Graphing Calculator Story
Thursday, February 28, 2008 - 09:19 AM
It may not seem like it to most people, but sometimes the history of computing is filled with incredible and entertaining stories, particularly when it comes to Apple. This is an example of that; the story of a couple of engineers doing whatever it takes to finish a piece of software they weren’t supposed to be working on in the first place:
Don’t worry, it’s not filled with a bunch of geek-speak and technical jargon. It’s a fascinating read for anyone, even if you are not technically inclined or have no interest in the history of Apple. Basically, it’s about two guys who were working as contractors on a project at Apple that got canceled, but decided to keep showing up covertly to finish their part of the project.
One week we were evading security, the next week Apple is rising to our defense.
For those of you who are in tune with the history of computing, it’s a great insight into the mind set of the environment at Apple at the time that they were able pull this off. I was thinking while reading this that this kind of thing would never happen at Microsoft. At the end of the story the author (Ron Avitzur) makes that point with this little joke:
We wanted to release a Windows version as part of Windows 98, but sadly, Microsoft has effective building security.
Enjoy!
Returning to the Mac Community
Thursday, October 18, 2007 - 09:37 AM
This isn’t new news by any stretch, but I thought it worth mentioning.
For many of us who have been using Macs for years, and customizing them along the way, ResExcellence* was once the place to go to stay on top of Mac customization. It was the place to learn about customizing applications and the Mac interface (the name refers to the ResEdit application from the “classic” days, which was used to edit the resource forks of files and applications, where most of the customizations took place), to download other peoples customizations, or to share your own (I had submitted several iTunes customizations of my own (among other things) before it became impractical for to keep updating them).
It was pretty much the central hub on the internet for Mac Hacking (and I use that term in the good sense of “hacking").
Well, if you’re aware of ResExcellence and it’s history (long and sordid as it may be), you know it’s gone. It’s likely never to come back. However, Michael Coyle, the man behind the original ResExcellence, is back (he has been since this summer - hence this not being “new news") at http://michaelsmac.com.
The idea is to fill the need in the Mac community that the original ResExcellence filled (or even created) in the first place. Things have been slow there, due to lack of awareness of the site. That’s why I’m posting this here, to beat the drum in my little corner of the ‘net and build up what awareness that I can.
So, if you’re looking for Mac customizations (heck, even if you’re a Windows or Linux user looking for cool desktop images), or have some to share, check out the growing community over at http://michaelsmac.com.
*I’m not going to link to the site, since it’s pretty much dead and gone now.
Apple Announces iPhone SDK
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 - 12:04 PM
Apple announced today that they are going to release an SDK for the iPhone (and iPod touch).
Gee, who could have predicted this would happen? Oh, that’s right, I did!
Of course, anyone with half a friggin’ brain could have seen this coming. Except, of course, all of those idiots who complained that Apple was attacking 3rd party developers by locking the iPhone. (I guess they don’t even have half a brain!)
One thing that people seem to forget is that Apple is about quality. The iPhone is a very sticky situation, because, of course Apple would want 3rd party apps for it, but there’s no way that they can allow just anyone to come to the party. There has to be a system in place to make sure that any programs running on an iPhone are going to be stable, and not interrupt the functionality of the device. That’s going to take some time to work out. Clearly, Apple was planning an SDK all along, but it was more important for them to get the iPhone to market before the SDK was ready. I’m sure they would have liked to have the SDK ready when the iPhone shipped, but clearly that was not possible.
Anyways, I hope this quiets all of the useless bitching out there on the ‘net about how “Apple is the new Microsoft” and “Apple hates it’s customers”. (I’m sure that’s why they decided to announce this now, rather than wait until it was ready - to shut those idiots up.) Apple just wants to get it right in the first place. If Apple were the new Microsoft, they would have released the SDK before it was ready, just to be able to add to the feature checklist of the iPhone. But, since Apple is still Apple, they’re busy making sure that everything just works.
Attention to Detail
Friday, October 05, 2007 - 12:09 PM
One of the things that many people (non-Mac using people) don’t understand about why Mac users are so passionate about their platform, and why the Macintosh experience is so superior to Windows (and, yes, Linux), is Apple’s attention to detail. This is something I’m constantly noticing when using Apple products. It’s something that I’ve noticed for years, and years. It’s not just within the OS, either, it’s all around; software and hardware.
This is a perfect example of that: http://rentzsch.com/notes/applesantiCAPSLOCK.
How many PC manufacturers would think of that?
This is how you normally notice Apple’s attention to detail, completely by accident. It’s usually while making a mistake, or doing something that has unexpected (favorable) results, that you run across the things that make you think “Gee, I’m glad they thought of that” or “Boy! That’s COOL!”
I have a good example of this. It’s something I notice on my iPod quite some time ago, and that is: if the headphone cable becomes unplugged during operation, the player stops. The iPod actually pauses itself when the headphone cable is unplugged. Think about that. The Apple engineers had the foresight to realize that if you accidentally unplugged the headphone cables (by, say, shifting the iPod around in your pocket) you probably wouldn’t want to miss any of what you were listening to when it happened. The first time it happened to me, that attention to detail blew me away.
This is an example of designing things towards the user experience that other companies don’t get (and thereby, people using other companies’ products don’t understand, either). Other companies focus on the features of their product, on how they think their product should be used. Apple focuses on the actual user experience, on how people actually use the product.
There are many, many examples of this all throughout OS X (and with the computer hardware, as well). If any more come to mind, I’ll point those out as well. (And, if there are any Mac users out there who actually read my ramblings want to share, feel free to in the comments.)
On iPhone Hacking
Friday, September 28, 2007 - 01:53 PM
I’ve been pretty sick of reading about how upset people are with Apple for “attacking” the customers who’ve hacked their iPhones. I’m not going to go into a long spiel about this, since, as usual, the Macalope hits the nail on the head.
If you broke your iPhone because you installed unsupported hacks, don’t blame Apple.
Also, as far as 3rd party apps are concerned, I’d like to point out that I think, eventually, Apple will put out an SDK and allow 3rd party programs on the iPhone (and iPod touch). I mean, more so than they do now - people seem to be forgetting that there are already 3rd party apps on the iPhone (Apple certainly didn’t write Google Maps) and the iPod Touch (games, anyone?). Plus, if anyone understands the importance of having 3rd party apps on your OS, it’s Apple. It’s just too early for them to allow it, just yet. Be patient!