The time has come again to unleash the Macolantern, my annual October desktop image! Downloadable here.
I posted this on Flickr last year, but that was when I was running Tiger. So here is the Leopard version. :)
Happy October!
Apple, Celebrate Good Times, Just for Fun, Mac OS X, Public Service Announcement, Rant
One month ago, I stood in line with all the other crazies, and bought an iPhone 3G. I had been planning to write a review straight away, but my anniversary and the birth of my son occurred within days of getting the iPhone. Since an entire month has gone past, I feel very comfortable in giving a well-informed review of the iPhone 3G.
Initial Impressions
My activation process experience was bittersweet. Apple’s servers had melted down by the time I was able to sit down with a Genius. Therefore, I was given the option to take my iPhone home to activate it. I happily took that option, as it meant my iPhone was not unboxed before my eyes by someone else.
I quickly went down the block from the Apple Store in Omaha and got a coffee at Scooter’s Coffeehouse. I found a nicely lit seat and began the unboxing process.
After the unboxing I tethered my iPhone to my MacBook to begin the activation process. This is where things fell apart. I was, naturally, experiencing the same thing as everyone else in the nation. iTunes’ servers were still the equivalent of molten lava. So I packed up my things and made my way home to Lincoln, with the hope of iTunes cooperating within the hour.
Yeah. Right. I was finally able to activate 3 hours after I arrived home. I took a nap to pass the time, if you care to know. I mean, come on, I had been awake since 4 a.m.
After activation was complete, things ran swimmingly. iTunes restored all my settings, notes, etc. from the backup of my iPod touch, which I must say, was a nice touch (har har).
After all 10 GBs of data synced back over, I gave it a spin. Phone calls were crisp and clear, which is by far the most important thing. Visual Voicemail is a godsend—I don’t know why phones haven’t had this! All other aspects of the phone performed quite well and up to expectations.
GPS in Maps is extremely accurate. I am hoping that a future update will bring turn-by-turn directions much like my Garmin.
Of course, one of the killer features of the new iPhone (or rather the new iPhone OS) is the App Store.
App Store
The App Store is downright cool. Third-party apps definitely fill the gaps (mostly) that Apple left. I have only downloaded 9 apps: 8 free, 1 paid.
Glitches and Fixes
The initial iPhone 2.0 software wasn’t without its glitches. I experienced many sudden app crashes (both Apple’s and third party apps), and general sluggishness in scrolling lists and typing. Those were the chief glitches I noticed.
Recently, Apple released the 2.0.1 [and now 2.0.2] software, which has greatly reduced the app crashes and obliterated any sluggishness I had previously experienced.
Summation
Overall, I am greatly overjoyed with my iPhone purchase. Having the Internet in my pocket, along with my music and my phone, all in one handy device is amazing. Gone are the days of always needing multiple gadgets with me all the time. Now all I carry are my wallet, my keys, and my iPhone.
In approximately ten minutes, Apple will flip the switch and discontinue it’s .Mac sync service in favor of the new MobileMe. I, for one, can’t wait.
MobileMe promises “Exchange for the rest of us.” Microsoft Exchange is used by companies to push email, calendars, and contacts from the server to a users computer(s) and mobile phone. Basically it eliminates the user from having to manually check. Updates happen the moment they happen.
MobileMe is offering this to Mac, PC, iPhone and iPod touch users, for a modest annual fee. The switch flips in a few minutes! You can learn more about MobileMe here or watch a guided tour.
It is a big day today! On this paramount June 9th, the planets have aligned. It is my 23rd birt
hday today, and Apple’s WorldWide Developers Conference kicks off in San Francisco, CA! With a big Apple event like this, it is customary for Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, to give a keynote presentation. Sort of an Apple “State of the Union” if you will.
Today, however, it is widely expected that Mr. Jobs will unveil a new iPhone. For this, I am very excited. The key feature that is expected of this new iPhone hardware is support for 3G cellular data networks. In other words, mobile broadband, which is relatively fast compared to the EDGE network currently em
ployed by the iPhone, which I have heard called mobile molasses.
Other rumors include GPS support and video conferencing, which would be awesome, but I find unlikely. My reasoning for that is battery life. I have a Garmin nüvi, and it’s battery can go for about 4 hours. Now throw a cell phone into that. Exactly. And as far as video conferencing, I chalk that up to battery issues as well.
There are plenty of other rumors about the new iPhone, but I will not cover them all.
The other big story for the developer conference is Apple shedding more light on th
e iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), the iPhone 2.0 firmware, and the App Store, which will allow iPhone and iPod touch users to purchase applications over-the-air for their devices.
All in all, today is a very exciting birthday for me!
Apple, Celebrate Good Times, Mac OS X, Mix, Public Service Announcement, The Roar of the Mob, iPhone, iPod, iTunes
Today has been a good day. Nay, it has been a great day! Today I banished Microsoft from my MacBook. For the past couple of months, my copy of Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac has been acting slower and fussier than normal. I figured it was because of my upgrade to Mac OS X Leopard, and the fact the Office 2004 runs in the Rosetta emulation layer, as it isn’t a Universal Binary for Intel Macs. Well, for the past week, neither Word, Excel, nor PowerPoint would even load past the splash screen.
Now, I could go and buy Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, as it should run more swimmingly than not on my Intel MacBook. But…well…it’s $150. And I have been using iWork, Apple’s office suite solution. It has comparable apps to Mr. Softy, called Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.
Pages and Keynote are veterans and are very well developed. Numbers is new in the latest version of iWork, and approaches spreadsheets in a whole new way. The best part, is that iWork can read the new Office XML format, something that my Office 2004 couldn’t do.
Long story short, I was fed up with Office 2004 taking up hard drive space if it’s going to be completely and utterly useless. Therefore, I nuked it off my hard drive. Gone. Kaput. Heck, I even threw the new Messenger 7 for Mac in the trash, too. Say hello to a wonderful Apple experience in iWork. For the MSN Messenger needs, I’ll use Adium.
Here’s to a Microsoft-free life. Mr. Softy, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Disclaimer: I still love my XBox 360. It doesn’t feel like a Microsoft product. Though it has been neglected since Mario Kart Wii came out. The 360 is the one and only thing Microsoft has done right. Other than the 360, though, Microsoft is gone. I wash my hands of it.
