Tag Archives: Apple

The end of an era, the Jobsian era

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So, Apple announced that Jony Ive is leaving Apple. Many viewed this as the end of an era, given that Jony Ive contributed to so many iconic Apple designs throughout the years. But to me things are a little more complicated than that. Jony Ive’s departure signifies the end of Steve Jobs’ influence, eight years after his death.

You see, SJ himself was a visionary, a true giant. But Apple products have always been the result of the Jobs-Ive creative binary. You can’t tell which part of a product is Jony’s idea and which part is Steve’s, because they work so closely together and influence each other so much. Following SJ’s death I was still confident with Apple because I knew Jony Ive would carry on Steve Jobs’ legacy. His designs are ones that Steve would approve. But with Jony Ive no longer in charge, I’m not sure what changes would appear in future products, whether products would still be meticulously designed and built.

And his videos featuring his posh accent will surely be missed. No one can replace him in this area. If I’m to pick a favourite video among the many, I’d pick the 2009 iMac’s. The 2009’s iMac itself wasn’t very impressive, but I like how he told the story of the iMac evolution.

Editorial: why does the iPod Touch still exist in 2019?

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Apple once again renewed the iPod Touch, four years after the previous update. Pro Apple blogs like Appleinsider welcomed the update, while more neutral ones like The Verge also said it’s a solid update. But in my opinion, the iPod Touch has no reason to exist in 2019.

The original iPod’s purpose was to have “a thousand songs in your pocket”. In the age before fast mobile network it made sense. Even after the iPhone was released in 2007, the iPod Touch was still a solid choice for those not ready to get an iPhone. I’ve witnessed many who couldn’t afford an iPhone opted for an Android phone plus an iPod Touch in order to use the apps only available in iOS. Others wanted a separate device with more storage for their own, self-ripped music.

But in 2019, the iPod Touch should cease to exist.

You see, in the March Apple event, Tim Cook announced “services” are their next big focus. Apple Music, a streaming service, which requires a constant Internet connection, has succeeded, and in some way cannabilized, iTunes Music Store. Having “a thousand songs in your pocket” is nothing nowadays. When I go jogging these days, I simply take my LTE-enabled Apple Watch and AirPods and I have a million songs on the Internet with me. I don’t mean Apple Watch is the next big thing. I mean Apple Music is (supposed to be) Apple’s next big thing. The iPod touch doesn’t have LTE, meaning it doesn’t have a constant access to the Internet, meaning it cannot fully live the spirit of Apple Music. iPod + iTunes, which were often tied together in the past in Apple’s ads or even earnings report, should cease to exist if Apple truly wants its new “services” segment to fly.

There’s one way in my opinion to make a successful iPod Touch though. Kindles all have free cellular access to the Internet (do they still?) to get new Kindle ebooks. Apple could make something like a radio set. An cellular-enabled device with free internet access for Apple Music. This concept of unlimited data confined to a certain apps isn’t unheard of. In Australia/New Zealand they have plans for unlimited social media access. In Apple’s case it could limit streaming to a low bit rate, and users could download high bit rate songs with WiFi.

But if streaming music is the main purpose of that new device, it doesn’t need to be an iPod Touch. It could be an Apple Watch with free internet access for streaming.

The conclusion? In 2019, the iPod Touch has no reason to exist.

Into the future

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iPhone X went on sale earlier this month. I feel ashamed of myself that I wasn’t able to get it on the first day this time. Anyway iPhone X promises the future of smartphones. In fact “the future” has long been Apple’s selling point for its products. Whether such promise is fulfilled is a story for another time. But today I’m looking into the past.

You see, I’m tired of my old iPad Air 2. Earlier this year I praised it, but I’m afraid those viewpoints became obsolete as my computing needs changed. When I was a student, I required ultimate portability from a machine that can read PDFs. My old iPad 2, New iPad and later iPad Air 2 served that purpose so well. But at that time I already noticed something was missing: the word processing power and website rendition on the iPad still lagged behind that of a formal Mac. I just let go because reading ebooks was top priority.

But today my mobile computing needs changed. I need a machine to render websites accurately; I need precision in note-taking; I occasionally need serious photo editing on a portable machine. A top-configured MacBook Pro is only a portable machine at home, but it’s not a portable machine per se. A MacBook is.

Yes, it’s incapable in so many ways. There’s only one port; it doesn’t have a huge screen; it’s fanless so the CPU is doomed from the beginning. But on the other hand it has so much more advantages over the iPad: a bigger screen, a real keyboard, the ability to run Lightroom (Lightroom for iPad is a joke), a real file system, etc.. That’s the reason I decided to buy a 2017 MacBook four whole months after its release date. I badly need a real portable laptop now.

What about my old MBP then? I’m keeping it. It still has a terrific screen, and I bet its performance is still better than the MacBook’s (remember I need to edit 4K videos these days). By choosing a MacBook over an iPad Pro, I announce defeat in the transition into the future of computing. But who says I have given up entirely? Who says the Mac cannot be the future of computing?

Commenting the new iPad

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Apple’s new iPad is out. Before going any further we need to understand the structure of the iPad family. First there’s the iPad-iPad (including the original iPad, iPad 2, New iPad [Apple’s nomenclature disaster began after SJ died], iPad Air, iPad Air 2, and now simply iPad), then there’s iPad mini (which is all but abandoned), and finally iPad Pro, which tries to imagine the future of computing but failed. Well, I just wish to say I have no plan to upgrade my iPad at this moment. I think my iPad Air 2 is the best iPad ever.

iPad mini is too small to be useful. Period.

iPad Pro is a failure in that there’s a camera bulge at the back and it can’t lie flat on the table. SJ said there’s no need for a hard keyboard. The soft keyboard should be good enough. But if it wobbles on a table, how can you type (in SJ’s recommended way)? And then they invented the Smart Keyboard. When you have the Smart Keyboard on the iPad, the screen assumes a normal notebook angle. I remember Phil Schiller said the reason there’s no touch screen MacBook is that the ergonomics is just wrong. Well? iPad in a notebook angle suddenly have the right ergonomics?

This new $329 iPad is 1.4mm (one-fifth) thicker than iPad Air 2, and has a crappy sceeen (no optical lamination). Owners of this new iPad or the iPad Air may think the difference is tiny — only because they can’t admit they have a crap screen. I remember @EugeneY used to say (in 2001/2002) “you think Windows XP is unstable because you don’t have it”. Likewise you think you don’t need an Audi because you don’t have an Audi. You don’t have a good screen and a thin iPad so you think there’s no difference.

So to sum up, iPad Air 2 is still the best iPad ever because 1) it doesn’t have a camera bulge, 2) it has a good screen, 3) it is the thinnest iPad to date.

Footnote: Wow, this is probably the happiest blog post I’ve written for ages. I didn’t force myself to add a poetic touch and use good language in this article, hence the above crappy English. But it’s fun.

Intimacy

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So, I eventually got an iPhone 7 after much struggle. Holding one in hand [iPhone 7 Plus in jet black :) ] eliminates all previous doubts. When Phil Schiller first announced it, I thought it’s either the new finish or the dual camera system that would appeal to me. But at the end it’s the waterproofing and the solid state home button that’s the most satisfactory. The solid state home button with a natural tactile feedback make me feel that this is the way the home button should be at the very beginning. And all modern electronics should be made waterproof, because they are made so intimate, so integrated to all parts of our lives, that they shouldn’t be excluded from wet conditions.

Yes, the iPhone is in no doubt the most intimate object in our lives. I bet for most people the first and last object they touch in a day is the iPhone. It’s part of our living, not merely an assistant for it. I became more certain about this theory every time I go on a trip. How many of you can travel without your phone?

What else are intimate?

A camera must be one when travelling. Some says “the best camera is the one you have with you” and they may be satisfied with their phone’s camera. But when you also have a proper camera with you then it becomes the best camera with you, a better camera than your phone.

My car is actually equally important. A few weeks ago the windshield broke and I couldn’t drive for two weeks. It was the most annoying period for the past few years. I just hated the feeling of wasting time on commuting. Life’s too short for traffic jam, slow computers, waiting for a table, you name it.

So, this is it. This basically sums up what I’ve experienced in September. I wish I could talk a bit more about my trip in September. Let’s see.

What’s on your iPhone

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It’s December, end of the year. However I’m not going to review what happened this year, not yet. I just wish to share some thoughts on how we manage our digital lives in 2015.

I don’t know about you, but I regularly review what apps are on my iPhone, delete the ones I don’t need, while rearranging my home screen to make them neat and tidy. I have a few rules. 1) My home screen has to be functional, meaning I won’t blindly keep it minimal (down to a few icons or keep everything in folders). I display what are frequently used, and keep the useful ones in folders. 2) It still has to be tidy. I just won’t keep the useless ones on P.1.

And here it is.

IMG_1042

There are a few points to highlight. 1) The Phone app isn’t in the dock anymore. I once considered putting it in the Social folder altogether. (Some kids even ask “how do I delete the Phone app?”) 2) “Calendar 5” by Readdle has officially replaced “Week Calendar” as my favourite calendar app. Apps by Readdle are always excellent, the other great app by Readdle being “PDF Expert 5”. 3) I don’t always turn to third party apps. Some made by Apple, though lacking features, are just handy enough. “Weather”, “Reminders”, “Safari” and “Mail” are fine examples. Yes, I’m using “Outlook” primary for push notification, but “Mail” remains my favourite app reading and sending emails.

Back in a few years ago, when the App Store first started, asking others “what apps are on your iPhone” became a social phenomenon. This coincided with the “what’s on your iPod” phenomenon in the early 2000s. It tells a story about who you are. When you keep your home screen neat and tidy, your life shouldn’t be in a huge mess either. On the contrary if you keep the “Game Centre” or even the “iOS tips” apps on the first page, I doubt you pay much care to your work.

Anyway perhaps that’s enough of self obsession. What I do isn’t always the best. What Apple does isn’t either. And that’s sad.

Tiniest things that upset me

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It is often said that we should let go of the trivial matters that cause sorrow and focus on the delightful moments in life. I’ve tried and gained some degree of success, but there are at least a few seemingly trivial things that upset me at this moment.

1. Apple products innovate less these days.
This wasn’t so obvious at first, but reading about Microsoft’s latest hardware event made me realize, reluctantly, that the tech company that innovates nowadays is Microsoft, not Apple.

For the past few years iPhone has been upgraded with boring new features: fingerprint sensors, better and better camera, 3D touch, fitness tracking, etc.. (Who fuxking care about their health?) They’re handy, but they’re not innovative. As for iPad, since its debut in 2010 it has dominated tablet sales, remaining to be the only real tablet that matters. But given the release of Windows 10 (which fixes the mess Microsoft created in the past few years, under Steve Ballmer), I can see that the future of computing is not towards the post-PC concept introduced by SJ, but the modern hybrid PC best demonstrated by Surface Pro.

This worries me: Apple is no longer the driving force of computing innovation. True I’m very impressed by the latest super thin MacBook — elimination of all but one port and fanless design, but that innovation is too little, too late.

2. Kai leaving DRTV
What is DRTV? It’s my fav YouTube channel on photography. It’s not known for being informative or accurate in its product reviews, nor the photography knowledges it introduces. It’s really just Kai’s showmanship that entertains. He has now left HK for England, doing some occasional reviews there. But given that Digitalrev is posting online recruitment for a new presenter, Kai’s leaving is all but confirmed. This again upsets me. It’s like ER/Desperate Housewives’ ending all over again.

3. Work sucks. No this isn’t tiny.

Thoughts on iPhone

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There hasn’t been anything important in life lately. Lots of things sucked, though, but I’ve learnt to let go of those adversities, or at least not mention them, lest they affect other’s mood. But in just a few hours one of the most exciting events will take place: Apple’s “Wish we could say more” keynote. It’s been rumoured that the latest iPhone as well as an iWatch will be unveiled, so perhaps I should express some of my thoughts here.

First, it’s been said, and even confirmed, that the new iPhones will be bigger — 4.7” and 5.5” to be exact. A lot of Apple fanboys will be so disappointed because Steve Jobs used to say that a phone must be fit for single-hand use. Enlarging the iPhone screen is like hell freezes over.

Well, in Apple’s history there were quite a number of moments when hell froze over: switching to Intel processors, iPods played videos, iTunes worked on Windows, etc.. So it’s not entirely surprising that there would be a larger screen iPhone. I’ve always said when a large screen is coupled with software that is fit for single-hand use, we can have a larger iPhone. And that’s exactly what Apple needs to address in the coming keynote.

Second, it’s about the design, and the design leaks. In the old days Apple was absolutely secretive about their unannounced products. It was quite a big shock when the iPhone 4 got into hands of a Gizmodo editor and got published. Pushing time further back, we see that an old rumour site Think Secret was forced to shut down after publishing rumours about “a new Mac” (which was later identified as the Mac mini). They didn’t even have the pictures of the actual product! People used to joke that those who leak Apple rumours would be executed by Steve Jobs. Well, this is apparently no longer the case. We see Apple product parts on the web a few months before product launch. These days we even see working products (on the contrary back when iPhone 4 was leaked the device couldn’t be switched on, and no one knew about the stunning retina display until Steve announced it). Why does this happen? And on the other side why have we never seen parts of the iWatch? In short, most probably the iWatch isn’t made in China. Yes, the Chinese is the culprit of all the modern day evil.

Aren’t you a Chinese, Kevin? No, I’m not. I’m a global citizen who believes in democracy, equality, freedom and civic responsibility, who happens to live in Hong Kong.

OK, back to talk about Apple. A third thought on the upcoming event is whether the iWatch, or smartwatches, will become a new necessity, a global phenomenon, like the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad? What I mean is that before the iPod/iPhone/iPad, music players, mobile phones and tablets existed, but it was Apple that reinvented them into something no one could have imagined. Watches have existed for a long long time; smartwatches nowadays basically are useless. Will Apple be able to make smartwatches a new necessity?

This question poses a dilemma. Many think only Steve Jobs, the modern day Thomas Edison, could have done that. If the new Apple can do that too, Steve Job’s legacy would be diminished. But on the other hand, I sure want to see something groundbreaking. After all, if money can buy happiness, why not?

Recap of 2013

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Year 2013 is approaching an end, and it’s time to recap our good memories this year. I’ve decided to summarize some of my important quotes for this year.

Most restaurants have vegetarian choices, so it makes perfect sense to have dishes for carnivores at veggie restaurants. — Nov 2013

I’m a curious person – so curious many cats got killed. — Aug 2013

我喺地鐵從來唔讓座 — 或者你可以話我從來都讓座 — 因為我從來都唔坐。 — Aug 2013

By resetting a router digital immigrants already conceive you as an IT expert. — July 2013

每次做完MOS, 都有想抽一口事後煙的衝動。 — Jan 2013

And finally, my favourite:

Those who fail to see the gap should die from natural selection. — July 2013

Work, iPhone 5

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So, work has officially begun. I work two days in Tai Wai and 3 days in Jordan. Well, come and have a cup of coffee with me some time, because I’m kinda bored here..

September has started really differently this year. School opening used to be quite dramatic, because with each school opening I must be very reluctant to go to school and would feel so frustrated that my relationship with people change. This year there’s no more school opening, and I hope work will be different.

*   *   *

I want to talk a bit about iPhone 5. Well, once again Apple has broken our hearts. Apple is no stranger to heartbreaking, though. There’re a few occasions in history that Apple broke millions of heart (heart of fans who proudly told others that something would never happen):

  • 1997: Steve Jobs announced that IE became default browser in Mac OS
  • 2005: Apple switched to Intel processors
  • 2005: iPod 5th gen supported video playback
  • 2012: iPhone 5 switched to a 4″ screen, and is not called “the new iPhone”

Why is iPhone 5 a heartbreaking announcement? Engadget’s Dan Cooper puts it best:

 I’ve been proudly telling anyone who’d listen that Apple would never change the screen, produce a two-tone device or call it the iPhone 5 — and clearly I was talking out of my elbow… I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to having a sneaky eye on the Lumia 920 instead.

He’s also right in that he’s showing interest at Lumia 920, which is a phenomenal phone. Personally, after careful evaluation, switching to another ecosystem will cost me too much trouble (considering the deeply integrated iCloud, Mac, iPhone, iPad). But Lumia is not a bad phone. Luckily, iPhone 5 isn’t bad either; it’s just not as groundbreaking as iPhone 4 used to be two and a half years ago. So, I’ll still get an iPhone 5, although not with 100% confidence with Apple this time.

I like the new iPod touch though.