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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
An App For My Cap?
As I have a data cap on my iPhone (200 MB), I saved the AT&T data usage number as a favorite within my phone app. In fact, it’s my only favorite. Everyone else I call using Dialvetica. All I do is tap the name, and I get a text reply in seconds with the amount of data that I ave used.
Then I came across this:
Threshold is a beautiful app for monitoring the data usage on your iOS device. Designed and developed by Kvvlu Inc, Threshold features some glorious pixels in the form of wooden textures and gradients.
I immediately downloaded the app to give it a go, and was immediately disappointed. While I did only try the free version, I felt that the app tried far to hard to try to ‘look nice’, and in the end came across as rather fake looking. The app is nice in principle, and does certainly cater to those with data caps, but how necessary is it, really? And is it really worth $3.99? It is no doubt very nice in concept. But in reality, I’m fine just using the text reply from AT&T.
Lion Is Not An App
I find it rather strange that you can download Lion from the Mac App Store. Not in the sense that a disc is by any means better - I think downloading it from the App Store was the greatest thing since sliced bread1 - but rather simply due to the fact that Lion is not an app.
Lion is an operating system. The Mac App Store is very clearly for Mac Apps. You could never download more than an app from the iOS App Store, and in theory, and according to all logic, should never be able to download anything more than an app from the Mac App Store.
And yet, you can. And it’s not only Lion. Look ay Xcode, for instance. For months now you’ve been able to download Xcode through the app store, but what you are actually downloading is the Xcode Installer. You open that app up, and from there you then install all the various components, and even the Developer folder on your HD. And in truth, that actually makes more sense, as you are indeed downloading an app. It’s the Installer app. Thing is, that app is then stuck in your applications folder. Even after you install Xcode, you still have an app sitting in your applications folder called Xcode Installer. It’s a little nuts.
Looking at Lion again, we all know that it is very clearly not an app. And yet when you go to download it, the Mac App Store actually prompts you to “Buy App”.
Hello? For the umpteenth time, Lion is not an app.
What’s more, is that after you install Lion, there is no Lion Installer app that is stuck in your applications folder. So sure, while you may make the argument that you are indeed installing the Lion installer ‘app’, the app then disappears. That is totally inconsistent with the way Xcode installs.
Now I know that Apple thinks things through real well. Especially big things like this. But I’m left wondering, what exactly it was that they concluded, and why they concluded as such. None of this is really that big a deal, but especially with a company like Apple, it’s certainly interesting. And Apple may be as simple and sleek as possible, but they ain’t perfect.
Of course, only Apple will ever have the power to distribute an installer of any kind through the Mac App Store, so there will really never be too many cases like this.
Rating Lion
Oh, and while I’m on the whole topic of Lion in the App Store, might I point out how strange it is that Apple actually allows for rating of it’s own apps, much less it’s OS?!
We all know that Final Cut X was absolutely trashed in the ratings. Lion on the other hand did very well.
Sure, if Apple didn’t allow ratings, everyone would call them out on it. And sure, the ratings and reviews are a super easy way for Apple to get feedback - that they actually seem to be listening to.
But still, the rating system is just so unlike them (and their well earned ego).
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Or one of, anyway. ↩
"Save As" In Lion
Many people were left wondering, myself included, just where the heck the “Save As” menu item went in Lion. Well, it’s not that we all just couldn’t find it, but rather that it indeed no longer exists.
At least not in that form. You see, with new features in Lion such as Auto-Save and Versions, the “Save As” feature is implemented a little differently. Hence forth it shall be known simply as “Duplicate”:
Duplicate–The Duplicate feature creates a copy of your document and places it next to the original. So you can start a fresh version using the original as a template.
Takes a bit of getting used to, but does make more sense with the new way in which Lion handles files, and in the way file handling in general is headed.
Like it or not.
Why I Won’t Pay For Spotify Premium
Spotify is now available in the US. There are three tiers of the service, Free, Unlimited, and Premium. I am perfectly happy with the free plan. Here’s why:
Let’s take a look for a moment at what the advantages Spotify advertises that you get with paying for either the Unlimited plan ($4.99 a month) or the Premium plan ($9.99 a month), and why I don’t care about them.
Unlimited Features
No Ads
The occasional ad doesn’t really bother me. Listening to Spotify is like listening to the radio. Only a lot better. It’s like Pandora even, but I can actually choose specific songs I want to hear.Unlimited Streaming of Music
I still want to truly own my music. In iTunes. Spotify is simply a nice way for me to listen to any song in the world1 that I don’t own, while I am at my desk.
Premium Features
Asides from both the Unlimited features, you also get:
Spotify On Your Phone
You see, I have a data cap at 200MB, thus this is totally impractical for me. Even those on the 2GB plan would have to be somewhat careful. I’m not sure how much they took that into account with this whole streaming business. Not that there was much they could do anyway.And don’t forget the whole ‘me wanting to own my music’ thing.
Offline Mode For Playlists
This allows you to predetermine which songs you would like to listen to offline, throw them in a playlist, and then, well, listen to them offline.And while this is the most intriguing feature of the bunch, and is the closest thing to actually owning music through Spotify, it still doesn’t quite do it for me. I can buy those songs that I will know I will want to listen to and stick with the free Spotify plan.
iCloud and Apple
And let’s not forget that iCloud is right around the corner - a ‘music in the cloud’ model that makes the most sense to me right now. And I’m sure that eventually Apple will release their own streaming service.
Just Me (and Maybe You)
This is really just my opinion, and while I am sure there are plenty of people who share my feelings, I’m sure there are far more that don’t. And in truth, Spotify is a wonderful service and none of this should be seen as anyway negative towards Spotify. It’s simply why I won’t pay for Spotify Premium.
Still Don’t Even Have An Invite?
Go ahead and watch this episode of TechKnowledgey to get your invite to Spotify A.S.A.P.
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And I mean that. Their selection is fantastically diverse and complete. ↩
When Will We See AirDrop On iOS?
An article I wrote for Macgasm on my thoughts about AirDrop coming to iOS.
iGoat
Watch this video. You’ll be glad you did.
Xcode For Free
With all the commotion this morning, you may have missed out on the fact that, as MacRumors points out, you can now download Xcode for free from the Mac App Store.
Along with the release of OS X Lion this morning, Apple also served up version 4.1 of development suite Xcode, available for free from the Mac App Store [App Store Link].
It is free for Lion only, still $4.99 for everyone else - there must be some way the Mac App Store has of detecting the OS version, - and someone like me who has wanted to dip their feet in the world of developing for quite sometime now have absolutely no excuse.
Dinner With Android
An incredibly topically specific blog about what Android is like as an iOS user. It’s pretty good.
Overloading The iPhone's Home Button
After listing a very true series of problems with how the iPhone’s home button currently operates, Lukas Mathis suggests this as the solution:
It’s not clear to me why Apple does this at all. If I launch an app from the fifth home screen, is it highly likely that the next app I want to launch is also on that home screen? If I launch an app from inside a folder, is it highly likely that the next app I want to launch is also inside that folder? Probably not. So why not just send me to the first home screen when I hit home? That way, I always know where I end up when I hit «home». Need something from the first home screen? Hit home. Need something from the second home screen? Hit home, swipe once. Third? Hit home, swipe twice. Want to search? Hit home, swipe once. Never a miscommunication.
I can’t say I disagree! The truth certainly is that since it’s inception, Apple has only been adding more features to iOS without ever really rethinking it. That of course, causes problems like these. I’m not worried that they’ll never give us the true redesign we’ve all been hoping for, we are talking about Apple here after all, but I do wonder when it is, exactly, they plan on doing this.
I Want To Go Even More Now
Try, “I went to Apple HQ and all I got was this PHENOMENAL t-shirt”.
Way To Go Ping!
After celebrating it’s 78th user, iTunes Ping is on a roll to reach 100:
After a shaky start, music fans are now flocking to Ping, the iTunes music community. At the current rate, Apple predicts they’ll be signing up their 100th member on September 20th — just after Ping’s one-year birthday.
You’re probably sick of hearing this, but I love Scoopertino.
Sleep Using A Remote
Now sure how many of you actually use the Apple remote, but I came across this rather useful tip on TUAW:
You can put your Mac to sleep using the included Apple Remote Control. Simply hold down the Play button for a few seconds and the screen will dim an show you the icon pictured in this post (which has been edited for size). The snoring Apple Remote Control icon lets you know that your Mac is about to go to sleep. Keep on pressing the play button if you want this to happen, or release it if you want your Mac to stay awake.
Especially nice if you like to use, say, Front Row from your bed before you go to sleep and don’t want to get up, and walk all the way across the room to sleep your iMac.
New Air
MacRumors on the imminent release of new MacBooks Airs:
Chatter is now beginning to coalesce around a mid-July launch, and we’ve been hearing that Apple may be planning a MacBook Air launch for the third week of the month. AppleNApps seems to agree, with several sources there reporting that Apple plans to release the new MacBook Airs alongside OS X Lion on Tuesday, July 19th.
I have a MacBook (not Pro) that is a few years old now. I don’t use it on too regular a basis, and I’d love to replace it one day with a MacBook Air. Let’s see what the new ones hold, and how easily - and for how much - I can sell my MacBook.
If you’re at all interested, please do let me know.
A Job Interview At Apple
I love this kind of stuff. And reading through some of the tougher questions (seldom the code-related ones) really got me thinking.
As it happened, I was indeed able to figure out the vending machine question. At least I think I was. Not sure entirely what they were looking for… My theories?
- The machine has no change in it, thus has nothing to dispense for you. To test this, purchase something using only quarters to be sure that there are now quarters in the machine. Then attempt to purchase something with a dollar bill once more. If the machine still does not dispense a coin, move on to the only other option.
- The dispenser is broken, something easily examinable, and possibly fixable, from the outside.
Harry Potter & Apple
TUAW:
Pottermore also deals a major blow to Apple, which will lose the right to sell the Harry Potter audiobooks when Pottermore launches, the Financial Times reports. Apple landed the exclusive deal with Rowling in 2005 to release the audiobooks on iTunes.
Interesting. Never thought about that.
Plus, I felt like I should post something about Pottermore and this article seemed to cover most everything.
