Category Archives: Apple

On the iPhone as a platform

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A couple of thoughts on software expandability, vis a vis discussions about the iPhone. I agree that allowing third party developers to create applications for the iPhone would be fantastic. However, I think some of the criticisms leveled against the iPod as being a ‘closed platform’ are a bit unfounded.

Dave Winer says:

The iPod is a wonderful product, but damn it’s time we made one that could run our software, could run any software, so users have choice, and so you don’t have to buy new hardware to get software features, and so the market can grow at the rate of innovation, not at the whim of one marketer.

The iPod is a *music* platform, and in that case, it is completely open. Sure, buying songs from the iTunes Store includes proprietary DRM, but the iPod functions perfectly well with every popular music format you throw at it, sans DRM.

So for the thing the iPod was designed to do, it is an open platform. Look at the podcasting phenomenon. The iPod didn’t need to be an open software platform to enable that innovation.

I think (or hope) that when the iPhone is released, its perceived limitations as a software platform will likely reveal opportunities in the areas where it is open: music, video, internet and voice.

(these thoughts are my own and not my employer’s)

Lost fanatics.

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Lost dominates the iTMSAnyone who knows me probably knows I’m a huge fan of Lost. And while I’m obviously not the only one, the image on the left is impressive. Of the top 20 shows on the iTunes Music Store, 16 of them are episodes of Lost! My guess is that a ton of people waited till the season was over and have just purchased the entire season all at once. In a way that’s the best way to watch it. It’s so bloody addictive that it’s hard to wait a week for the next episode, much less three weeks or more when there are reruns.

The good news is that Next season there will be NO reruns. They are dividing the series into (I believe) 4 chunks of six episodes; six episodes will air week-to-week, and then no Lost for a little while. They’ve taken their cue from 24, which is tend to run with fewer interruptions, though for a shorter ‘season’. This summer, FOX is even going to rerun the entire fifth season in 12 weeks with back-to-back episodes every Friday. Now might be my chance to start a new addiction.

Apple offers Dual Boot solution

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This really surprised me:

Apple® today introduced Boot Camp, public beta software that enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP. Available as a download beginning today, Boot Camp allows users with a Microsoft Windows XP installation disc to install Windows XP on an Intel-based Mac®, and once installation is complete, users can restart their computer to run either Mac OS® X or Windows XP. Boot Camp will be a feature in “Leopard,” Apple’s next major release of Mac OS X, that will be previewed at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in August.

If there were ever a reason to switch, here it is…

Apple’s Latest…

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…intern. Yup. I’m going to intern with Apple in Cupertino this summer, working with the .Mac web team. If you know me, you know how excited I am. I haven’t mentioned it here on the blog for fear of jinxing it, but now that it’s official (well, just about official. They still have to do a background check on me. Hmmm, will that traffic violation come back to haunt me? Hope not!), I thought I’d write a little bit about the experience of interviewing for the position.

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