Cult of Mac

Comment of the Week comes from @Ron regarding our interview with John Sculley about Steve Jobs. Going against the common wisdom that ex-CEO John Sculley was bad for Apple, @Ron has a different take on Sculley, who I feel has been unfairly demonized for his decade-long stint at Apple’s helm.

Great article. I worked with John occasionally in his last years at Apple. I didn’t realize at the time how burnt out he was, but it make sense now in retrospect. He was shy and seemed withdrawn.

John was a great CEO for the first few years. It’s easy to forget that Steve left Apple in complete disarray – it’s safe to say that he hadn’t developed his management or relationships skills at that point. Sculley held things together and got the place to run as a business. It’s only later when his lack of product vision caught up with him.

For Serious Ocean Mariners and Starfleet Captains of the Mind, Norwegian chair manufacturer NorSap has just unveiled a new concept iChair.  Designed to offer strength and flexibility for helmsmen during long sea voyages, this Enterprise-worthy throne comes complete with two iPad docks – so you can navigate and goof off at the same time –  cushioned forearm rests and an (optional) heated footrest!

Looks a bit like a cross between a dentist’s chair and Captain Pike’s wheelchair.  I’d pilot this for a while.

[via TUAW]

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAVQPa9L3jg

Steve Jobs’ hypnotic cadence and idiosyncratic showmanship is obviously well-known enough to be channeled by international comedians looking for a laugh: over in Hong Kong, the Mass Transit Railway has just launched a new app, and they did so by hiring their own Chinese Fake Steve Jobs in the form of Law Kar-Ying to reveal it on stage. Law seems to have studied the man he was emulating quite well: he gets everything right, from the gulps of bottled water to the Levis and turtleneck. Hilarious.

[via TUAW]

The introduction of the first iPod back in 2001 officially signaled the beginning of Apple’s millennial renaissance, transforming the company from a computer manufacturer so niche that they were the butt of Michael Dell’s jokes to the biggest company in tech. See an overview of how it all happened after the jump.

Next week on October 20th, we can take it pretty much for granted that Apple is going to unveil the next iteration of OS X, 10.7 codenamed ‘Lion’, along with their annual October MacBook refreshes. What about iLife ’11, though, which we’ve been seeing burbling up for months now in the form of Idiot’s Guides and instruction manuals on Amazon and the like? Can we expect that to be announced as well?

It’s looking good. Apparently, retail employees of Apple’s stores are running low on their supplies of the last iLife software suite, with no new stock due to come in. This is in addition to seeing prices drop on Amazon: an inventory clear out that usually serves as precursor to a new iLife launch.

What’s new in iLife ’11? Hard to say for sure, but rumor has it that iDVD may go the way of the iDodo and the whole suite may have been rewritten from the ground up for 64-bit. There’s also rumors about beefier iOS integration and maybe even FaceTime support. We’ll all know next Wednesday.

Usually when we see an iPhone like this, it’s the handset of some Saudi Arabian oil prince or B-list rapper whose definition of class is synonymous with champagne fused with gold flakes, and whom has duly paid Swarovski some forty or fifty grand to dip his iPhone 4 into some horse glue and then roll it in their overpriced crushings of glass.

This handset is actually different, though. Instead of paying $40,000 for a Swarovski iPhone 4, two Australian businessmen paid customizer Stuart Hughes eight million dollars to plate their iPhone 4s in gold and then encrust them in over five hundred diamonds totaling over 100 karats.

Yesterday, Skype 5.0 dropped onto the PC for Windows users, bringing Facebook integration and group video calling into the mix. That update is not yet available for the Mac, but according to a post on Skype’s official blog, a new version of the popular VoIP application is coming to OS X soon.

I’m worried, though. In the blog post, Skype alarmingly mentions a “complete overhaul, both in terms of the way it looks, and in terms of functionality.”

Look, Skype isn’t a very well designed app by Mac standards, I agree… but have you ever seen the absolutely unidentifiable puddle of mashed up design elements that comprises the Windows interface? If you’ve got a minute, I’ve got an anecdote that might help describe it if you haven’t.

Chipmaker AMD hasn’t been doing well lately. Last year, they chalked up a third quarter loss of nearly $128 million. This year was scarcely any better at $118 million. At least this quarter, though, they have an excuse: the iPad’s killing notebook sales, even according to their own CEO.

Phoster is an interesting new app for designing posters and cards on your iPhone or iPad.

Apple’s finally seen fit to make their MobileMe Calendar web app an official product after a long period in beta. It’s now available to all comers, and will allow you to check or update your MobileMe calendar from any computer or Apple device, as well as share calendars with friends and colleagues, or send out invitations to events to your droogies.

The iPad seems a fairly small canvas, but it’s not much smaller than the Mona Lisa, upon which was painted the enigmatic face of history’s most beloved transvestite. Why not sling it up on an easel, then, and do some painting with Remote Palette… easily one of the neatest painting apps we’ve seen lately, largely through its fun cross-device universal functionality.

One of the great disappointments of the iPad has finally been remedied. After six months of living with the extremely limited app NY Times Editor’s Choice, the iPad has finally gotten “All the News That’s Fit to Print.”

The App Store pushed out NY Times 2.0 less than an hour ago. The free, all-new iPad appcontains the full content of the Paper of Record, along with the contents of a select number of the Times’s blogs. It’s the whole newspaper, but better than the print edition.

Enjoy it while it lasts, though. The Times promises that a paid subscription will be required starting in early 2011. Here’s hoping that a print subscription will grant access, unlike what the New Yorker is doing with its iPad app.

Download now! (iTunes)

George Hotz a.k.a GeoHot has released the Mac version of limera1n, his 1-click jailbreak solution. However, it will NOT unlock the device, enabling it to be used with different GSM carriers worldwide.

It is pretty easy to use and worked perfectly with my iPhone 4. Besides the tool, there’s a limera1n application that gets automatically installed on the iPhone after jailbreak, which gives you option to install Cydia.

Here’s see how it works.

Ingredients:

• An iPhone (3G or later) / iPod Touch (G2 or later) / iPad
• iOS 4.0.2 or later / iOS 3.2.1 or later for iPad
• limera1n tool available at limera1n.com
• iTunes 10 or later
• A wireless internet connection (to install cydia)
  Continue reading

What Is It? The Air Mouse Elite from Gyration is a wireless mouse that provides intuitive in-air motion controls that allow you to control you computer’s cursor with natural hand movements from up to 30m away. It’s ideal for anyone who regularly delivers presentations or uses a computer hooked up to their television as part of a home theatre.

We start off with a deal on an 8-core 3GHz MacPro Xeon workstation. The computer is bundled with the Mac Creativity and Entertainment Software Suite for $2,150. Next is a touch stylus for your iPad. The green stylus is just $2 and includes free shipping. Finally, there is a Crystal Jelly Executive Case for the iPod touch. The $1.50 case is designed for the fourth-generation iPod.

Along the way, we’ll also check out other devices for your iPhone, iPod and iPad. As usual, details on these and much more can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Potential and current (see what I did there) Chevrolet Volt owners will be pleased to hear that the mostly electric car’s iPhone app will finally be hitting the App Store at the end of October.

The app includes a ton of interesting controls and features: Charge the Volt immediately or schedule a charge time; check charge status and battery level; display expected range; and display various data tracked while driving like how many miles were electric-only, how many were gas. That’s on top flashy functions like being able to start the car from the app and mess with the door locks.

An OnStar spokesperson told us the Volt comes with five years of free OnStar service — other cars get six months free — and that the app will be free for the iPhone (and the Droid — sorry, Blackberry). Not impressed with (mostly) electric vehicles? OnStar will be making the app (sans Volt-specific functions) available for about a dozen or so additional OnStar-equipped cars in the near future.

Those iconic “Get a Mac” ads were recently used by an intelligence analyst to explain the emerging styles of two of al-Qaida’s American recruits.

At a classified intelligence conference outside Washington, the audience laughed and applauded when American al-Qaida members Adam Gadahn and Anwar al-Awlaki were swapped in for PC John Hodgman and Mac Justin Long in an Apple commercial.

Other analysts agreed that the award-winning ads featuring an uncool PC and a laid-back, charismatic Mac are apt characterizations of the two high-ranking American al-Qaida media strategists.

There’s no other way of saying this: Camera Camouflage is sneaky.

It’s a camera app that goes out of its way to avoid looking like a camera. It disguises itself as an incoming phone call. You can even instruct it to activate your phone’s ringtone, so you can pretend to take the call and hold the phone to your ear.

At which point, things get even sneakier.

Within weeks, you should be able to walk into most AT&T and Verizon stores and walk out with an iPad. The two carriers announced Thursday they will begin selling the Apple tablet October 28. The announcement should fuel speculation Apple is preparing to soon sell the iPhone through Verizon.

AT&T said it will sell the iPad 3G version with its pre-paid 3G plans, while Verizon will bundle the iPad Wi-Fi with its MiFi mobile hotspot device. Earlier this year, a leaked Verizon memo mentioned the iPad was an “opportunity for VZW” to sell the MiFi. Verizon will also sell the iPad 3G.

Two monthly plans will be offered by AT&T, ranging between $14.99 for 250MB and $25 for 2GB with no term contract. Both provide iPad owners unlimited Wi-Fi access at AT&T’s more than 23,000 national hotspots. The 16GB iPad will cost $629, with $729 for the 32GB and $829 for the 64GB.

Verizon will offer a $20 plan for up to 1GB of data. Verizon will offer the iPad Wi-Fi bundled with their MiFi. A 16GB iPad Wi-Fi bundle will cost $629.99, with $729.99 for a 32GB bundle and $829.99 for the 64GB iPad Wi-Fi package. The price of a Wi-Fi 3G will match that of AT&T.

Both the carriers and Apple made pointed-references to the all-important upcoming holiday buying season. “As we approach the holiday season, we are very happy that customers will now be able to buy iPad Wi-Fi + 3G at AT&T Stores,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “This is the perfect pairing for holiday travels,” Verizon Wireless CEO CEO John Stratton added.

[via AppleInsider]

Foxconn, the main manufacturer of Apple’s iPhone, Thursday confirmed an earlier report suggesting it will charge clients more for making mobile handsets. However, the company says competitors likely will not use the move to entice clients. “Most clients have already agreed to the new quotes,” a Foxconn representative told reporters.

Foxconn noted not all clients have yet to sign-up for the new pricing arrangement. Unknown is to which camp Apple belongs. Wednesday, a Taiwan-based publication reported a Citibank analyst believe Hon Hai, Foxconn’s parent, would raise manufacturing costs for October.

If you recently used Limera1n or GreenPois0n to jailbreak your iOS device, and want to make sure that iTunes doesn’t automatically update your device’s firmware whenever the next update is released by Apple, then here is a quick fix to prevent you from accidentally updating your iPhone/iPod/iPad.

In 1983, Steve Jobs wooed Pepsi executive John Sculley to Apple with one of the most famous lines in business: “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?”

Jobs and Sculley ran Apple together as co-CEOs, blending cutting edge technology (the first Mac) with cutting edge advertising (the famous 1984 ad) and world-class design. But it soon soured, and Sculley is best known today for forcing Jobs’ resignation after a boardroom battle for control of the company.

Now, for the first time, Sculley talks publicly about Steve Jobs and the secrets of his success. It’s the first interview Sculley has given on the subject of Steve Jobs since he was forced out of the company in 1993.

“There are many product development and marketing lessons I learned working with Steve in the early days,” says Sculley. “It’s impressive how he still sticks to his same first principles years later.”

He adds, “I don’t see any change in Steve’s first principles — except he’s gotten better and better at it.”

Here’s a full transcript of my interview with John Sculley on the subject of Steve Jobs.

It’s long but worth reading because there are some awesome insights into how Jobs does things.

It’s also one of the frankest CEO interviews you’ll ever read. Sculley talks openly about Jobs and Apple, admits it was a mistake to hire him to run the company and that he knows little about computers. It’s rare for anyone, never mind a big-time CEO, to make such frank assessment of their career in public.

UPDATE: Here’s an audio version of the entire interview made by reader Rick Mansfield using OS X’s text-to-speech system. It’s a bit robotic (Rick used the “Alex” voice, which he says is “more than tolerable to listen to”) but you might enjoy it while commuting or at the gym. The audio is 52 minutes long and it’s a 45MB download. It’s in .m4a format, which will play on any iPod/iPhone, etc. Download it here (Option-Click the link; or right-click and choose “Save Linked File…”).

It seems a little nutty, but Steve Jobs deemed that the team developing the original Macintosh couldn’t exceed more than 100 people. Here’s why.

What did Steve Jobs do when Sony founder Akio Morito do gave him one of the first Sony Walkmans off the production line?