Newton Poetry

Saw this rumor (a few times, actually) over at Webmonkey: a Cocoa OS X Finder may be on its way, starting with Snow Leopard.

But wait. Isn’t the Finder an all-OS X beast?

That got me wondering what, exactly, is the difference between the Cocoa and Carbon development environments. I’m not programmer, so I needed a low-brow explanation.

Just before Apple launched OS X, Macworld had this article describing the basic differences between the two. I like to reference the original Mac OS X introduction video, by Mr. steve Jobs, as a primer, too. He goes into detail about the different levels (kernel, Carbon/Cocoa, OpenGL, etc.), which helps.

My basic understanding: Carbon is for applications that need to reference the old, OS 9 way of doing things while operating in OS X. Cocoa is an all-OS X environment, and lets developers use stuff like Core Audio and Core Animation.

Even at Apple, the two platforms have their place. Mail is a Cocoa app. iTunes is a Carbon app – a hold-over from OS 9. PhotoShop, as it stands now, is a Carbon application. Again, in terms of development, it’s an OS 8/9 relic. But that may be changing. Adobe has already produced a Cocoa-based app in Lightroom, so hope springs eternal.

Now, 32 bit versus 64 bit? That’s a whole ‘nother ball of wax.

Here’s a fun project for the Macintosh fan: make yourself a classic Mac costume.

I came up with the idea after wondering what I could do with a book donation box I had lying around at work. The boxiness, the human-sized potential – it all came together in a flash of inspiration. “Jesus,” I thought, “this thing could be a self-made Mac costume.”

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I’m all about the classic Mac’ing around these parts. That’s why I thought Jason Snell’s “A Time Machine trip to the mid-’90s” article for Macworld.com was so darned cool: he lets us know about some of the never-to-see-the-light-of-day features of Copland, Apple’s vaporOS.

I remember reading about Copland and Pink and all the other weird OSes Apple was planning, but it was cool to see the operating system screen shots. Love that ’90s styling – takes me back to the Packard Bell computer my dad bought (and I ruined).

Check it out for a neat comparison on features in Copland and today’s OS X Leopard.

Marketing guru Seth Godin has a new book out, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. As a way to promote and brainstorm the book, he invited an online “triiibe” to make a book of their own. It’s available for free on Seth’s blog (which is great, and updated every day).

In the free, PDF version of the “Tribes” book, I couldn’t help but notice how many times Apple is brought up. On page 17, an author talks about the not-so-first-in-line Polish iPhone buyers. On page 51, the iPhone unlocker tribe gets its day. “Think Different” is listed as a War Cry on page 41. On page 60, Tom Bentley describes how he’ll be a Mac guy for life after his first experience:

The Mac tribe, of course, has been written about extensively, as has Appleís design magic. There have been some clunkers, but in the main, many are marvelous advances in computing and design. Iím not quite the zealot fanboy who would immediately flame online columnists who question any aspect of the Macintosh Creed, but I get where the fanatics are coming from. Iím in their tribe, after all.

“I am now part of the Newton tribe” sparked my interest at first glance, even if the actual article was about Newton running shoes. Even there, though, Marcus Galica talks about how Newton-wearing runners recognize each other out in the wild. Remember when that was true for iPods? How iPod wearers would give each other “the nod” or “the look”?

Apple’s relatively smaller user base than PCs gets a mention on page 63 (“I’m a Mac, I’m a PC”). Online groups and surfers and ethnic groups are all mentioned in this “Current Tribes Casebook,” but Apple gets its a big share (perhaps more than fair – is that my “tribal mind” talking?) of the attention.

I joined the Apple tribe three years ago in November, and I haven’t looked back. More recently, I joined the Newton tribe (and the jogging tribe and the local brewery tribe, and perhaps a few more), and it’s been a heckuva lot of fun.

What would be written about our little group of holders-on and our big green friend?

298,000

That’s how many people (half of 596,000) bought a Mac at an Apple retail location who have never owned a Mac before. Three hundred thousand people just last quarter, shopping at Apple’s 247 retail locations, who have embraced the Mac way of life.

That’s about 2,400 Macs per store, per quarter. Overall, Apple sold 2.6 million Macs this summer.

It’s amazing. So many people are switching, Apple is having record-breaking quarters (read the full transcript of today’s quarterly earnings call).

That, and with 13 million iPhones in the hands of users – more than 10 million sold this year alone – an increasing number of people are switching to the Apple way of doing things. More Macs, more iPhones (about 7 million last quarter), even more iPods (11 million sold).

Says Steve Jobs:

We don’t yet know how this economic downturn will affect Apple. But we’re armed with the strongest product line in our history, the most talented employees and the best customers in our industry. And $25 billion of cash safely in the bank with zero debt.

Who can argue with that? And zero debt? Apple is living the Dave Ramsey lifestyle and they probably don’t even know it yet.

Those 300k new users? Let’s embrace them, and welcome them with open arms. Their life is about to get a whole lot more fun.

Check this out.

Cult of Mac interviews James Wages on his classic Mac SE/30 web-surfing machine and Newton 2100 sync setup. He even uses his Newton keyboard (with an extension) on the SE! You can check out the Flickr collection here.

A lot of people might look at James’s setup and think, “Jesus, what the hell’s wrong with him?” Me? I look at it and think, “My hero.”

It’s interesting that Apple chooses to transfer the look and feel of its gadget line into the Mac aesthetic, especially with its new line of notebooks.

The iMac G3 and G4 stood out on their own. They didn’t look like anything that came before them. The iBook G3, when it was released, copied the iMac G3 design (and maybe a bit of the eMate look), unifying the consumer model Macs:

The iMac G4 (see below) was a pioneering design. Then Apple released the iPod, and suddenly the iMac G5 took on its design:

The promotional video for the new iMac said so itself: the rounded corners, the brilliant white, the giant color screen – all of it in homage to the iPod.

Since then, Apple has unleashed the iPhone, with its reflective glass, aluminum casing and black borders, onto the world:

Sure enough, the Macintosh line was soon to follow. First the (admittedly sharp) aluminum iMac:

And now the new MacBook and MacBook pro (with the Air):

Apple seems to take the consumer line of Macs and make them look like whatever new handheld device that’s hot that year. Even the new 24″ display follows this trend. The only Macs to resist these choices are the Mac Pro and Mac Mini, but that’s only because they were metal to begin with.

(An aside: what would a Newton-inspired Mac look like? Would it be a rubberized green?)

The unification scheme makes the hardware sharp and easy to market, but some choices should be optional – like the glossy-only screen option. Sure, slick glass looks great on the iPhone, but on a graphic design machine like the MacBook Pro? Some color-conscious designers are non too pleased.

I don’t have strong opinions either way. The consistency across the Mac line makes aesthetic sense, and helps us distinguish between revisions. The G3 line, for instance, featured translucent, colored plastic (except for the PowerBooks). The G4 line had smooth gray (PowerMac and PowerBook) or ice white designs (iMac and iBook):

The Intel era has featured a mish-mash of the G5 designs and the new, iPhone-inspired Macs. As it stands now, the iMac, Mac Pro, Mac Mini, the new display, and the portable line all hold up to design consistency, with a little wiggle room:

[click for larger image.]

Personally, I was a fan of the white consumer Macs with the metallic pro line. But times, and designs, change – and all the Macs are looking pretty darned good. In fact, this is probably the most consistent design scheme ever. All metal, all the time.

What do you think of Apple using its iPod/iPhone look on the new Macs?

Just read through Scott McCloud’s excellent comic about Google’s new web browser, Chrome (maybe you’ve heard about it?).

On page 25, Google gives props to the original iMac (above), circa 1998, and how it was an original “internet device” from the old HTML days. But what’s up with the dancing moon?

I haven’t tried Chrome out yet, because they haven’t released a Mac version, but it’s got me curious – and it has received glowing reviews from a lot of the sources I’ve read. Have you tried it?

Over at the NewtonTalk e-mail list there’s a great thread running about how people use their MessagePads. The whole thing was started by a 13-year-old Slovenian student who bought a Newton on eBay on a whim, got hooked, and started this project to compile all the messages into a Newton eBook for later reading.

The response has been huge, and there are some really great examples of how people use their Newton every single day to organize their life. Ryan from Vancouver says his upgraded MP2000 has replaced paper in his work flow:

Essentially, I am using it as a personal office assistant/tablet. It sits next to my MacBook Pro on my desk, and you won’t find any paper around here. I take notes on it, use it for To Dos and reminders, write articles on it for my blog, and am starting to use it more like a tablet PC. That is, reading eBooks and using it for analyzing spreadsheets.

Everything from reading the Bible to reading eBooks on the morning commute is mentioned. If you need practical ideas on how to use your MessagePad, this is a great forum to start with.

What about you? How do you use your Newton?

And I tell it to go screw itself.

My Airport Extreme Base Station has been blinking amber for three days now. It’s blinking because, as you can see above, it’s wanting me to download the updated firmware and Airport Utility software.

You know what? Tough luck.

After all the trouble this base station’s firmware has given me, and now that it’s finally working right, I’m not going to let a little blinking yellow light stop me.