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- Macworld 2010: In Closing
In the first year that Macworld Expo San Francisco did not see Apple attend, the speculation leading up to the show was centered on what Macworld Expo would be like without its best known exhibitor. David Pogue gave us a look at the world without Apple, and then the show itself gave us a look at Macworld Expo without Apple. The results in both cases were still pretty enjoyable.
In any other year, the start of Macworld Expo would mean looking forward to a riveting Stevenote with all sorts of product announcements. This year, the Expo started with David Pogue of the New York Times leaping on stage to do his best Steve Ballmer impersonation.
The highlight of the opener was a clever and entertaining stage play of “It’s a Wonderful Mac” which riffs on the premise of “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring Jimmy Stewart by imaging what the world would be like without Apple.
The Gregory Brothers (who are actually three brothers, Andrew, Evan, Michael and Evan’s wife, Sarah) from Auto-Tune the News on YouTube nailed the parts of Old Man Potter, Uncle Billy and others while the part of George Bailey was replaced by Steve Jobs, played by LeVar Burton (Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Reading Rainbow). Steve is placed into a situation where he laments that the world might be better off if he had never created Apple. “Claris” the guardian angel shows him what the world would be like — a world where DOS 27.0 is the standard and Windows was never invented because the Mac was never created for Microsoft to copy. Ultimately, a world without the graphical web browser because the concept of “clicking” on the screen was never imagined.
The stage play was clever and entertaining, and the Gregory Brothers are immensely talented and funny, but the irony of the moment was that the actual Expo gave us a real look at life without Apple. And you know what? It wasn’t that bad. Actually, it was pretty darn good.
Macworld is About Mac People
I’ve been to a few Macworld Expos (I still have my VHS of Independence Day, velcroed to the bottom of our seats at the 1997 keynote), and while I miss seeing Steve Jobs, I was really pleased at seeing the friends (both individuals and companies) that I have made over the years. I even had a chance to get accosted by some random Mac fanatics that are every bit as addled and creepy as some of the interesting folks haunting the sidewalks of downtown San Francisco. At least no one took a leak in the aisle like I saw happen on the street one day walking back from lunch.
Was It as Good for You as It Was for Me?
The value of Macworld depends a lot on who you are.
Media Types
Macworld Expo provides a great opportunity to see products, talk with vendors, and attend special briefings on upcoming products. Here at TheAppleBlog, I have several interesting bits of information to share with you over the next few weeks.
Vendors
The Expo is a chance to show off your wares to the above media types, but also a chance to interact with some of the most die-hard Mac users out there. Yes, it is only a small sampling of the Mac community, but these people care about telling you what they think of your product.
Users
The conference sessions still represent a good value because of the chance to mix and mingle with other Mac professionals. The speakers often target their talks to beginner/intermediate levels to hit a wide audience, but the guy sitting next to you could be an absolute expert on Aperture, Mac OS X Server, Photoshop, etc. If you’re not talking to people at the show, you’re missing out.
I Will Be There Next Year, Will You?
If you went to Macworld Expo last week, I would love to hear about your thoughts in the comments. Also, let us know if you plan to be there next year.
Переслать - Steve Jobs Labels Adobe's Flash a Dying Technology, But Is It?
Steve Jobs has been bad-mouthing Adobe’s Flash once again, according to a recent Business Insider report. The Apple head honcho recently visited the Wall Street Journal to demonstrate the iPad. During his stay he allegedly criticized Adobe’s Flash technology, with the intent to move the popular broadsheet newspaper away from using the web display technology.
The report details that Apple’s CEO attempted to convince the Journal by downplaying Flash, describing it as a “CPU hog” that has “security holes.” He then added that Apple does not “spend a lot of energy on old technology” comparing Flash to other dead technologies, including Floppies, Firewire and even the humble CD. This continued dislike for Flash comes after Jobs downplayed Adobe’s technology at a town hall meeting with Apple employees earlier this month.
But could the typically forward-thinking Steve Jobs, and in turn Apple, be acting too quickly in disregarding Flash? It’s commonly accepted that Adobe’s Flash does not run as effectively on Mac platforms as it does on Windows, with Adobe’s CTO Kevin Lynch even accepting that there are some problems. However, due to Flash’s widespread adoption, it seems that labeling it as a dead technology now is a premature move.
The iPad’s widely reported lack of Flash means you can’t watch your favorite shows on Hulu, crop your corn on FarmVille or watch the latest video on the New York Times. Of course these are just a few examples of what a future without Flash would be like. But with hundreds of thousands of web sites playing host to flash content, it could be years before Apple’s desire becomes reality and a move away from the format is seen. So what alternatives could Apple be hoping to replace Adobe’s prevalent plugin with?
HTML5 is the immediately obvious choice for replacing Flash, with Apple itself already using it. But as TheNextWeb points out, the technology is not quite ready yet, with a number of issues holding it back. Currently only a few browsers support it, and full integration is not in sight. Feedback from early experiments have also not been overly positive, with users of YouTube’s HTML5 demo claiming it to be unsatisfactory and slow.
Beyond HTML5, Apple is also known for its love affair with the H.264 video standard. The video compression format is what makes YouTube work on your iPhone, and is also integrated into QuickTime. However due to hefty licensing rules imposed by MPEG-LA, the standard is not going to become mainstream anytime soon.
So, with other standards not quite ready to step up to the mark and Flash not disappearing anytime soon, it seems that Jobs’ campaign of hate will have to remain just that, purely vocal. It seems that iPhone and future iPad users will just have to get used to those blue Lego bricks.
Переслать - Apple Moves to Quash "Overtly Sexual" iPhone Apps
Due to repeated and numerous customer complaints, and despite the fact that they seem to pretty regularly make their way into the top 25 and 50 lists of both free and paid apps, Apple decided this week to begin removing software from the App Store it deems “overtly sexual.”
News of the policy change comes via a letter sent to the developer of “Wobble iBoobs,” which informed them that under the new guidelines the app was determined to be inappropriate and would be removed. In the letter, Apple explained that the App Store policies are subject to change, and that it is “constantly refining” its definition of what’s deemed appropriate, based at least in part on user feedback.
TechCrunch received a copy of the email notifying Wobble iBoobs developers about the policy change and resulting removal of their app. Apple does note in the following excerpt that the ban is reversible:
We have decided to remove any overtly sexual content from the App Store, which includes your application. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. If you believe you can make the necessary changes so that Wobble iBoobs (Premium Uncensored) complies with our recent changes, we encourage you to do so and resubmit for review.
While a few other similarly-themed apps have been removed from the App Store, too, apparently in keeping with the new policy changes, some others remain, raising the question of what exactly Apple categorizes as “overtly sexual.” The top 25 and 50 lists appear to have been scrubbed pretty much clean, but some apps in the Entertainment category still seem pretty sexual to me. Hard to mistake the intent of the official “Playboy” app as anything but, for instance.
Though my gut reaction is to decry Apple for censoring something as relatively innocuous as sexually suggestive material (caveat: I’m a Canadian; we’re pretty okay with nudity and sex in general), I actually can’t help but be really pleased with the move as a regular App Store customer. As far as I’m concerned, the kind of novelty sexual app that Wobble iBoobs represents wasn’t doing much more than taking up valuable real estate in the App Store’s top downloads list, blocking spots that might otherwise be occupied by something useful I’d actually consider downloading.
Apparently, the apps were somewhat popular, since they managed to appear on those top lists with fair frequency, and Wobble iBoobs was downloaded more than 970,000 times during its App Store career. But if you feel the need to get your jollies on the iPhone (and I really can’t imagine why you would, for screen size issues alone), then take to the web and leave my App Store out of it. Mobile Safari’s right there, and I guarantee you’ll be much better served going that route anyway. Does anyone else see this as a change for the better, or am I alone here?
Related GigaOM Pro Content:
Переслать - Can iTunes HD Replace Blu-ray?
I clearly remember the moment I knew I would never buy another physical CD and would buy all my music online. Since then, I’ve been waiting for the moment when I would know that I could buy all my movies online. In November, Apple announced that it was adding Disney movies in high definition to the iTunes Store. I’ve spent the last few months debating with myself if this heralded the end of buying physical media for movies.
In a word: No
In two words: Not Yet
Why I Buy Music from iTunes (and Amazon MP3)
For music, once iTunes Plus was the standard on the iTunes Store, I knew that I didn’t need to buy physical CD’s any more. All I was doing was ripping my music to 256kbps AAC or MP3 anyways, so why not just buy them that way? And album prices on iTunes were the same or lower than brick-and-mortar prices on CD’s. Take Amazon MP3 into account, and it was an easy decision to switch to digital purchases.
Why I Have Not Been Buying Movies from iTunes
Basically, it comes down to the stereo sound. I can’t stand the idea of not using my surround sound setup and massive subwoofer (it literally shakes my whole house…I love it). With lower picture quality and lame stereo sound, I was not tempted at all to get movies from iTunes. I did try a few 99 cent rentals and found that to be just fine, but my $9 Netflix membership gives me access to tons of streaming movies at the same quality.
Now that HD movies sport surround sound, I was anxious to compare some familiar titles where I could spot the difference in picture quality and audio.
Disney/Pixar Makes Great HD Material
I have kids at home and we are therefore obligated to pay our annual Disney tax to stock our home with family-friendly, candy-coated entertainment from our media overlords in Burbank, CA. Some of the Pixar movies make great reference material to show off your home theater and I focused on these titles to compare the difference between iTunes SD & HD, DVD, Handbrake encodes, and Blu-ray.
Picture Quality
Let me say up front that the difference in picture quality between the various formats is clearly visible on a big screen. Blu-ray has the best picture quality and was correctly identified by all the members of my family in a simple visual test. The surprise for me is how close iTunes HD is to Blu-ray. I watched several scenes in Wall-E over and over again looking at the differences between the iTunes HD file and the Blu-ray Disc (BRD), particularly the first 10 minutes and the interior shots of the ship. The iTunes HD file was quite a bit better than what I expected and makes a serious case for choosing to buy content on iTunes.
For SD content, I watched Monsters, Inc. and compared the iTunes file (what Disney calls a Digital Copy) with a Handbrake 0.9.3 rip I made using the Apple TV preset (0.9.4, the current version, should produce similar quality output). The quality is almost identical although the Handbrake rip was slightly brighter. The quality is slightly below DVD, but so close that most people probably won’t notice.
For my money, the image quality is close enough on the iTunes HD files that I could be tempted to just buy them on iTunes. If you’re watching on a 42″ screen or smaller, the quality is probably indistinguishable.
Audio Quality
My Blu-ray player is configured to decode all the lossless audio formats and send 7.1 analog sound to my receiver. It works great. I was really concerned about the audio here because I would not buy anything with only a stereo track.
The audio on the iTunes HD movies is good enough to consider buying them. The difference between Dolby Digital and the lossless audio tracks is noticeable, but 5.1 surround sound is enough to get me over the bulk of my previous objections.
Convenience
Convenience is a big deal for me. I actually prefer having movies on my Apple TV because I don’t have to endure any forced advertising or trailers. I can just start the movie. I also like that my kids don’t have to handle the discs, avoiding the possibility of scratching them. Combined with the amazing Apple Remote iPhone app, the Apple TV is a great movie jukebox — even better than the 301 slot DVD changer I used to have.
Now that Extras are available with iTunes HD files, I think iTunes movies actually win on convenience, with one big caveat — you really need an Apple TV or a Mac mini media center connected to your big screen TV to appreciate them. A 27″ iMac would get pretty close on its own though.
Why Movies are Different than Music
I was a weekend musician for a large part of the 80’s and 90’s and I love music. I owned a SACD player because I loved hearing the subtle details in Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and the sound of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s fingers sliding across the strings in Texas Flood. But I only really enjoyed the difference when I was sitting in the “sweet spot” of my two-channel system with perfect stereo imaging. I couldn’t really appreciate the difference in the quality of the recordings between SACD and CD when I had music on in the background as I was working around the house. Music downloads are successful for the simple reason that convenience and quality are sufficient. The difference in quality does not bother people because you typically are not giving your full attention to the sound quality while jogging, working, eating, etc. and the convenience is king because no one is willing to get up and change a CD anymore.
Movies are different because you are planted in front of the screen for about two hours and typically devote your full attention to the film while watching it. This makes all the difference in comparing incremental differences in the quality of Blu-ray and iTunes HD. If I’m going to give my full attention to something for two hours, I want the best quality. I would be tempted by the convenience of iTunes downloads, but at the same price point, I just want the best quality.
What Would It Take for Me to Buy iTunes Movies?
Lower prices. The quality is fine for the movies that I watched. But at the same price point, I’ll take the Blu-ray and deal with putting the disc in the changer and the possibility that my kids might scratch them. If I really want the movie to be easy to get to for my kids, I’ll make my own encode and put it on my Apple TV anyways.
I would say 1080p or higher bitrate to bring the video quality closer to Blu-ray, but 10GB (or higher) downloads seem unrealistic at this point. Maybe someday that comment will seem shortsighted when we all have fiber to the home, but for now I think the best compromise is to get $5 and $10 movies from iTunes and $15-25 discs in the store.
What about you? Is iTunes HD enough for you in terms of quality/convenience? If not, what would it take?
Equipment Used: I compared the files using an Apple TV (3.0) and a Pioneer BDP-51FD connected to a calibrated 57″ Sony KP-57HW40 with a Denon surround receiver with 5.1 speakers (Infinity L+R powered full-range towers, 3-way center, bookshelf surrounds + SVS 20-39PC subwoofer).
Related GigaOM Pro Research: Who Wins When Movies Are Available Everywhere?
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