A company like Apple, moving at a breakneck speed, will undoubtedly continue to give us plenty to obsess about, both positively and negatively. I’ve been following the company closely since my hiring in 1996. Since that time, the company has consistently produced nothing short of the best hardware and software in the world, consistently marred by nothing short of the most infuriating, most embarrassing, most “worrisome for the company’s future” defects.
Apple is clearly doomed. I think Apple is going to be okay.
From where I am sitting — "layperson armchair", that's where I am sitting — I really don't want Apple to stop its current pace of annual operating system updates. Clearly, I think, Apple has a plan to move everyone from a world where one computer is enough for anyone, to a world where there are multiple screens for different tasks in various parts of the day. Or, to borrow Steve Jobs' words, where cars and trucks co-exist nicely. Apple has started with simplier things, like giving apps consistent labels and visual layouts. But lately the company has really started work on deeper and more difficult stuff, like iCloud and Continuity. The transition is far from over, the destination is still quite a bit away, but I can't wait to see where Apple brings us.
I don't want Apple to slow down. I want to get there faster.
(Reminder: "layperson armchair.")
Asking Apple to slow down or pause is like asking Microsoft back in year 2000 to slow down Windows XP development in order to fix Windows ME. It will be good for Windows 95/98/ME lovers, but, with hindsight, that should not be where Microsoft fans wanted Redmond to be.
Improved software quality from Apple will be very welcomed, no doubt about that. The public beta programs that Apple introduced recently certainly are positive steps, and I do wish Apple can double-down on quality control. I simply hope Apple doesn't have to resort to slow-down or reboot. Looking at Apple software that I use daily, OS X Yosemite, iOS 8, Safari, Mail, and Calendar are nowhere near perfect but still pretty damn good, I don't see that need either.
(Reminder again: Remember the previous reminder.)
(Yes, Apple has rebooted product development before, including Final Cut, iWork, and now iPhoto. I'd have to admit I don't mind a reboot of iTunes, not just because the quality is not that great, but the app seems lost.)
Going “paperless” has a virtual cornucopia of advantages. For one, it’s a marvelous way to remove physical clutter. But more than that, once your paper documents have been scanned in to your computer you’ll be able to access them easily (and from any device) — turning your paper documents into digital files makes them easy to sort and search for (because with today’s technology, they can be scanned papers can be turned into computer-readable PDF documents).
Is going paperless easy? Why, yes. It simply comes to down to having the right tools and then building habits around digitizing your dead trees. Are you ready to leave paper behind?
We’ll help walk you through it.
To start out your new year I thought I'd remind you of (or, possible reveal, if this is new to you) a handful of menu bar tricks that you'll find helpful. Let’s start with rearranging icons.
Anne Helen Petersen, BuzzFeed:
If you keep your fitness-related New Year’s resolutions in 2015, it’ll likely be thanks to the new wave of devices and apps that have taken monitoring things like newborn sleep patterns and blood oxygenation from geek hobby to mass-market juggernaut. But what happens when companies have access to the most mundane details about our bodies?
Unlocked iPhones can be activated for use any carrier, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon or T-Mobile.
Sabah Al Binali, The National:
“Find something that you are passionate about” is absolutely the worst advice anybody can give to an entrepreneur or a job seeker. People get a job for one reason only, and that is to earn a living. Otherwise it is charity or a hobby.
Sure, you want a job that is not horrible and maybe even pleasant but how much are you willing, let alone able, to sacrifice financially to find something that you are passionate about?
@marcoarment Hope to hear a Phil Schiller “Lost the functional high ground my ass” line in next keynote.
— Robert Currie (@recurrie) January 5, 2015
Marco still being alive would never have happened if Steve was still alive.
— Matt Gemmell (@mattgemmell) January 5, 2015Thanks for reading.