Tag: apple

Such is Execution

So the “new iPad”  is announced  today among other Apple products. No big deal you say, sure. But what was the big deal was the manner in which things were executed. The launched started, the launch finished and at the same time the “new iPad” images are seen on Apple websites throughout the world all updated and ready for pre-orders. Now that is what I call execution! Yes, I am a fanboy and such execution makes me one Big Fanboy. Yes, you say that it’s not a big deal with today’s technology, but then how many examples do you see of such execution. Please tell me so that I am follow more of such organisations and products.

What makes iOS 5 excellent for me today

Software ultimately is how it either improves my life today or enhances my experiences. I haven’t speculated much this time over about Apple’s iOS 5 or indulged too much into speculation. I did installed it on my iPhone as well as iPad and below are my observations of what’s in it for me:

  • Notification Centre – Just fabulous and time saver. I do not need to click few different options or need to worry about missing the notifications.  One click and a scroll or two and I know what I missed or need to do next
  • No more ‘Sync. is in Progress’ when I connect my devices to iTunes. I can keep using it while it syncs in the background and get all charged up
  • Install an app once and it gets installed everywhere
  • iCloud – Love the concepts, especially where an app installed in one place is installed on other devices. I have yet to play more with other features.
  • Keyboard undocking feature on iPad – It just works!
  • iMessages – It’s fast, saves money and hassle of sending people with iPhone just another email for a quick thing. Sorry WhatsApp your usage now will go down from my end.
Tomorrow is another day and more features to be found and used.
As an end note, getting iCloud to work has been a little frustrating today. Hope tomorrow is better.

Macappstore #justsaying

So today, Apple launched Mac App Store. People can complain, criticise and jump up and down as much as they like, but the reality is, it rocks and it's going to change a lot again as it did with iPhones and iPads.

More power to:
  • developers. There products will get exposed more, more sales and thus more better products.
  • users who can now explore more apps and try them at a decent price. Better products from developers means it will make a user's life even better by making them more productive, keeping them more entertained and more informed.
  • Apple who is going to make a huge amount of money selling apps and potentially selling a lot more Macs
There is a conversation on Facebook by my friend @SanjayVyas about Microsoft Marketplace and how they haven't fully made the most out of it so far but how Microsoft will jump up and down to try to do a lot more with Windows Marketplace now.

Why iPhone is here to stay for a while in my hands

When that addiction ends, you’ll be the first to know since I’m in agreement that Google is the company I’d rather be in bed with than Apple but for now I just can’t kick the Apple habit and I’m very happy with giving Steve Jobs more of my money because Apple definitely has built the best mobile device on the market today.

via scobleizer.com

Robert Scoble writes up in a blog post as to why it is difficult for him to give up his iPhone and go with something else. I have thought about this as well as I like to try new things and to give things a try. But to this date, nothing I have hold comes closer for making it a complete packaged device as iPhone for me. To me it just works and is going to be in my hands for a while longer till somebody else gives me a compelling reason and a product to move over.

iOS4 for iPhone Rocks

So by now allmost all hardcore Apple fans would have installed iOS4 on their iPhones.

Top 2 features that appeal to me and will be very useful are:

  1. Folders
  2. Multi tasking
It just makes sense to arrange applications into folders as scrolling 8 screens was getting too much. Although I just use the Spotlight search functionality most of the times. As might be the case with some of you, I only use around a screenful of apps on a consistent basis.

Now I have three screens in total and all third party apps are under appropriate categories.

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One thing that was a surprise to me was how many game apps I had installed. I have nearly 4 folders full of games on my iPhone [again most of which I don't play on a regular basis]. 

I am also loving the iBook app update which now supports PDF. But with this, even Good Reader app is getting better and I might keep using it in the near future.

What is it about Apple Products?

This evening I found myself arguing and defending Apple and it’s awesome products when talking to my good friend Nirav. I have often wondered if I really care if my friends and other people really get the awesomeness of Apple products and why I keep on applauding and taking sides with Apple. Upon thinking hard, I don’t care if my friends get my point or not. Not because they are right, but some just don’t want to accept the point and some have never experienced the Apple way and with the remaining ones, they have their own philosophies to protect and defend [don’t we all do!]. 

This makes me think that what is it about Apple and it’s products that I keep on passionately evangelizing about Apple and it’s products for free? I would have convinced loads of people to buy an iPhone and some for Macbooks. At some stage I used to be an unpaid evangelist for Microsoft but never this passionate! 

To me: 

  • Apple has become a way of life. Apple’s passion for it’s products and it’s service. Apple’s passion for the products they deliver
  • Apple’s arrogance. Their vision of their product comes above everybody else’s definition of what is right and what is wrong.
  • Using Apple products, I just get the things done. This can be in the form of bringing joy to my daughter using apps, getting to my email when I need them or checking local Yellow Pages to get a business detail quickly. The beauty is in it’s simplicity and the philosophy or ‘Working Out of the Box’. I would have saved countless hours not having to worry about tweaking configurations that realistically do not add value to what I do.
  • Being passionate about service and delivering are two different things. Apple is both passionate and they deliver. Everybody enjoys getting good service on a consistent basis and I have experienced this consistently with Apple more than any other business I have dealt with. Apple sure has taught me a lesson or two about retaining customers.
  • iPhone is an example of keeping it closed and keeping it simple makes it an awesome product. If I had the option to dumb all exciting web stuff on my option, I would have done so. I love technology and it’s byproducts. But in doing so, I would have made my phone prone to lot of issues. Having a close fenced ecology of apps, means I play with what I am allowed and thus causing less issues and saving me heaps of time.
  • Apple are constantly building good to great products from a music player to a media centre and from iPhone to Macbooks. I am more comfortable dealing with one company for my needs and dealing with similar interfaces and philosophies than getting to know and understand 10 different companies.
  • I don’t know if I am more productive or I think that I am more productive on Apple products, but for sure I have been getting more work done on my iPhone and my Macbook than I used to using other products before. At the end my perception matters to me, right or wrong!
So all in all, the above things and more is what make me more of an Apple fan boy. I just don’t follow because millions of other cool people are OR it just sounds like a good idea. What are your reasons?

Do I need the iPad [Apple Tablet]?

So after all waiting all this time [being hearing about rumours Apple Tablet for at least a year now], iPad is unveiled today and it is covered in details at a lot of places on the Internet. I don't claim to have read each and every major site on the coverage of iPad. Two question that got asked to me by a lot of people over email, face to face and phone was "When are you getting an iPad?" & "Hey, are you getting the iPad?" People that know me know the fact that I like Apple products and I have iPod, Mackbook Pro and iPhone so they assume that I will be getting iPad too!

My expectations have been dampened since reading couple of reviews but above all, the main question that I have asked myself is "what requirement of mine does iPad tend to fulfill?" and if I have had a satisfactory response to the above question I would have asked "Is it worth the price that I am going to pay for the device?". So having not seen the device in works and just reading about it's capabilities I could not come up with any immediate requirement that iPad is going to solve.

Even if I had a partial 'Yes' to the above question, a partly answer to the second question is still a concern to me that I will have to pay to the providers for the extra 3G connection [unless the tethering from my iPhone is going to work for iPad] which can be expensive knowing the telecoms providers here. Even if the price sits for unlimited 3G connection at $AUD 30/month, it might just be between 30-50% cost of what iPad might end up selling in Australia.

So unless something clicks when I see the iPad or if an evangelist sells me this device, I for NOW do not see the need of an iPad.

It’s all about me and I have a choice

I am subscribed to Jason Calacanis's mailing list and I read his article on The Case Against Apple. Some interesting points and some I agree to as well. Then today I read some arguments/discussions against the post here and here on TechCrunch. I am not writing in favor of or against Jason's post. I am just penning my thoughts on what questions make it easier for me to select a product that I am going to use. So while I was digesting the thoughts of different people on this matter, I thought it came down to few basic things for me: –

  • Are the products [Apple] better and value for money?
  • Am I loving the user experience that Apple products are giving me compared to other alternatives?
  • Are the products making me more efficient and productive in what I need to get done?
  • Am I really excited about using the product and invest my time, energy and emotions in learning about it and dealing with it's short comings?

If the answers to the above questions is more number of Yes then No, then I am buying those products.

I used to say that I am a FAN of Microsoft product or I am a FAN of iPhone/Mac. But now I think that the important thing to me is if the product is going to work for me and if it can pass through my questions above, I will make a change, I will not get stuck with Apple or Microsoft for that matter. At the end of the day, it's about me and whether the devices are fulfilling my requirements and making me happy. I have a choice at any given time. If I am not happy about it, I will move on to another product. Recently, I read many people moved away from iPhone because essentially, the benefits of iPhone were lost compared to other benefits they could have. They had a choice and they executed on these choice.

I used to admire Microsoft and Microsoft products and used to be a un-paid evangelist for their products. But in the last year or so, Windows Vista has given me a lot more grief [it was a combination of applications that I run on Windows Vista and Windows Vista itself] but I got tired of the time I was spending on fixing issues and getting my PC to work perfectly. That's when I started looking for alternatives including running Ubuntu or going back to Windows XP. Then I started using Windows 7 on my computers and I was happy chappy again but it was a bit too late.

I am a recent Mac convert and quite happy about it and 80% of time i use my Mac compared to Windows 7 systems. But if at any given point, the benefits of using Macbook drop to using other system, I will make the move.