Opinions - page 30

Nearly 75% of US college students believe WiFi access on their college campus helps them get better grades, according to a recent survey conducted for the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Wakefield Research polled 501 US college students in September 2008 and found that nine out of ten say Wi-Fi access is as essential to education as classrooms and computers, while nearly three in five say they wouldn’t go to a college that doesn’t have free Wi-Fi. Almost 80% percent said that without Wi-Fi access, college would be a lot harder.

“Wi-Fi has become a universal expectation among college students, and their attitudes towards technology are a good indicator of broad changes underway in how we as a society learn, work and communicate,” said Edgar Figueroa, executive director of the Wi-Fi Alliance, the global trade organization representing the Wi-Fi industry.

For students today, getting connected no longer means reserving a station at the computer lab or going to the library. Undergrads log-in at coffee shops and restaurants (55%), in parks (47%), and even in their cars (24%). 60% of the survey respondents agreed widely available Wi-Fi on campus is an indication that a school cares about its students.

It’s a given that students will always adapt readily to changing technology and circumstances, that the wide availability of calculators, for example, led to higher grades in Math courses for some students, starting in the 1970s. But can Wi-Fi itself lead to better academic performance?

It depends what it’s used for: More than half of the survey respondents admitted to having checked Facebook or MySpace and sent or received e-mail while using their laptop in class. Just under half sent instant messages to a friend during class. Those uses of Wi-Fi are certainly not apt to produce higher scores.

On the other hand, 48% of the students said they would rather give up beer than give up their Wi-Fi, so perhaps we are in a nascent period of higher academic achievement after all.

Via MacWorld UK

I cooked up many reasons to justify buying an iPhone, and the fact that it had a camera (no matter how poor quality) was one of them. I liked the idea of having a camera that was so well integrated with the rest of the software on the machine.

As it turns out, third-party software that makes use of the camera is the stuff I’m getting most excited about, and playing with most often.

The most recent addition to my iPhone home screen is CameraBag, purchased for just 1.79 of our fine English pounds (which is about 3 of your fine American dollars).

Image via Bob Pearce/smh.com.au

Steve Wozniak thinks “It is time for the whole computer industry to maybe have a bit of a slowdown,” according to comments published in a wide-ranging interview with the Telegraph UK.

With shares of Apple, Inc. off 45% from August highs at $179, Wozniak thinks the spate of analyst downgrades for the near-term prospects of the company he founded are likely “correct.” He said, “For twenty years we have been in this replacement and upgrade market” that he finds unsustainable.

“Things like [the iPod], if you look back to transistor radios and Walkmans, they kind of die out after a while,” he predicted, referring to a major Apple profit center in recent years.

Wozniak also appeared critical of Apple’s latest groundbreaking product, the iPhone, and the direction development of third-party applications has taken. “Consumers aren’t getting all they want when companies are very proprietary and lock their products down,” he opined, saying, “I would like to write some more powerful apps than what you’re allowed.”

And while, as some analysts believe, Apple may be in a better position to withstand an industry slowdown than other technology companies, because of the near-religious devotion some consumers have toward Apple products, Woniak said neither he nor Steve Jobs was ever comfortable with such attitudes. We “don’t like the fact that it’s a bit of a religion,” he said of the company’s cult followers.

“I would like to have the users influence the next generation,” he said. “With a religion you’re not allowed to challenge anything. I want our customers to challenge us.”

One area of the Telegraph interview with a disturbingly false ring to it, however, concerned Wozniak’s description of Steve Job’s position in Apple’s stream of internal intelligence. He claimed that, when it comes to the introduction of new products, “nobody, not even Steve Jobs” knows what’s next.

“I think he would be sitting there [unaware] right up until the day it is introduced.” Ya think?

I’ve never got on very well with the Dock, the app launcher Apple puts at the bottom of the screen. It does very little that I find useful, and many things that simply bug me. Thank goodness for the Command+Option+D shortcut that hides it out of the way. That’s where my Dock spends most of its life out of my sight.

That said, there are still some aspects of daily computing life that need to be kept close to hand. Things that I want access to, at a moment’s notice, no matter what app I’m using. And things I want to use, briefly, without leaving that app.

And that’s why I spend a lot of time investigating and trying out various Menu Bar widgets and applications. The Menu Bar is the mini dock at the top right of the screen where the system clock lives, plus other customizable widgets called Menu Bar apps.

My goal has always been to get the greatest utility from the smallest number of Menu Bar apps – because of course, Menu Bar space is limited.

Consequently I’m very, very fussy about what apps get to stay there.

The current line-up looks like this, from left to right:

XMenu, ByteController, I Love Stars, Anxiety, Jumpcut, Time Machine, iChat, MenuMeters, Airport, Volume, Battery, Bluetooth, clock, Fast User Switching, and Spotlight.

Read on for a guided tour of some of the third party extras in that list.

I got absurdly excited when the new Apple keyboard was demonstrated, and immediately put in my order blind. I’d been looking for a decent laptop-like keyboard, and this seemed to fit the bill. In use, I haven’t been disappointed with it.

However, my glee was initially two-fold, partly driven by what was actually printed on the keys, and this is the area that’s led to some disappointment. Find out why after the jump.

Apple reaffirmed its intent to control what programs may legitimately run on its iPhone this week when the company revoked ad hoc distribution authority from a developer whose application it previously barred from distribution through the iTunes AppStore.

Last week, when Podcaster received official notice from Apple that the AppStore would not be carrying its application because the company had determined it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes, the developer decided to use Apple’s ad hoc distribution method to get the program into the hands of users who were willing to make a $10 ‘donation’ for the privilege of becoming beta-testers.

Tuesday, Apple revoked Almerica’s access to creating ad hoc licenses for the podcast downloading tool, prompting howls of protest from developers and consumers, many of whom have been skeptical of Apple’s intentions and critical of its business practices involving the AppStore from the very beginning.

Follow me after the jump to learn more about what’s behind the dispute and why Apple could be standing on shaky legal ground.

So, hello.

My name is Giles, and I am one of the new contributors here at Cult of Mac.

I’ve been given the job of covering the “Mac community and culture”. It’s the real “Cult of Mac” beat, and it came with a friendly warning from the boss, Leander Kahney: “It’s not an easy beat, because there are no press releases.”

And he’s right. The real Mac cultists do not tend to proclaim their Cult membership by issuing press releases; they are far more likely to post an image on Flickr, a video on Vimeo or YouTube, or a post on an obscure blog somewhere. My job here is to seek them out and share them with you lot.

I usually steer clear of a point by point repudiation of another writer’s work, but reader Handsomematt asked me to, and there is little I won’t do to satisfy the desires of our readers (are you reading this, Scarlet?)

It all started with my piece about how Chrome is an operating system for cloud computing, and why Apple isn’t scared at all. Handsomematt (hereafter: ‘Mat’), forwarded me an article indicating that apparently I was completely full of it. What’s more, what I thought was a piece of insightful analysis disappointedly turns out to be conventional wisdom.

Nevertheless Matt, here you go, Writing on the Wall, or Premature “Googasm“, follow us after the break, and you decide.

I was intrigued when I read my colleague Johnny Evans’ post about 7digital and its 4 million DRM-free tracks available in 320k MP3 quality, so I went to the site to pick up a copy of the classic Harry Nilsson album, The Point, which I’ve been wanting to buy.

I found the site easy enough to navigate, with a pleasant balance between text and graphics that seemed a refreshing change from iTunes’s hevavily-graphics-oriented interface. I located The Point quickly, listened to a couple of preview tracks and thought, hey, why not? Signing up for an account was even relatively painless and straightforward, and when it came time to give my address, I put in that of a friend who lives in London, which is when the deal started heading south. See how after the jump.

PC user in “I’ve got a beard” shocker!

Leander already wrote about the new Microsoft ads, noting that they convincingly portray “the PC as part of global culture, unpretentious and down-to-earth”.

But, really, they say very little. Instead of finding these adverts a refreshing antidote to the brash and somewhat tiresome arrogance of Apple’s ads, they just come across as a feeble and overly defensive response, like a weedy geek whimpering “stop picking on me, dammit!” Microsoft should have blazed on to the scene, proving its worth and reasoning why it’s better than Apple, or at least hammered home its point with a little humor.

Instead, we get dry, by-the-numbers, designed-by-committee adverts that are borderline nauseating. Little more than a self-congratulatory pat on the back, they tell us what we already know: lots of people use PCs, and PCs can be used for diverse things. Thrilling. They don’t say lives can be made better by using PCs, nor do they provide any compelling reason whatsoever to check out Microsoft’s output over the competition. (Possible exception: beard lovers.) They’re also dull, unimaginative and unoriginal, riffing weakly off of Apple’s ideas, rather than Microsoft coming up with its own. While that might make them very relevant to Microsoft, that doesn’t make them good adverts.

Apple’s gains on Microsoft haven’t been down to advertising—in fact, one might argue that Apple’s advertisements actually put many people off the brand. Instead, they’ve been down to user experience, and rallying against complacency. Until Microsoft can offer similarly persuasive arguments, I can’t see its adverts convincing anyone to stick with ‘PC’, let alone switch to it.

In July, Apple noted that an upcoming ‘product transition’ would affect future profit margins, prompting speculation. For once, such speculation has started to fade, but now rumors regarding the new MacBook are beginning to surface: an aluminium case, LED backlit display, multi-touch. Does that sound like anything to you?

Is Apple going to ditch the ‘Pro’ from MacBook Pro and streamline its laptop range, leaving just a ‘standard’ MacBook (with different screen sizes and minor tinkering possibilities under the hood), and the Air for people who happily set fire to 50-dollar bills? (Clearly, they would once have lit their cigars with said bills, but you’re not allowed to smoke anywhere in the free world these days.)

Obviously, this is idle speculation, but such streamlining would make sense. Run SuperDrives across the new MacBook range, and position the low-end model at an aggressive price-point, but with roughly the grunt of today’s mid-range MacBook (albeit with some extra toys), and then beef up the mid- and top-ends with larger screens and a graphics card, but slice their price-tags, too.

According to resellers we’ve spoken to, laptops are the Apple hardware that continues to outperform the market and expectations, and so if Apple really does want to make a play for market-share, this could be the way to do it.

Update: As Gruber just pointed out, Apple was likely referring to the new iPods introduced last week and the guidance was for the quarter about to end. But what the hell—I still have an inkling that the laptop line-up is going to change rather dramatically over the coming months. So there.

American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu adjusted estimates downward for Apple sales and profitability in 4Q 2008 and FY 2009 Friday, based on reduced visibility in the computer maker’s supply chain.

“Our supply chain checks indicate a mix shift towards low-end and mid-range Macs as it appears that more affluent consumers may be feeling the effects of a tighter credit environment,” Wu wrote in a report to clients.

As a result, he estimates Apple will earn $5.29 per share on sales of $32.8 billion in 2008, down from a previous estimate of $5.34 on $32.9 billion. Estimates for fiscal 2009 now show the company earning $6.15 per share on revenue of $38.8 billion, down from $6.35 on $39.2 billion.

Wu trimmed is price projection for shares of Apple common stock (AAPL) to $205, down from $220. In late trading Friday AAPL shares were trading down $3.49 on the day at $149.16.

UPDATE: One year on, and my view of the platform for gaming has changed somewhat—read Why Apple is Right to Pitch iPod touch as a Games Console to Beat the DSi and PSP Go.

The iPod touch segment of Let’s Rock was particularly notable for Apple’s attempts to position the device as a major gaming platform. “It’s the best portable device for playing games,” claimed Jobs. Apple’s website now calls iPod touch the ‘funnest iPod ever’, and talks about its ‘hundreds of games’. This emphasis on gaming, along with the demonstrations we’ve seen from various developers, appears to be positioning iPod touch alongside Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS, rather than talking about mobile gaming as though iPod touch has any relationship whatsoever to a certain smartphone and cell-phone gaming in general.

There are arguments in favor of this belief. Games have proved phenomenally popular on the App Store. They’re also cheap, relatively plentiful, and simple to get on to your iPhone or iPod touch. Also, crucially, Apple’s solution betters Sony’s and Nintendo’s by allowing updates to games—something owners of the abhorrent DS port of The Settlers no doubt wish were true of their platform.

The problem is, iPod touch is only ever going to be a niche concern in the gaming space. Find out why after the break…

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you can’t have failed to notice that iTunes 8 arrived to some fanfare earlier this week. I’ve been putting it through its paces, figuring out whether the new features are any good, and scoring them using our patented* rockometer.

More after the break…

* Not patented.

After yesterday’s announcements from Apple, there followed the usual flurry of reactions from various analysts and journalists. This was swiftly followed by a reaction to the reaction, with some parties suggesting that negative grumbling regarding Let’s Rock was somehow unfair on Apple, and that expectations had once again been driven by a hype machine and rumor mill on overdrive.

Some of the negative vibes yesterday no doubt arrived from the much-reported ‘fact’ that Apple actively urged journos to cover the event, claiming it would be a “big deal”. Clearly, there’s some truth in the possibility said ‘fact’ might be a big fat fib. However, does that make the cynical, dismissive and unenthusiastic response to Apple’s event null and void? Put simply, are we, as writers and commentators on Apple and its output, being too hard on Steve and co.?

‘No’ and ‘no’ are my answers to those questions, and for three reasons. First and foremost, Apple is an innovator. And while the company clearly isn’t going to reveal an iPhone at every event, that doesn’t mean we should ever expect run-of-the-mill. The day that happens, Apple is doomed and may as well sell to Dell.

Secondly, iPod has been the line that’s made Apple the powerhouse it is today. As Pete noted,  indication that Apple’s fed-up with the media player business or unable to innovate means others are going to start playing catch-up. I can’t have been the only person to see the new nano and think ‘Zune’, and that’s a dangerous position for Apple to be in.

Thirdly, we have to remember that Apple is the one that, to some extent, drives the hype. There were the huge posters, in-your-face security, and ubiqutious secrecy. For relatively minor updates to its product line, Apple could have put out some press releases. Instead, it invited the world to watch and listen while Steve Jobs paraded his company’s products on stage to much fanfare. So, sure, the rumor mill might be a snowball gathering speed down a shockingly steep hill (before it hits us squarely in the face with a wet splat), but remember that Apple’s the one that starts the ball rolling.

One thing stuck out about the build-up to Let’s Rock. It wasn’t the hype, nor people expecting the absurd (such as an all-powerful unlocked 128 GB iPhone for about $5), but Apple actively encouraging the media to attend. The event, we were told, would be a ‘big deal’. As it turns out, even fairly modest expectations were barely met, and I think it’s pretty safe to say most people left distinctly underwhelmed.

iTunes was first up, with Jobs routinely talking shop (lots of songs, lost of podcasts, and lots of NBC, who came crawling back to a distinct lack of rapturous applause). The app itself is now at version 8, but with seemingly few major changes: there’s a grid view, a Genius playlist that makes me think Apple’s been getting all jealous of last.fm, and iPhoto-style scrubbing over artists, but that’s about it.

The iPod classic’s clearly loved about as much as the Mac mini. This icon of Apple’s resurgence over recent years was pretty much dismissed, and the line knifed to a single model, 120 GB. 30,000 tracks fit on it, apparently, but that’s 10,000 fewer than on the 160 GB version that’s now like the dodo.

Things were better in the realm of the nano, even if the rumor mill had revealed most of the details. The new model resembles the second-gen model, but has a raft of new features, including voice recording, an accelerometer, and the amusing ‘shake to shuffle’ feature. The rainbow colors are arresting and presumably caught rivals out, who’ve largely been following Apple into muted-color-land.

As for the iPod touch, it got the predicted price-drop, weight-loss, volume control and speaker, along with a tag-line to make English teachers wince (“The funnest iPod ever”). New games were also on show, with Real Soccer 2009 rather depressingly dumping a D-pad and buttons on the screen, cunningly making it so players obscure the screen while playing. Woo. (How I wish the Belkin rumor hadn’t turned out to be a hoax…)

So, yeah, I’m rather wishing I’d spent the past hour doing something a little more productive and exciting, like fashioning a lint ball from my office’s windowsill that really needs dusting.

I know, I know—I’m usually the first to complain about people getting all pissed with Apple events letting them down. However, this time Apple was the one telling us we were going to see something big, when all we got were skinny things we already knew about anyway.

Veteran Mac expert and writer Joe Kissell is among the first to report that Google’s brand new Chrome browser appears to be “way faster” than Safari, even running in a virtualization environment like VMWare Fusion.

Kissell ran a quick, informal head-to-head on his MacBook Pro, comparing Safari on OS X to Chrome running under Windows XP and VMWare Fusion.

“Chrome launched in the blink of an eye (really shockingly fast) and I tried a few web pages side by side in Chrome and the Mac Safari, and they loaded noticeably faster in Chrome,” said Kissell.

Chrome is Google’s entry in the web browser sweepstakes, currently a Windows-only offering that launched today. The browser is based, however, on Apple’s webkit, the same rendering engine that powers the Safari browser. Mac and Linux versions of Chrome are in the works but Google has yet to announce a time frame for releasing those versions.

Kissell’s initial report came over Twitter, saying he ran Chrome in XP under VMware Fusion on a MacBook Pro and that it “is way faster than the Mac version of Safari on the same machine. Wow.” But some of his reaction may be chalked up to perception, and later off-the-cuff speed tests presented a mixed bag.

In tests done on a regular work machine with a zillion things running in the background, not a clean environment to be sure, but representative of the “real world” in which many are likely to use the browser,

• Chrome launched in < 2 seconds in XP under VMware Fusion
• Native Mac Safari launched in ~9 seconds

LifeHacker Stopwatch

• loaded in 7.254 seconds in Chrome
• loaded in 9.531 seconds in Safari

How To Create Css Test

• rendered in 162 ms in Chrome
• rendered in 37 ms in Safari

Despite his admittedly highly unscientific testing, Kissell reported “AJAXy things like Google Docs seemed zippier in Chrome, but it’s possible that my perceptions are incorrect, because I expect everything in a Windows VM to be slower.”

Let us know in comments below how Chrome works for you.