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First of all I need to say that this products deserves every cent I paid for it. It’s a phone, a tool and a gadget. It’s a product designed the typical Apple way but it goes beyond this. It must be the best Apple thing ever made.
What I like in iPhone
It is so easy to use it. I couldn’t imagine it could be used by a child. But recently I tempted to give it to a child of 3 years old (!) to see what she could do with it. She immediately loaded the Photos application and she started navigating from photo to photo. After a few seconds she had discovered how to zoom in and out a photo. That was amazing!
This iPhone stood by me when I needed most. Thanks to its perfect synchronization with my email accounts it helped me be prepared for a tough call I was about to receive. I don’t know how I would have reacted if I hadn’t seen a relevant email first.
It helps me stay informed to what’s happening in my virtual life when I am not there. During trips I can stop worrying if I don’t have my computer with me. Simple as that. I have heard millions of stupid arguments against technology. People complain that technology has made our life more complicated. Nonsense. What I know is that thanks to this device I remain calm.
I play chess. Again! One game per day. I love Caissa Chess app. It must be one of the best apps for iPhone. I missed chess all these years. I still miss a real opponent. Anyway, this app is the best alternative.
I like the camera of my iPhone. People interpret digital cameras as megapixels only. Wrong. The resolution is only a feature. iPhone has a decent camera even though it is not the best in the world. I tooksomephotos of which I can be proud of.
Google maps work perfectly well regarding the two major cities, Athens and Thessaloniki. You can count on these maps. I do.
It is a beauty. Enough with the politically correct comments. Enough with what is beautiful and what is not.
What I ‘d like to be different
Greek interface. It’s pathetic not to be able to send emails in my mother language. I live in Greece, I am Greek and I demand a greek interface. Apple, what are you gonna do about it? How about you Vodafone?
Vodafone. Vodafone has exploited us badly. We pay a lot of money per month and Vodafone give us practically a lot of SMS and a few MB bandwidth in return. Many Vodafone employes still don’t know what this thing is about.
OK, iPhone is an extremely successful product. Obviously. I see, sometimes clumsy, efforts of other brands which try to implement some of the features iPhone provides. When it comes to user interface Apple knows better than anyone out there. That’s why we love it.
Yesterday, Steve Jobs, the ultimate king of Apple, went on one step further and announced in the MacWorld 08 the thinnest notebook of all times, called MacBook Air. At same time he introduced to us movies rentals via iTunes and significant updates of iPhone. OK, I know many people have noticed it before but let me say it again: this doesn’t have to do with computing, music, movies or phones, it has to do with our lives.
Apple kicked off the game in MacWorld 07 where changed its identity to a simple Apple Inc. Future drastically changes thanks to Apple, not because we saw for the first time what music, movies or phones are about. It changes because all this transaction comes smoothly, like we have been waiting for it since years. It is clear to me just about now, but it’s all right. People who have entered the world of Apple wonder how can the rest live out of it. We adore the products of Apple because their are beautiful, work perfectly well and they are simple.
I get excited in the idea of a new event held by Apple, I see again and again Job’s keynotes and I want to buy each new product enters the market. It is easy to say that marketing has captured one more. It may be true, it maybe has to do with this mainstream and at the same time special culture Apple spreads.
A year ago I used to say that I need an iPhone. One year later the fact that it isn’t available in Greece makes me feel I live in space or in a place where civilization can’t reach. Now I say I want this Air thing. I don’t need it, but at the same time I don’t want future slip off my hands. OK Apple, you won again.
I was waiting for Leopard with anxiety and I was expecting what was very good to become even better. I couldn’t focus on any specific feature since I am pretty new to this game. All in all, the new operating system did my life easier but I wasn’t impressed.
The good part
I decided to have a clean installation of Leopard. After backing up, the new operating system deleted every single file. Half an hour later I had a new system. The whole procedure was pretty fast and easy. If you are about to jump to the Leopard train do have a clean installation. That’s my advice.
Everything works better than before. All applications require less CPU and less memory. I can’t explain this magic and I don’t care to. There must be some kind of magic though.
Stacks is a good enhancement. It lets you create shortcuts of files and folders in one place. This way you can have access to practically anything with just one click. At the same time you keep your desktop clean and tidy (I can’t have my desktop nothing but empty). Stacks is great for people who use a lot of tiny folders, files and applications all the time. It can be life saving in cases of hurrying. I use it from the very first day and I find it very useful.
Spaces is what I like most in Leopard. With spaces you can create virtual rooms and run specific applications in specific rooms. For example, when I use Coda, Photoshop and InDesign I don’t want to be distracted by let’s say Mail. At the same time I don’t want to close Mail. So I created a space dedicated to all development applications and a second one for all the other. This way I have reduced working time and most of all I remain concentrated to what I need to do each time.
Wanna back up your system easily in no time? Try Time Machine. It only requires an external hard disc. Of course it lets you back up only what you want to. Just like everything else in MacOS Time Machine works intuitively so you only need to think what you are going to save not how.
The not so good part
I was expecting a more beautiful environment. Having my Dock and my menus semitransparent is something I don’t like. It doesn’t have to do with personal taste, it has to do with communication and usage. For example I can’t see which applications are running since the tiny triangle underneath an icon has been replaced by an obscured dot. This not good design.
I am all for the protection of the environment and the recycled paper but I also want my folders to be seen clearly. Apple, by leaving behind the shiny look (only for the folders though), is politically correct but it confuses us. I want back the beautiful old icons which helped Apple become so famous for its interface design. Who ‘s going to bring them back for us?
To conclude, Leopard is even easier to work with but not better designed. I think in the future Apple will work on the design part and will produce a better interface. At least this is what I am hoping…
It is no joke. Today I played with an iPhone! Of course I couldn’t use the device as a phone since I am in Greece, but I did use everything else.
In a few words there is only one thing that I didn’t like: this iPhone was not mine. Everything else was fascinating.
First of all I ‘ve got to say that this device is something we have never seen before. It doesn’t look like anything we have seen before. After iPhone all other mobile phones look useless. It carries all the features Apple promised and it would be of no use to mention here. What can’t be described by any video or presentation is the feeling and the way it interacts.
Apple did its magic again and this time is the most charming of all I guess. To use it it will take you 10’ or so. It is very easy to use it as a browser, as email software, as an iPod or as just a phone. It is equally easy to do anything in this device. Changing the settings took me moments and above all I never got lost or hesitated to do something.
The feeling of the device is like you ‘re holding a pearl. Mat surfaces make it firm. The screen is fantastic, it is the clearest and most accurate screen you have ever seen and touched. I use the device approximately for an hour and the screen remained crystal clear. The OS X makes everything flow like you ‘re in a dream. When you change the orientation of the screen the transition is so smooth that you want to do it all the time.
Typing is very easy though it didn’t look so in the beginning. I wrote an email very fast. I did 1-2 mistakes but I corrected them at once. Without reading any manual of course. The camera is very good, the sound is excellent like an iPod and widgets are as beautiful as in an computer. Pah… this device is a computer.
iPhone is so good that it is going to change a lot of things in the way we communicate and in the way we think of communication. It is an unsurpassable achievement of technology. And of course it is only Apple that could make it. —— (This photo is supposed to convince the ones who don’t believe I actually used it)
Subtitle: The greatest second act in the history of business.
A book for Steve Jobs, a book he turns down. This is an effort to depict Job’s personality through several events in his life.
First of all I have to say it is a book easy to read. It was written to become a best seller and it did become a best seller. The authors of the book take the story from the very beginning: the birth of Jobs, his childhood, his growing up, how Apple was born, how Jobs became a king, how he was pushed away from Apple and his great return of course.
The book is breathtaking. You can’t stop reading. Sometimes you feel you are an invisible guest of the story and you see it happen right in front of your eyes. Nevertheless, this book is not a Jobs’ colophon. Page by page we see a man who is raw, angry all the time, someone who gets what he wants by crying, an egomaniac. We can also see some of his virtues, but not too many.
What I expected to find but I didn’t was a real portrait of Jobs’ character. Instead there is a detailed description of the background of crucial events which made him be an idol. For me this wasn’t enough.
So if someone wants to read a book during his summer vacations, iCon is a perfect choice. If he wants to find out more about Jobs he will have to dig deeper into other resources.
The recent announcement of Steve Jobs about the new Safari browser for Windows was the most juicy issue of the WWDC07. It was even more important than the preview of Leopard, if we consider that it is about a browser ready (?) to be used in a different OS. Actually, Safari is in beta stage and the truth is that it is completely raw. It provides nothing but a simulation of MacOS environment so far.
I am sure that Safari will work smoothly in Windows pretty soon. (Right now it just doesn’t work.) Jobs said that Safari aims to increase its usage percent among the other browsers. That must be the truth. Maybe not the whole truth but a part of it only.
Playing away from home
Safari is an incredibly fast browser in MacOS. It doesn’t do more than Firefox or new Camino, but you can’t imagine how fast it is. It is a tool which can’t be ignored.
Safari has to confront mostly Firefox and Opera, not Internet Explorer. Why? Because it is certain that many users can’t leave IE behind. If people were eager to ignore IE, it wouldn’t have been used by a 78%. Despite the fact that Firefox is faster, more secure and supports more features it is still far behind IE. Why should people move to Safari if they can’t move to Firefox?
As a result Safari targets to the 22% which is left and it affords people who don’t care to play a little with their browsers. Of course this 22% is going to grow by time. Nevertheless I am not sure how large is going to be.
A way to overcome Firefox and a Trojan Horse
So the question is how Firefox could be overwhelmed by Safari. It might, if Safari was a much faster browser. The first impressions of Safari show that it is slower than Firefox and Opera. This is a problem. Shouldn’t Apple care about this? Absolutely. Shouldn’t Apple create a stable browser? Of course. Yes, but right now a user can’t find a reason to switch.
When a browser is not fast and stable then it can’t be good enough. As simply as that. There is only one possible feature of Safari which can turn the tide. The name of it is iPhone. This multi-gadget can be the Trojan Horse of Apple.
If iPhone will change the industry the way iPod did, everything can be different in the future and Safari can become an indispensible tool for every user. I don’t know how, but Jobs and his fellows should. Remember that iPod changed the way we treat music. Wouldn’t be possible for iPhone to do the same in the way we treat computers and mobile phones?
Right now people in Cupertino have some time to launch iPhone the best possible way and cover all the caveats of Safari. What we can see now is only a tiny part of the story. This war is too harsh to end so soon and future is too near to be so obscure. The game has just began.
It is official. This is the first post from my new MacBook. It will propably take me hours since I don’t know even the basics but it is OK.
I wanted it for a long time now. I had three serious reasons to buy it.
My old computer was really difficult to deal with. After 6 years of use anything more than the basics was difficult to run. I did my best not to wore it out but it was impossible. Now it is not going to retire but it will surely take a rest.
I believe an Apple system is going to make me better in my profession. It doesn’t have to do with new tools but with aesthetics. I can’t describe it correctly. I just think that working with a better tool is better for you too. I know it is going to happen.
It is something which makes me feel good. I worked hard to buy it and now I am going to enjoy it. I ‘ve learned the Windows world. Now it is time to move on, see the other side of the moon and exploit it.
First impressions
If this photo (edited in iPhoto - obviously I need to learn how to use the tool) shows a portion of what you see when you open the box, it is still impossible to reproduce the smell of a new product made by Apple. It is equally difficult to describe how slick this thing is. It lifts you up.
When you turn it on it takes approximately 3’ to start working with it. What has been said about the easiness of Apple systems is absolutely truth. You just register the product and set the language. That’s all.
My router was detected by the system at the time I put the cable in. The same hapened with all external devices. Drivers? What is this? OS was updated automatically. Everything works the way it should from the very first moment. By the way the Help funtion works, which means that it really helps you.
You don’t need special knowledge or experience to surf, work or entertain yourself. You learn by playing with the new toy.
What makes the difference…
...is apparently the philosophy behind each system. MacOS looks like a charm and works like a charm.
PC (a.k.a. Windows) can also work well but everything in it is more complicated and it consumes your energy. It is not elegant, it sometimes looks like a blind giant who doesn’t know where he’s going.
OK, now it is time to turn my PC on and continue transfering files to the MacBook. The thought of it depresses my but I think I ‘ll handle it :o)
Hard to believe, if you are not an eye witness. But it’s true. The two most important men of IT (whatever it may mean) shared the same stage at the same time sitting next to each other. And they talked seriously among many intervals of joking.
All this happened during the latest All things Digital conference. It is the new of the week, the month and the year.
I ‘m with Jobs because he makes better products and because he is a reason to think and move ahead.
However it would be foolish not to appreciate Gates. His work and products gave us the opportunity to become aware of a new digital era and find work. If he hadn’t computers so popular we would probably still use those green monitors. Is there anyone who remembers them?
They appeared wearing their typical costumes. Jobs wore his black sweater, blue jeans and sneakers. Indeed we switched back to New Balance despite the cooperation between Apple and Nike. Gates was again a nerd. He wore his classic shirt and trousers. No surprise.
It was obvious that Jobs was going to be the star of the show. However both were nervous at certain moments. I noticed Jobs while Gates did the talking: a hidden smile and the eye of the tiger before the attack. When he had something obvious to say he did his magic. When he didn’t he was somewhat awkward.
Gates let his opponent talk more, but he didn’t halt making jokes and even talking about the Mac and the PC guy. He apparently was less expressive than Jobs and more unassertive. He was Gates himself.
The people who took the interview did magnificent work: they were loose but they made some inconvenient questions to their guests. On the other hand, what can be really inconvenient for there guys? Maybe nothing.
Such an event can be the beginning of rumors and a new episode of the battle between the fans of each other. What I suggest is to relax and relish this one moment.
Stacks is a good enhancement. It lets you create shortcuts of files and folders in one place. This way you can have access to practically anything with just one click. At the same time you keep your desktop clean and tidy (I can’t have my desktop nothing but empty). Stacks is great for people who use a lot of tiny folders, files and applications all the time. It can be life saving in cases of hurrying. I use it from the very first day and I find it very useful.
Spaces is what I like most in Leopard. With spaces you can create virtual rooms and run specific applications in specific rooms. For example, when I use Coda, Photoshop and InDesign I don’t want to be distracted by let’s say Mail. At the same time I don’t want to close Mail. So I created a space dedicated to all development applications and a second one for all the other. This way I have reduced working time and most of all I remain concentrated to what I need to do each time.
Wanna back up your system easily in no time? Try Time Machine. It only requires an external hard disc. Of course it lets you back up only what you want to. Just like everything else in MacOS Time Machine works intuitively so you only need to think what you are going to save not how.
I was expecting a more beautiful environment. Having my Dock and my menus semitransparent is something I don’t like. It doesn’t have to do with personal taste, it has to do with communication and usage. For example I can’t see which applications are running since the tiny triangle underneath an icon has been replaced by an obscured dot. This not good design.
I am all for the protection of the environment and the recycled paper but I also want my folders to be seen clearly. Apple, by leaving behind the shiny look (only for the folders though), is politically correct but it confuses us. I want back the beautiful old icons which helped Apple become so famous for its interface design. Who ‘s going to bring them back for us?
Apple did its magic again and this time is the most charming of all I guess. To use it it will take you 10’ or so. It is very easy to use it as a browser, as email software, as an iPod or as just a phone. It is equally easy to do anything in this device. Changing the settings took me moments and above all I never got lost or hesitated to do something.
Subtitle: The greatest second act in the history of business.
The recent announcement of Steve Jobs about the new Safari browser for Windows was the most juicy issue of the 
It is official. This is the first post from my new MacBook. It will propably take me hours since I don’t know even the basics but it is OK.
If this photo (edited in iPhoto - obviously I need to learn how to use the tool) shows a portion of what you see when you open the box, it is still impossible to reproduce the smell of a new product made by Apple. It is equally difficult to describe how slick this thing is. It lifts you up.
...is apparently the philosophy behind each system. MacOS looks like a charm and works like a charm. 
However it would be foolish not to appreciate Gates. His work and products gave us the opportunity to become aware of a new digital era and find work. If he hadn’t computers so popular we would probably still use those green monitors. Is there anyone who remembers them?