MacMessiah

2012 Requiem...

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:40:08 -0800

We start 2012 looking towards new Apple product launches for the first time without Steve Jobs. (Well, pedantically, for the second time).

Eagerly expecting the iPad 3 and the iPhone 5, this year will be another stellar year for AAPL. Hopefully, Wall Street will recognize how undervalued the stock is and launch it to stratospheric heights.

And yes, one more thing.. will we see Apple TV ?

Watch this space in 2012...

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Hippy Billionaire!

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:12:00 -0800

Amazing BBC documentary on what made Steve Jobs and Apple.. With interviews by John Sculley, Andy Hertzfeld, Stephen Fry, Tim Berners-Lee and Steve Wozniak..

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Holiday Mac App Bundles !

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:49:00 -0800

Holiday season is upon us and as usual there are a lot of great app bundles to choose from: mupromo: The oldest and a great choice MacLegion: A new one and has quite an eclectic choice of apps BundleHunt: I bought this last year and looks like a good selection here this year too.. ProductiveMacs: A new bundle that I recently discovered.. So go on, get a bundle or get all 4 and have a great holiday season..

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Think like Apple..

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:16:37 -0700

As I navigate through the media storm of the iPhone 4S I can't but help thinking that all the media pundits and consumer protests about the phone are so misguided. They are not thinking like Apple. Let's take a look at their cries of protest: 1. No new form factor: Apple has a release cycle and pattern established with the 3G and 3GS. They iterate the design over two years and keep improving the internals - hardware and software - until it is perfect and has achieved mass penetration. 2. No LTE: The LTE coverage is woefully inadequate. Apple doesn't serve just the media pundits who live in metro cities. They have to reach the soccer mom/dad in Las Cruces. 3. Siri is not on iPad or iPhone 4: Remeber, Siri is still beta software. They want to test their servers against a few million users who buy the 4S - once they are done with testing I believe that they will release it to iPad and iPhone 4 in a software update. These are the only three major features the pundits have a problem with. The 4S has already sold a million handsets on the first day. The users have spoken with their wallets.. Let's think more like Apple..

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Who's afraid of Tim Cook ?

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 22:34:14 -0700

Apple after Jobs won't be the same. Here's why... No one was as scary as Steve. He ruled with fear. All those in contact with him were terrified of what Steve would think and worked like maniacs in order to please Steve and get his approval. There is not a single person at Apple or for that matter any other company that can evoke such fear, loyalty and eagerness to please. Tim Cook looks and sounds like a warm fuzzy teddy bear. No one has ever heard that he has outbursts or desiccates employees. Ditto for Schiller, Forstall, Eddy and even Jony Ive. This will soon start translating into employee and partner insouciance. The employees are going to take more chances and quality will suffer. Similarly, partners will have no fear of Steve's wrath and exclusion policies. I see the wireless carriers, the recording labels and movie partners all starting to start pushing back and getting better deals. In about 18-24 months this will slowly manifest itself into all Apple's operations and products and though the spirit will be the same, the experience will have changed... No organization (company or government) has been able to replace or replicate the success of its leader and Apple is no different...

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Steve and I

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 06:17:16 -0700

I met Steve Jobs twice. Well, thrice - the first time was virtually...

Do you want to do an ad for Apple ?

It was the summer of 2002. I had just joined the San Gabriel Valley Mac User Club (SGVMUG) in Pasadena because in late 2001 I had switched to a Mac. For all my friends that know me well, this was a major shift, since until 2000 I was a firm believer and evangelist of Linux. In fact I came to the US in 2000 to setup moreLinux, Inc. making Linux desktop apps. So for me to switch to a Mac was considered by my friends and colleagues as treasonous and also foolhardy. Because this was 2001 and the Mac had a 4% market share. No one but eccentric people and graphic designers used Macs then. But the day I saw Mac OS X running and I opened a Terminal window and dropped down to the shell and ran a few Unix commands, I saw the future and immediately went back home, sold my PC's and bought a blue tower Mac G3. My wife thought I had gone crazy since I made her forcibly switch to the Mac as well. I soon found the SGVMUG group online and started going for their meetings at the Pasadena Central Library. It was fun to hang out with fellow geeks and Mac-heads. Most of the group was much older and also much wiser. A few of them were genuine rocket scientists from JPL/Caltech nearby. It was a great group and to this day I am good friends with all of them and still go for their meetings when I can. So one day in the summer of 2002, at one of our meetings, a guy showed up with a handycam. He said he wanted to talk to folks who had recently switched to Macs. So a couple of us went with him to a nearby restaurant and he interviewed us in turn and video-taped the interview. I remember being very excited about iLife and how it had changed the way I took photos and listened to music. We spoke for a couple of hours after that and went home. I forgot about that incident but a few weeks later I got a call from the guy. He asked me point-blank, 'Do you want to do a commercial for Apple ?'. I thought I had died and gone to heaven... So the next week I drove down to Hollywood Center Studios in Los Angeles. I was introduced to Errol Morris, the Oscar award winning director of documentary films and many awesome commericals. Then I was sent to make up. That was at 9.30 am. The long wait began. Lunch was awesome with craft services going overboard with too much food. It was a long afternoon. Finally at 6.30pm I got the call to report on set. Nervously, I went down to the set. It was this blindingly white set with everything, including the floor painted white. I remember talking to a painter hanging around the set with a bucket of white paint and brush and his job was to apply touch-ups to places that got smudged by touching or walking. Anyways, I got in front of the camera. The setup was quite complicated. I could see the director's face projected onto a mirror on top of the camera. The director was off-camera in a room to the side. He could see me on the monitor and I could see him in the mirror above the camera. The effect was that I was looking straight into the camera and talking to him. Errol started asking me questions. No script. Just questions and answers. Why did I switch to Mac ? What did I like about the Mac ? Why now ? What do I do with my Mac ? Etc. It went on for at least 30 minutes. Finally he called for a break and called me to his viewing room. I went over and started chatting with him. He was happy with my answers. Then I asked him if he wanted to see a photo-book I had made using iPhoto of my recently born daughter Tanya. He asked me to get it immediately. I ran back to the makeup room and pulled out the photo-book thanking my stars that I remembered to impulsively shove it in my backpack as I left the house. I showed the book to him and after turning a few pages, he said 'Get back on camera with the book'. So the set was turned back on again and this time I showed the book to the camera. It had pictures of baby Tanya and Hoofrish. The set loved the unscripted enthusiasm I had about that book and I got an ovation after the camera was turned off. Even Errol said that this was the best audition they had seen so far. I later learned that there were more than 50 other switchers like me invited that day for filming. I returned home feeling excited and anxious to find out if I made the cut. A couple of weeks later the rep from the ad-agency (TBW/ChiatDay) called and said 'You are in. Steve liked you a lot.' Holy crap! Steve liked me ?? So I pressed him for details and he said Steve saw your audition and instantly decided I was going to be in the campagin. It seems he liked the story of the photo-book a lot. I had to go in again to a recording studio and record the voiceover in the end. That's the first time I saw the full ad. It was hair-raising... To know that Steve had seen that ad and chosen me from amongst the 50 or more switchers. I couldn't believe that was happening to me. The ad debuted during the 2002 US Open Women's finals. I remember being glued to the set and during every break watching and watching. Finally after the fifth or sixth ad break the screen cleared to white and there I was in that green shirt (that I still have) talking about why iPhoto is so cool.. and showing the world the photos of Tanya and Hoofrish. I was dumb-founded. That ad played again almost 5-6 times during the tennis match. Over the next week it was being played on every major network channel ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN and I started getting calls from old friends demanding what the hell was I doing shilling for Apple on TV !! Soon every Apple store (there were a few back then in 2002) had a giant 8 foot tall poster of mine in the window. The Apple website had my photo on the home page. Things were getting too surreal. The campaign lasted for almost six months and then new 'switchers' were introduced. I was enshrined forever on the Internet on Youtube. My 15 minutes of fame were up...

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phtEbagahVw]

The 'switcher' commercial...

Apple Store at The Grove, Los Angeles

Honey, everyone here is a switcher...

Fast forward to Jan 2005. MacWorld expo in SFO, Moscone Center. I had somehow convinced my then boss to send me to Macworld even though my job had nothing to do with Macs. I remember standing in line for the keynote and running in to catch a seat as near as possible to the stage. The lights dimmed and Steve walked out on stage. That was the first time I saw him physically. He introduced the Mac Mini and the iPod Shuffle at that keynote. After the keynote I wandered around the show floor checking out the exhibits and generally enjoying the Apple geekfest. As I was walking around to the Apple booth, I heard a hubhub in the distance and saw a crowd of people moving towards me. I moved to the left to swerve from their path and as the crowd surged around me, I was being gently pushed away. I turned and saw a woman shooing me away. I looked behind her and there was Steve. I said to the woman (who turned out to be Katie Cotton, Apple's PR chief) and said 'Hey, it's me the switcher'. And she said 'Yeah honey, everyone here is the switcher'. 'No, look at me,' - I urged her. She finally looked at me (instead of through me) and a glint of recognition appeared in her eyes. She turned around and said 'Steve, look who is here'. Steve turned and looked and me and said 'Hey its you.. Our iPhoto switcher' and extended his hand. I shook his hand and the media around us erupted in a frenzy of shutter clicks. They were probably wondering who the hell was Steve shaking hands with ? I was too dumbfounded. I barely managed to stutter 'Hi Steve.' And he said 'Hey thanks a lot for doing that for us. I really appreciate it.' Now I was plain embarrassed. Why the hell was Steve Jobs thanking me ?? He spoke a few more sentences that I don't remember. I was too fucking stunned. I whimpered out some gibberish and then he was gone. I didn't even have the presence of mind to give my camera to someone to take our pictures. So then I followed him and lamely took some pictures of him admiring the iPod Shuffle and hanging out with John Mayer. He was gone in a few minutes... and I was on cloud nine all week...

[slideshow]

The MacBook Air photo...

It was Macworld Jan 2008. Again in Moscone Center SFO. Steve announced the MacBook Air. The keynote was electric as Steve pulled out the Air from a yellow envelope. It was a dramatic performance. After the keynote as the audience filed out, I ran towards the stage. I had heard a tip from a photographer that after the keynote, Steve comes back on the stage to do some photo-ops for the journalists/press photographers after the audience leaves. Sure enough after the hall was mostly empty, Steve came out with the MacBook Air. The photographers went crazy. He was initially holding the Air in front of him with both hands. I was taking pictures from two or three rows from the stage. I was being blocked by taller photographers in front, so I decided to stand up on the chair and take some pics. The moment I stood up on the chair, Steve looked up straight at me since now I was much taller than the photographers around and at stage level. I signaled to him to raise the MacBook in one hand using the tips of his fingers only. He looked puzzled initially but after demonstrating to him with my hand and holding my camera up, he got the point. He smiled and raised the MacBook Air on the tips of the fingers of his right hand. That created the perfect photo for the lighter than air MacBook. He looked back at me and smiled a thank you.. I just kept on clicking away..

MacBook Air in two Hands

And now just one...

Later, again while roaming the Macworld exhibit floor as I was coming up on the Apple booth, I turned and there was Steve standing in front of me. Just like that. This time he had no gaggle of reporters or people around him. He was walking alone and undisturbed. He looked at me and looked away and then looked back again. He smiled and then said 'It's you again...' He had recognized me even after the switcher campaign had been over for over 5 years. He shook my hand again and said 'Thank you'. He kept saying 'Thank you' a couple of times and then walked away. I was again dumbstruck and left spouting gibberish... Steve was many things to many people. To me, he was something to aspire to. I want to be like Steve. I want to change the world...

Steve being a kid...

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Steve Jobs... 1955 - 2011

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 23:55:58 -0700

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Enter, Lion...

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 03:50:52 -0700

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="269" caption="Install Lion (image courtesy, John Siracusa at ArsTechnica)"]

[/caption] It's safe to say that today was the Day of the Lion. Apple Mac OS X Lion, to be specific. I think Apple may have done wonders for the lives of the endangered species of the feline family over the last decade. As announced at yesterday's Apple quarterly earnings conference call, Lion did indeed become available in the Mac AppStore today. Since then I have upgraded a couple of my Macs to Lion and I read all the important reviews of the 250+ features of much vaunted operating system. I don't think any other company that makes a consumer operating system could get as many page views as Lion seems to have done today. So without further ado, here is a comprehensive list of the most important Lion reviews on the web: John Siracusa - the grand-daddy of them all, John Siracusa at Ars Technica has typed a 27,000 word article, nay a tome.. Andy Ihnatko - always funny and precise, to be precise.. Walt Mossberg - his master's voice at the WSJ David Pogue - the NY Times gadget guy and all round fun guy.. engadget - the leader of the gadget blogs.. TUAW - great little stuff that belongs only at TUAW That should set you up for a good read all week.. meanwhile I am working on my take - the Mac Messiah take, on Mac OS X Lion.. watch this space...

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Lion roars on Wednesday...

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:05:02 -0700

According to AppleInsider.com, Apple will release Lion on Wednesday Jul 18, 2011 at 8.30 am EDT. Also along with Lion, Apple will also release new MacBook Airs (with backlit keyboards, thankfully). This brings to a head, the intense speculation on the release date of Lion and I admit I predicted it to be a couple of days later.. but better earlier than later, right ? So get your $30 ready, make sure you have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 on your Mac and an active iTunes AppStore account. Come back here on Wednesday afternoon for tips and tricks and share your install experiences...

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Spotify is here...

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 01:48:45 -0700

So I spent yesterday and today listening to music on Spotify.com and I believe that Apple has every reason to be afraid.. Very afraid. For those who don't know, Spotify is an online music streaming service out of Sweden. After being a rage in Europe for many years, it finally made its US debut on Jul 14, 2001 at 8 am PDT. Spotify is like Rdio, MOG and Rhapsody with one unique difference: They have a free plan that allows the user to listen to over 15 million (read that right, million !) tracks anytime they want for as many times as they want (not really, but read on...) They also have two paid plans: Unlimited for $5 a month and Premium for $10 a month. The free plan has the following limitations: 1. Ads show up in the Spotify app and along with Audio ads from time to time. 2. You can listen to 20 hours a month for free for the first six months. After 6 months its 10 hours a month and at most 5 listens per track. i.e. you can listen to the same track 5 times a month. The Unlimited plan takes these restrictions away and the Premium plan allows you to listen to Spotify on mobile devices and download music for offline listening.

See here for a nice comparison: http://www.spotify.com/us/get-spotify/overview/

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iOS v4.3.4 Update - fixes PDF security hole

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 18:32:33 -0700

Apple released iOS v4.3.4 to fix the PDF security hole that allowed a hacker to send a PDF file and upon opening it the hacker had access to the system and could potentially put harmful code there. This update applies to: GSM iPhone 4, 3GS iPad 2, iPad iPod Touch 3rd / 4th Generation CDMA iPhone 4 has iOS 4.2.9 update available. The PDF exploit became known last week, after hackers utilized it to offer a browser-based "jailbreak" of iOS devices. "Jailbreak" is the term used to describe exploiting flaws in iOS code to allow users to run software that is not approved by Apple. So plug in your iOS device to your iTunes machine and get the update...

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Secret of the Mac's instant network availability

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:12:19 -0700

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="269" caption="Dave Simmons"]

[/caption] Mac users are pretty spoilt :) Their Macs wake up from sleep an instantly are on the wifi network and you can start browsing within a couple of seconds of the Mac waking up. Try that on a Windows PC.. Takes at least 10 seconds or more.. Well, Dave Simmons over at Caffeinated Bits decided to find out why.. Here is his interesting and totally geeky report: http://cafbit.com/entry/rapid_dhcp_or_how_do

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Where is Lion?

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:35:27 -0700

So all the rumors about Lion launching on July 12/14 are turning out to be duds. Seems like Apple is holding back the release in anticipation of some new hardware. There is a strong possibility of new MacBook Airs and Mac Minis and maybe a re-designed Mac Pro. The rumor mills are chafing at the bit to come up with something that would justify the delayed release. But I say, Apple never planned to release Lion so early on in July. When they announced they would be releasing in July, it usually means the last week of July. So my bet is that they will release it on July 21st. That gives them enough time to approve the apps that developers will be submitting in response to Apple's call this week. It also gives them time to preload Lion on any new hardware they will be shipping. So don't hold your breath yet. There is plenty of time to backup your existing Mac installations. You are going to back it up before you upgrade to Lion, aren't you ?

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Can’t cancel a Screen Sharing window?

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 06:08:57 -0700

I had this happen to me too many times. When I start Screen Sharing and attempt to connect to a computer, sometimes the Screen Sharing window keeps trying to connect. All the buttons are disabled and I can never close the window. I finally figured out from Activity Monitor, that the window is controlled by NetAuthAgent. Using Activity Monitor, I killed that process and voila! That window disappeared ! One more nagging thing laid to rest...

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The best iPhone case ? And it's a camera stand too..

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:22:43 -0700

Highly recommended by Alex Lindsay over at TWiT - Gymbl - this is a stand for the iPhone with a beautifully designed case. The stand itself is worth the price of admission, but what clinches the deal is that the case is amazingly ergonomic and indestructible..

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Grid-It - Great organizer for gadgets, doo-hickeys and wires..

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:03:31 -0700

This is just perfect for all your gadget organizing needs: http://www.cocooninnovations.com/grid.php

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How to install Lion without the AppStore

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:55:49 -0700

Here is a great article on how to install Lion if you do not want to download it on every mac in your house or business from the AppStore. I have about 5 Macs at home that need to be upgraded to Lion and it would be a pain to download Lion on every machine. Now you can just copy the Lion install DMG file on a USB stick and install it on every machine easily. Enjoy !

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Lion, iOS5 and iCloud - too hot to handle..

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:00:45 -0700

Here is Apple's amazing game changing keynote where Steve announces Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud - all within a space of couple of hours SteveNote

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iPhone OS 4. 0 Keynote available for viewing

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 01:21:35 -0700

Here is Steve announcing iPhone OS 4.0. Enjoy !

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iPhone OS 4. 0 Keynote available for viewing

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 01:21:35 -0700

Here is Steve announcing iPhone OS 4.0. Enjoy !

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