A Car Too Far » Apple

The backlash rises…

Matt — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:51:13 +0000

It can’t have been very long ago that I started predicting the backlash against Apple but it appears to be gathering pace at an alarming rate. It seems that any company that gets big… gets hated. M$, Google, BP, McDonalds… you name it, they ended up being hated. Why? Well I’m not sure whether you could quantify whether it’s BECAUSE they are big, or because once they get big, strange things start to happen. Either way, Apple, who have become considerably more restrcitive that Microsoft, have started to enrage the people who have given them the power. The iPhone was a hit not so much because of the great stuff it offered out of the box… but because of the great stuff that developers made for it. Now Apple have been handcuffing the iPhone developers, expect to see many more of them flocking over to Android.

All that aside, this post (from an Adobeite) points out exactly why. (hint… it’s in the iPhone ADG and looks like this:)

3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).

Another Mac Vs PC video (but this one’s good)

Matt — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 14:15:46 +0000

I know there’s been a lot of “stuff” put up here in the last few days but I’m slowly going through my mail box and clearing out all the old emails that have flown back and forward between me and some of the other guys. This one was from Ollie Gee… props bud!

How to make Windows 7 look good

Matt — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 11:42:56 +0000

I always seem to come across anti Microsoft snippets (I guess there’s more of them around in the ether than there is of any other company). I’d expect the balance to change a little over coming years as Apple tightens its grip on the user experience but that’s a story for another day.

Anyhow, a little behind the curve on this one, and only worth a click if you’re a bit nerdcore.

How to make windows 7 look really good.

Happy Saturday.

iDon’t need to argue

Matt — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:18:55 +0000

As is often sometimes the case, I miss something that happens on the old interweb and in this instance, I’ve been behind the curve on the battle between the iPhone and Droid. It started in anger when the Droid camp released the following baiting video…

Which appears to have been deftly batted back by the iPhone camp…

Which ever way you look at it, it’s given us something good…. a beautiful song from (the aptely named) Mozella called Magic (Oh Oh Oh)

’tis the season (to be loosing people’s data)

Matt — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:54:43 +0000

Maybe it’s something in the air at the moment, or maybe it’s because the darkness is drawing in early but it appears that all that fumbling in the dark has caused a few data “blunders”. Just when you think there’s something pretty bad coming out of the Apple stable (there appears to be a bug in Snow Kitten that just deletes all your data) but Redmond comes bounding back on to the stage, re-affirming it’s position as the bumbling idiots of IT. Oh yes, Microsoft have managed to “almost certainly” loose all the data that customers paid them to look after.

… we (Microsoft) must now inform you that personal information stored on your device – such as contacts, calendar entries, to-do lists or photos – that is no longer on your Sidekick almost certainly has been lost

No official line yet on Apple doing similar, but we’re holding tight for Google.

Windows Mobile 6.5 Arrives and Mostly Disappoints

Matt — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:15:08 +0000

Whilst I’m in the throws of trying to decide for myself whether or not to plump for a new iPhone when it finally comes onto Vodafone it’s painfull to hear that Windows Mobile 6.5 will arrive soon and it’s likely to suck.

I’ve loved my Windows Smartphones for many years now, mainly because of its fantastic integration with Exchange, but iPhone has that now too so what am I left with in Windows?

Decide amongst yourselves.

Wont somebody think of the children?

Matt — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:33:06 +0000

There are some software developments that wont ever make a dent on the world, and there’s some that could change the way we do things…. FOREVER. The chaps at TLA have set about changing the world with paradigm shifting technologies and their latest release is no exception.

The new PCalc software for the iPhone has a new “patent-worthy profanity filter” that filters out profanity created by typing in numbers such as “5318008″ into your calculator and turning it upside down.

Have you, or somebody close to you, ever turned your calculator upside down and accidentally seen a mildly suggestive word? Have you ever been in a maths class, and had to put up with groups of giggling boys performing elaborate calculations that are not part of the lesson?

Yes, it’s one of the main problems affecting the calculator industry today, the so-called “calculator words”. These otherwise harmless devices can be made to display smut at the press of a few buttons

Saving the world from mildy amusing words

Thank God for PCalc

A good ‘ol fashion update

Matt — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:28:59 +0000

Just a mere 100Mb to update from 9.0 to 9.0.1

I like a good old fashion update as much as the next man, so, seeing as I just upgraded my iTunes install a few days ago to the new 9.0 I was over the moon to open iTunes today and find it was offering me the fantastic 9.0.1 release for a mere 100Mb download! Cripes I could hardly contain my excitement so I rushed straight down to the bandwidth store and and bought me another bundle of good ‘ol 1′s and 0′s. Things arn’t the same as the good ‘ol days though when I was, by default, given the option to “update” my iTunes installation to Safari and Mobile Me(?!). Oh well, at least they’re still kind enough to overwrite my current installation of iTunes, forcefully add new start menu options and ruin the shortcuts I had made for it. I’m so glad that, when I was dangerously straying towards the notion of being able to customise my own computer, Apple so thoughtfully kicked me back onto the path of the righteous and reminded me that I should be doing things exactly how they want.
I mean honestly.