What's Up Mac?

By Bill Rose

So why did I start this blog?

A little history is in order. Almost twenty years ago I bought my first Macintosh computer. It was a Classic II. It was used but still in great working order and I loved that little feller. Up till then I had been using a borrowed Mac Plus from a friend trying to convert me from Windows. His plan worked!! Maybe it worked a little too well because 61 Macs later along with almost 40 other Apple products from the Newton to an iPad I'm still nowhere near done yet. ; )

This friend and I saw a notice from our local Gainesville, Florida Macintosh Users Group MacPeople about their next meeting. We attended and I have been going to those monthly meetings since 1992. The more involved I got with the group the more I wanted to give back because in those days I needed a lot of help and that Macintosh community was only too happy to give it. Part of the Apple ethos is "The Macintosh Way" and the cornerstone of that belief system is coincidentally the catch phrase for the MacPeople Users Group of Gainesville, Florida.

"Users Helping Users".

I believe in that slogan and from my belief "What's Up Mac?" was born first as a monthly column in our User Group newsletter and then on our website. "What's Up Mac?" (heretofore known as WUM) lasted almost 15 years. I used this forum to rally the troops when Apple was floundering and everybody thought they would go out of business. I trumpeted new products. I ranted about the things that bothered me. I used WUM as a bully pulpit to spread the word and to defend the faith because way back when it was "us against them" much like it is now.

Obviously I love Apple and Macs so writing about them is a labor of love though at times I have been less than complimentary about the way Apple has done some things in the past. I use Apple products simply because they work. I use Apple products because they not just work but they look great too and as a designer I do think form and function can peacefully co-exist. I have used all kinds of computers from IBM/Wang/Sperry mainframes to workstations from Silicon Graphics and Sun Microsystems yet I settled on the Mac platform because it made sense. Apple is the only company out there making personal computers that creates the hardware, Operating System and applications all under one roof. The result is a seamless integration of the computing experience that makes owning a Mac unique.

Speaking for myself Macs changed my life. I found a passion and my voice on a Mac. A Mac "gets" me and I get it.

It's been almost 5 years since my last WUM and now I find I have a lot of things to say and blogging WUM seems like a natural progression. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you comment on my posts. I hope you either own a Mac or are getting a Mac. Otherwise it gets ugly if you are a flamer. ; )

What's Up Mac?

By Bill Rose

When the iPad was first released in the Spring of 2010 I naturally wanted one for all the usual Mac Fanatic reasons. It was cool. It was unique. It was cool. Back then I saw the iPad as a toy strictly for entertainment and little else. To me the big reason to have an iPad was for trips so I could watch a movie, read a book or listen to music.

This summer saw my "perfect storm" of Mac ownership. I already had a great 2010 21.5" iMac tricked out with 8GB of RAM, a Terabyte of hard drive space and married to a 3GB Time Machine backup external hard drive. I just got the iPhone 4 last spring when my carrier Verizon finally got their own version. During the summer I added the Mac notebook of my dreams when I got an 11" MacBook Air. The perfect storm came together when a friend of mine sold me his 16Gb 3G/WiFi iPad 1.

Since owning the iPad I have found out it is handy as a portable entertainment system. I have movies on it plus Netflix, Max Go, HBO Go and the ability to stream any of the 96 digital movies I have on my iMac. I have over a dozen books on iBooks and almost 1000 songs in iTunes. I have a lovely screened in front porch on my house that is my favorite room especially when the weather is nice. I used to set up my notebook Mac on a folding table which took time plus you had to move the table every time you got up. The iPad changed that whole routine. Now the iPad has joined my morning routine of coffee on the porch as I can check email, the news, FaceBook and still read a book while listening to music, I can easily put it on a table when I'm not using it and when I am using it I'm surrounded by all the natural beauty we have here in North Central Florida. Heaven. It's even a great tool to quickly identify a new bird species that has found one of my front yard bird feeders.

But I also have found I can put my iPad to more practical use. I have Pages on it and it came with a Apple keyboard dock so I can actually create content on it. I use Pages to create story boards for fiction writing keeping my iMac desktop for the apps I use to actually write which are StoryMill 4 and Scrivener 2. I can reference my storyboards on my iPad and not have to switch screens on my iMac. It's convenient. It's a cheap multiple screen alternative with the added advantage of having my second screen be a tablet computer. I also use the iPad to get reference material I might need for my fiction writing. Again it's a convenience that saves time and effort. It proves to me that the iPad is more than a toy though I still would not want to replace a notebook with an iPad on a permanent basis.

I have also come to appreciate the visceral thrill of an iPad. I love my iPhone but it's small. The iPad feels more like a computer but it's the perfect size to just carry around. Typical of all Apple products it feels comfortable in the hands and it's cool factor is off the charts. The touch screen makes navigation both easy and natural. The plethora of apps out for the iPad is staggering. My favorites are Zite, BooksApp and iCollect Movies Pro.

Zite is a customizable magazine app. It asks you what your interests are and then it collects content in those areas that might interest you. BooksApp and iCollect Movies Pro are both cataloging apps. You can scan the barcodes on your books or movies to enter them into your database or you can do a Google search or by author or title. I have lots of books and movies and I can never remember all the titles so over the years, especially with books, I find myself buying a title I already own. Now I can see all the titles I actually own so I don't buy the same titles twice. All these apps are available for the iPhone too and you can find them in the App Store.

I like to hang out at Books A Million and the iPad is a perfect companion for these excursions. It's great in the car on longer trips and certainly nice to have around the house. It's also great when you are watching sports to get updated info about a specific player or team or watching a movie and you can't remember an actor or the year it was released. It's still cheating but never again should you be stumped for an answer to the Final Jeopardy question. It's easy to use so other members of the household grab it when they want to reference something and it even comes in handy in the kitchen when you want a chicken recipe you haven't tried yet.

The release of iOS5 and iCloud have made the iPad even better. I love quicker net surfing and tabbed browsing in Safari now. There isn't a lot of content for Newstand yet but I like what I have seen and of course I like the automatic synch features. Most of all I like the new Notification Center. It's far less intrusive and shows everything from text messages, to Facebook updates and breaking news. I also like the new Reminders app which has replaced searching for a pen and notepad when I take messages or when my wife asks me what we need from the grocery store.

For now the iPad 1 is perfect. Like my iPhone 4 I can wait till the next generation comes out and the rumors are an iPad 3 is in the pipeline. I'd like to have a camera so I could capture a hummingbird feeding on my feeders in the front yard and certainly faster is always better. It's also great for a FaceTime walk around conference so I could show distant family the latest changes we have made at Casa Rosa or ask my far handier brothers advice on household repairs or upgrades. It's also great to video conference with them as one lives in Texas and the other in New Jersey. We might even drag my Mom on camera though it takes time before she's ready for her closeups. ; )

What's Up Mac?

By Bill Rose

It's been almost two weeks since the death of Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs. It still feels surreal to me even though his death was not unexpected. A world without Steve Jobs is a world with less wonder and enthusiasm for the role technology can have in our lives. Steve Jobs was many things and I have heard them all in the past 12 days. Visionary. Genius. Icon. Marketeer. Guru. Pitch Man. The one description I haven't heard or read is perhaps the one closest to the truth.

Evangelist.

Steve Jobs was the High Priest of Technology. A product launch from Steve Jobs was like a religious revival. He was the one who demonstrated the almost limitless possibilities computers and mobile devices could have on our lives. He took a work tool and married it with all the fun things you can do with technology turning those Apple devices into the "digital hub" of our lives. In a period of time where we are used to average he gave us "Insanely Great". In a world where "attention to detail" is almost an obscene phrase he made it the mantra of his company and products. He took style and substance and not only showed they could co-exist but made us wonder why all products couldn't work right and still look cool at the same time. Most of all Steve Jobs thought outside the box. Most people are very comfortable "inside" the box but as Jobs told his Mac team back in the early 80's "Do you want to be in the Navy or do you want to be Pirates?"

On October 5th, 2011 at approximately 3 PM Pacific Standard Time Steven Paul Jobs, aged 56 years old, died in his Palo Alto, California home surrounded by his family. He passed from this earth as he lived on this earth... on his own terms. Thank You Steve Jobs for changing my life as well as countless others.

"Just one more thing..."

My condolences to Steve's wife, children, siblings, family, friends and co-workers at Apple and Pixar.