MobileMe makes tech pundits cry

Posted on Jul. 24, ’08, 6:29 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi

Category | Internet

Apparently MobileMe has really been sucking for a lot of people.

It’s not like there was any evidence of it not working properly, but both David Pogue of the New York Times and Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal have penned pieces ripping MobileMe and chastising Apple for its poor handling of the continued cloud ‘crisis.’

Pogue pulls no punches:

It’s a little mind-boggling that today, nearly two weeks after MobileMe’s official opening, Apple still hasn’t solved the problem. That’s got to be a record in the short history of cloud computing. But the real problem is how Apple is responding. For a company that’s so brilliant at marketing, it seems to have absolutely no clue about crisis management.

And Mossberg wastes no words:

After a week of intense testing of [Apple’s MobileMe] service, I can’t recommend it, at least not in its current state. It’s a great idea, but, as of now, MobileMe has too many flaws to keep its promise.

Seems like MobileMe has just become a running gag amongst tech writers. Apple botched this worse than anything else—at least within the confines of my years as a Mac user—and everyone finally has an opportunity to wail on it for its EPIC failure.

I’m a MobileMe user, and I haven’t experienced any problems at all. Which is typical. Leave it to Apple to deny me an opportunity to jump in on the pissed-off rants, which is a bummer—I’m really good at the pissed-off rants.

Let’s take a roll-call: How many of you in Readersville are still experiencing crippling MobileMe problems? Feel free to unload your pissed-off rants in the comments.

AZ and SC getting new Apple Stores this weekend

Posted on Jul. 24, ’08, 12:47 PM PT by Cyrus Farivar

Category | Apple » Stores

The Palmetto State is getting its first taste of Apple’s retail heaven this weekend, with a new store on King Street in Charleston, South Carolina. We’re assuming that this unveiling will come with the requisite giveaways and fanfare that we’ve seen at all the other stores.

Stil, as much as I like free t-shirts, I wish that there were regional differences at the various openings, like free and peaches for the SC store. I suppose then that for the new store in Glendale, Arizona (also opening this weekend!) it could come with maybe some tacos? (A man can dream, can’t he?)

At least now, though, all those folks who got free iPods for trade-in a few years back in Charleston will have a new place to stock up on accessories, while their counterparts in the Phoenix area will get to take some of the pressure off of the Biltmore store.

Be sure to send us photos if you attend either of these openings!

Australian Taxation Office discriminates against Mac users

Posted on Jul. 24, ’08, 10:47 AM PT by Cyrus Farivar

Category | Software

They don’t call it Down Under for nothin’—they do everything downright backwards. Their seasons come at the wrong time of year, their water spins the wrong way down the drain, and now the guv’ment won’t let our Aussie Mac friends pay their taxes with the federally-supplied software.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

It only offers e-tax to computer users with Windows or Mac-owners who fork out up to $150 for software which emulates a recommended Windows operating system.

The Australian Taxation Office apparently has been working on a Mac version for a few years now, but doesn’t have much to show for it. Furthermore, Matthew Powell, the editor of Macworld Australia says that the Asia-Pacific region is one of the fastest growing regions in the world for the company, so there’s no reason for Oz to lag behind.

As he told the SMH: “Apple doesn’t break down its users by geography, but the world-wide base of Mac-users is something in the realm of 30 million. About half of them are outside the US and I can tell you that last year Apple had 74 per cent growth in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes Australia.”

Ok Canberra, how about just making a platform-neutral web version if the Mac-version is too hard? Hrm?

Steve Ballmer planning to aim Microsoft death ray at Apple?

Posted on Jul. 24, ’08, 9:00 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » Rivals

As much as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer blusters about Apple and its pitiful spot in the market when compared to the behemoth that Bill Gates built, we know that deep down inside, Ballmy actually is holding tight onto a core of love and admiration for the folks in Cupertino, even if he forbids his children from using iPods (and, we hear, eating with forks—what can we say, he’s a madman!).

Deep, deep down. Like, way down. Journey to the Center of the Earth down.

But for him to actually come out and say it? Seems unlikely, outside of the context of an intense psychotherapy session. Nonetheless, in a recent memo to Microsoft employees, Stevie B. apparently decided to unblock his chakra and let those good feelings come rushing out.

“In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving. Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience. Today, we’re changing the way we work with hardware vendors to ensure that we can provide complete experiences with absolutely no compromises. We’ll do the same with phones—providing choice as we work to create great end-to-end experiences.”

Wow. I mean, wow. Well, we knew Billy boy didn’t bring Ballmer on for his looks, I guess. But that’s a pretty fair assessment of one of Apple’s key strengths. Note the particular focus on phones, too. I think we can guess where Microsoft is going to be turning their giant baleful eye next. The question, to my mind, is whether a company so big can turn nimbly enough on its feet to confront a target that’s speeding by them (Ballmer also announced that Microsoft would be reorganizing its Platform and Services Division).

Another Yahoo Messenger beta yields another feature

Posted on Jul. 24, ’08, 7:30 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software » Updates

Yahoo Messenger 3.0 has been in beta for a while, a very long while. However, I don’t want to pick on that because the company seems to be putting genuine effort into enhancing the Mac version’s feature set.

First, we got a cocoa interface. Second, we got cross-platform voice chat. Now we’re getting the ability to add Microsoft Live Messenger buddies right to Yahoo Messenger’s buddy list.

I don’t know anybody that uses Microsoft Live Messenger, but that could change any day. Now, as I was saying, I just hope that they wrap up this version and start in on the next major version of Messenger. This is, as one commenter on the Yahoo Messenger blog notes, turning into a Google style perma-beta.

Use AppleScript to create fake dialog boxes

Posted on Jul. 24, ’08, 7:00 AM PT by Dan Pourhadi

Category | Tips

I got a question yesterday in the comments of my Why can’t Apple and China just be friends? post.

Reader Austin wanted to know how I created the “Incompatible Country” dialog box I used as the post graphic:

It’s actually pretty easy: I wrote a small AppleScript in Script Editor (/Applications/AppleScript/Script Editor) to create a custom dialog box with the text I wanted:

display dialog "The country \"China\" cannot be dominated by your products because its population and government are incompatible with your business model." with icon stop with title "Incompatible Country"

The “with stop” code indicates which icon I want to use in the dialog (you can also use “with note” and “with caution”). The “with title” part lets me (obviously) set the title of the box—in this case, “Incompatible Country.”

Using that script, you can create a mock dialog box that says pretty much anything.

And here’s a bonus: If you know how to use SSH to connect to another Mac, you can have fun with whoever’s on that computer by popping up custom dialogs remotely using a shell command like this:

$ sudo osascript -e 'tell app "Finder" to activate' -e 'tell app "Finder" to display dialog "Surfing porn again? Shame on you."'

Enjoy.

Linux should be more like the Mac

Posted on Jul. 24, ’08, 5:39 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Rivals

At the O’Reilly Open Source Convention, Ubuntu Linux chief architect Mark Shuttleworth made a call for Linux to go “beyond the Mac” when it comes to software experience.

While not specific, he notes that the open source operating system should be at least as “crisp and clean” as Mac OS X while still offering the community benefits that come with fully opened code.

It’s encouraging for a key Linux figure to recognize this. In fact, I would argue that it’s the reason that Ubuntu is so overwhelmingly popular amongst non-expert Linux users. It’s easy, at least more so than other variations.

I want the Mac to succeed, but I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Linux because of its ambitious goals. I’ve always felt that there hasn’t been enough focus on establishing a singular experience. Linux and its applications seem to suffer from interface by committee, with multiple, non-complementary ideas being forced into a single entity.

There’s no reason that Linux can’t be known for ease of use rivaling the Mac. I just hope for their users’ sakes that someone listens to Shuttleworth.

Why can’t Apple and China just be friends?

Posted on Jul. 23, ’08, 7:46 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi

Category | Business

Because Mike Elgan says so, that’s why.

He penned a piece at Datamation attempting to explain the ‘incompatibility’ between Apple and China that has prevented Apple from effectively extending its business, and therefore its market share, throughout the People’s Republic.

Apple may have opened its first store in China, but that doesn’t seem to represent strong growth in the country: the company’s products occupy only 8% of their media player market, and less than 1% of the PC market; the iPhone isn’t even officially supported—though some estimate that there are over a million unlocked iPhones in-use by the Chinese.

So what’s the problem? Elgan lists what he believes are the four primary causes of the rift:

• Apple is a mass-market luxury brand - the Chinese don’t care about brand
• China has an authoritarian government - Apple may be expected to modify products to satisfy the government
• There is no Chinese iTunes - though we don’t know why
• China is number one in intellectual property theft - Apple’s business model depends on safeguarding its IP

The iPhone is undoubtedly Apple’s biggest challenge in China—the record labels would probably prevent the launch of a Chinese iTunes Store; and, to comply with the government’s internet policies, Apple would probably be forced to eliminate the iPhone’s WiFi feature.

I always thought it was for another reason: The Chinese speak Chinese, and, as far as I can tell, Steve Jobs doesn’t. Which would complicate things.

But who knows.

Indie Fever: Causes, Symptoms, and Wicked ‘Wares

Posted on Jul. 23, ’08, 5:58 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi

Category | Geekery

Third-party Mac software is the best you’ll find on any platform. Anyone who disagrees has never tried some of the great Mac apps available from developers like Plasq, Rogue Amoeba, The Omni Group, Bare Bones, Red Sweater, or any of the dozens of other top-notch programming pros. Sure, Windows may have a lot more software—but that may be the most poignant demonstration of the idea that quantity ≠ quality. In this case, it seems quite the opposite.

In fact, the Mac development community is such a unique and amazing phenomenon that Michiel van Meeteren, a student at the University of Amsterdam, wrote a thesis called Indie Fever to study the culture that has produced so many quality apps.

‘Indie Fever’ is the first result of a multi-year human geography research program to investigate the social and economical world of so-called ‘Indie’ developers on the Macintosh platform. ‘Indie’ is the self-chosen nickname of software developers that serve worldwide markets from the Internet, hold their artistic values in high esteem and celebrate their ability to make high quality software as small companies.

With a research grant from SOFA, Michiel used blogs and info from around the ‘net, as well as almost 50 hours of interviews, to study the Indie dev community and its inner-workings. The result was the 105 page thesis, complete with words, more words, pretty graphs and charts, and a lot more words.

You can read more about Indie Fever, as well as download the massive PDF, at SOFA’s Indie Fever website. Michiel also set up a blog for his research on the indie dev scene that’s also worth perusing, if you’re so inclined.

Now go, read the text, immerse yourself in words and develop a whole new appreciation for the individuals who write the software we’ve all come to know, love, and even depend on.

[via Daring Fireball]

Juicz your MacBook Air with Al Gore-Friendly™ charger

Posted on Jul. 23, ’08, 4:33 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi

Category | Hardware » Accessories

Setting: You’re on a camping trip with your family in The Middle of Nowhere. The grass is green, the sky is blue, and your leg is red (poison ivy rash—you’re wearing shorts).

Situation: Your wife is dealing with the crying baby. Your 8-year-old and 12-year-old are fighting again. And the teenage son of the jackass who parked his RV in the adjacent lot is blasting ear-piercing metal “music” because he’s mad at his parents. You decide its time to watch the new Doctor Who episodes you just bought from iTunes to escape the surrounding chaos.

Problem: Your MacBook Air’s battery is about to croak, and the nearest power outlet is at least 15 miles away.

Solution: QuickerTek’s Apple Juicz solar charger for the MacBook Air.

I present this hypothetical scenario because it’s one of the few circumstances I can imagine where one could possibly justify spending at least $500 on a solar panel charger for your MacBook Air.

The concept’s great, and I’m sure Al Gore has five. But in most situations, I—as I’m sure like most of you—would much rather opt to save the cash and forgo using the Air, or take the fifteen or twenty steps usually necessary to plug it into an outlet.

But for those desperate to harness the mighty power of Sol, the Apple Juicz seems to fit the bill. Described as “far more than a simple trickle charger,” it’s designed to power and recharge your Air at the same time.

Three lightweight solar cell options easily unfold from 10.5 inches to various sizes from 30 inches to as large as 60 inches. A very cool Element backpack is included which stores both your MacBook and the Solar Cell.

The Juicz comes in three models: $500 18-watt model that charges the Air in 14 hours; $600 27-watt model that charges in 8 hours; and a $1000 55-watt model that charges in 5 hours. You also need to purchase one of their “upgraded” MagSafe adapters, which will set you back either $25 if you have them modify your own adapter, or $100 to buy a new adapter from them.

I’ll stick to relying on power outlets. I was never a fan of the outdoors anyway. Too much “fresh” air—I’ve always been more of a recirculated-air guy myself. Just seems less wasteful, you know? Like re-using Slurpee cups, or bath water.

[via Macsimum News]