The other Steve’s outlook on life is something we all need.
Steve Jobs is everywhere. A recent Bangkok book fair had a life-sized wax model of him, malls use his quotes alongside those from celebrities and politicians to decorate boarded up shops while they’re being renovated, and the roti and tea shop around the corner from my house has a hand-painted mural featuring the Mona Lisa, the Eiffel Tower, the Statute of Liberty, President Obama, the Dali Lama, and, yes, Steve Jobs, all enjoying their chai yen (Thai iced tea). Ashton Kutcher’s acting as Jobs in the Jobs biopic isn’t enough for Hollywood, as Sony Pictures is still planning another film based on Isaacson’s biography of Jobs. Aside from Bill Gates, there’s few other people in tech that the majority of people on earth would know of. Jobs a legend, an icon.
But the other Steve — Steve Wozniak — is the often unsung hero that provided the technical genius that launched Apple. Jobs was the personal embodiment of Apple, the marketing guy who knew what was insanely great when he saw it, and fought to bring it to the world. Wozniak, on the other hand, was the reason Apple Computer, Inc. had computer in its name, the technical guy that made Apple’s original tech possible.
Aside from what Isaacson biography of Jobs mentions about Woz, as he’s affectionately known, and random other things about him from the internet, I’d never taken the time to learn much about Apple’s less-public cofounder. So, last week, I’d bought his autobiography iWoz: How I Invented the Personal Computer and Had Fun Along the Way in iBooks to try it out in OS X Mavericks, and then ended up sick in bed with the flu all weekend. With no energy or inspiration to write — my typical pastime — I read Wozniak’s full book.
In short, it was inspiring, almost tear-jerking without being the least bit sad. Absolutely nothing like I expected.
Wide-Eyed Amazement
You won’t walk away from iWoz wishing you were a millionaire, or feeling left out that you didn’t start a Fortune 500 tech company. You won’t feel like you’re dumber if your IQ isn’t near Woz’ score of 200. You won’t think less of Steve Jobs, and you’ll likely think better of Apple’s numerous presidents — and Apple’s long-forgotten competitors from the early days of computers.
What you will walk with is a touch of the childhood amazement that radiates from the text. Woz stands in awe of technology and what it can do, and seems to still be amazed that he was able to have a part in it all. He makes you fascinated by how electronics work together, and how each early computer design was important for the final goal of everyone owning a computer. I don’t know how else to describe it other than that he’s simply bubbling over with fascination over the smallest things, and has never lost that childish enthusiasm.
One could easily pull individual sentences out of context from the book — or even in context — and make it sound like Woz is bragging. It could easily seem that way, when he talks about being the best in his class, knowing more than other people his age, and designing electronics that were years ahead of their time. But that’s not at all how he made me feel. Instead, it felt like he was simply amazed that he was able to do those things, and incredulous that others didn’t see the same possibilities he did. It’s like he wants you to share in his excitement over doing good in school, winning contests, and making friends.
He analyzes others’ personalities, and finds the unique things about them fascinating. Others, even his good friend Jobs, do him wrong, and he takes it in stride, seeing it as a life lesson. He’s the only person I can imagine making you interested in universal remotes. Why? Because he’s fascinated by life.
Curiosity, killed.
The very quality of fascination is what makes children so interesting. Young kids are amazed by everything, starting with their fingers and toes as newborns. Everything’s new, and everything’s exciting. The whole world’s a new gadget for them to unbox and explore.
But then, we become jaded. We get older, get used to the amazing things around us, and forget to notice the magic that’s long-since become ordinary. The world is a really amazing place, filled with interesting things, and yet, we’re so used to it that it ceases to amaze us. The iPhone dazzled us when it first came out, but now we swipe to unlock unlock absentmindedly, when we used to would have marveled over the detail and fluid animation. We fly across the globe, and complain more over the delays than thrill over the speed and convenience. Louis C.K. got it right in his “Everything’s Amazing, and Nobody’s Happy” piece during his appearance on Conan O’Brien’s show: we’re the most spoiled generation with the most amazing technology that people complain about more than appreciate.
Somehow, though, I think we can’t include Woz in that list. If he’s anything like he comes across in his book, I happen to think that everything still amazes him. And that’s awesome.
So Revive it.
It’d sound quaint to say we should “stop and smell the flowers”, but as I argued in the inaugural issue’s Perspective article, it’s something we need. Sometimes it’s worth stopping and thinking about how awesome everything is, taking the time to appreciate what’s actually happening behind the scenes in the tech we use. It’s really, really amazing — but it’s so easy to get used to it and just expect it to work.
But when something breaks, as things are apt to, it’s equally not surprising because it’s just stuff, things full of tiny pieces working together to make their virtual magic. When the internet’s slow, it’s more amazing that it actually works in the first place than that it’s not loading our YouTube videos as fast as we like. I happen to think that we’d be far less frustrated with stuff not working — far less frustrated with life in general — if we remembered how amazing life and the things around us really are.
Want to get a glimpse at the story behind Apple from another perspective than Jobs’, and get a feeling of childhood wonder at today’s tech at the same time? Then go grab a copy of iWoz. I happen to think you’ll enjoy it.
While restoring a friend's Windows Vista-powered laptop this week, I discovered that most programs — say, Chrome, Evernote, and even iTunes — still support Windows Vista (and XP), which is nice to find for those trying to eek the last bit of usage out of an aging PC without ditching Windows or paying for an upgrade. Sure, Creative Cloud and Office 365/2013 require Windows 7 or 8, but he like so many PC users is sticking with Office 2007 and an older copy of Photoshop, so that's not an issue.
There was only one app I couldn't get reinstalled for him: iCloud Control Panel PC. The latest v.3 is for only for Windows 7 or 8, and the older version was nowhere to be found — even OldApps.com didn't have it, and, well, freeware apps aren't what usually is on torrent sites.
As a last ditch effort, I check the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine for an older copy of Apple's iCloud site — and managed to find the original iCloud for PC download link that's still live on their server. So here you go. If you need to reinstall iCloud sync on your Windows 2000, XP, or Vista PC, here's the link to download the still-functioning iCloud sync for your PC:
A new issue of Techinch Magazine, and a whole new iOS.
A few short weeks ago when Techinch Magazine Issue 5 hit Newsstand, it still looked like it was made out of wood. Well over 60% of iOS users now have upgraded to iOS 7 only weeks after it was released, and chances are you’ll be reading this issue on iOS 7.
iOS 7 is a huge upgrade to Apple’s mobile platform that’s brighter, layered, and animated, with the tech foundation to bring on the next generation of great apps for our phones and tablets. We’ve already seen some great new app redesigns, such as those that prompted me to break out of my habit of writing about Mac and Web apps and round them up for iPhone.AppStorm, but the best are yet to come. It’ll sure be exciting to see how developers continue to innovate on iOS going forward.
And, I must admit that iOS 7 has inspired much of the content in this issue. Here's what you'll find inside:
Everything You Know is Wrong...or so you might feel after installing iOS 7.
The iPad 1: a review, 4 years later.
Make Stuff every. single. day.
Think, then act. Actually, think some more first.
OmniFocus 2 for iPhone is Really, Really Great: A review of the app that makes sure I write reviews.
If you've already subscribed to Techinch Magazine, you'll find the new issue in Newsstand on your iPhone or iPad already. Otherwise, go download the Techinch Magazine app, start a free 7 day trial, and check out the new issue. I sure hope you enjoy it.
There's science films, and there's science fiction films. The former are the dry, National Geographic-sanctioned footage that museum IMAX theaters play on weekdays, while the latter is what sells out summer blockbusters annually and makes names like Star Wars and Star Trek become multi-million dollar franchises while playing fast and loosely with anything resembling real science.
Gravity is the perhaps closest to the former you're going to get out of a Hollywood blockbuster. In some ways, it resembles the former with its footage that looks like it's cut straight from NASA TV and a storyline that's nearly summed up entirely in 140 second trailer. And yet, it still plays a bit loose with the truth like the latter, as Time Magazine's Fact Check and Neil deGrasse Tyson's series of tweets revealed.
But really, the only reason that's noticeable is the fact that Gravity is so close to a scientific film, it's tough to set your thinking skills aside and accept that it's just a film. It depicts space and zero gravity so well that it's received praise from the likes of Buzz Aldrin and astronauts, and yet it still misses it at spots (hint: hair floats in space, too). Its premise is something that's a realistic concern in space today, and yet going from Hubble to the ISS isn't even remotely possible — and satellite debris wouldn't affect either since it would be at such a higher orbit than both of them.
So you're going to have to set aside the critical parts of your brain just a bit — far less, still, than you would in science fiction films where their space walks are decidedly less possible. But for any space buff who's spent too much time at the Air and Space museums and any NASA facilities they could reach, Gravity is a thrill like no other. You're not going for the storyline, you're going for the breathtakingly expansive views of earth, the Milky Way, Aurora Borealis, and the interior of the ISS. You're going to get the tiniest feel for what it'd be like to be on an extended space walk, one set with real hardware that's been in space in our lifetimes. It's still science fiction, but it's insanely close to real life in space in 2013, assuming the Shuttle hadn't been grounded. And that's absolutely worth seeing.
And yes, it's absolutely worth splurging for IMAX 3D tickets this time — though be warned, if you're prone to motion sickness from spinning or 3D, there's enough of both in this film to make you lose your lunch, as my wife discovered. In that case, try to get it in IMAX non-3D — this much space eye candy deserves all the screen room it can get.
When my Dad had stomach pain for weeks on end that resulted in emergency gallbladder surgery, I spent an evening pacing hospital hallways crying. Not because I was worried for Dad — I trusted the doctors, and they said it was very low risk. It was simply fixing the problem, and we were more than grateful to finally have a solution.
No, I was crying over the cost, money I didn't see how we could pay. I was in college, juggling grants, loans, and work to make my bills, and here suddenly we had a (seemingly) massive $5k or so bill due tomorrow. And, as huge an expense as that seemed in a private hospital in Thailand, it was hilariously cheap in comparison to what it would have cost in the States, where childbirth costs $30k on average.
Healthcare isn't an option. It's a necessity. It was a necessity when my Dad, a couple years earlier, was in the hospital over Christmas with seizures, or a couple years before that when my sister broke her arm by, of all things, jumping off a sofa onto a carpeted floor — a mistake that cost over $1,000 in an American emergency room. It wasn't an option when my mom needed thyroid treatment, and had to beg and plead to get just the initial visit under $300 in the US. It wasn't an option when I, stupidly, sat on a glass coffee table and gashed my wrist — something that cost me $100 in another private hospital in Thailand. And it sure wasn't an option when my 5 year old nephew needed chemotherapy and surgery and the resulting followups, all of which have been paid for by Thailand's subsidized healthcare.
Somehow, healthcare has turned into a political game, one that had deadlocked Congress to the point that they cannot pass a budget and are shutting down the government. It's become something you're for if you vote for one party, and against if you vote for the other. And that's ridiculous. Keeping people healthy without breaking the bank should hardly be a political issue to be debated, and it absolutely shouldn't be something you oppose because you didn't vote for our President.
The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare to the skeptics, isn't the the absolute solution for America's healthcare woes. I'm personally for (more radically, perhaps) 100% subsidized healthcare, something that's the norm in Canada, Australia, and Europe. The Affordable Care Act doesn't bring that to the US, but it's a start. It's got people thinking about healthcare, and how it needs to be affordable and approachable for everyone. And that's a huge thing for the US. And, of all things, it's modeled on a plan that's working right now in Massachusetts, after it was started by a governor who ran for president on the party that so vehemently opposes the act.
We have free schools and libraries and Smithsonian because education is important. Free parks beaches and national parks because the outdoors — accessible to everyone — is important. Police to protect us for free, roads and bridges for free because transportation is important. And we can't have free healthcare?
Healthcare isn't a privilege; it's a right. Everyone should have equal access to the best healthcare we can offer, and no one should sit at home this winter trying to scare a sinus infection away with hot tea since the doctor is too expensive. No one deserves to go bankrupt because of one health issue.
I'm not a Republican or a Democrat. I'm an American. And I believe free, universal healthcare should come right along with freedom and justice for all.
Everyone in Congress who's brought us to this impasse should be ashamed of themselves, especially now that government employees below their pay grade will go without pay this week over their political games — games over other people's health. That's evil.
Dig through the extensive articles about iOS 7, the roundups of new features and apps (including my own on iPhone.AppStorm), and you'll find a lot of exciting things. Everything's new and interesting. But there's one little feature that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere: iOS 7's new Dictionary.
See, there's been the full Oxford dictionary built into iOS since forever — just long-tap on a word anywhere in iOS, select define, and you've got the full dictionary at your disposal. I've relied on it for years, and never bothered to download another dictionary app since the built-in one works great. But for Thai to English definitions, I always had to rely on apps.
On the Mac, the built-in Dictionary.app (which powers the iOS-style definition popups) lets you enable a number of dictionaries and install new ones (and, yes, I have a 3rd party Thai-to-English dictionary installed in Dictionary.app on the Mac). With iOS 7, the Define tool gets the former functionality, with 14 dictionaries for you to download including the Apple Dictionary of tech terms and Korean, English, and Japanese to English translation dictionaries. Just define any word, then tap Manage on the bottom left, and select the dictionaries you want to download from the cloud.
Enjoy!
Now, if Apple will just add a way for us to install 3rd party dictionaries into the quasi-Dictionary.app on iOS. That, and a way to add new animated backgrounds, are curiously missing right now, something I hope Apple will quickly rectify, because I'd love to add a Thai-to-English dictionary directly to iOS.
Notice which phone is featured? Yup, the 5c. Not the fastest and greatest iPhone, but the new mid-priced iPhone. The 5c the featured iPhone.
That makes perfect sense.
****
Over the past year, a number of people I know have purchased iPhones. I'm an American living in Thailand — a market without subsidized phones — so I have friends and family in both countries. And of everyone I know who bought an iPhone since the iPhone 5 was released, not one person I can think of bought an iPhone 4S. Everyone either went for the iPhone 4 ("free" in the US, ~$350+ in Thailand) or the iPhone 5.
If Apple had continued its normal policy of making one new iPhone and keeping the past two models as cheaper options this year, the iPhone 5 would likely have fallen into the same limbo. The 4S would be free in subsidized markets, and cheap enough to appeal to comparatively budget consumers in unsubsidized markets. The 5s, on the other hand, is the aspirational product, one people will pay extra for no matter which market they're in. Why buy the mid-priced 5 when for $100 extra you could get the newest phone?
Thus, the 5c. Apple's made two new iPhones this year, one that's enough different to attract budget customers and convince them to pay a bit extra. It's the iPhone they're going to market the most, I think, because it's their new shot at mass market. This past year, the iPhone 4 has been their marketshare-boosting model — this year, they want a brand-new iPhone with better margins than any "free" model could offer to be their marketshare-boosting model.
People who want the best will still get the 5s. The fingerprint reader alone will make it the device of choice for corporate rollouts. But for the mass market, a new no-compromises iPhone now costs $99 in subsidized markets and ~$150 or so less than before in unsubsidized markets.
It's not cheap — far from it, in fact. It's just a different product at a different price point. iPad Mini to the 5s' New iPad. MacBook Air to the Retina Display MacBook Pro. Mac Mini to the iMac (and Mac Pro). iPod Nano to the iPod. iPhoto to Aperture. iMovie to Final Cut Pro. All of which get their own updates, and are never seen as the older version of the other. Actually, every software or hardware market Apple's in now has two lines: something entry level that's great on its own, and something bigger/faster/more pro.
That's the iPhone market now: two new devices that in all likelihood will get their own annual updates. A high quality phone that's great for everyone, and a pro-level aspirational phone that's the future of the platform. Notice that the iPhone 5 — a one year old device, but the tech baselevel of the 5c — has all of iOS 7's features aside from Touch ID and the new photo features like slo-mo video, both of which require the hardware in the 5s. Nothing software-wise is limited on the 5c (or the 5) this year, unlike every other last-year iPhone to date.
In that, there's the message: the 5c is a full-featured iPhone. It's the only iPhone you need, and it's just $99. Why get the old iPhone when you could get this year's new phone for $100 extra?
Honestly, they almost could have just called the two devices iPhone and iPhone Pro, but somehow that just doesn't sound Apple-y for a mobile device.
****
The iPhone predictions and leaks this year ended up being precisely spot-on, but the discussion around them was often comically odd. Everyone suddenly became an expert about what would sell well in China and the rest of Asia, about pricing and what the rest of the world could afford, and about exactly why Steve Jobs would or wouldn't have made the 5c.
If we're all entitled to our opinions, here's mine. I'm an American who's lived in Asia half my life, and my wife is Chinese/Thai. We both thought the gold iPhone mockups were gaudy and wouldn't have appealed to Chinese more than any other market. The gold color that was released with the 5s is beautiful, though, and I'm certain it'll fare as well as the silver variant in all markets around the world. But just because Chinese in particular buy gold to store wealth doesn't mean they'd want a gold iPhone. If anything, an iPhone is a status symbol on its own — no gold required.
Then, the brightly colored plastic iPhone 5c isn't any more for China than it is the rest of the world. The c definitely doesn't stand for cheap, nor does it stand for China. It's simply just the 2nd line of iPhones, just like Apple's done with so many of its other products.
The 5s will still be an aspirational product, and the 5c is still relatively expensive. But the 5c is a great product on its own, one Jony Ive seems incredibly proud of (and I have to think Jobs would have been proud of it too — he, after all, introduced brightly colored iMacs and iPods) — and I expect it to sell great.
If anything, it should boost the iPhone ASP, since I happen to think it'll get a ton of customers who otherwise would have opted for this year's free iPhone to pony up a bit more for this year's cheaper brand-new iPhone.
Time sure does fly — and I must apologize again for this issue coming a week slower than I’d planned. We’re supposed to have new issues every two weeks, and both issues 4 and 5 have taken 3 weeks to come to press. It’s been a bit much, taking this on at the same time I have a ton of projects going on at work, but hey — Issue 5 is here. I really think you’ll enjoy it, too. And I shall do my very best to get Issue 6 out within 2 weeks from now. Hold me to that, would you?
But before that, you’ve got some reading to do. First up is a great article from my friend and colleague Phillip Gruneich, another writer you should start seeing more often on Techinch Magazine. He digs into how mobile apps are eating the world, and more, in this week’s feature article.
Then, from yours truly, you’ll find a look at what shaking up TV really means — and no, it doesn’t really mean more apps. We then explore what it means to be authentic on social media, and why Monsters Inc. and U are actually about today.
I sure hope you enjoy the articles — and if you do, could you take a minute and send me a message on Twitter @maguay and let me know what you liked and why? I would really, really appreciate that.
I just wrote up a piece on AppStorm about the Omni Group's new OmniKeyMaster, and how they're letting their App Store customers move to a direct license for upgrade discounts. It's an interesting move for a company that was quick to adapt to the App Store, yet still wants to offer traditional upgrade pricing.
I think it's an interesting development, one that — in my opinion — is hopeful for the future of pro apps. After all, Microsoft and Adobe seem to think subscriptions are the only way to go, and everyone can't subsidize their apps with hardware revenue like Apple can. I'd much rather see app upgrades come to the App Store, but Omni's move is a great one in the mean time.
Update: Well, that was short-lived, and the Omni Team has already had to pull the app. Here's my analysis on what this means for the App Store.
About a month ago, I started using Buffer again to simplify my AppStorm social networking, where I need to post to two sets of Facebook, Twitter, App.net, and Google+ pages, in addition to my own personal Twitter and App.net accounts. It's too much to manage in any one native app, and finally I saw the genius in Buffer — enough that I called it "the best social networking app today" in my recent review of Buffer at AppStorm. It's perfect at one thing: posting on multiple networks whenever you want. That was exactly what I needed.
But now, it's got the holy grail of social networking apps: Google+ integration. Google+ integration has been frustratingly elusive from most apps, and if you're not a regular user of the network but still need to share articles on it (as I do for AppStorm), it's terribly annoying that you can't auto-post to it from your RSS feed as you can to Twitter, Facebook, and App.net from countless apps. Now that Buffer has Google+ integration, though, it's now easy to post anything you put on Twitter to Google+ without ever having to open the site. Just signup at http://bufferapp.com/get-google-plus, add your Google+ page(s), and you're ready to roll.
All that's needed is a bit of IFTTT integration. Fire up IFTTT, start a new recipe with your site's feed, then have it sent to Buffer. Here's the only tricky part: you can only have IFTTT integrated with one of your social media accounts in Buffer. That's good, since it means you can send stuff just to Google+, but it's bad if you're already using Buffer with IFTTT. If the latter's true, I'd recommend making a new IFTTT account just for your Google+ stuff. Otherwise, you're good to go. Just integrate your Buffer account, select your Google+ page from the list of account options, and finish up your recipe.
Now, everytime you publish something, it'll be sent to Buffer to be published on your schedule to Google+, all without opening Google+. That's one less thing to worry about.
(and here's where I start wondering, yet again, when the incredibly handy IFTTT will start charging for pro accounts. Because they should.)
