long and hard at those new MacBook Airs.

Home Screens – Dave Caolo

I’ve always enjoyed Dave Caolo’s (Twitter) writing at TUAW. When Dave started his own site, 52Tiger, it immediately went in my RSS feed. I particularly like the way Dave puts out the occasional long form piece. In addition to writing about the Mac, Dave loves his iPad and agreed to share his home screen here.

What are your most interesting home screen apps?

Among those shown above, I find Flipboard and NPR to be the most interesting. The idea of a customized digital magazine is compelling and perfect for the iPad. In fact, Flipboard has become my preferred way to interact with Facebook. With just a few clicks, the content I’m interested in looks like it’s been published in a high-end design magazine. It has become one of the apps I use to show off the iPad.

NPR is a cross between an app for reading and an app for listening. Scroll vertically across three categories — news, music and arts & life — to find a sotry you’re interested it. From there you can read the story, listen to the NPR interview, create a custom playlist and share the article with friends via Twitter, Facebook or email. It’s easy to browse the other stories within a category as well. It’s so well done that it’s become a part of my evening routine.

I should note that those apps — the ones I’ve deemed “most interesting” — aren’t the apps I use most often. That list would be Instapaper, Twitterrific, Flipboard, Colloquy and OmniFocus.

What is your favorite app?

My answer to this question changes often. Lately I’ve been enjoying Netflix for streaming movies and Gourmet Live for reading. I’m very interested in the development of Gourmet Live, as its unique among Condé Nast titles: the only title that exists as an iOS app only. I know that the team behind it is totally dedicated and I’ve loved every update issued so far. The idea to let readers “unlock” certain content by reading is a lot of fun and something I haven’t seen outside of games.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

Angry Birds, of course, and Yahtzee HD. My entire extended family are rabid Yahtzee fans and I use the iPad app to “stay sharp” for our next get-together. Plus the game’s adventure mode is fun.

How many screens have you filled?

I’m at four screens with 6 apps in the dock.

What is the app you are still missing?

Carcassonne! This was easily my unofficial iOS app of summer, 2010. I just can’t stop playing it and while it doesn’t look too bad when pixel-doubled on the iPad, I’m more than ready for an optimized version.

How many times a day do you use your iPad?

Honestly I couldn’t count. Both have become important parts of my workday. I use Colloquy all day to say in touch with my co-workers at TUAW. OmniFocus keeps me on top of things. Twitterrific lets me chat with colleagues and friends. The iPhone makes all of this incredibly convenient buy putting all of these apps and services in my pocket.

The iPad is simply my favorite computer. In fact, I’m composing this post with it. I can accomplish nearly anything I want with this thin, comfortable slab of metal and glass. I still marvel at how futuristic it seems; it’s like something out of a Ray Bradbury novel.

What is your favorite feature of the iPad?

The App Store. With a few clicks and a few bucks, the iPhone and iPad can become whatever I want them to be. Weather station, GPS receiver, magazine, cookbook, novel, game…anything. The iPhone and iPad’s killer app is the potential. Apple has handed a clean slate to thousands of gifted developers and said, “Here. Make something awesome.” That have and continue to do so. Their work is inspiring, satisfying and a huge part of the device’s incredible bottom line.

If you were Steve Jobs, what would you add to the iPhone?

That’s so difficult to answer because I don’t believe anyone else thinks like Steve. I can tell you that I’d add more RAM to the iPad in a second, but I’m not sure how I’d alter the iPhone if I were Steve. Part of the fun of using Apple’s products is being delighted by unforeseen niceties.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I’d like to thank you for the opportunity to complete this interview. I appreciate it tremendously, and hope your readers found something here interesting.

Thanks Dave!

Adding Tasks to OmniFocus with E-Mail

One of my few complaints with OmniFocus for iPad in my review is its inability to process tasks directly from the mail application to OmniFocus. On my Mac, I often blitz through my inbox creating future tasks with daily e-mail. That is not possible on the iPad, or is it?

Reader Pierre sent me a note to remind me about OmniFocus’s ability to process e-mails into your task list. OmniFocus lets you send yourself specially formatted e-mails that will process directly into your OmniFocus inbox.

To set it up, use the OmniFocus Mail preference pane and select the Add Mail Rule to create OmniFocus actions checkbox. You can have OmniFocus look for any messages that have +omnifocus before the @ sign in the destination address, as in david+omnifocus@macsparky.com. If everything goes to plan, the message will arrive in the correct mailbox as if the plus sign and the extra word were not there and the message gets delivered to your OmniFocus inbox. Alternatively, you can provide a special code for the the message subject line. I use three dashes.
Next, you can instruct OmniFocus to file the received message. I dump them in my Archive, as shown below.

The Allowed From addresses list is automatically filled with any email addresses on the “Me” card in Address Book. This way, everyone who reads this post can’t contribute to my task list by sending me an e-mail beginning with three dashes.

I find simply getting the messages in my inbox is enough. I then process and categorize the messages from inside my inbox on OmniFocus for iPad.

If you want to add more data to the new task item, the syntax is powerful. Here is the breakdown from Omni’s help file:

The subject and body of the message are joined into a single block of text.
The first line and any other lines starting with — (double-hyphens) become new actions. Other lines become notes for the preceding action.

To specify a project, use > (greater-than sign) or :: (double-colons), followed by a project name or abbreviation. The colons are nicer for the iPhone because they are on the first shifted keyboard rather than the less-accessible math keyboard. The project string is matched exactly as if it was entered in a project cell in OmniFocus.

To specify a context, use @ (at sign), followed by a context name or abbreviation. Like project names, the context name is matched exactly as it would be in OmniFocus.

To enter start or due dates, use # (number sign), followed by some date expression. The same expressions you use in OmniFocus (tomorrow, 9-30-2008, 2w, and so on) can be used in mail messages. If there is only one date, it becomes the due date. If there are two (each with its own number sign), the first becomes the start date and the second becomes the due date.

To enter a time estimate, use $ (dollar sign—time is money) followed by some duration expression (like 5m, 1h, and so on); you can use the same duration expressions that you use in OmniFocus.

To flag the action, use ! (exclamation point) at the end of the action title.
You can also add a note on the same line as an action title by separating them with // (double-slashes). Anything after the double-slashes becomes a note, but double-slashes in a URL like omnigroup.com don’t count.

As you can see, you could really go nuts. The only downside to this feature is that in order for it to work, there has to be a Mac somewhere in the universe running Mail and OmniFocus at all times to process the tasks for you. If your laptop remains in your bag, nothing is going to happen.

For the daily grind, I continue to process my inbox at then end of the day and use the OmniFocus Clip-o-Tron 2000 to send new messages to tasks. However, if I am flying solo with the iPad for more than a few days, I’ll go activate this mail rule and leave Mail and OmniFocus running on my home iMac so I can continue to process mail.

Speaking at Macworld 2011

I’m speaking again at Macworld. This year my session will be about Syncing your Apple Life. No Matter what concoction of Macs, iPhones, iPads, and iPods you carry, I will show you how to make them all play nice. If you’ve never been to Macworld, make sure to get there. I always find my trip to Macworld one of the highlights of my year. See you there.

Back to the Mac? We never left.

After a long period of relative silence concerning the Mac, this week was full of news. Apple announced a special event next week to give us a peek behind the curtain on Mac OS X 10.7 (presumably called “Lion”). Furthermore, people who keep track of statistics like how many computers are out there are reporting that the Mac has now jumped to over 10% market share.

I have always felt that the market share statistics underreport Apple’s actual market penetration. Big companies and enterprise purchasers (who buy computers by the truckload), almost never purchase Apple products. As a result, the total market share is always skewed against Apple. For a better idea of Apple’s market penetration, walk in to your local Starbucks or Peet’s Coffee and look around. In Orange County, California, usually about half of the computers are Macs.

My point is, that while Apple has been pre-occupied with its mobile market share land grab over the past few years, that is okay. Mac users have been quietly using a very stable platform and getting work done. Although my appreciation for the iPad seems to only increase with time, I still get a lot of work done on my Mac. While Apple’s focus may be coming back to the Mac, for most users, we never left.

Sparrow, Alternative Client for Gmail

It is nice to see the initial success and interest in Sparrow, a native Mac OS X application for managing Gmail. I think a lot of developers would like to compete with Mail but are worried there is no market for alternative e-mail product when Mail.app is free. Maybe Sparrow’s success will encourage a few more developers to take a crack at it.

TotalFinder Review

Every year or two, a chorus of dissatisfaction swells over the default Mac OS X Finder. The underlying problem is that the Finder really hasn’t changed much since we were all sitting behind our shiny new Macs in 1984.

When the rumors started swirling about Snow Leopard and a “brand new” Finder, there was hope Apple would take a new pass at it but, alas, we only got the same old Finder re-built using modern frameworks.

There are also several third party Finder replacements. PathFinder is my favorite. However, very few third party applications have had the moxy to fiddle with the Apple Finder. TotalFinder does.

TotalFinder is a new Finder enhancement available for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. It brings several new tricks to the OS X Finder.

Tabs

TotalFinder’s premier feature is tabbed browsing in the Finder. You know those tabs you use in Safari? They are now in the Finder. This lets you display multiple Finder panes in the same Finder window and makes it easy to jump between them.

The tabs are based on code from Google Chrome and look like it. You can open a new tab with the keyboard (⌘T). You can move between tabs with a click of the mouse. You can reorder them or pull a tab into a separate window. You can close specific tabs (⌘W) or double-click one to enter dual mode (discussed below). You can also drag and drop files between tabs. The tabs act exactly as you would expect them too. This alone was worth the $15 license fee to me.

Dual Mode

Dual mode is activated by double-clicking any tab or pressing ⌘U. It results in two finder panes side by side. This makes it easy to copy and move files between panes.

Additional Bells and Whistles

The use of tabs and dual-mode are TotalFinder’s big selling points. The developer even redrew the Finder icon, adding tabs. Many users will never stray beyond those two features. There are, however, some more tricks with TotalFinder

One annoyance I have with the default Finder is the way it mixes folders with files. I prefer, when looking at a Finder window, to have folders on top and the rest of the files below. TotalFinder does this. It can be toggled on and off (⇧⌘;) for you traditionalists. TotalFinder also adds a keyboard (⇧⌘.) shortcut to toggle display of hidden system files.

TotalFinder additionally has a system-wide Visor mode that pulls up a dedicated Finder window from the bottom of your screen. I tried this for a few weeks but in the end turned it off. If you are a Terminal.app user and like its Visor mode, you’ll be right at home. It works best with an auto-hiding dock.

There also is an advanced command-line feature, Asepsis, that helps you redirect propagation of those pesky .DS_Store files that seem to be everywhere.

The developer also plans to add some additional features including the ability to cut and paste files between Finder windows.

Overall, TotalFinder is a good investment at $15 if you frequently find your desktop overpopulated with unruly Finder windows.

You can listen to this review on the MacReviewCast.

Home Screens – Eddie Smith

I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point in the last several months Eddie Smith’s (Twitter) Practically Efficient blog became required reading for me. I’ve had the pleasure of corresponding with Eddie and he is a charming person in addition to a rising star. Eddie is one of the many Verizon iPhone hold outs but loves his iPad. So Eddie, show us your home screen.

How do you primarily use your iPad?

The iPad has become my favorite device for reading books, reading RSS feeds, and using social media. I also use apps like Dropbox and GoodReader for “real work.” The iPad has proven itself as a great travel companion too. It’s more portable than a laptop, has a great battery, and can keep you entertained with games.

Why isn’t your home screen full?

Honestly, I’m just odd. Moreover, I’m a big believer in minimizing clutter in workspaces. I leave nothing on my Mac desktop for more than a few minutes. I’ve basically carried this same philosophy to the iPad, which I see as more computer than phone.

My home screen only shows apps that I get into just about every day. It also doesn’t include apps that show “unread” counts (e.g. Mail, App Store). These seem to emanate an attention-grabbing gravity that I don’t want on my home screen.

What are your most interesting home screen apps?

Soulver is probably the most unique.

It’s basically a mash-up of a note app and a calculator, but it also has the qualities of a word processor and spreadsheet. You can write in natural language and intersperse math expressions. It’s ideal for taking notes when numbers are involved. Soulver does all the math for you and shows the result in a side bar.

What is your favorite app?

I can narrow it down to two: Kindle and Simplenote. Together, they form a very cool duality that, to me, is the true essence of the iPad’s magic. Kindle is pure consumption while Simplenote is pure creation. Kindle is a deep well of all that has been; Simplenote is a canvas for all that can be. The iPad is like a scale that balances these, although it definitely tips more toward consumption most days.

The Kindle app’s interface is very clean and uncluttered. I can focus solely on the current page. Even a paper book is more cluttered than the Kindle app because, in Kindle, the page numbers are hidden — a simple nuance of e-reading I’ve come to appreciate.

As for Simplenote, I really can’t get over how well it syncs text. The fact that I can write blog posts, articles, and notes in Notational Velocity on my Mac and have them instantly available in Simplenote on my iPad is stuff not of the world I occupied just a year ago. It makes the physical location of your words irrelevant.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

Definitely StumbleUpon. I discovered StumbleUpon in the last year, and I initially had it on my desktop browsers. Productivity fail. It has been exiled to my iPad along with most of my other social media things.

How many screens have you filled?

Five. I’m actually amazed that I’ve occupied that many. I like experimenting and trying apps, but I also try to get rid of ones that I don’t think I’ll ever use again.

What is the app you are still missing?

I can’t wait for OmniOutliner to arrive on the iPad. I would also love to see a quality, standalone personal finance app that isn’t 100% cloud-based. I think the iPad provides an enormous opportunity for making the chores of money management easier.

How many times a day do you use your iPad?

On a typical day, my iPad gets used a lot. In the morning, it’s a radio while I’m getting ready for work (mostly Pandora). Almost every evening, it becomes a newspaper (Reeder and Instapaper), a book (Kindle), and a social media hub (Osfoora HD and Tumbleroo). It also comes out regularly at odd times when I want to jot something down.

What is your favorite feature of the iPad?

Definitely its instant-on nature. I suppose it’s a simple aspect of the iPad, but I think it’s revolutionary. I think the instant-on-ness of the iPad is slowly waking up mainstream consumers to the idea that a large screen device need not take minutes to come on. (Those of us with Macs already knew that, but most folks don’t.)

If you were Steve Jobs, what would you add to the iPad?

Flash. Kidding — I’m quite content without it.

I would add two things. Now that we’ve been shown the magic of FaceTime, I would love to see a camera added. With a camera, I think the iPad could connect family and friends like never before. Christmas mornings would change forever.

More technically, I would like Apple to make sharing services (e.g. Twitter) more “global” in the OS. It’s one of the few things I like about Android over iOS — being able to share pretty much anything in any app regardless of whether the app developer added sharing services.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Of course. I could talk about the iPad for hours, but I’ve said too much already!

Thanks Eddie!