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You can be sure that very soon the web will be flooded with comments on Apple's World Wide Developer's Conference and the many things Steve Jobs talked about and announced. Now, most of this discussion will likely be focused on the preview of Mac OS X Tiger and the new drool-worthy 20", 23" and 30" Cinema Displays. A great deal will probably also be made out of Dashboard and it's hmmm, shall we say, similarity to Konfabulator.

As noted, there will be lots of discussion about these things, and I can't really provide anything new on the subject besides a great deal of excitement. However, I've been thinking about one of the less-emphasized new features in Tiger (well, in Safari actually) and a couple features hidden in the product pages of Tiger Server.

Safari RSS

One of the big things that caught my eye following the live WWDC updates was the new RSS integration in Safari. Many people will probably wonder why Apple is doing this when third party feedreaders such as NetNewsWire and PulpFiction already exist and are popular. Even though Apple might be slightly encroaching on this space with Safari RSS I don't see this as a bad thing. As Brent Simmons, the developer of NetNewsWire, notes:

What I like about this announcement is that it popularizes syndication. Despite its fast growth, there’s still a huge education job to do. The average Mac user doesn’t know about the technology yet, but putting it in Safari means they will know about it, and it gives the technology a kind of validation, an Apple seal of approval, for the people who are slower to look at new technologies.

RSS integration in the default web browser creates awareness of RSS and syndication in general. This can only be a good thing. Safari will show an "RSS" icon in the location bar when it auto-detects an RSS feed for the page. This too is great for awareness of the technology, as instead of a small icon or link somewhere on the page which users who don't know what they're looking for might skim over, there will be a noticeable icon making users wonder what RSS is. When users start seeing RSS icons while browsing, they will be more curious about it. As Brent Simmons also notes, Apple can help lobby websites and other companies to publish with RSS. Apple backing this technology is a big deal and could prove to be a big force in RSS evangelism.

In addition, Safari RSS isn't a fully-featured aggregator and lacks many of the features other apps such as NetNewsWire or PulpFiction have. Instead, Apple takes a different approach in integrating the feeds with your bookmarks. The RSS toolbar-search is also interesting. I am not completely clear if it only searches your bookmarked RSS feeds or searches more at the same time. From the video on Apple's Tiger preview page it seems that this is not the case. However, it would be very cool if Apple could integrate something like Feester into the Safari toolbar for searching RSS.

Although I will probably not use Safari RSS and stick to newsreaders with more features, it is good to see companies such as Apple getting on board with the format and it will only provide a more interesting competitive space.

Jabber iChat and Weblogs

Two cool things caught my eye on the Tiger Server product page. The first of these is iChat server using the open source Jabber standard. This would allow companies or organizations to run their own chat server in the way they want using their own namespace if desired. Since it is based on Jabber not only iChat but a plethora of different clients on many different platforms will be able to talk to this server.

This is a really cool thing for Apple to do and would be great for businesses. Instead of having to rely on a closed format for internal chat networks they can now use Jabber and set it up as they want with their own namespace. It also has the support of many different clients out of the box.

I hope that this also means iChat on Tiger will be able to connect to other Jabber networks and servers currently in existance. Once again, it's great to see Apple use the benefits provided by open source.

The second cool server feature is a built-in weblog server powered by the open source weblog software Blojsom. (a cousin of Blosxom written in Java instead of Perl.) Again, Apple is using open source software in their operating system for the benefit of everyone. As expected, this blogging software supports open formats such as XML-RPC and the Atom API for publishing and many flavors of RSS and Atom for syndication.

The only downside I see here is that the Jabber and weblog servers are only built-in to the highly pricey OS X Server. However, all things considered, these three things I've mentioned are very cool and Apple should be commended for developing them and supporting open formats and software.

Today, Apple announced a bunch of software upgrades and new software including Xsan.

I'm not really clear on what it does, but it has a cool box.

As I waited at the St. George subway station this afternoon I could not help but notice the massive iPod redecorating job they have done. It was like advertising wallpaper. As I stood there listening to my iPod it felt somewhat strange. Even when I bought mine last summer iPods weren't at the same level of cultural penetration as they are now. Now I am dwarfed by giant silhouettes with white headphones.

Along with the mini iPod the other big announcement at Macworld SF was the new set of iLife Applications - iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and most importantly the new GarageBand. Departing from the iApp naming convention, Apple has released which is, no doubt, an incredibly promising and exciting app. The ability to use software instruments, loops and live recording all in one cheap, easy, consumer-level music recording program is amazing! I have been looking at music applications for a while. I looked at various pro products like Cubase and Logic, but clearly they are out of my range and are far too expensive. There are likely other low-level solutions, but GarageBand seems to bring everything together so simply as is expected of well-crafted Apple software. GarageBand is definitely the most exciting Apple announcement from the expo for me and is worth the small amount of money for iLife on it's own. iPhoto 4 also makes me drool for that suite.

With this release, it is beginning to become clear that this kind of thing represents exactly what Apple is all about. As John Gruber writes on Daring Fireball, Macs are for "people who want to use their computers to make cool things" and "people who want to be producers, not just consumers". Apple is going after the creativity in regular people. By making a music application that anybody can use and a lot of people can afford, they have opened up whole new opportunities for many people. It was clear that when Steve Jobs was sampling loops while John Mayer jammed on the keyboard and guitar during the introduction demo of GarageBand, that the company really knows what is cool and how to do something right. They do make some mistakes, but overall the quality of software like GarageBand and much of their hardware is way above that of other companies. It's all about the details and new innovative ideas for Apple, and that's how they keep themselves going.

From what I have seen in the screenshots and the expo demo, the interface of GarageBand is what makes it great. Instead of having a complicated system like many pro audio apps, they seem to have put it forward in a simple manner that is conductive to creativity through ease of use. Just as iMovie makes personal movie-making a breeze and an enjoyment rather than a skill and chore, GarageBand brings music-making to the public. The one complaint I have of the interface prior to even using it is it's total non-standard look. Instead of using Aqua or even the diverging brushed metal look of the other iLife apps, they have chosen a dark background with strange wood-grain sides. I suppose this is suppose to induce some nostalgic production board memories from days of yore, but to me, it is not necessary and only detracts from the sheer coolness of the application.

Regardless, I can't wait to get my hands on GarageBand and start making music. Yet, there is one small problem. It requires a 600mhz G3 as a minimum and a G4 or G5 for software instruments which are very important. My iBook is only a 500mhz G3. Thus, I will unfortunately have to wait until I can manage to obtain a new Mac. Despite this, it feels great that Apple is creating such awesome products for ordinary people to use. If Apple keeps bringing out cool products like this, they are bound to get even more attention, and praise.

There has been much discussion (and unjust raging) across the Mac web concerning the price-point of the recently announced iPod mini after it's much-hyped introduction at Macworld on Tuesday. Many cite the valid point that for only $50 USD more one can obtain a 15GB regular iPod with a larger form factor. This is a very good point, but it misses the point of the iPod mini. The problem is that it is not feasible for Apple to produce both a cheap iPod one with good features.

The idea of a cheap iPod was a product of the rumor sites getting out of control and ruining the actual Apple product announcement and expo in the minds of many. This has of course happened before. I remember the introduction of the flat panel iMacs was also plagued by disappointment after many outrageous concepts started floating around (somewhat fueled by the hype slogans on Apple's homepage). People were also disappointed with the introduction of the original iPod, claiming that it was far to expensive and nobody would buy it. Now, however, everyone is raving about it, it is by far the most popular MP3 player and has essentially spawned the online music industry with the introduction of the iTunes Music Store. Could Apple have the same foresight on the iPod mini?

It is not possible for Apple to make an iPod that is both smaller and cheaper while maintaining the quality and feature completeness that is characteristic of almost all their products (Appleworks and a few others are the exception). As Steve Jobs noted, they are going after the high-end flash market which has devices priced at around $200 and holds about the same amount of the market pie as the iPod. The argument that for $50 more you can get 4 gigs instead of 256 megs is quite logical and makes good market sense. These flash-based players are also smaller than the iPod, thus to compete and stand out as a superior product they needed both a small form factor and a larger capacity (not to mention a good interface). All these things cost money and cannot be found and produced for $100 or likely not even for $200 as many of the rumor sites' sources were claiming. There is clearly a different group of people who want a smaller player than the iPod, and this is what Apple is going after.

Personally, I really like the iPod mini, and if I didn't have as much music as I do and didn't already own an iPod, I think I would highly consider getting it. The small form factor is really important and cool. People like small in tech-gadgets and Apple knows this. It is the size of a business card! Many argue that it isn't that much smaller than an iPod, but when you get to that kind of small size, a little bit of a size difference means quite a lot. The new aluminum enclosure is also a welcome improvement for scratch-resistance. Lastly, the new click wheel is a very good design concept for the minis. Incorporating the unique touch-wheel was a must, and they did it and actually improved on it. I think that putting a click-wheel on the 'big' iPods should also be considered after this. The current touch-sensitive buttons are far too easy to press by accident, in my opinion, and the click wheel stops this while compressing the interface at the same time.

We should really wait to see how the iPod mini does before passing judgment of it as a bad idea and immediate failure. Comparisons to the G4 Cube are premature - this is a totally different kind of product with a much broader audience. I, for one, look forward to seeing one in person and being drawn by the spell of another cool Apple product.

Well, Hell has frozen over. Apple has released iTunes for Windows and has done an amazing job with it. It is almost exactly the same as the mac version, except for the title bar and menubar and the lack of anti-aliased fonts. Besides those three minor things, it behaves the same! The setup is really simple and it works right out of the gate. Rendezvous sharing even works seamlessly (if it doesn't work, it is likely your firewall is blocking it.) I'm really impressed with what they have done, and it seems that others are too.

I'm totally digging the new game for my iPod too. The music quiz is a good way to pass the time and make sure you know all your music! Supposedly on-the-go playlists can be saved too, which is great added functionality.

But the big news for me just came out today. This article on MacRumors quotes the President of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA) in saying that they are in negotiations with Apple and he has spoken to Steve Jobs:

"I'm happy to say that the process of negotiating a licensing deal with Apple is now under way. I met last week with representatives of the company, and I'm confident that our discussions will move ahead quickly. Last week, Steve Jobs told me that Apple couldn't wait to come to Canada, and that it was a very high priority for him. I trust that this enthusiasm will be reflected in a quick and mutually successful negotiation."

He does however note that his organization represents only the artists, and Apple will have to make a deal with the record labels as well. Nevertheless, This is very encouraging and provides some hope for a Canadian iTunes Music Store in the near future.

Well, Apple has finally announced when Mac OS X Panther is arriving - October 24th at 8 PM. I was contemplating not getting Panther, but it looks like it's a really big improvement over Jaguar. Features like Expose, Fast User Switching and better Windows compatibility are working me over. Supposedly, it's quite speedy as well. Also, the sleek black box is especially alluring and the refined interface should be beautiful

Well I guess Apple really means it when they say the Powerbooks have a "durable aluminum alloy enclosure". This blog entry describes the horrible incident in which the author accidentally ran over his 12 inch Powerbook with his 4500lb SUV while pulling out of his driveway. Upon realizing this he checked the machine and found it to be intact and even running! It's a litle warped with a few dead pixels, but otherwise it is pretty much fine!

This is almost unbeleivable. The industrial design of these must be amazing to be able to withstand that kind of abuse. Apple should feature this in an advertisement in which they compare it to a Dell or another flimsy PC notebook being run over.

So why is everyone whining about the new "downgrade" version of iTunes. The original version had a feature to easily stream music over the internet to anyone else using iTunes. The newest version update has removed this feature and now you can only share over the same local network. It was a cool featured designed, according to Apple, so that you can listen to your own music from a different location. However, most of what people were using it for was stealing or listening to music they didn't own. Apps to easily download music from iTunes and services to find out where you can stream songs from appeared. It was being abused, so Apple pulled it, did you expect that they could get away with pissing off the record companies and maintaining the Music Store at the same time? Codepoetry brings up a good point:

The “problem” is that Apple is a company. That’s it. End of story. Apple does not want to be sued, does not want to be yet another martyr for free music, and does not want to cause trouble. They fixed a bug that turned iTunes into a P2P music sharing device because copying music you don’t own is illegal and made it do what it was supposed to do: stream music locally for people you know.

Stop complaining and accept reality.

Well, I finally ordered an iPod tonight. I ordered it from the online Apple store after much inner debate. The local dealers don't have any in stock, and when they do get them in stock they sell out incredibly quickly. I figured that I'd just order it online and not worry about calling up these places all the time to see if they have them in. They can't even give a good timeframe for their arrival. Well I wont complain anymore. Now I just have to wait for a while until my 15 gig iPod arrives at my door!

Well, I'm not so lucky after all. After a great deal of calling around, it seems that the 10 and 15 gig iPods are sold out or not delivered yet in all stores accross the city. Some stores seem to have the 30 gig, but that's too much money. Most say they will have them next week or later. Oh well, it wont hurt me to wait a little longer.

I am planning on buying a 15 gig iPod tomorrow. I can't wait! I've been wanting one for quite some time. More on it when I actually get it :P.

So, Apple announced a music service. I'm impressed. I think they balanced the rights of the consumers quite well with the desires the record companies. The iTunes interface is simple, easy and all around cool. I can't wait to try this out, except there is one problem - the iTunes Music Store is only available in the U.S. I was very excited about this whole thing until I read that. I have read other articles however, that say that Apple is working on bringing it to international users and it is simply a matter of legal issues, rather than them simply not caring. I can't wait. Apple's hit something here.

I'm excited about the new iTunes (even without the Music Store) and iPods. Library sharing in iTunes 4 is a very very cool feature and it is so beautifully seamless. I've noticed that some songs sound much better in this version of iTunes. In iTunes 3 it seemed that on some tracks the vocals were very quiet, despite relentless adjustment of the equalizer.

I think I'm going to buy an iPod. The new ones look really sexy and I kind of like the new button layout. I was originally thinking about getting the 10GB 'pod, but when I priced it on the Apple store with the case, iPod dock and remote it ended up being more expensive than the 15GB model with all those things bundled.

Well, thats all for me for now. It's time to do more homework.

Siliconvalley.com has a nice article about OS X's NeXT roots.

"Stone sees the modern Mac architecture and programming toolkits enabling a "samurai" model of software development. That is, the tools and platform make it possible for a significant number of individual programmers or small teams, not just corporate behemoths, to create seriously innovative applications."

Slava from Unsanity comments on Apple's iApps and their lack of speed and functionality. He makes a very good point about how we are paying for these things in the cost of the OS. Although even if the iApps weren't included with OS upgrades, I don't think Apple would lessen the price.

It is understandable that carrying an advanced featureset and lots of media manipulations can't be all that speedy, but we're talking about the interface responsiveness here. I am, trying to assemble my first home-made movie in iMovie, using a semi-modern Mac (dual-Ghz), don't like clicking into a movie fragment and waiting for half a second for the system to understand I clicked in and update the UI. I don't like browsing through the iPhoto library with an ocassional coffee breaks every time i click on an up arrow because my library contains about 600 photos.

Well once again Mr. John C. Dvorak (pronounced "dork") has published yet another article about his favorite subject - Apple Computer! Miraculously, he is not predicting their imminent demise! Instead he is making another prediction - Apple will switch to Intel. The tone of this article is rather strange, it seems almost positive compared to his articles that predicted a brutal death to Apple a million times over.

Despite the new tone, this new John C. Dvorak's article is no better than before. Similar articles have been written many times over in many different publications, online or offline. This is not a new radical prediction, instead it is simply copying another's prediction. If this does come true, and Apple switches to Intel, Dvorak will probably come out with a collective "I told you so". Don't humor him.

In an odd development Al Gore is now on Apple's board of directors.

I guess Apple now owns the Internet. :)

Well my friends, it seems that the original iMac design has finally come to an end. As of today Apple is no longer selling it on their online store.

I'm not really sure why Apple continued to sell them up to this point since they were just marginally less expensive than the eMac and their specs were much less.

The end of an era I suppose.

Interesting. MacSlash has an article pointing to an LA Time article (which needs registration) about Apple launching a music service integrated with iTunes. This would be great if they could keep the price low enough and give us the freedom to burn to CDs and play in different locations.

This looks pretty official.

Dave Hyatt is feeling very hypothetical today. I wonder if Apple likes this weblog talking about Safari the way it is. It is also interesting that Apple hasn't taken any measures to contain the leaked safari build. From what I've seen they haven't sent any letters to people asking them to take their mirrors of the build down.

I guess they must not be too upset. It actually might be better press for them now. People have got interested in this because its 'leaked'. Its like little kids who are having fun since they know they have something they aren't suppose to have. In this case, of course, it really isn't doing any harm, if not good.

Well, it seems that a leaked beta of Safari has a version of tabs included. Good job Apple! Its great that you listen to your users! I can't wait for this to be released in a real version.

Apple has released a spec on the XML format, (APXL - Apple Presentation XML), used in Keynote. Apples says that "It is intended for developers who wish to create or modify Keynote presentations programmatically".

NetNewsWire Pro 1.0 was released today. Congrats Brent. This is a great app, it totally changes how a read and write online.

Here's a good blog about the Opera Whiners.

Dave Hyatt is asking on his weblog for feedback on what people want to see in Safari. There are already 390 comments and 19 trackbacks, I can't imagine him reading it all. There are probably a lot of repeats as well. I'll give my few cents on what I would like:

- Tabbed browsing. This has been asked in almost every reply he has. Tabs or some tab like widget should be implemented. Don't do drawer-based tabs! They take up too much space. It is easy for someone with a big widescreen Apple monitor to say they have enough space but on a 1024x768 screen the browser would end up taking up most of the screen space.

- Aqua. I'd rather brushed metal was dropped in favor of aqua. I'm not a big fan of metal and especially metal on an app like a web browser.

- Customizable toolbar. We should have the option of rearranging and adding different icons to the toolbar.

Thats about all I can think of now, maybe I'll think of more later.

Forbes: "How does Keynote stack up against PowerPoint? The snapshot summary of our head-to-head user test of the two programs is that they fundamentally do the same thing, and do it well, but Keynote does it with a superior elegance and simplicity of use that is Apple's design trademark."