Last Minute Prediction
I think Netflix will be supported by the Apple TV and that the mysterious trackpad device that has been floating around this morning will be a potential way to interact with an iPhone OS driven Apple TV (that makes more sense than offering it as a competitor to the Magic Mouse).
Predictions for Tomorrow
Update: I have a longer story about AT&T and the iPhone HD up at OFB.
With Apple's big WWDC keynote tomorrow, I'll go ahead and throw out some predictions as usual. I think it is virtually assured we will hear of the next generation iPhone tomorrow, and I'm putting my money on “iPhone HD” for the name.
I am all but assured by those in the know that it will not be available for Verizon tomorrow, just AT&T. On the other hand, I believe that AT&T is moving up eligibility for its users — even for some or all who bought the iPhone 3GS last year — to upgrade to the new iPhone because a Verizon launch is coming relatively soon. I believe a Verizon launch early this autumn is likely and Ma Bell wants to get people tied into a long term commitment before rumors around Big Red's upcoming iPhone begin to appear too genuine.
What does extending customers out two years do for AT&T? It buys the teleco time to finish its LTE buildout. While LTE is the designated 4G upgrade from AT&T's present GSM/UTMS network, and not Verizon's CDMA2000 one, Verizon is still way ahead on launching LTE as it joins most of the rest of the world in following 3GPP.
While AT&T's 3G network has more life remaining in it, with its various HSPA upgrades still available, LTE will win if only by a marketing fiat. Don't misunderstand me — LTE is better than AT&T's HSPA network over the long term, but AT&T is right from a technical standpoint not to rush into LTE; not only are devices still not ready for it, but the capabilities for advances in its current network have not been exhausted yet. Put another way: the maximum abilities of HSPA exceed the minimum abilities of 4G technologies like LTE and WiMax. The current iPhone 3GS, with its HSDPA 7.2 support, can offer real world performance that is better than the reported speeds of Sprint's HTC Evo 4G, for example. But, consumer perception is that 4G is automatically better than 3G. Hence, AT&T needs to get as many enthusiasts locked in as possible while it awaits its own LTE network to light up about a year behind Verizon's.
I also think we'll see something else announced, especially since Jobs has promised not to disappoint people who have already seen his crown jewel thanks to the sleazy antics of Gizmodo. The next generation, cloud friendly Apple TV seems like a reasonable choice and could open the door to a prediction I made earlier this year. Such a relaunch might also make sense amidst a larger revision of MobileMe as a partially free service that is more tightly woven into Apple's iPhone OS devices much as Google's services are with Android phones. I think a reworking of MobileMe is almost mandatory if Apple is at all serious about cloud computing, given that for all of MobileMe's advantages, free services from Google, and competitively priced services from companies like Dropbox, best MobileMe in numerous areas.
Updated Mac Pros and Mac minis would also make sense, but I doubt they will get stage time. I think the main Mac mention of note, other than the requisite sales figures, will be some acknowledgement of Mac OS X 10.7, presented as something that is shaping up in exciting ways, but that will not be previewed until some future time. The key goal here will be to assure people that Apple has not forgotten about the Mac.
Cashing Checks with a Smartphone
If BankSimple gets off the ground, it could be rather interesting. This is especially intriguing, I think:
How do I deposit checks?
Take a photo of the check with your smart phone and send it to us with our app. Pretty simple, right?
Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Chick-fil-A has introduced its first new sandwich in about 20 years, apparently.
While I'd say it does not surpass the original Chick-fil-A sandwich, the new Spicy Chicken sandwich really is an excellent twist on the original. I was able to get one of the reservations the chain offered to preview one this past week and it had just the right amount of spice to give the sandwich character without having the heat overwhelm the mild but delightful Chick-fil-A flavor. Unlike some spicy chicken sandwiches, the additional spices complemented rather than changing the overall taste of the sandwich — a good thing in my book!
If you enjoy a little kick in your food, next time you are by a Chick-Fil-A, it would be worth trying out their new creation.
How is it...
How is it that no matter how many ways I try to arrange to search through notes that I jot down, I can still never find the one I want when I need it?
Hmm.
Privacy Policy
Steve Jobs on user control of application privacy at D8:
People want to know what is going on upfront plain and simple. Ask them what they want to do, make them tell you to stop asking…
Exactly.
Books Versus Texts
The New York Times has an interesting commentary on the problem with e-books.
When it comes to digital editions, the assumption seems to be that all books are created equal. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the mass migration from print to digital, we’re seeing a profusion of digital books — many of them out of copyright — that look new and even “HD,” but which may well have been supplanted by more accurate editions and better translations. We need a digital readers’ guide — a place readers can find out whether the book they’re about to download is the best available edition.
Interestingly, for all of their foibles, the major newspapers “get” this far more than book publishers and the e-book merchants. The iPad apps for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Financial Times reproduce much of the character that makes print more enjoyable for reading than a screen. They are a pleasure to read, much as a printed newspaper is.
On the other hand, the aesthetic problem with e-books is demonstrated by the issue of the free Project Gutenburg books available in iBooks. In my own browsing, I noticed that the critically acclaimed translation of Dante's Comedy was marked down on there because some thought it was foolish not to use the free Gutenburg text. Never mind the superior translation, superior typesetting is also important — too many public domain e-books are atrociously “typeset,” apparently forgetting that the layout — a book's “interface” — is a critical part of an enjoyable reading experience.
Field of Innocence
From Origin, Evanescence's first full length CD (2000).
I still remember the world
From the eyes of a child
Slowly those feelings
Were clouded by what I know nowWhere has my heart gone
An uneven trade for the real world
Oh I… I want to go back to
Believing in everything and knowing nothing at allI still remember the sun
Always warm on my back
Somehow it seems colder now
-A. Lee, B. Moody and D. Hodges
Book Review: the Evolution of God
The new issue of the Journal of International and Global Studies is out and you can find yours truly's review of Robert Wright's the Evolution of God in it on pages 183-186. Wright utilizes game theory to propose a model for the development of religion and an agnostic argument for the continuation of religion that prove thoroughly interesting. He explains his ideas in a most engaging, often humorous style. But, the argument has significant flaws that you can read about if you hop on over there.
How Not to Do Market Analysis
Nick Farrell of the Inquirer writes:
Where Steve Jobs made his mistake was that he marketed the Ipad as a utopian device that can do everything that all his other products can. This is dangerous for Apple because if the Ipad can be a laptop, an Iphone, a e-reader and a music player then you do not really need any of those devices.
Save for the laptop and the iPhone, that's precisely the point.
While no doubt Apple could be hurt if a bunch of people stop buying MacBook Pros and instead buy iPads, that's assuming too much. I think what may happen is where you see families buy fewer computers, but more iPads. For example, you might see each child get an iPad, instead of several children sharing a slightly more expensive MacBook. Overall, that's a big gain for Apple. (And, just like netbooks, don't expect the iPad to entirely kill off more powerful computers needed for things like making home movies or doing major photo touch up.)
Farrell really misses the point when he notes, “Jobs may as well forget launching an Apple version of a Kindle or a PSP, then.” Obviously, the iPad is intended as Apple's answer to the Kindle and one of Apple's competitors to the PSP (along with the iPod touch and iPhone). The idea that Apple would still want to launch single-use models seems to go against the whole convergence direction both Apple and the general industry are following. Note that Apple didn't launch a phone and a widescreen iPod and a small web surfing device back in 2007, either. It launched the iPhone to do all three.
The iPhone is secure because, as its name implies, it is a phone and the larger, heavier iPad is not. If anything, Apple has untapped opportunities to make the iPad and iPhone work together. The iPod touch may be harmed, but if Apple can get people to pick up a $500 or $600 iPad over a $200 iPod touch, I don't think they will lose much sleep over that.
HT: John Gruber
