Whither iTunes

As iTunes 10th anniversary approaches, I find myself wondering if we can live without the actual application… in my lifetime.

One day, we'll wake up and find iTunes, the app, has just gone away…

Podcasts app is the clear signal. Step-by-step, Apple is working to eliminate iTunes itself and just do purchases/downloads/library management via the apps.

Dumb as this sounds (breaking up the brand), it may eventually be less cumbersome than iTunes is now.

Personally I've never had a problem with iTunes and the myriad functions it performs - might as well do it all in one place. And I love having an archive (and a Time Machine backup) of -everything-, especially years of podcasts. I just don't trust the cloud to keep everything I want it to keep. Already, you cannot get back Apps that are no longer available, for example. But I can see the thinking - let the Apps manage their own content and iTunes can just go-away.

I love having the power of a computer to manage all that stuff. Being able to see it all at a glance, change settings, wipe and fill iOS devices. I can imagine better ways to do it, like having the device appear on the desktop and double click & right click to manage it… and so on.

Certainly, we could do with a more Mac-like way of dealing with content. I found myself wanting to clear space on my iPhone, the other day (to fit more podcasts, of course). Image Capture may be primitive, but at least it tells me the sizes of videos & panoramas, so I can prioritise them and delete them. Windows with drag and drop and the ability to sort by kind or size, to name just a couple of Mac-like features our iOS devices desperately need. Doesn't have to be for all content, but it would bring iOS at least into the 1980s.

You might deduce that I think iOS needs an overhaul more desperately than iTunes, but that's a whole topic unto itself.

I will miss the clunker iTunes with every ugly thing, neatly tucked away behind the friendly storefront…

If you're looking for One good reason why iTunes seems doomed to never get that complete re-write it deserves, it might be because Apple doesn't intend it to be a long term solution (past 10 years, not withstanding).

I do wonder how long it will take Apple to reach such an iTunes-free utopia, though. In my lifetime??

Whither the iWatch

I was chatting with a couple of tradies that other day, about an iWatch and they liked the idea of being able to leave their phone somewhere safe while they work, and have a watch to see what's happening.

Got me thinking - even the iPhone 5 screen is too small for anything but emergency use of the internet, for me at least. A watch/phone/hotspot on my wrist, with iPad mini in my pocket sounds like a better solution. Do away with iPhone completely… Get your mind around that.

Siri could handle phone/message/twitter/facebook, with no keyboard at all on a watch.  Might need local processing for response time… but Google seems to be able to do it.

Are you getting it, yet? Jony Ive? Please, please, please.

Upside of Apple's Q4 shortages

Imagine for a minute, a company having a record quarter, despite product shortages. Now imagine, the enemies of free enterprise, pundits, analysts and Wall St, were not only talking down your 4th quarter, but the next quarter, as well.

If you're already having a record quarter, production shortages that push actual sales into the next quarter can't hurt that quarter too much, can they?

I'm just saying. And frankly I wish the "pundits" were, instead of trying to take on the stock price manipulators at their own game. What's that saying about, "Never wrestle with a pig…"?

Apple's Q1 2013 tall-poppy-syndrome

How does the Establishment deal with a company that continually proves the accepted "rules" to be wrong? Simple. Create headlines that read, 'Apple revenue misses again', in spite of its best quarterly results ever.

Apple's 4th calendar quarter 2012 performance yielded phenomenal results, unequalled by any other company in the world, ever, exceeding Apple's guidance and any genuine expectations.

Analysts and Wall St are currently intent on driving Apple's stock price down for their own purposes, completely unrelated to Apple's performance.

iPhone 5 sales were nearly 30% higher than last year's record iPhone sales. Mac sales, like iPhone 5 sales, were only constrained by Apple's ability to produce product, and are still propping up the sad decline of rest of the PC industry.

Perhaps anticipating Apple would only just fall short of the most ludicrous "expectations", a chorus of, 'But next quarter, things will be really bad', broke out last week. Pathetic. And sadly, par for the course, for an industry that deludes itself, year after year, with the mantra, 'Sure this version of Windows is bad, but the the next one will be much better'.

Disrupting the rumour industry

There's a slew of iPhone 5 (and iPad 3rd Gen) discounts in the U.S., leading some to suggest it's a sign that Apple's in trouble and they aren't selling as many as anticipated.

Based on the rapid iPad 3rd Gen - iPad 4th Gen turnaround, Apple could be moving to 6 monthly (incremental) upgrades, like every other electronics manufacturer.

Price drops could be thought of as clearing stock for the 5S and an iPad 5.

We know iPhone 5S is ready to go, and the flagship iPad just begs to be gifted the new 'feels like it's empty' technology of iPhone5/iPadMini fame.

So it's iPhone 5S in March and iPad 5 in May? Right? Tim?

Let's look at a 6 monthly turnaround for Apple.

The yearly upgrade for iOS devices serves to give customers confidence in an investment in Apple product. I'm the first to defend this scheme. If you upgrade iPhones on a 2 yearly contract basis, you know your iPhone will only be one model out of date before you get to upgrade again.

It appears that Apple's philosophy may be changing. Tim Cook is firmly taking control, and as the supply-guy, maybe he sees a more frequent upgrade cycle as being more comfortable for Apple's increasingly consumer customer base.

What's wrong with buying Apple at the moment? Well, the products are great, but you need to keep track of when new models are likely, to 'time' your investment. Why should customers have to read rumour sites to know when to make a purchase? Regular readers of Apple news and rumours sites may be appalled that this daily/hourly habit might be undesirable or even negated by Tim Cook's Apple.

What's best for customers, might well be knowing that any time they buy Apple, they're getting the latest technology and they don't have to wait for a yearly upgrade to take a leap forward, thus assuring their investment will last as long as possible.

What's good for Apple here, is more constant sales figures throughout the year. This won't make Wall St, "analysts" and maybe even fanatics happy. They all like to see big spikes in sales as proof of success. The net effect might also be that Samsung can't claim in the weeks leading up to an iPhone release, "they're number one!" however temporarily.

Question is… "Can Apple customers get used to more frequent, incremental product upgrades, in the iOS world?" Maybe your iPhone will be 4 models out of date after two years, but if the difference between models is only incremental, will that matter so much? It's a an adjustment in (particularly) fan mindset, but is it too big an adjustment to make? I guess we'll find out if Mr Cook has success with this strategy. One thing's for sure, Apple media events may get a little dull, until the next-big-thing comes along.

Has mobile computing matured so fast that we're now talking incremental updates, like the Macintosh line? Like it or not, this may be true, not least in terms of Apple facing off against, admittedly meagre competition. Channel stuffing by Samsung doesn't seem to be sustainable, but even though the usage statistics tell a different story—the media in general goes with the myth, if for no other reason than it generates drama/readers/clicks, in a world where otherwise, they'd be reporting on how well Apple is doing (again).

Is Apple set to disrupt the rumour industry, too? This could get interesting.

Personally, I'm hoping the sudden maturity of mobile, is making way for Apple's next big disruption, whatever that is.

Barely Legal

Have to wonder what's going on in the courts around the world. I completely agree that Android is a rip-off of iOS and Apple needs to protect its intellectual property.

Walk into any shop and you'll be told, "This is the same as iPhone/iPad." Not only do customers walk out with an inferior product, but they think Apple's products areawful too. Apple's business is harmed and they should be able to sue over it.
The proof is simple. Show Samsung and HTC products before iPhone/iPad, then show them afterwards. And not just a picture of a screen with icons. Show the function of these devices, see how different they were and similar they are now.

It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking, "Well that's what a tablet should look like and work like, it's obvious." It wasn't obvious before, but it is now, now that Apple made a great product, for everyone to copy.

We've been through the almost identical icons stage, but how long before we get Google's emails about how sad Android looks and all these great ideas they got from having an employee, on Apple's board, for years.
Apologies to slashgear.

What 2 year EU warranty?

Really? The red bars tell the story. My Italian is non-existent.

I could ruin the "argument" and point out that Apple Care is a support contract, not a warranty, and that Apple's warranty is always in addition to any locally mandated warranties.

The great iBooks Author debate

Who wants lowest common denominator ebook publishing? If you believe the click-farmers, WE do. Well I don't. I'm very happy to get state of the art ebooks on my iPad. Kindle doesn't do it for me, even for plain text books. I'll use the app if I need to, but it doesn't satisfy. The devices must be even worse, with that hideous grey-on-grey screen and laughable user interface. Hence the Fire. Not holding my breath on that one.

Back to iBooks Author. Can we just call it Author, for brevity? Sadly, rational discussion about great software and how simple it makes the most complex tasks apparently 'doesn't sell'.

We get spurious arguments about. Companies that sell you software, don't tell you where to sell your output.

When Microsoft or Adobe give a way a publishing tool, then we can look at that argument. It's a nonsense and I'm loathe to even have to address it.

To my opening statement, the market is -wide open- to any other developer to sell a lowest common denominator publishing tool, and not require you sell through iBooks. Tough luck if you end up with something like the current process of using InDesign to essentially re-layout your gems for each ebook platform? That's the lot of those who strive to be the lowest.

There's no point in Apple dumbing down their free tool to make other manufacturers happy. It's not like being in the iBooks store is some kind of handicap. Sorry it's easy to use, creates great stuff and you only get to sell it in the best ebook market place. Boo hoo.

Anybody else is free to make whatever publishing tool they like. Author is not the only publishing tool for iBooks. Who seriously expects Apple to fix an entire industry of copycats and clunkers? Somebody else can have that headache and Apple's left it wide open.

I'm more interested in tasteful use of the technology. If each text book ends up 2GB, not many are going to fit on a 16GB iPad. Stuffing books with video and interactivity, might sound good at first, but too-busy and you'll lose your audience just as quickly as dull old text.

Mega productions are expensive and preferably rare. Let's hope the majority are just great books with a little bling to maintain interest. Give us stories about how cool Author is, and examples of simply great books (pun intended).

The irony of the truck analogy

I had to laugh when a certain truck analogy was deployed to bolster the term post-pc era. In a time when a large portion of the population demands what is effectively a truck to convey school children and groceries, the truck analogy became its own running joke.

People DO want the power of a full Mac in their iPhone or iPad, witness filmmakers striving to make a film on iPhone, or musicians recording albums, including vocals on iPhone.

Technology just can't deliver what we want. Pretending computers are now trucks is as self-delusional as justifying a four wheel drive as a daily driver. When I see school children and groceries in a vee-dub, I'll believe in the post-pc fairy.

Right now we have subset-of-pc because the size of the device precludes full features, and that's just fine by me. There are myriad situations I wouldn't trade the near-Mac in my pocket for the real thing in my backpack or on my desk, but I'll always be wishing it had the features of full Mac.

Lulu self publishing to iPad

Hands down the biggest news for writers this year. Self publisher Lulu has a deal with iBooks. You can upload your book to Lulu, sell it at Lulu or Amazon and now on iBooks for iPad. Self publishing meets the digital age. I'm still stunned. Imagine what the App Store has done for developers being offered to writers! That book you were meaning to write. Do it now.