Apple

Siri’s “galaxy far far away” story

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Siri has long told stories, but this one is new to me. Bring up Siri, and say:

Tell me a story

Keep going until you get one that starts:

OK…

Once upon a time, in a virtual galaxy far, far away, there was an intelligent young agent by the name of Siri.

Google watches and wearables will not run developer code, are notification devices

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From Seeking Alpha (free reg-wall):

In effect, the watch is a device for using Google Now and cards that apps on the phone send to it.

This is an interesting model. It means that a Google watch is a satellite device that locks you in to the Google ecosystem. Since the watch without the phone is just a wrist-watch, or less, if it does not have the built in smarts to do its watch and alarm thing without its master.

Apple resurrects the iPad 4 at $399, retires the iPad 2, adds 8G iPhone 5c

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From Ars Technica:

This morning Apple made a couple of new additions to its iOS lineup, where “new” in this case means “old stuff that is nevertheless better than what it is replacing.” It has finally removed the iPad 2 from its lineup and replaced it with 2012’s fourth-generation iPad. For its second tour of duty, the 16GB iPad 4 will set you back $399 for a 16GB Wi-Fi version or $529 for a cellular version, $100 less than the equivalent iPad Air models and equal to the 16GB Retina iPad mini. There’s also a new 8GB model of the iPhone 5C, which as of this writing is only available in certain territories.

Apple’s former marketing chief on working with Steve Jobs, seminal product launches

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Allison Johnson was the Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Communications at Apple from 2005-2011. She was one of a select few who reported directly to Steve Jobs and was responsible for memorable ad campaigns like “Mac vs. PC” and “There’s an app for that”. More importantly, Johnson helped develop a launch culture at Apple that saw lines around the block for products like the iPhone and iPad.

From the Vimeo page:

In this interview with Behance’s Scott Belsky, Johnson shares stories from her time at Apple, emphasizes authenticity in business, and reveals how we can find a balance between launching a polished product (like Apple) versus shipping fast for feedback (like Google).

This video gives an excellent sense of what it was like working with Steve Jobs and being at the center of the Apple universe during some particularly notable times, but it is more about marketing craft than it is about reminiscing. Lots to learn. Great to watch.

Cardiologist tells story of pitching a medical app to Steve Jobs in 1977

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Cardiologist George Diamond had an idea for a piece of software that could help diagnose coronary disease. The Apple II was brand new and, in 1977, represented a huge leap in the accessibility of computing power. This is the story of how Dr. Diamond pitched his idea directly to Steve Jobs and Apple.

Jony Ive interviewed by the Sunday Times Magazine

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The original Sunday Times interview was behind a paywall, but Time Magazine carried it in the clear. The post carries excerpts from the interview, and some comments from the man who wrote the Jony Ive book.

Before He Died, Steve Jobs Told Top Executives Apple Would Not Be Making A TV

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This story is based on content from Yukari Iwatani Kane’s new book “Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs”.

One person asked if Apple was going to release a television next. There were already rumors all over the place that it was Apple’s next conquest.

Yukari says “Jobs didn’t hesitate.” He said, “No.”

The birth of desktop publishing

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Professor David Brailsford takes you on a walk down memory lane with Apple’s introduction of the Laserwriter.

The Computerphile videos are a bit low tech and homespun, but I find them both charming and informative.

Microsoft’s $2.5bn question: what if it doesn’t release Office for the iPad?

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Tired of waiting for Office to be optimised for their mobile gadgets, a growing contingent of younger companies is turning to cheaper, simpler and touch-friendly apps that can perform word processing and other tasks in the “cloud” – on internet-based systems.

Take Artivest Holdings, a New York-based financial services startup that sells alternative investment products. The New York-based company uses an app called Quip, which combines word processing and messaging, to handle all but the most sensitive legal and financial files.

“There are no more Microsoft Word documents being circulated. If someone emails me a Word document, I’ll tell them to put it in Quip,” said Artivest’s chief investment officer David Levine.

I think this is dead on. My kids don’t use Office and they don’t own a watch. The world is definitely changing.

Sampling colors in an image with the Mac OS X Color Picker

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Consider my mind blown. I did not know you could drag and drop an image onto the Mac OS X color picker so you can sample colors from that image. This is incredibly useful. Read the article for all the details.

Craig Hockenberry on Apple, smart watches, and other wearables

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There is a lot of food for thought in this article. Here’s just a taste:

Trends are always set by the younger generation. Especially with clothing, jewelry and other items that appeal to a demographic with a lot of expendable income. To me, this quote by Tim Cook is the most telling:

“To convince people they have to wear something, it has to be incredible. If we asked a room of 20-year olds to stand up if they’re wearing a watch, I don’t think anyone would stand up.”

This response to Kara Swisher’s question about Apple’s interests in wearable technology covers all the bases. It includes the target market (“20-year-olds”), product focus (“has to be incredible”), and most importantly, he’s seeing the same thing I am: people don’t need to wear watches because they already have that computer in their pocket.

Note also that in the response he doesn’t say “wear a watch”, it’s “wear something”. It’s implied, but not stated. Remember that he learned from the master of misdirection: Steve Jobs.

Absolutely worth a read. Thought provoking piece.

Apple expands animated iPhone 5c ads beyond Tumblr

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After debuting a range of playful iPhone 5c ads on Tumblr in early March, Apple has expanded its campaign to the The New York Times and the front page of Yahoo.com. The Yahoo homepage currently features an ad block on the right side hand of the page that houses eight different iPhone 5c ads with the tagline “Find your colors.”

Each ad features a short animation, mirroring some of the original Tumblr ads. There’s a spot called “Catwalk,” for example, which features a series of lens flashes, “Baaaa,” which mimics a herd of sheep, and “99 Luftballoons,” which offers floating red dots with music from the popular song.

I checked both Yahoo.com and the NYTimes.com, did not see the ads in either place. I wonder if they are being tweaked.

26 Apple designs that never came to be

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Co.Design:

in “Design Forward”, frog design’s founder, Hartmut Esslinger, recounts the inspirations and process behind the computers that revolutionized consumer electronics.

Some of these concepts are really cool. Others make you ask, “What were they smoking?”

Time: More evidence that Apple won the app wars

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Earlier today, we posted about United Airlines offering a free in-flight movie service, available to folks running iOS but not available on Android.

Now Time writer Harry McCracken uses that info to make the case that Apple has won the app wars. Not sure I quite see it the same way, but I do get his point. No matter the market share, the trend continues to be to develop for iOS first, if not only.

Apple patents smart wrist pedometer

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Bottom line, differentiating a step from, say, a bump or an arm raise is a difficult problem to solve. Arm biometrics is an important part of the future.