Extra Future>[So you want to potentially not use a laptop anymore, but you also want a computer that does all the same things as a laptop, in pretty much the same way. In which case, I think the computer you’re looking for _is a laptop_.][link]
Incredible burn on every tech journalist who has written this.
[link]: http://mattgemmell.com/laptop-replacement/ “Laptop Replacement”
Remember when we all lost our shit over Panic’s awesome in-house status board? [Well they released it on the App Store today.][link] $10.
You can even [create your own data sources by following this doc][docs]. I’m sure the docs will be available as a non-PDF soon enough.
[link]: http://panic.com/statusboard/ “Status Board”
[docs]: http://panic.com/statusboard/docs/diy_tutorial.pdf “Tutorial PDF”
[Buried inside this inane, rambling, corpspeak, document is the fact that Adobe is abandoning Flash for mobile platforms][link]. This is a good thing for everyone, Adobe included.
[link]: http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2011/11/flash-focus.html “Flash to Focus on PC Browsing and Mobile Apps; Adobe to More Aggressively Contribute to HTML5 Adobe Featured Blogs”
[Almost hidden in this press release about HP’s plans to buy Autonomy Corporation][link]:
>In addition, HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.
A real shame. webOS and the devices built around it were the only real competition to iOS and the iPad/iPhone line.
[link]: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110818006301/en/HP-Confirms-Discussions-Autonomy-Corporation-plc-Business “HP Confirms Discussions with Autonomy Corporation plc Regarding Possible Business Combination; Makes Other Announcements | Business Wire”
[Interactive textbooks for the iPad][link]. The educational potential is neat, but personally I’m just as interested in the entertainment potential.
[link]: http://www.inkling.com/ “Inkling – Interactive textbooks for iPad.”
[An extremely slick-looking text editor][link] a bit lacking in features, but cloud storage using the indispensable Dropbox is a big plus.
[link]: http://www.secondgearsoftware.com/elements/ “Elements — Dropbox powered text editor for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch from Second Gear”
[The Sandwich has some thoughts on the iPad, TV, and the rumored new Apple TV][link]. I like what he’s thinking:
>Could it be that Apple has chosen to separate our video content and store it temporarily in this ghetto because there is something new and awesome on the horizon? Here’s what I think: Soon enough, that placeholder app called Videos will go away, to replaced by a new app called Apple TV.
The current iPad videos app is a real turd in the iPad’s otherwise beautiful punchbowl. This makes a lot of sense.
[link]: http://lonelysandwich.com/post/662129889/ipad-tv “lonelysandwich – iPad TV”
[Very impressive.][link] If I were Adobe I’d be contributing to this project right now.
[link]: http://simonwillison.net/2010/May/29/smokescreen/ “Smokescreen demo: a Flash player in JavaScript”
[Huge news for people who self-publish][link]. This makes it a much more viable option for me personally, as well.
[link]: http://www.lulu.com/apple-ipad-publishing “Apple iPad Publishing”
[Garret Murray, developer of the Ego app for iPhone, on what he calls “revenge reviews”][link]: Reviews posted to the App Store by users who accidentally purchased an app, misread it’s description, or otherwise made a mistake. I hadn’t thought of this:
>People brought up a great point the last time I complained about App Store customers—they’re all children. Not metaphorically, but literally. Most of these customers are kids with iPod Touches. So of course they act like children.
But it rings true. I’d go further and say that the ones that are not *literally* children, are probably emotionally stunted in some way.
[link]: http://log.maniacalrage.net/post/576452229/revenge-reviews “Maniacal Rage”
[An actual post by Steve Jobs on why the iPhone doesn’t support Flash][link], and why it’s not likely to in the future. Well-written, and covers pretty much every logical base.
[link]: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/ “Thoughts on Flash”
[It’s worth noting that the iPhone/iPad is capable of some truly atrocious user interfaces][link].
[link]: http://nativegui.posterous.com/ “iPhone Native GUI – Home”
[John Gruber’s 7,000-word opus on the new face of modern computing.][link]
[link]: http://daringfireball.net/2010/04/the_ipad “Daring Fireball: The iPad”
[John Gruber notes][john], vis-a-vis [this talk given by Bertrand Serlet][talk] on Apple’s API Lifecycle, that:
>Apple doesn’t disallow the use of private APIs out of spite; they disallow it because their private APIs are not fully baked.
It should be obvious, but: Apple’s intentions are utterly unimportant in this matter. Using private APIs for system-level applications is one thing, but iBooks is in the App Store. [iBooks uses private, Apple-only APIs that are not available to other developers][marco]. iBooks directly competes with any number of other applications that sells things to read. iBooks is using an unfair advantage given to it by Apple’s engineers. There’s nothing ok about any of that.
Adding to this, there is the potentially coming storm of a [United States .vs. Microsoft][ms] situation regarding the iTunes Music Store. There are other music stores out there, after all, and Apple has not put them all on equal footing. If using special features that no other developers have access to isn’t an anti-competitive practice, I’m not sure what else qualifies.
The more iPads, iPhones and Macs that Apple sells, the closer they’re coming to an antitrust showdown.
[talk]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd97us27eSg “Bertrand Serlet on Apple’s API Lifecycle”
[marco]: http://www.marco.org/500743718 “Marco.org – iBooks and private APIs”
[john]: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/04/06/bertrand “Bertrand Serlet on Apple’s API Lifecycle”
[ms]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft “United States .vs. Microsoft”
[Liza Daly takes a look at how iBooks does and doesn’t adhere to the ePub specification][link]. With actual code samples and examples of “broken” files.
[link]: http://blog.threepress.org/2010/04/05/ibooks-and-epub/ “iBooks and ePub : Threepress Consulting blog”
[Less than 24 hours after the product launch][link]. The jailbreak isn’t in the wild, yet, but here’s something I’ve been wondering: How much do you think Apple spends patching Jailbreakable security holes?
Obviously, *most* problems that they fix are general security fixes. The Jailbreaks go in through the same vectors as malicious code might, and that makes sense. But there’s got to be things they do in the name of simply stopping the jailbreak. In other words, there’s got to be a dollar amount on this. I wonder how many man-hours the jailbreakers retroactively piss away on Apple’s behalf?
[link]: http://www.macnn.com/articles/10/04/04/early.hack.gets.root.on.ipad/ “iPad jailbroken in a single day | MacNN”
[You can set the iPad itself to be the board][link], and keep the letters on individual iPod Touches(?) or iPhones. Very neat, and the picture in the linked article is worth 1000 words.
[link]: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/04/scrabble-for-the-ipad-stir-in-some-iphones-and-its-the-best-1/ “Scrabble for the iPad: stir in some iPhones and it’s the best $1,000 you ever spent on a board game — Engadget”
[Get ’em while they’re hot.][link]
[link]: http://www.apple.com/ipad/guided-tours/ “Apple – iPad – Guided Tours”
[You can always count on Zeldman to say things like][link]
>As the percentage of web users on non-Flash-capable platforms grows, developers who currently create Flash experiences with no fallbacks will have to rethink their strategy and start with the basics before adding a Flash layer. They will need to ensure that content and experience are delivered with or without Flash.
But it’s still good to have him say them.
[link]: http://www.zeldman.com/2010/02/01/flash-ipad-standards/ “Flash, iPad, Standards – Jeffrey Zeldman Presents The Daily Report”
[Mark Morford for SFGate][link]:
>Big f–ing deal. We just do not care. It’s all a big disappointment. Hey, I was expecting to be blown away. I was expecting miracles and transformations and multiple twitching orgasms on sight. Do not come at me with tantalizing promises only to reveal that you can fulfill most of them to a fairly good degree, and not far exceed all of them in every imaginable way. We’re Americans, goddammit. Ye shall know us by the tang of our bitter and untenable jadedness.
It is an old sentiment, expressed well.
[link]: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/01/29/notes012910.DTL “Why are you so terribly disappointing?”