My WWDC 2012 Scorecard
I published my WWDC 2012 Keynote Predictions a few days ago, lets see how well I did:
- Sales: [0/1] Instead of the boring “we sold a lot”, they went emotional, “we helped a lot”. Nice, but not worth the 10 minutes as it made them hurry the laptop announcements.
- Hardware updates [2/4]
- No Mac Pro updates (Correction, they did bump the Mac Pro, just silently, but not to the new E5 CPU’s)
- Lovely Macbook Pro updates
- Lovely Air updates
- And the new Retina Macbook Pro (I was so wrong there)
- OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: [3/3] As expected, we got a release date, no radical new features (except dictation and power nap), and we did get Facebook.
- iOS 6: [3/4] Beta, check, new maps, check, updated Siri, check. Did not expect the nice updates to the phone app and the new passbook app, but these do seem incremental.
- iCloud: [1/2] Expected more features and got them, shared photostream and cloud tabs stand out. But not all of MobileMe has been replaced.
- Apple TV: [1/1] No mention, as expected
- Apple applications: [2/3] Expected iCloud updates for iLife and iWork (actually was expecting new versions, but the updates are OK). Did not expect any Pro updates like Aperture.
- Steve Jobs: [0/1] No mention
- No “one more thing”: [1/1] Check
And on the meta:
Sandboxing and Productivity Utilities
Apple’s recent requirement for all App Store applications to be sandboxed has led to a problem for us pro users, many of our magical productivity utilities will no longer work. And if you think that’s a problem for us, imagine how the developers feel.
Er, Sandboxing?
Sandboxing is a computer security term for separating running programs so that they can only access a limited set of files and resources on your computer and not interfere with other programs and files. The idea is that each program requests access to only those things it needs to do, and the operating system ensures that the program cannot access anything else. So a sandboxed application may not have access to the network, or it can only access it’s own files.
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!
- OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: We’ll get a clearer release date and a top 10 new feature demo. At least 8 will be features we already know, and one will be a lot more on the Messages app. Maybe a new developer beta, but it’s not ready yet.
- iOS 6: The next iOS will be announced, without a release date (so that they can do it with the next iPhone), but us developers can get started developing for it. I do expect new maps, new background process options, and a new version of Siri. But after the US 4G marketing bungle, I expect the next iOS and iPhone to be a more world phone than a US one and so the next iOS update will be incremental software, not radically new.
- iCloud: It was announced last year, it will get more features this year. Now that MobileMe is gone, I expect iCloud to take on some of its features, such as photo galleries and maybe personal web hosting. But more, I expect that iCloud synching will just work better.
- Apple TV: Nothing new here, it was updated recently.
- Apple applications: I expect new versions of the iLife and iWork suites. Neither has been updated in ages (iWork was in January ‘09), and all would work better with iCloud (Their iOS versions already do). I do not expect any of the Pro applications to be updated, they’ll save that for another event.
- Hardware updates: I expect Mac Pro updates as we developers love our Mac Pro’s (see my The Last of the Workstations). And probably a 15" MacBook Pro update. But no laptop retina displays (or it’s going to cost me!).
- Steve Jobs: It’s been 9 months, and I think Apple will spend a small amount of WWDC keynote time just remembering him. And this will be the last time they bring Steve Jobs up in public.
- No “one more thing”: That’s it, no new product lines, no TV, just good old operating system and developer updates.
I also predict:
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! No more than five fields in a form section, no more than 5 menu items in a menu section, no more than five things in a toolbar segment, no more than 5 tabs on screen.
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. Just look at it:
The only negative is that the shoulder strap squeaks in the shoulder pad when I walk. But I can live with that.
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.