January 25, 2014
Alternative stock photo sites ∞
Tired of the usual suspects, stock photo sites with no grit, no edge? Check out this list. There’s some good material on these alternative sites. Pass this along.
How to identify different iPhone models ∞
[Via iOS Dev Weekly]
This Apple support document gives you all the information you need to identify an iPhone’s model number.
January 24, 2014
David Muir’s one-on-one interview with Tim Cook
I just got done watching the ABC News one-on-one interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook. Though Craig Federighi and Bud Tribble were both there, this really was an interview with Tim Cook.
The interview opened up with this quote from Steve Jobs, a quote which is prominently displayed at Apple’s One Infinite Loop headquarters:
“If you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it too long. Just figure out what’s next.”
Muir started with a focus on the new Mac Pro, stressing the fact that the Mac Pro is manufactured in Austin, Texas. Tim mentioned that the Mac Pro was just the start, in terms of on-shore manufacturing, briefly touching on the sapphire glass effort starting up in Phoenix.
There were glimpses of the 1984 SuperBowl commercial, and of Steve Jobs’ original Mac rollout.
Next, a brief discussion of secrecy (locked doors, black drapes over unannounced products) segued into the topic of the NSA and surveillance. To me, this was the most interesting part of the interview.
Tim Cook stressed the need for transparency, saying “We need to say what data is being given, how many people it affects, how many accounts are affected, we need to clear. And, we have a gag order on us right now and so we can’t say those things.”
There’s a shot of Tim Cook in a large group meeting with the President.
He continued, “Much of what has been said isn’t true. There is no back door. The government doesn’t have access to our servers. They would have to cart us out in a box for that. And that just will not happen. We feel that strongly about it.”
Muir: “Do you think Americans, Tim, would be more at ease if you could tell them more?”
Cook: “I do.”
Muir: “Are you going to press Congress for more transparency?”
Cook: “Yes. Absolutely, absolutely.”
After a brief moment of Bud Tribble playing the piano (that was really the only non-Tim Cook moment), Muir said to Tim, “Steve Jobs said to you, I never want you to ask what I would have done. Just do what’s right.”
Tim replied, “But by saying what he said, for me, it relieved, I believe, a huge burden that would have existed, had he not said it. And so I think it was incredible of him to do that.”
This was not a long interview. It did not dive deep. But I did appreciate Tim Cook relating Apple’s position on government surveillance. He moved up two notches in my esteem by doing so.
The Mac, the iPad and the future ∞
The Mac has played an important role in paving the way for computing in many areas. I believe the iPad is playing an equally important role in the future of computing. It is interesting to think that in the future we may be celebrating the 30 year anniversary of the iPad while some manifestation of the product is still in the hands of many.
I think that’s exactly where we are.
This visual concept of design ∞
I really enjoyed this article and the examples Helen Tran used.
Vox Soundbox mini multipurpose amplifier ∞
These type of multipurpose boxes are becoming more popular among amp makers. It gives them the chance to get an amp and a sound system in the hands of users, but I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about the trend.
Taylor’s compact T5z acoustic guitar ∞
Among the T5z’s distinctive design features are a 12-inch fretboard radius (compared to the T5’s 15-inch radius) and jumbo frets, which make bending strings easier. Otherwise the T5z retains all the great performance features of the original T5: a three-pickup configuration, five-way switching, tone controls that dial in a full-range of tonal flavors, from heavy riffs to delicate fingerpicking, and dual compatibility with acoustic and electric amps.
I’m heading over to Taylor to see this today.
Blackstar’s entry level amplifier ∞
Our new ID:CORE series are the ultimate entry level guitar amplifiers. Incredible tone and flexibility is accessed by a simple and intuitive control set and delivered in SUPER WIDE STEREO to give an immersive playing experience that will have you hooked on playing guitar.
I stopped over to the Blackstar booth at NAMM, but I didn’t get a chance to hear these yet. I’m interested in the wide stereo sound and how they pull that off while keeping a solid tone.
Vox amps Night Train G2 ∞
Distinctive within the VOX amp lineup for its metallic mirror-finish exterior, the Night Train series provides an easy way to enjoy VOX’s traditional full-tube sound even in small private spaces, and now it’s been powered-up in a big way. High-quality reverb is a new addition on all models, making this the only unit you need to complete your sound.
These are badass amps.
Capo 3 and Sugarland
Clearly this is a promotional video for Capo, but as a longtime user of the software, the video shows how people use the software in different ways. My workflow with Capo is not the same as theirs, but Capo is flexible enough to do both.
Liquid Rhythm beat creation software ∞
I stopped by the WaveDNA booth today and got a demo of Liquid Rhythm. This is some powerful software for beat creation—I was impressed.
iFixit’s original Macintosh teardown ∞
iFixit:
Join us as we live the time-traveler’s dream—the deep, lucid, Orwellian vision of hope, fear, and nostalgia that is 1984. Just in time for its 30th anniversary, we laid hands on an ’84 original: the Macintosh 128K. And, you guessed it—we’re tearing it down like it’s the Berlin Wall.
I guarantee iFixit will bitch about the fact it’s not upgradeable.
The inner workings of mechanical keyboards ∞
Ever wonder what the difference was between mechanical and soft keyboards, other than the feel of the keys? This article contains everything you could ever want to know about the mechanics behind the mechanical keyboard. I love the animated GIFs that show the different types of switches in action. [via TidBits]
Steve Jobs introduces Macintosh
This is the original video showing Steve Jobs introducing the Mac to the world. The crowd’s reaction is amazing to hear, approaching hysteria.
Steven Levy: The Mac is 30 and I was there for its birth ∞
Steven Levy, on how he came to be part of the Mac’s 1984 launch:
Almost no one remembers who played in the Super Bowl (the Los Angeles Raiders lost to the Washington Redskins. Like I said, 1984 wasn’t like 2014). But the commercial, aired two days before the Mac launch, is part of history, and many can recite the tagline verbatim: “On January 24, Apple will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ’1984.’”
Jobs also planned a massive advertising campaign to follow, including a complete mini-publication that would run in multiple magazines. But, as he would do often in his subsequent career, Jobs relied on the news media to provide the narrative focus for his effort. He decided to give the exclusive story, along with early access to the team, to Newsweek and Rolling Stone, though he also gave briefings to a new magazine called Macworld.
I was the Rolling Stone writer.
Great read.
Tim Cook to be interviewed on ABC’s Evening News
Tim Cook and the team will appear on ABC’s World News with David Muir this evening at 6:30 pm eastern time to discuss the 30th anniversary of the Mac.
This picture is from David Muir’s twitter feed, showing him on set with Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, and Bud Tribble:
Apple execs on the Mac at 30 ∞
MacWorld’s Jason Snell spoke with Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Bud Tribble, vice president of software technology, and Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering, about the Mac’s thirty years of evolution.
Phil Schiller:
“Every company that made computers when we started the Mac, they’re all gone,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, in an interview on Apple’s Cupertino campus Thursday. “We’re the only one left. We’re still doing it, and growing faster than the rest of the PC industry because of that willingness to reinvent ourselves over and over.”
Bud Tribble:
“An incredible amount of thought and creativity went into the original Mac metaphor,” Tribble said. “So there are some extremely strong threads of DNA that have lasted for 30 years. The sign of the strength of them and the underlying principles behind them—that the Mac should be easily approachable and learnable by just looking at it, that it should bend to the will of the person and not bend the person’s will to the technology—those underlying threads also apply to our other products.”
Craig Federighi:
“The reason OS X has a different interface than iOS isn’t because one came after the other or because this one’s old and this one’s new,” Federighi said. Instead, it’s because using a mouse and keyboard just isn’t the same as tapping with your finger. “This device,” Federighi said, pointing at a MacBook Air screen, “has been honed over 30 years to be optimal” for keyboards and mice. Schiller and Federighi both made clear that Apple believes that competitors who try to attach a touchscreen to a PC or a clamshell keyboard onto a tablet are barking up the wrong tree.
“To say [OS X and iOS] should be the same, independent of their purpose? Let’s just converge, for the sake of convergence? [It’s] absolutely a nongoal,” Federighi said. “You don’t want to say the Mac became less good at being a Mac because someone tried to turn it into iOS. At the same time, you don’t want to feel like iOS was designed by [one] company and Mac was designed by [a different] company, and they’re different for reasons of lack of common vision. We have a common sense of aesthetics, a common set of principles that drive us, and we’re building the best products we can for their unique purposes. So you’ll see them be the same where that makes sense, and you’ll see them be different in those things that are critical to their essence.”
Happy birthday, Macintosh
Thirty years ago today, Apple first introduced the Mac. From Apple’s front page:
Happy Birthday, Mac.
In 1984, Apple introduced the world to Macintosh.
It was designed to be so easy to use that people could actually use it.
And it came with a promise — that the power of technology taken from a few and put in the hands of everyone, could change the world.
That promise has been kept.
Today, we create, connect, share, and learn in ways that were unimaginable 30 years ago.
Imagine what we can accomplish in the next 30 years.
Inside the site, there’s a beautifully laid out timeline showcasing a variety of Mac highlights over the years.
And, perhaps my favorite, is this video:
January 23, 2014
Google’s Android, free and open: not so much ∞
The idea that Google’s Android mobile software is both “free” and open-source is so often repeated that it is virtually an article of faith online. There’s only one problem: neither is strictly true.
Google doing what Google does.
Celebrate the Mac ∞
Great site put together by Jonathan Zufi, the man behind the Iconic book.
Universal Audio’s Apollo Twin ∞
This sleek 2×6 Thunderbolt audio interface for Mac combines the same high-quality 24/192 kHz audio conversion of Universal Audio’s acclaimed Apollo series with onboard Realtime UAD SOLO or DUO Processing. With its ergonomic desktop design, rugged aluminum construction, and front panel headphone and instrument connections, Apollo Twin allows Mac users to record in real time (at near-zero latency) through the full range of UAD Powered Plug-Ins.
I had some time to play with this today and it’s gorgeous. It’s like a mini version of the Apollo that delivers the same high-quality audio that we’ve come to expect from UA. It’s rugged too, so it will travel well.
Fender’s 60th Anniversary Stratocaster ∞
I need one of these guitars. NEED.
VOX AC15C1 guitar amp ∞
The AC15C1-V-RD limited edition features a Celestion V-Type speaker, custom “British Garnet red” tolex and Bronco patterned Tygon grill cloth. This custom colour projects a powerful presence in any environment – on stage, in the studio, or at home. The V-Type speaker has been built using a carefully balanced ‘recipe’ of both old and new design techniques. It’s a sweet-sounding speaker with a superbly balanced tonal signature that imparts a vintage musicality with authentic Celestion tone that’s suitable for any playing style.
I want one of these amps. I love the Vox sound.
Korg releases Gadget mobile synth for iPad ∞
Korg releases Gadget for iPad, a mobile synthesizer studio that offers the ultimate mobile synth collection for iPad. It was designed for anyone looking to explore software synthesis, musicians looking for a diverse palate of synths in one integrated app, or those looking to take their iPad music production to the next level.
Eleven Rack Editor ∞
Avid today introduced Eleven Rack Editor, providing owners of the Eleven Rack guitar system with a faster, more open workflow for creating and editing high-quality, inspiring guitar tones. The no-cost application makes Eleven Rack software control available for Pro Tools 11 and third-party digital audio workstation solutions.
This is huge news for Eleven Rack owners, like me. As a standalone app, I can now use Eleven Rack with any of my software applications.
Gretsch introduces new acoustic guitars ∞
Gretsch is a legendary brand, but I don’t know how I feel about this acoustics.
Pixelmator 3.1 ∞
Enjoy incredibly fast and powerful editing of high-quality pictures. Fully optimized for the new Mac Pro, Pixelmator makes image editing completely seamless. Leveraging the full power of dual-GPU architecture, Pixelmator now supports 16-bit per channel images for the first time.
There are so many changes in this new version, including the ability to order prints and many other features. Great update.
Taylor announces new 800 series acoustic guitars ∞
My Taylor is the best acoustic I’ve ever played.
This one-wheeled electric motorcycle actually feels…safe ∞
Wired:
It takes a special kind of magic to make an electric one-wheeled motorcycle not terrifying to ride, and Ryno Motors has pulled it off. The microcycle, which has a single 25-inch motorcycle tire and reaches speeds up to 10 mph, uses a combination of gyroscope sensors and accelerometers to balance itself.
I saw this when I lived in Portland OR and it looked very interesting – if just as dorky as a Segway. If they were legal in your town, would you buy one?
Remembering life at 2400bps ∞
Ars Technica:
To get “online” was to sit down at your computer, open up an application called a “terminal program” (or just “term program” for short), pull up your carefully hoarded list of BBS phone numbers, and start dialing. Inevitably, most would be busy and you’d have to wait, but eventually you’d be treated to the sweet sound of ringing through your modem’s speaker, followed by the electronic beeping and scratching of a modem handshake.
I remember all of this. In related news, I’m old.