New Media News Every Morning
Apple’s recent lies about the rejection of the Google Voice iPhone app give us insights into their deception development process. Since this isn’t the first time they’ve been caught in a lie, the process must be pretty refined by now.
The Joy of Tech offers a flowchart of that process.
Originally posted on September 22, 2009 @ 7:44 am
If iPhone fanboys need any more evidence that Apple is a bunch of anticompetitive liars, then listen to the most trusted brand in America: Google. [Read more…]
Originally posted on September 19, 2009 @ 5:51 am
Finally, someone at Apple has officially conceded what we knew all along — that the Mac OS X Snow Leopard upgrade DVD can be used to upgrade any Intel-based Mac, though the company frowns at such a practice and points at the licensing agreement.
After some squirming and question avoidance, Alan Eyzaguire, director of software product marketing at Apple EMEA, told Charles Arthur at The Guardian that customers could buy the SL upgrade disc and use it directly, instead of buying the four-times-more-expensive “Mac Box Set” that’s meant for users of Tiger and earlier operating systems.
Alan repeatedly extolled the virtues of both iWork 09 and iLife 09, which come in the full-blown box set, as reasons why Mac users will play fair and buy that version. [Read more…]
Originally posted on September 14, 2009 @ 12:26 pm
Yesterday’s new product announcements from Apple included the upgraded iPod nano with a built-in video camera that’s capable of shooting VGA (640×480) quality footage at 30fps.
Whilst the YouTube generation is likely to love this, it’s another example of Apple no longer innovating but lagging behind.
I say this as an Apple fanboy, though perhaps not as much a one as I used to be.
Remember the days when Apple were the first to either add a feature as standard to their equipment (CD burner on Macs) or bring hardware to the masses (iPod)? It seems that Apple is doing this less now.
Apple may well believe that video is the in thing right now, but as far as I’m concerned it’s been “in” for a few years, and not just amongst early adopters. [Read more…]
Originally posted on September 10, 2009 @ 9:45 am
Have you ever noticed that Web page colors generally look brighter on Macs than on PCs? Contrary to what Mac fanboys will tell you, that’s not a result of Steve Jobs’ infinite wisdom. Macs use a gamma of 1.8 to match most printing presses. Windows uses a gamma of 2.2 to match the HDTV capture standard.
The gaudy brightness of Web colors on Macs is merely a vestige of print publishing. That’s why Web design newbies on Macs tend to come up with dark layouts that are hard to read on PCs.
People who still publish on dead trees would appreciate Mac displays matching print. The difference between how Macs and PCs show Web colors, however, has been a pain in the ass to Web designers for years. That pain is about to go away, as Mac OS X Snow Leopard switches to a gamma of 2.2.
For years, Mac fanboys have been trying to convince me that their brighter Web page displays are better. For years, I’ve been tolerating unreadably dark Web pages from newbie designers on Macs. Turns out they were all just hanging on to outdated specs.
Originally posted on September 7, 2009 @ 8:44 am