October/November 2012 From the Prez
October/November 2012
Hi GMMUG Members:
It’s midway through October already; our next meeting is tonight (October 15th). My apologies for combining the October newsletter with the November one; without my rants, there isn’t much of a newsletter. The November meeting schedule and topics will be forthcoming.
Tomorrow, I’ll be presenting on Mountain Lion, with the goal of familiarizing everybody with some of the strangeness… Apple has been working hard to sort of merge some of the aspects of iOS into the Mac OS; for long time users like myself, there’s an adjustment there. At my house, we’ve had an iPad since not long after they first came out, and an iPod Touch since the first version! Without question, I felt it was very easy to learn iOS (even though it was NOTHING like the Mac), from the first versions that were available, and as Apple has updated iOS, the changes have been more subtle than sweeping. I’ve never felt like I’ve had to relearn anything when updating my iPhone or iPad, I just felt mostly comfortable and ready to go.
When Apple made the change from Mac OS 9 to OS X, that was unquestionably a huge adjustment to us longtime users. Some of that was because OS X wasn’t really quite ready for prime time when it came out. If I recall, I really didn’t make the jump until Jaguar (OS X 10.2). Who remembers when Apple set all new Macs to boot into OS X by default? I think it was Jaguar. But I do remember, for a while, users had the choice to go right back into Mac OS 9 if they wanted; that only ended when FireWire 800 made it’s appearance on Macs.
Up until Lion, however, I always felt the same way when OS X was updated—the OS behaved similarly between updates. Sure, there were things to adjust to, and new features, but I always knew what I’d see when I opened a Finder
window. Now, it’s “All My Files”. Eh? I know the filesystem is incomprehensible to many users, but it is integral to my interactions with my Macs. Well, I’ll adjust.
But I just wish Apple would include a preference to change some of that behavior for “us power users”.
No question, Mountain Lion is a different beast. Apple has been trying to de-emphasize the file system a la iOS, and give the OS some of the visual characteristics of iOS, but you know, the Mac is not a touch interface, and I hope Apple doesn’t go too much further in trying to iOS-ify the Mac— I don’t think it needs it.
The end of October may be interesting; Apple will be reporting it’s fiscal 4th
quarter financials (July-Aug-Sep) at the end of the month, and there’s ongoing expectations that a 7.85” “iPad Mini” will be announced, perhaps this coming week. And the past month has been interesting too, with the release of the iPhone 5, which broke it’s previous opening weekend sales record (again, as it has every time) with 5 million phones shipped. And they can’t make them fast enough; it’s hard to find iPhone 5’s in stock anywhere, and wait times online are still long. And, a U.S. jury found Samsung guilty in a patent infringement case and awarded Apple more than $1 billion in damages. I really feel it’s quite meaningless, however, as nothing will happen for what— probably years— as appeals drag through the courts.
No money being paid, no devices pulled off the market.
I look forward to seeing a big crowd tonight.
Cheers, Andrew
the OS behaved similarly between updates. Sure, there were things to adjust to, and new features, but I always knew what I’d see when I opened a Finder
window. Now, it’s “All My Files”. Eh? I know the filesystem is incomprehensible to many users, but it is integral to my interactions with my Macs. Well, I’ll adjust.
But I just wish Apple would include a preference to change some of that behavior for “us power users”.
No question, Mountain Lion is a different beast. Apple has been trying to de-emphasize the file system a la iOS, and give the OS some of the visual characteristics of iOS, but you know, the Mac is not a touch interface, and I hope Apple doesn’t go too much further in trying to iOS-ify the Mac— I don’t think it needs it.
The end of October may be interesting; Apple will be reporting it’s fiscal 4th
quarter financials (July-Aug-Sep) at the end of the month, and there’s ongoing expectations that a 7.85” “iPad Mini” will be announced, perhaps this coming week. And the past month has been interesting too, with the release of the iPhone 5, which broke it’s previous opening weekend sales record (again, as it has every time) with 5 million phones shipped. And they can’t make them fast enough; it’s hard to find iPhone 5’s in stock anywhere, and wait times online are still long. And, a U.S. jury found Samsung guilty in a patent infringement case and awarded Apple more than $1 billion in damages. I really feel it’s quite meaningless, however, as nothing will happen for what— probably years— as appeals drag through the courts.
No money being paid, no devices pulled off the market.
I look forward to seeing a big crowd tonight.
Cheers, Andrew