May 8, 2013
Video: Steven Levy interviews Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer
I like Marissa.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer: Remaking An Internet Giant from WIRED on FORA.tv
Amplified: Dan Seacrest ∞
Jim and Dan talk about CocoaConf Alt, the status of Apple Displays and Macs at WWDC, spider bites, laptop bags, Spock vs. Spock, 100 million copies of Windows 8, and Megadeth.
Sponsored by Hover (use code DANSENTME for 10% off), Shutterstock (use code DANSENTME5 for 30% off), and Squarespace (use code DANSENTME5 for 10% off).
Leak floods Apple’s Fifth Ave. store ∞
That’s terrible.
The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook 3rd Edition ∞
If you’re interested in mixing, you need this book.
About those 100 million Windows 8 sales ∞
Gene Steinberg:
Microsoft earns most of its keep selling software licenses to OEMs, who bundle Windows with a new PC, any PC. So, yes, I suppose it’s possible that Microsoft has booked 100 million sales into its ledgers. But that doesn’t mean that 100 million copies of Windows 8, or anything close to that number, are in the hands of end users. It may also be true that there are tens of millions of unsold PCs in the channel. But that doesn’t matter to Microsoft, since a sale is a sale even if nobody is actually using the product.
That puts a whole different spin on things.
T-Mobile sells half a million iPhones in a month ∞
As for the anticipated iPhone sales figures — they aren’t disappointing as the company announced the sale of approximately 500,000 units to new and existing customers to date.
T-Mobile only started selling the iPhone 5 in April, so it’s quite a nice bump for them.
CocoaConf Alt canceled for WWDC
CocoaConf Alt was a conference that was organized for the week of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference for all of the attendees that couldn’t get tickets for Apple’s event. However, organizers of CocoaConf Alt contacted attendees this morning and said the event has been canceled.
“We have decided to cancel CocoaConf Alt 2013. It turns out that it’s not just the hotel that had concerns, but that Apple has a policy of stopping ‘competing’ events in the area,” wrote CocoaConf Alt, Dave Klein. “You know and we know that CocoaConf Alt was not in competition with WWDC, but there just isn’t time to find the right person at Apple to explain that to, nor any guarantee that we could convince them if we found them.”
Of course, all attendees that paid for the event will be refunded and Klein is offering those people a free pass to an upcoming CocoaConf event.
There is still one other event planned for the week of WWDC called AltWWDC, which was announced in late April. According to its Web site, that event looks like it’s still going on as planned.
Windows 8 the biggest marketing fiasco since “New Coke” ∞
No company wants to be compared to New Coke. Ever.
May 7, 2013
Hollywood effects legend Ray Harryhausen dead at 92 ∞
Way before movies like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings inspired the imagination of film lovers everywhere, audiences were enraptured by the sword-wielding skeletons of Jason and the Argonauts, the great ape of Mighty Joe Young and the dinosaurs opposite Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C.
The man responsible for all those and much more, Hollywood special-effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen, died Tuesday in London at the age of 92. His family announced his death via The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation Facebook page.
Ray Harryhausen’s movies were some of my childhood favorites, from Jason and the Argonauts to The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and, of course, the original Clash of the Titans. He was the master of stop-motion photography.
Paragraphs: A desktop blogging app ∞
This is a very interesting looking app. I just downloaded it.
Apps are too cheap ∞
Dave Addey wrote a great piece about the state of app pricing and what can be done about it. Definitely worth a read.
“The Doors” app released on iPad
Warner Music Group on Tuesday announced the release of “The Doors,” the official iPad app for the iconic band.
Built with the support of drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, and the estate of the late singer Jim Morrison, the app features interactive content, unpublished band images and artwork, rare videos, music and more. According to the description, the “app brings the band’s story to life with an unprecedented immersive experience that delves deeply into every aspect of The Doors’ iconic career.”
“The Doors App is divided into several sections, with the The Story button leading to the true centerpiece, proving endlessly intriguing for both veteran fans and new initiates with hundreds of photos, videos, and interviews. All six albums recorded by the original Doors foursome, as well as the two albums recorded later by the Doors as a trio, are spotlighted here through essays from counterculture icons including Patti Smith and Hunter S. Thompson,” according to Warner Music.
This looks like a must-have for every fan of “The Doors.” The app costs $4.99.
Universal Audio releases UAD 7.0 ∞
My favorite audio plug-ins have been updated. This is a big release that includes multi-unit Cascading of two Apollo units or two Apollo 16 units. The release also includes three new plug-ins: Ocean Way Studios, Sonnox Oxford Inflator and the SPL TwinTube Processor.
Spock vs. Spock in new Audi ad
There are so many in jokes to love here, like Nimoy singing the Bilbo Baggins song and the gratuitous use of lens flare every time they show Zachary Quinto’s Audi.
The future of Adobe Fireworks ∞
While we are not planning further feature development for Fireworks, we will continue to sell Fireworks CS6 as well as make it available as part of the Creative Cloud. We will provide security updates as necessary and may provide bug fixes. We plan to update Fireworks to support the next major releases of both Mac OS X and Windows.
Google shuts down 35% of its services ∞
I think the only service anyone cared about was Google Reader.
iOS 7 wish list ∞
Federico Viticci has a long list of features and improvements that he would like to see in the next version of iOS. Some will never make to the operating system, but there are others that I would never of even thought of, like separate language support for Maps.
May 6, 2013
Megadeth’s David Ellefson and Chris Broderick
David Ellefson and Chris Broderick give you some tips on playing guitar and bass. Ellefson is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.
Adobe shifts from Creative Suite to Creative Cloud
At the keynote to open its Max conference in Los Angeles today, Adobe announced that it is discontinuing development of its Creative Suite software in favor of working on Creative Cloud products exclusively. The company is readying a new release of “CC” branded apps for release on June 17th.
In making the decision to stop developing Creative Suite apps, Adobe said it wanted to focus efforts specifically on Creative Cloud apps. So while users will still be able to buy Creative Suite 6 and be supported, Adobe won’t do any further development except for bug fixes and compatibility upgrades.
“Hundreds” of new features are rolling out with the new release, in each of the major apps. Adobe showed off new versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects and other tools coming next month.
Creative Cloud launched in April 2012, at the same time Adobe released Creative Suite 6. Creative Cloud offers users all of the same software included with Creative Suite 6, but Adobe charges a $50 monthly subscription fee for access. Users upgrading from CS3-CS5 are eligible for a discount to $30 per month; CS6 users who want to switch will pay $20 per month. Adobe also allows users to buy access to just one app if they need to.
Adobe showed off new iOS apps in development including a version of its Kuler color palette app running on the iPhone, and a Creative Cloud app that enables users to share files and folders and look at content stored in the cloud. Cloud integration is key from here on out, and Adobe emphasized collaboration at every turn, including deep integration with Behance, the professional portfolio sharing service Adobe acquired in 2012.
Adobe also gave a peek at some hardware projects it has underway, including a Bluetooth stylus working on an iPad that’s able to import content and settings from Creative Cloud, and a ruler that helps iPad users draw straight lines, arcs and angles, like a drafting tool. The company has also collaborated with Condé Nast’s Wired magazine on an ambitious project to rework the way that magazines layout their pages, making the entire process virtual using sophisticated touch-screen walls and tables. All of the hardware efforts are works in progress; Adobe offered no timetable or price estimate for any of the new technology.
Kiss perform “Beth” in 1977
This sure does take me back.
“Addressable markets for high-end phones” ∞
At the end of 2012, 2bn adults had yet to buy a mobile connection of any kind, and another 1.6bn were on prepay and not eligible to get subsidies. It doesn’t matter how many operators Apple or Samsung puts on distribution: those people are not going to buy a $600 phone.
However, that leaves about 1.6bn who might.
Ben Evans has some interesting analysis to back up his conclusions.
MG Siegler heads to Google Ventures ∞
Best of luck to MG.
Song: Almost Dropped My iPhone ∞
Great song by James Dempsey. It’s funny, but also great music and vocals, just the way a song should be.
The Name Your Own Price Mac Bundle 2.0 ∞
Many thanks to StackSocial for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week. StackSocial proudly presents the Name Your Own Price Mac Bundle 2.0. Get 10 essential Mac Apps. Donate to charity. Name Your Own Price. Take the top spot on the Leaderboard and automatically get entered to win a FREE Macbook Air!
Gates says iPad users are frustrated, iPad should be like the Surface
Bill Gates is a crazy man. It starts at 7:05.
Zakk Wylde: Lick Of The Week
Zakk is the man!
Typography for non-professionals ∞
Seth Godin:
If you use a typeface that reminds me of the script on the menu of a French restaurant, then no, I’m not going to instinctively believe that you’re a good doctor. If you use a thin, elegant wedding invitation font in your Powerpoint presentation, you haven’t been clever, you’ve merely confused me.
So true. I see people do crazy things like this all the time and it just makes me angry.
iPhone sales growth stalls internationally as carriers balk at subsidies ∞
Bloomberg:
“The narrative has been focused on the consumer demand, and the narrative needs to shift to the operator,” said Dediu, a former in-house analyst for Nokia Oyj. “Apple has run out of the kinds of operators that will say yes to them.”
The article mentions China Mobile as a prominent holdout. The latest grist in the rumor mill is that the next revision of the iPhone will work on China Mobile’s network.
Regardless, Apple has huge market opportunities if it can better cater to local markets, which may require engineering a less expensive device or working differently with carriers than it has been. The question is, will Apple take that opportunity?