Fresh Apple: Cult of Mac (5 сообщений)

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Cult of Mac
Read Leander Kahney's latest commentary about Apple and Mac News in Wired.com's Cult of Mac Blog, including Mac, Mac Pro, MacBook, iMac, iBook, Mac mini, iPod video, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iTunes, iPhoto, iPhone, Apple TV, OSX, Steve Jobs, and Macworld.
http://blog.wired.com/cultofmac/
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First iPhone Web Apps Available
For all of the complaining that has tripped down the wire about Apple's total lack of an SDK for the iPhone, a couple of entrepreneurial developers have already created iPhone apps to try out in Safari. Shown above is David...

For all of the complaining that has tripped down the wire about Apple's total lack of an SDK for the iPhone, a couple of entrepreneurial developers have already created iPhone apps to try out in Safari.
Shown above is David Cann's alternate interface for Digg. It's quite fun, and I actually find it a better way to navigate Digg than the real site. (Sorry, Kevin!) I especially enjoy the way it implements the "grab and fling" interface for the rest of us.
The other contender is OneTrip, a quick (though very elegant) grocery list program put together over-night by Neven Mrgan. Both apps are really nice and fairly clear evidence that sophisticated programs suited to use on the iPhone are possible. I think the new Apple strategy of "the web is the new SDK" is actually a wonderful one. They're pretty unlikely to crash, and really powerful development is a possibility.
Anyone want to lay money on how long it will be until Google issues a version of Reader optimized for the iPhone?
Via Digg. Twice.

Technorati Tags: iphone, software, thirdparty

Pete Mortensen
Video: John "PC" Hodgman Posing As Steve Jobs
Miss the WWDC keynote? Other than a couple of the specific features of Leopard, don't bother. But you should watch the video above -- it's John "PC and also noted pseudo-intellectual" Hodgman posing as Steve Jobs and announcing the demise...

Miss the WWDC keynote? Other than a couple of the specific features of Leopard, don't bother. But you should watch the video above -- it's John "PC and also noted pseudo-intellectual" Hodgman posing as Steve Jobs and announcing the demise of the Mac platform. It was the opening act for real Steve. Hilarious.

Technorati Tags: get a mac, john hodgman

Pete Mortensen
Watch the WWDC 2007 Stevenote
So what is Steve Jobs didn't introduce any new hardware in his keynote and the iPhone third-party application support is somewhat bogus? Core Animation, the new Desktop and new Finder or incredibly gorgeous, so watch Steve preach it on Apple's...

So what is Steve Jobs didn't introduce any new hardware in his keynote and the iPhone third-party application support is somewhat bogus? Core Animation, the new Desktop and new Finder or incredibly gorgeous, so watch Steve preach it on Apple's official stream.

Technorati Tags: keynote, steve jobs, wwdc

Pete Mortensen
Leopard "Stacks" Implement Ages-Old GUI Concept "Piles"
With all the excitement and, to be frank, disappointment that came with yesterday's WWDC Stevenote, I haven't seen anyone pick out the obvious with Apple's innovative new GUI element Stacks, which allows users to cluster files that would otherwise clutter...

With all the excitement and, to be frank, disappointment that came with yesterday's WWDC Stevenote, I haven't seen anyone pick out the obvious with Apple's innovative new GUI element Stacks, which allows users to cluster files that would otherwise clutter the desktop into a discreet pile of files that blow out into a scannable list with a simple click. It takes the super-janky right-click a folder in the dock movement we're all used to now and replaces it with a sleek Dock launcher we can all get behind.
It's really cool. It's also a very old concept, one that Apple has had patented for 15 years. And this doesn't look to be a great implementation of it. Way back in 1992, Apple called the Stacks content "Piles," first demonstrating the new interface at the CHI conference. Gitta Solomon of Apple's Advanced Technology Human Computer Interaction Group created the fascinating interview, which The Register mooted was finally destined for Mac OS X way back in 2003. Only four years too early -- and 11 years too late. Click through to learn more about Piles.

Technorati Tags: piles, stacks
Former Apple interface guru Bruce Tognazzini is among the most ardent supporters of the old Piles notion, so I'm in the process of connecting with him to find out whether he think the Leopard version does Piles justice, especially since it seems rather feature limited. Here's a classic "Tog" quote about Piles:
Piles
Apple holds a patent on this one. Developed by Gitta Salomon and her team close to a decade ago, a pile is a loose grouping of documents. Its visual representation is an overlay of all the documents within the pile, one on top of the other, rotated to varying degrees. In other words, a pile on the desktop looked just like a pile on your real desktop.
To view the documents within the pile, you clicked on the top of the pile and drew the mouse up the screen. As you did so, one document after another would appear as a thumbnail next to the pile. When you found the one you were looking for, you would release the mouse and the current document would open.
Piles, unlike today's folders, gave you a lot of hints as to their contents. You could judge the number of documents in the pile by its height. You could judge its composition very rapidly by pulling through it.
Piles have been among the most-requested UI features among Mac-heads for more than a decade now. In fact, when I told a co-worker that used to work at a design firm with Apple ties about Stacks, he replied, "Oh, yeah. Apple's had that patented for years."
The future's the past, people. Steve has finally been in the job long enough that he's ready to re-examine technology that the company developed while he was at NeXT. If that isn't news, I don't know what is.

Pete Mortensen
Fascinating History of Oregon Trail Developer MECC
For a lot of Apple geeks, the love affair with Apple began at school, using an Apple II while playing Oregon Trail, the all-time best game where you could explore the wild west and see your whole family die of...

For a lot of Apple geeks, the love affair with Apple began at school, using an Apple II while playing Oregon Trail, the all-time best game where you could explore the wild west and see your whole family die of dysentery or snake bite, all before afternoon recess.
Silicon User has pulled together a fantastic article detailing the history of the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium, creators of Oregon Trail, Number Munchers and Word Munchers. Those were the titles that proved that Macs were good for playing games, even back then. What I hadn't realized is that Apple enjoyed a very close relationship with the odd, government-owned corporation:
Throughout the 1980s, key individuals from Apple Computer attended MECC conferences as keynote speakers including Apple co-founder and then-Chairman Steve Jobs and Alan Kay (an Apple fellow) in 1982, Flord Kvamme (Executive VP of Sales at Apple) in 1983 and in 1985 John Sculley, then-CEO of Apple.
Check it out and get nostalgic.
Educational computing for the masses | SiliconUser

Technorati Tags: oregon trail, history

Pete Mortensen