My WWDC 2012 Predictions
After writing Annual Apple WWDC Disappointment, several people have asked me what I do expect at the WWDC 2012 keynote, ignoring the rumors. So here it is, my WWDC 2012 keynote predictions, what I think in my opinion, without rumor or factual basis, will be covered at the WWDC 2012 keynote on Monday: Sales: Apple has had its best year ever, and Tim Cook will enjoy sharing the numbers. And he should!
No more than Five
We’ve all seen those interfaces: Internet Explorer windows with racks upon racks of toolbars, forms with hundreds of fields to fill in or applications with menus that run off the bottom of the screen, or worse, have unending levels of sub-menus. They are confusing, messy, hard to use and even harder to navigate. This Hiltmonism is simple. One, there shall be no more than five things on an interface element. Ever!
Shuttle on the Hudson
So this happened when I looked out the window today.
How support via Twitter works
Daniel Jalkut asked a question on Twitter There are over 2000 items in my Keychain. So if I want to dump/migrate to e.g. @1Password, do I really have to approve every single access? @danielpunkass The gang at agilebits (makers of 1Password) respond with a set of scripts to completely solve his issue, no questions asked: @danielpunkass https://gist.github.com/1583781 @1Password That, friends, is how Twitter support should and does work.
The Demo Bag
I’m demonstrating software this afternoon, so out comes the demo bag. It’s a Cocoon 15" GRID-IT™ Case (not an affiliate link) that I picked up at the local Apple store. The things that sold it to me are: It’s black and conservative looking so no-one knows how cool it is It’s a hard-ish case, so my goods are protected It’s the right size for a 15" Macbook Pro, an iPad and related cables, and no bulkier But the biggest selling point of all, it has the GRID-IT™ system, no more digging around a bag to find the cables and accessories needed in a demo.
Annual Apple WWDC Disappointment
It’s the annual “week before WWDC” and the rumor mill is going wild. Newspapers and blogs publish wild rumors, people read them as real insider knowledge predictions, and this sets high expectations. Then WWDC happens, Apple releases some amazing products, and these same people are disappointed because the releases don’t match their wild expectations. Apple shares fall. Lamentations are written. Happens every year. History repeats itself. You’d think we’d learn.
Notice of Revocation of Independence
Since it’s Jubilee day in the UK, I’m taking this opportunity to reprint a fake “John Cleese Letter to America” from 2005, otherwise known as the “Notice of Revocation of Independence”. Note that John Cleese do not, in fact, write this. It’s just a really great internet joke, and appropriate for jubilee day.
Dear Citizens of America,
In view of your failure to elect a competent President and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.
Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories > (except Kansas, which she does not fancy), as from Monday next.
Screw the Power Users
Nick Bradbury in Screw the Power Users: We’re the ones who made computers so hard to use. And we’ve done it by catering to power users - by building software for people like us instead of for people who don’t know and don’t care about all the geeky little details. Couldn’t agree more.
Mac App Store vs Buying Direct
Jonathan ‘Wolf’ Rentzsch wrote a great article on Mac App Store vs Buying Direct, positing that application sandboxing tips the scale in buying direct. I always prefer to buy direct because (using his words): More Money Goes to the Developer: For a $10 application, only $7 goes to the developer when you buy it through the Mac App Store. For a direct purchase, it’s more on the order of $9.
The Last of the Workstations
I started this post a few days ago, before WWDC 2012, before Jim Dalrymple’s famous ‘No’ to whether it will be discontinued (see Marco’s note), when I felt that Apple had finally given up on the Mac Pro. I’m posting it now because I really do love true workstation performance, and hope that the Mac Pro product line continues this tradition.
Is the current Mac Pro the last of the true workstations? I hope not. Apple has not updated this product line for years now, yet there is nothing else on the market today that provides the Mac Pro’s badass performance and expandability in the true workstation space.