My Predictions for Apple’s Music Event Tomorrow

Without writing anything long and detailed, here’s a brief list of what I think Apple will give us tomorrow. I’ll probably be wrong for most of it, but, well…

• An iPod touch with retina display, new form factor, and more memory: maybe as much as 128 GB.
• A new iPod nano.
• Maybe the end of the iPod classic, if the touch goes to 128 GB.
• Maybe the end of the iPod shuffle, if the new nano is as small as the case rumors suggest.
• Perhaps, if the iPod line gets slimmed down, changes in the naming. The iPod touch would become the iPod, and the nano, well, iPod mini?
• Some changes to iTunes, but nothing major: I don’t believe in the longer previews, because of licensing issues.
• One more thing? A new Apple TV? I don’t think so. Nothing new for the iPad either. Maybe a surprise…

So I’m not expecting anything earth-shattering, but you never know with Apple.

Apple’s Magic Trackpad: Magic or Hype?

Apple introduced their $69 Magic Trackpad last week, and the delivery gnomes were pretty fast in getting one to me. I unpacked mine this morning and hooked it up (by Bluetooth, of course; it’s wireless) to my Mac. I’ve been trying it out for a while, and I find it to be a very interesting device, not without some drawbacks.

First of all, the Magic Trackpad is quite large. If you have a recent Apple keyboard (the aluminum one with the white keys), it’s the same depth as the keyboard, and is on the same angle. Compared to Apple’s wireless keyboard, the trackpad is almost half as wide; compared to their wired keyboard, it’s just a bit wider than the number pad and the two columns of keys to the left.

But it’s a sleek device, with a very smooth surface that offers very little resistance. You can set it up either parallel to your keyboard, or, as I have found to be a bit more efficient, on an angle. Obviously, it works on either side of your keyboard; I’m a righty, so I’ve put it there.

If you’re familiar with Apple’s multi-touch trackpads on the company’s laptops, there’s not much that’s new here. There is one thing you can do, however, that is quite practical: you can set either a lower-right or lower-left corner press to activate contextual menus (the equivalent of a right-click or Control-click).

The Magic Trackpad offers a number of gestures, which are shown in the Trackpad preference pane. (You’ll need to connect the device, then run Software Update to get the necessary software.) As before, these gestures are demonstrated with small videos, so it’s easy to understand what it does. There are a total of 12 gestures you can perform, from taps to swipes.

Now I used a trackpad with a desktop computer way back in the old days; the late 90s. I had a device that was quite small and that had two buttons in front of the touch pad. I really liked this, but it eventually stopped working as drivers weren’t updated. So the idea of using a trackpad on a desktop computer seems natural.

The Magic Trackpad, however, is quite large, and I’m finding it hard to get my hand in an efficient position. For now, I’ve found that if I actually center my fingers it the lower-right corner of the device, rather than using all of its space, I’m more efficient. My hand can rest more easily on my desk, and my thumb doesn’t accidentally touch it. For everything I’ve been doing this morning, it works well, and I can see getting used to it. While I’ll miss the extra buttons on my Logitech mouse, which are programmed to do certain actions in a few applications, the more comfortable hand position with the trackpad may win out. At the same time, I’ve switched from the wired keyboard to the wireless model; I have had both for a while, but even though I don’t type numbers often, not having the number pad kept me from using the wireless keyboard. But the trackpad is better positioned with the smaller keyboard, so I’ll try out this setup for a while.

All in all, the Magic Trackpad is nothing special, since Apple’s laptops offer the same features; if you have a laptop, you won’t be surprised by much. I’d have preferred if it was a bit smaller; I don’t see that people need such a big target. But the ability to not have to move a mouse can be more efficient – and more ergonomic – so I think this device could be a good choice for many people.

Update: It’s been a month now, and the Magic Trackpad has become second nature. I’m very comfortable with it, and don’t plan to go back to using a mouse.

What New iPod Features Will Apple Present Next Week?

It’s iPod time again. As Apple has done for many years now, the company has announced a “media event” for September 1, undoubtedly to announce new iPods, but also, perhaps, other iOS devices or features. My Macworld colleague Chris Breen ponders this, as do many others in the Mac punditry. I thought I would add a few pixels to the discussion.

First, it’s important to note that Apple has announced this media event just as my new Take Control of iTunes book has been wrapped up and moved into production. (Which will, most likely, delay the book a few days, as I’ll need to add new content for the new features if iTunes is updated.) So I’m particularly interested in any newness in iTunes itself, as well as for the iPod line.

Back in June, I tossed out a few ideas for iTunes improvements: that the program could add new file formats, add a streaming feature, and, above all, offer wireless syncing to devices that have wifi. Others have talked about a possible iPod nano with a touch screen (I don’t see the point), or a refresh to the AppleTV.

My guess is that we’re going to see several things: an increase to the capacity of the iPod touch, with a 128 GB model. This will lead to the retirement of the iPod classic, which is marginal at best. With more capacity on the touch, those with large libraries will be able to move over to the improved interface of the touch device, and will have all the apps at their fingertips.

There will certainly be a new nano, as this is Apple’s prime unit seller in the iPod product line, but I won’t speculate on what it will offer. (Though if Apple adds wireless syncing to iTunes, I could imagine the nano getting wifi, just for syncing.)

I hope Apple ditches its horrid shuffle-with-no-buttons. I have one, and have only used it a couple of times when I was writing about it; I far prefer the previous model with buttons.

As for iTunes itself, other than possible wireless syncing, will we see a streaming service, related to Apple’s purchase of Lala some time ago? The rumors aren’t there, and for something that big (which involves agreements with the major record labels), info does leak.

In any case, stay tuned for more information about my Take Control of iTunes ebook, which will be out very soon.

Why Do I Have To Create a Google Account to Get Support for Third-Party Software?

I’m an avid user of RSS to follow the news, and I use NetNewsWire to manage my RSS feeds and read the news that interests me. I’ve been having a problem with the program occasionally (that is, often enough that it’s annoying) retrieving RSS items on some feeds that are a year old. This happens for a couple of feeds every week or so; for others once a month. (It doesn’t happen for all feeds.)

Now, since I paid for this program, I went to the developers web site this morning to find out how to contact support. I was surprised – stunned, to be honest – to find that the only way they provide support is through Google Groups. There is no support e-mail, no support form on the website; you have to post your problem on Google Groups, publicly, in order to get support.

Since I don’t use Google any more, I don’t have a Google account, and don’t plan to create one to post to a group to get support. (And, frankly, the whole question of providing support via a public forum is one reason why I stopped using Google. I don’t want my discussions with this company’s technical support being public.)

So while I purchased the program, I can’t get support for it in any way that I approve of. I feel very disappointed that the developer has chosen this route as the only avenue for support, and this confirms my feelings about his not being in touch with his users. (There are other issues with the software, which, while not problems, suggest that he’s not very flexible, notable the use of Google Reader to sync the program from one computer to another.)

I’ll use NetNewsWire for a while, but I’m now, once again, in search of a new RSS reader. Companies who don’t want to provide support correctly don’t deserve to get my money. I feel disappointed that I paid for this software.

Note: I have nothing against forums on web sites for users to ask questions, and I do use them regularly. But they are not Google Groups, they are forums the developers have built, and there is always an e-mail address or a form to request support.

Take Control Books 50% Off Sale

Now through August 3, all Take Control books are 50% off (including mine). If you don’t know the great Take Control book series, it’s a set of ebooks about using the Mac and related software and hardware. Check out the sale now.

And if you’re interested, I’ve got a new Take Control book coming out at the end of August… I’ll be posting more here soon.

Cult of Mac Endorses App Piracy

I used to thing the Cult of Mac blog, was interesting, even though I found lead author Leander Kahney to be often a windbag. But after publishing an article not only endorsing app piracy but explaining, step by step, how to do it, I was quite shocked. The decision to publish such an article is so incredibly stupid and contemptuous of the developers that the blog often claims to support, that it can only be seen as link bait.

So the corrected version comes as even more of a surprise.  This sort of comment is so idiotic that I really wonder of such journalists should be allowed to write for any “major” web site:

The intent for the Superguide is to be straightforward and frank — a one-stop shop for everything people want to know about jailbreaking. We don’t condone piracy, but it’s a fact that a lot of people jailbreak their devices to experiment with things like Installous. I find it dishonest and hypocritical when publications skirt around issues like this; like publishing BitTorrent guides and pretending that no one’s going to download a pirated movie.

However, it’s obviously disingenuous to say we condemn piracy in a post that shows readers how to pirate software. Personally, I’ve always believed publishing information is one thing and acting on that information is another. I’ve always liked publications that informed me about things we’re not supposed to do. I can then make my own moral decision whether to act on that information or not

The thing is, this has always been Kahney’s blog; its name comes from the title of a book he wrote. So it’s him or nothing, as far as I know. But this crap about publishing it because it’s available elsewhere doesn’t fly; if people are looking for such information, they’ll find it, but that doesn’t mean you should not only publish it but endorse such illegal activity. Kahney’s attempted explanation is disingenuous and suggests that he’s really not aware of what he’s writing about. I hope people stop reading his blog; I know I will.

Apple Updates iBooks: PDF Display Suffers

I use Apple’s iBooks on my iPad for reading epub books, and since PDF support was added, I’ve tried it out a few times. But the $0.99 GoodReader has so many more features, that I haven’t found it very useful to use iBooks for PDFs.

Apple has updated iBooks, claiming that there were improvements to PDF support. I tried a few PDFs in iBooks, and if this is improvement, Apple has become experts at newspeak. When moving from one page to another in a few PDFs, it takes about two seconds for the program to correctly render a page. At first, the text is visible but blurry, then it slowly snaps into the right display after those two seconds. GoodReader doesn’t have this problem, most likely because it pre-caches the pages so the rendering doesn’t take place when a new page is displayed.

I never really expected iBooks to be an ideal PDF reader, and it has very few of the many features that make GoodReader my tool of choice for reading PDFs. But this “downgrade” to iBooks is disappointing.

MobileMe E-mail: Junk Filter Can’t Be Turned Off

Since Apple recently updated MobileMe, I’ve spotted something a bit disturbing. I use my MobileMe account for some of my e-mail, and I was noticing that some messages to mailing lists weren’t coming through. When I looked on the web, I noticed that some of those messages were trapped in the Junk folder. Since I access my MobileMe account via POP, I wasn’t seeing these messages on my Mac. But most of what was flagged as junk was not spam. I had to manually tell MobileMe, for each message, that this was the case.

When I looked in the preferences – where I had previous turned off junk mail filtering – I found that there is no such option any more. This is disturbing; I don’t want my mail filtered on a server where I cannot access it the way I get my mail (POP; if I used IMAP, I would indeed see a Junk folder). If you use a MobileMe account and access your mail via POP, you should check regularly to see what’s been blocked.

This is a bad feature; Apple should clearly restore the option allowing junk mail filtering to be turned off.