Tech Inertia

iOSification of the Mac...

18 Oct 2011
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Mac Mac OS X Mac market share iOSification iPhone

I haven't upgraded to Lion yet.

At work I have a very complicated set up, ranging from PPC G4's (yes G4's - still working as print servers), through to 10+ PPC G5 main workstations (running Leopard) and a new Xeon MacPro running Snow Leopard Server.

At home, I have a very well used and happy 2010 iMac (Pre-Thunderbolt), running Snow Leopard.

I haven't upgraded to Lion mainly because of software - Lion doesn't run Rosetta, so a few pieces of software are currently a dead-end.

What has forced encouraged me to upgrade is iCloud.

I want/need iCloud, but seeing as MobileMe tied together work and home systems, a lot is going to have to be rethought.

I'm not exactly happy, but they are the cards we've been dealt - and I 'aint moving to Windows.

All that upheaval is for another post however, this post is about what has happened to the Mac OS - what's been called, iOSification.

A lot of what is deemed bad about Lion is to do with the iOS UI elements that have infiltrated the Mac OS. I've yet to have a hands-on with Lion, but in reading reviews, things like the scroll bars, Mission Control, Launchpad, Multi-Touch Gestures etc are all there for a very good reason.

iOS has become a force of nature at Apple. Let's face it, they're on to a winner here. The sheer sales numbers speak volumes - anything with iOS on it sells like hotcakes, usually beating all records.

Apple sells computers as well, but they just aren't as popular as the iOS devices, and they want that to change.

What better way to get your average iPhone/iPad user to switch (or to actually feel that a computer is for them after all), than to make the 2 OS's as close as possible?

It has to work - some would say it's already working with 13%+ market share and climbing.

So although as a Mac user since the late 1980's, I'm more than happy to see a few UI elements creep in from iOS (you can turn most of them off), if it means more and more people choose a Mac as their next PC.

They really don't know...

A lot has been said about Steve's passing, and even more will be said about whether Apple will continue it's meteoric rise, and continue hitting the ball out of the park.

To tell you the truth, nobody can predict the future, (although I'm sure there will be an app for that eventually), all we can do is observe and comment.

I observed recently 2 friends who were exclusive Blackberry users. They didn't use them at work, they were their personal phones and chose them mainly for the hardware keyboard, with the comment that, "they could never use one of those touchscreens."

Well I met them recently for a meal and guess what? they both pulled out iPhone 4's.

I wasn't too surprised, but what did surprise me were the reasons why they chose one.

Their contracts were up for renewal and they walked into their local phone shop, and were persuaded by the staff to get an iPhone.

Their comment was, "we didn't go in wanting an iPhone, but they let us play with them for a while and we're hooked!"

Since then, they have gone 'app crazy' showing me various cat apps, apps for Halloween, Christmas, joke apps, you get the idea.

I showed them Shazam whilst in the restaurant - they were gobsmacked and downloaded it immediately.

This isn't really unusual, as Apple's user experience is excellent, but the thing to take home here is this:

They don't know who Steve Jobs is
They don't know Apple's history
They don't know (yet) how the Mac differs from Windows
They just know what they like

You could say that the reason why people choose a Blackberry over and iPhone and a PC over a Mac, is because of the legacy of opinion that surrounds both topics.

It's going to be pretty easy to topple RIM, they haven't had a chance to get ingrained into people's habits.

The reason why the Mac is finding harder to topple Windows, is because it's been around much longer, and has had a chance to get into people lives, habits and personalities.

Just give us time.

BSOD 4 BP?..

27 Jul 2010
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Apple BP BSOD Mac Microsoft Oil

Deepwater Horizon chief electrician alleges ‘Blue Screen of Death’ before BP oil rig blew.

Even though I am a dyed-in-the-wool Mac user and I am well versed in exactly what Microsoft have done to the tech-industry over the years, I have a hard time believing that Microsoft's shoddy OS was indirectly responsible for the worst environmental disaster in human history.

Although according to Michael Williams, the chief electronics technician aboard the Transocean-owned Deepwater Horizon, a computer that monitored the drilling on the oil rig that subsequently exploded, was giving blue-screens-of-death, prior to the disaster, I think it's more to do with the fact that they had turned off the rig's alarm system at night.

Having said that though I think it will be interesting to see if even this small amount of sh*t in anyway sticks to Microsoft.

I think it's also interesting to speculate a 'what-if?'

'What if' the blue-screen had instead been a kernel-panic screen on a Mac? I wonder what the media would say then?

Seeing as Apple have just been heavily criticized for a minor design-flaw in their new iPhone, I think we'd probably have Steve's head on a pole by now, and Mac-users across the land would be flailed alive until they started using 'a proper OS'.

An exaggeration of course, but I guarantee that millions of dollars are being spent right now, making sure that the right people are influenced, paid off and 'encouraged' to no longer create any connection between this disaster and anything that comes out of Redmond.

I bet Mr Williams has already had that phone call.

Hack-proof?

3 Apr 2010
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iPad Apple Mac Macintosh charlie miller forbes hack malware pwn2own spyware trojan virus

Who said anything about the Mac being Hack-Proof?

Oh right, Forbes just did in this inflammatory headline.

Forbes is putting this headline: "Hack-Proof?" with this subheadline: "Charlie Miller has a habit of upending Apple's security claims."

The reader then inevitably links the two together so that the perception is that Apple's claims the Mac is hack-proof.

I'm not saying that Mac's are hack-proof, Apple's not saying the Mac is hack-proof, nobody's saying Mac's are hack-proof.

The only people saying that Mac's are hack-proof are those people with a vested interest in making the ignorant unwashed believe that Mac's are being sold as hack-proof and somehow immune to viruses, malware, spyware & trojans, and then make a living (I'm talking about Miller and Forbes here) in pointing this out.

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

At least Charlie Miller is passing on his findings to Apple, which I'm sure they're very grateful for, but the whole 'pwn2own' contest leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

I've written before about exploits on the Mac are on the way, but nobody can say when - there's certainly none to speak of right now.

The Mac is a computer and you can execute anything on it, both positive and negative. The only way to stop the negative things is to restrict the writing and the installation process so that everything is approved and locked down.

What Apple needs to do is release a device that does just that - it would allow you get your work done, but stop you from tinkering, stop you from installing anything that isn't approved, stop you from writing your own programs, unless you've had your program approved.

Hmm, sound familiar?

It'll be interesting to see whether the iPad is hacked next year...

Tech Inertia

iOSification of the Mac...

They really don't know...

BSOD 4 BP?..

Hack-proof?

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