Life as a Nerd in a World of Untrained Brains

So I have only recently started lusting after Apple TV, I am using AirPlay more and more in my house for music with several rooms connected up via AirPlay and AirPort Express with its 3.5mm jack. Its awesome but I can’t help but feel that video is the next logical step, especially with AirPlay mirroring now available on iPad 2 and ‘iPad’ (I refuse to call it ‘the new iPad as thats just as silly as iPad 3) and with AirPlay mirroring coming in OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion this summer having the capability to mirror my MacBook Air’s screen on my TV will be awesome. But to do all of this I’d need an Apple TV. Which at £99 might not sound like much but it’s still money I don’t currently need to spend for something that is still a luxury and something I am only ‘looking forward’ to using and not using currently or needing currently.

Thats the same attitude I have with most Apple products though but Apple TV is the least useful so to speak. I have no desire to use iTunes Movies for renting, why would I do that? Who rents movies anymore anyway, thats stupid. As for the UK there are serious, serious shortcomings in the content available on the device. Netflix is the only thing i’d use and I’m quite happy using that on my PS3 currently. Also Apple TV doesn’t currently allow you to connect to anything other than iTunes (apart from the current content providers that is) which is useless as I have a MacBook Air where the whole point is not to store memory hogging video files. If I had an iMac then yeah maybe, but I don’t. I use a Windows Home Server (being the only Mac user in a house of 4 its very useful for backing up PC’s) where all my 1TB of movie files are stored. Why would I migrate this anywhere…? Apple TV doesn’t connect to it without a Jailbreak and well I don’t like that. Plus My PS3 connects no problems thanks to DLNA support in Windows Home Server 2011.

As much as it is a nice to have, currently I don’t see the point, I also don’t see it fitting into my life at present, I will be more tempted once Apple steps up its capabilities here in the UK which is a must if they want to sell more units. Until then, sorry Apple you won’t be getting more money from me.

*note should this change I will update this post.

More details are emerging day by day on what Microsoft are doing with Windows 8 and its Metro style interface. In the lead up to Microsoft’s ‘Consumer Preview’ which to the educated of us means the something akin to the “Windows 7 beta” but will supposedly act more like the Release Candidate which for the UB’s is almost like a proper retail version but still with bugs that can be worked out. 

But the details are emerging that Microsoft is wanting to radically re-imagine Windows and what It will be. Microsoft have been slowly unifying they UI’s across their products since Windows Phone 7 was released in 2010. Xbox was the latest product to get the Metro UI overhaul and in fact the Microsoft product portfolio has been getting visually better for it. Next are many of the web services like Hotmail and of course the mighty Windows itself.

But where does this actually come from? Why over haul something that is not actually broken? 

Windows 7 was the best selling, fastest selling desktop OS ever. It is also the best ever version of Windows and a massive welcome back to Microsoft after the horror that was Windows Vista. So with all this, why change it?

Those of us who used the Windows 8 Developer Preview would have noticed it was essentially Windows 7 with Windows Phone 7 tacked on with Blu Tack on the side. It was not a pleasant experience. However Microsoft have apparently done lots to improve this. If you read the official reasons why, Microsoft is trying to combine its desktop OS for touch environments (read: Tablets) to compete with renewed pressure from iOS and in particular the iPad. Many people are buying tablets (read: iPads) as opposed to netbooks now as they are far better for surfing and checking Facebook than a netbook. MS is trying its best to get in on the game, if a lot late. So they are trying to merge the familiarity of Windows with the great touch interface provided by Windows Phones Metro UI. 

The latest info into the forthcoming ‘Consumer Preview’ is that the famous start button is being removed and the start up screen will, instead of the 3D waving flag Windows Logo will be a 2D more window like logo, plus a replica button to switch to metro UI similar to that in the ‘Developer Preview’. 

Not sure I like the sound of these changes to be fair but in my opinion I think in this case Microsoft is trying to get ahead of Apple in the desktop stakes again. Mac OS X Lion 10.7 added LaunchPad which was an iPad style launcher for apps and a place (other than the Apps folder) for Apps/Programs on the computer. it doesn’t really fit and the link between the OSX and iOS UI is still very fragmented. 

If Microsoft can succeed here I think they honestly believe they can turn the tides in the mobile world too, after all Windows 8 will introduce more people to Metro and in turn Windows Phone.

The 3 Screens philosophy is coming to fruition. Ironically it’s Apple that is helping this become true…. (pun intended)

The 3 Screens philosophy is a marketing strategy/software design aesthetic/production thought process designed by Microsoft’s Bill Gates. (This was well before he left the company in 2010 as CEO)

Gates figured that the world would be dominated by 3 screens. Mobile Device, PC and another device of some sort ( a mobile computing device like a UMPC or a work computer) and was planning to use Microsoft’s new cloud technology to link all the devices together. You see Microsoft invented and started the mainstream cloud technology boom. Google though, took it to the next level with Gmail and the sister services now including Google Docs, Google Music and more.

However the 3 screens philosophy as mentioned was also referring to 3 physical devices linked not by cables but by wireless internet with a common ability. The ability to sync to a central storage location.

However although Microsoft pretty much mainstreamed the technology it is not the Redmond firm who are pushing it forward. That is down to the chaps at Mountain View and Cupertino with Google’s cloud services within Android and Apple’s iCloud and iTunes Match services.

These are just the start though. Apple has been utilising cloud services in the much maligned and under utilised MobileMe platform from 2008 (pretty much rebranded into iCloud and made free of charge). But in terms of an actual strategy Apple is the company with 3 screens and devices that are cross compatible and that completely seamlessly synchronise with one another.

iPhone/iPod Touch - iPad - Mac

3 devices in different categories: Mobile Device - Tablet - Computer

They all sync with one another wirelessly and with iCloud have the ability to download and update over the air as if by magic. If you add Apple TV into the mix you can even mirror your iPad 2 on your TV furthering the experience.

Don’t get me wrong here as I am an Apple fan and love their products but the real kings of the cloud are Google. The Google App experience within Android and Gmail on the web is unrivalled. With Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich your apps from previous devices, contacts, emails, calendar appointments, docs, settings and more all just sync to your phone as soon as you put in the magical gatekeepers that is your Gmail address & password. Its amazing and takes you by surprise. When you include the US only service Google Music too it gets even better. Plus with Android Tablets like the Galaxy Tab 10.1 furthering the Android OS and a proposed Google TV project in the works it will only get better.

Unlike Apple who still can’t seem to get it right by the number of issues iOS 5 and iCloud are causing with some peoples devices, Google got it right and continues to.

Well done Big G, kudos to you Apple but sorry Microsoft looks like you dropped the ball….. Again….

Now here is a question for the Nerd’s and Geek’s out there. This is one I only just though of and no idea why I didn’t think of it sooner to be honest but:

Is Apple trying to square off with IBM again?

Let me give you the background behind my somewhat strange thoughts here. Back in the days of the orginial Macintosh IBM just brought out their original design of the PC running BASIC. Unfortunately once Bill Gates came onto the scene with the original version of DOS and eventually Windows IBM took over the world. 

However now Apple is king again and with the launch of iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S brings Siri. Apple’s Voice Assistant technology. 

What does this all have to do with IBM you may ask? The UB’s around us will ask what the hell is IBM and Siri is so awesome nothing else like it exists. 

At closer inspection it has a slight bit more to do with IBM than we may have thought and who cares what Untrained Brains say anyway.

I’ll sum it up in one word for you. Watson.

Now this isn’t the crippled assistant of Sherlock Holmes but IBM’s super smart supercomputer.

Watson is one of the worlds most powerful super computers whom IBM have programmed with a voice and a virtual face, and to understand humans. It also contains in it super computer memory banks a lot of the worlds knowledge. Also for those of you who don’t know Watson is the champ of America gameshow Jeopardy. If you see Watson in action, you’ll understand its power.

But watching Watson in action you start to see the link. Siri answers questions which sets it apart from it rivals (Vlingo on Android & TellMe on Windows Phone) and this is exactly what Watson does, just to a higher degree.

Both have their own set of servers (well technically Watson is a super computer) and speak in a human voice and have been engineered to have personalities of their own.

What do you guys think? More in depth about this later.

Plus the Engadget youtube video below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFR3lOm_xhE

So the iPhone 4S and iOS 5 was and is still a big deal to people around the world. Typically an Apple iProduct launch day the queue is made up mostly of Apple aficionados and early adopters. The people who don’t queue and expect to just waltz into a store to buy it are untrained brains.

Apple launches are a big deal to many around the world but this year I was particularly bored. Not because the 4S wasn’t a 5 but partly. Siri, the A5 processor, a new graphics chip and improved antenna design was hardly anything to shout about. Yes Siri is cool but as MS said its not all that useful in a day to say sense. Vlingo for Android which is built into the Samsung Galaxy SII and TellMe which is built into Windows Phone 7.5 Mango are just as good but in a practical sense. I’m not doubting Siri because it is fantastic voice recognition software which is a lot faster and more accurate that the other two but for all it’s abilities it’s just something more that will be used as a fad.

iOS 5 was the much celebrated innovation this year. However it’s been plagued with bugs since launch with many people experiencing critical issues which require restores. Terrible service from new software. In reality though iOS should be called aOS Mango with all it’s new features copied (read: brought) from the competition. Swipe down notifications from Android. Built in twitter from Windows Phone (which strangely just links the OS to the app so it’s not full integration), iMessage instant message service from RIM/Blackberry and more.

There was a very good article on wired recently that basically credited the improvements to the Jailbreaking crowd who push the capabilities of the custom iOS firmware. I agree with this so thank the hackers for your new software people.

I’m due an upgrade soon and I for sure won’t be getting a 4S, Apple hasn’t pushed the boundaries of Mobile tech since the iPhone 3G in 2008 and design since last years iPhone 4. Despite being an Apple aficionado and early adopter I don’t want to follow the crowd on this one, my Windows Phone is perfectly capable for me.

I call that winning.

This week the world lost one of its visionary geniuses. 

At only 56 the Co-Founder and Chairman, former CEO of Apple Steve Jobs passed away. 

Steve Jobs was a man vilified by many, feared by loads but from the tech community commanded fierce respect. Steve was a man who brought us into the age of the GUI with the original Macintosh, brought us the mouse with the original iMac and brought beauty into product design with 21st century Apple products. Steve was never over confident but always self confident. His attacks against all his competitors were never misplaced. Many often forget that he and his arch-nemesis Bill Gates were very alike and both had a famous temper when things didn’t go their way or work out to plan. However this is the cost of striving for excellence and leading a team towards it.

Steve was a visionary, a man who only ever wanted the best. Apple didn’t design products for consumers it designed products for itself. To Steve, form and function go hand in hand.

Beauty by Design is the best way to sum up many Apple products.

Steve brought us not only Apple, the iMac, the iPad, the iPhone, iTunes, the iPod. He also brought us Pixar, the animation studio we have all come to love and respect. 

In many ways Steve has furthered the way we interact with technology and in some ways has changed the way we think about it.

He always wanted to stand out. To Think Differently.

Steve Jobs changed the world. The world will never forget Steve Jobs.

RIP Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011

“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.” Steve Jobs