Apple

In this article by Mat Honan from Wired, he highlights a major problem with technology journalism today - people are bored with just about everything. These are just TVs, this is just another tablet, that iPhone is hardly any different from the last one… blah blah blah.

This year the CES coverage seemed to be more pessimistic than previous years. The latest iPhone release seemed to be received as more disappointing than previous years. The anti-Apple folks say that Apple has peaked and can’t keep up their momentum without Steve Jobs. The rest of the tech bloggers think that CES has lost its shine. These aren’t two separate things, there is one explanation - everyone has gotten used to insanely brilliant, beautiful, and incredible technology. Many believe it is bland and boring because we’re surrounded by it.

John Gruber posted an interesting tweet yesterday regarding how important the aesthetic design of a product is:

We’ve always judged cell phones by how they look, and we keep them in our pockets. Wearables — glasses, watches, anything — can’t be ugly.

— John Gruber (@gruber) January 6, 2014

Of course, some folks aren’t interested in the design of a product, but in general it holds true. Some of the appeal of the iPhone is how stunning it is to look at. Part of the appeal of the Moto X is how clean and simple the design is while still being highly customizable.

The “rumors” of a bigger iPad are a joke, but they’re spreading like wildfire. If you need proof why it isn’t happening (anytime in the next few years at least), just take a look at Samsung’s newest 12.2" abomination.

Comments on the tablet from the report:

• “Simply isn’t designed for optimum portability” 
• “too awkward to hold for long periods of time”
• “we were hard-pressed to find any variation between the 12.2-incher and the Note 10.1 2014 edition”

Personally, I’m holding out for the 12.2" phone version.

We are getting closer to Angela Ahrendts’ start date at Apple (this Spring) and MacRumors has posted this nice overview of how she will fit in at Apple, and more importantly what she brings to the table. 

I’m very excited about this hire and think Ahrendts has a lot to offer. I expect her style, coupled with iBeacon technology, to completely reshape the retail experience and give the whole thing more of a ‘premium brand’ feel.

Apple has declined to have any knowledge of the newest NSA leak regarding the DROPOUTJEEP program. I am inclined to believe them for one main reason - they aren’t stupid. At the rate the leaks are coming, it is obvious we’re not finished. Neither the NSA nor Apple knows how much more will be leaked, so for them to deny knowledge now would guarantee their demise should the truth come out any differently.

Apple has a tradition where they release a 12 Days of Gifts app then each day around Christmas they give people a free version of some paid content - apps, music, books, or videos.  You’d think people would be grateful.

Many people are grateful, presumably. However, there is an increasing number of people that are leaving one star reviews on apps, movies, etc. if the free content of the day isn’t an app they personally wanted. Angry people leaving one star on a children’s game because they don’t play it sounds absurd, but sadly, is a reality.

Apple is so close to knocking it out of the park with several of their software products, but I agree with Marco’s comments. iPhoto is a great example; it is the near the top of the list of reasons to own a Mac, but it isn’t perfect and hasn’t seen a meaningful update in a while. 

Apple seems to be faced with an interesting dilemma - these software products seem like unfinished versions of how Apple envisions this type of product to look on their platform. They seem unfinished because they’re “good enough” (generally speaking) and don’t make headlines or money to warrant being any better. That’s acceptable from a lot of companies, but it is very un-Apple-like.

I’m not saying it’ll never happen (though at this point I don’t see why they would), but this 2014 bigger iPad rumor is laughable. Not happening.

Regarding the larger iPhone… I see this being more of a potential, but the screen resolution situation would be a mess. I think if they do this, they’ll also introduce some API to make apps render with vectored graphics or something.

An interesting stream of tweets from Marco (@marcoarment) yesterday. Apple products are expensive, but one could argue they’re not overpriced.

@marcoarment with some interesting numbers on “equivalent” HP and Dell machines.

This graphic to show which smartphones are capable of having which OS on them is eye-opening. I don’t think “average people” (in the tech savviness sense) care about this, which is unfortunate to me.