Sneak preview: Engadget RSS feed as seen via Tiger Quartz Extreme
By Barb Dybwad 
posted March 11th 2005 3:20PM
posted March 11th 2005 3:20PM
An anonymous donor was kind, so kind, enough to send us a special sneak preview of how our RSS feed would look in the
upcoming (when? oh when?) OS X 10.4 Tiger. We've got a couple of screenshots and a video encoded with Quicktime 7 using
MPEG4. They depict a screensaver written in the new Quartz Extreme with a new developer application called Quartz
Composer, that animates RSS feeds in, shall we say, a pretty jaw-droppingly slick way. Video link below, and peep
another screenshot after the jump.
Tiger RSS screensaver video [2.87MB,
Quicktime]
digi nice-
slowest hardware on the market? maybe at playing games.
I feel like an idiot just read this thread. It's a screensaver for crying out loud.
BTW. I am one of the guys that have a 30" and running it on my new powerbook. And I also has an Alienware on my desktop. hahaha. :P
1: "I hate macs, they're expensive and don't have the raw preformance of PC's"
2: "I hate PCs, they're not as stylish as macs and the users don't understand my artistic ways"
1: "PCs are better"
2: "nuh-uh, macs are better"
1: "I know you are but what am I"
2: "your momma"
seriously guys, this is a stupid argument.
don't think anyone's arguing for PCs on this subject. certainly not me.
but even though macs are far superior in my opinion, it's a pretty clear fact they are slower than PCs. don;t really need to argue this, a $499 mac mini has the same CPU as a $2500 powerbook, and on the desktop, it takes two processors to equal the best PCs have with one. its easy to tell not just in games but in such mundane everyday things like flash.
now back on topic. core image and the things it can do are great, no doubt. it's just questionable that a GUI should need a 64mb video card to run 'smoothly'. don't get too carried away apple
^^^your argument is moot as speed is subjective to what you are doing. The fastest Macs whoop ass at video editing and dealing with HD content. PC's whoop ass when workin with 3D content. In terms of raw processing power, it has already been proven that a smaller cluster of G5's are more cost effective, stable, and faster than a cluster of Intel or AMD computers.
Already been said but this is just a developer showing engadget something cool quartz and core image can do by showing it's RSS feed in a screensaver. If anything it just shows the power of these two technologies and how they are integrated at the core level of the hardware and OS. As far as GPU usage, I doubt the average or professional user is sitting there working with the CPU/GPU monitor open.
This is just a demonstration of cool new technology. Stop making this a literal comparison. Macs will have this soon, and maybe Window's Avalon will have something similar.
Replying to the second post:
Mark, Pointcast sure kept their technology cross-platform as well as...oh wait they don't exist anymore. Pointcast was a limited approach at "push" information distribution which this "new developer application called Quartz Composer" seems to be allowing any competent programmer a stab at.
And to those unable to see beyond the demonstration itself:
The deal here AND I REPEAT the deal here is that this is a tech demo. Practicality goes a bit out of the window when you're trying to inspire people to think beyond their supposed technological limitations.
And this whole thing about overkill in Aqua, sorry but I don't think paradigm shifts in interface design should so easily be branded a "waste of time".
pro apps have to be heavily optimized for macs (altivec and/or dual proc) to compete, but regular things like browsing or looking at flash is hardly niche, you see it everyday (unavoidably), and its *much* slower on macs. even vs a P3. just a fact, but yes, its NOT apple's fault, it's motorola's and IBM is catching up. so chill out macolytes.
and again, make that distinction between interface 'paradigm shifts' and mere eye candy. tell me exactly what ripples and poofs "shift" beyond pixels, your mac ego and time (if not cpu/gpu cycles, especially on older hardware). there should be a lot less of these things and more of the useful graphic engine uses. like sheets, drawers and *EXPOSE*..
if you haven't seen it in real (saying it because its kinda not-so-news), it looks much better, and its smooth and moving nicely.... As a screensaver its nice, you if you happen to look at a news item that catches your interest, press the mentioned number key to go to the respective news on the page.
nice... pointcast or not... its opengl, not rave or custom-three-dee
it is just something created to errr show off what could be done,.. I don't think any body is expecting you to read your news that way. It will make a cool screensaver tho,..
People who think burnin is a thing of the past should stop and look around for systems that have dedicated functions. I see all the time medical pacs systems on both lcd and crt where you can see where the common screen elements are with the screens powered off!!!
And were talking Sony, Nec and Barco displays! Not cheap stuff.
...and if you want to see Engadget in the awesome Akregator reader: http://www.riskable.com/images/figure3.png
The use of a screensaver with rss headlines escapes me somewhat. However, I'm holding out for a Mac to be my media center and host my music, videos, photos, etc. ... I would want it to be hooked up to my tv and use that as the interface, a remote control as control point. Not unlike Windows Media Center.
With that the case, this screensaver makes sense to me personally.
It's a long shot, eh? ;-)
It's really slick as a screen saver, but I don't see getting much use out of it. Might be a good way to see if headlines have changed without actually opening Safari
... but where are the flying toasters?
I don't know about this particular example, but sometimes eye-candy can be practical even though you wouldn't think so initially.
For those of you who have seen Sun's Project Looking-Glass video you'll know what I mean. Yes, it's 'just' a 3D desktop but there is practicality in it (e.g. allowing you to stack windows more flexibly).
Perhaps future versions of OS X will be Looking-Glass-like.
tiger (and the apps it will allow) is going to be so cool!!!
core image looks rocking :)
ok, so i have just read 66 posts, and only on post hit the spot with what this is all about.
no one is expecting this to be something that is useful, helpful or easy to read. this is a pre-release technology showcase.
the point is they are say "Hey, its possible of this kind of thing!" but we don't expect u to use it! this is just a cool way of showing you what its capable of.
Now everyone needs to stop bickering. blimey! ok, so pc guys, u love your big mhz, may i ask you google "megahertz myth" thanku!
Why why WHY? why the OS hate? I use Linux as my main OS at home, and use WIndows for gaming, and even though I dont like some things about it, OsX is pretty damn good. I hate the organization and the Os lockdown, but the OS itself is near bulletproof. If i could afford one, I would also likley have a Mac system at my home too.
And besides, I agree function over form, but DAMN does this look good. If it works well, and looks good, what is there to complain about?
Digi Nice
You obviously have never used a G5. It takes a $5,000 Dell dual Xeon to touch my dual 2GHz G5.
Eric:
And how much did you spend on that dual G5?
And what the HELL apps are you running that only a dual Xenon system could match? Video editing/encoding, I admit Apple does a better job with in general, but a dual Xenon system and a Dual G5 system are built with totally different uses in mind. And for the price, you get way more power for a system built on AMD or Intel procs.
christ, all it takes is one mere mention of Apple hardware in comparison to PC hardware and boom, 70+ posts.
using the RSS screensaver as an example, i was talking about Apple's predisposition to sometimes-not-so-functional eye candy. a philosophy thats pretty obvious, both software and hardware (puck mouse anyone?). but you guys want to dote on about how macs are faster than PCs. fine. lemme know when G5s come in a powerbook.
i've never owned anything but a mac. but i can't even make a non-positive remark on anything apple, and anything else i said is ignored. what PC users say about macheads is true, your irrational mac-myopia/fanatacism almost makes me ashamed to be a mac lover.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050315-4704.html
I agree with most people. It looks awesome, but it's not really a good way to read RSS feeds if the spinning thing was that fast.
Use your imagination just a bit here folks. This is not designed to replace your RSS reader. Wouldn't it be nice however, if you could publish an RSS feed of some photos, so that someone else could subscribe to an ever changing slideshow? It's a technology proof of concept, designed to showcase Quartz and RSS in Tiger. You can already create photo-slideshow-screensavers that automatically update in OS X (Apple has their own, which has shown the same 5 photos of Apple products for years now--the idea here is clearly a derivitive of that. They're THINKING about how to use available features... When you think of fresh content (unlike Apple's damn screensaver) you think of RSS, so I'm sure someone said, hey, let's do a slick Aqua-Pointcast thing for kicks.
If you don't understand how this could be useful, you are a total meathead. I usually don't like to get involved in Mac-PC arguments, but the vast majority of negative comments seem to be coming from an ANTI-Mac camp. Just relax, the RSS screensaver is not a personal attack on you. This would be great on Kiosks, it can be extended to show local weather, stocks, etc.
A great solution for a bank that wants to come up with their own "broadcast" to distract the people on line. Or a nice way for hotels to display upcoming events, a company to show off some recent client work. There are a ton of cool possibilities, it's all about showing LIVE data to a PASSIVE audience. The business uses are endless.
Use your imagination just a bit here folks. This is not designed to replace your RSS reader. Wouldn't it be nice however, if you could publish an RSS feed of some photos, so that someone else could subscribe to an ever changing slideshow? It's a technology proof of concept, designed to showcase Quartz and RSS in Tiger. You can already create photo-slideshow-screensavers that automatically update in OS X (Apple has their own, which has shown the same 5 photos of Apple products for years now--the idea here is clearly a derivitive of that. They're THINKING about how to use available features... When you think of fresh content (unlike Apple's damn screensaver) you think of RSS, so I'm sure someone said, hey, let's do a slick Aqua-Pointcast thing for kicks.
If you don't understand how this could be useful, you are a total meathead. I usually don't like to get involved in Mac-PC arguments, but the vast majority of negative comments seem to be coming from an ANTI-Mac camp. Just relax, the RSS screensaver is not a personal attack on you. This would be great on Kiosks, it can be extended to show local weather, stocks, etc.
A great solution for a bank that wants to come up with their own "broadcast" to distract the people on line. Or a nice way for hotels to display upcoming events, a company to show off some recent client work. There are a ton of cool possibilities, it's all about showing LIVE data to a PASSIVE audience. The business uses are endless.
is there anything like this for PCs?
Imagination wrote: "...Wouldn't it be nice however, if you could publish an RSS feed of some photos, so that someone else could subscribe to an ever changing slideshow?..."
*Exactly* what I've been looking for, ever since I added a miniMac to my HD home theater! iTunes visualizer gets tiresome pretty quick, and my own photo library is getting old (as a screensaver). What I want is the visual equivalent of internet radio. Where is it?
Is there a Windows version of this screen saver? If so, please post a site link.
Thanks
NuParadigm's RSS Screenaver v1.2 has been released. New features include the ability to display multiple feeds, support for various feed types (RSS, ATOM, RDF), and various other features.
It's a free download @ http://www.nuparadigm.com/Products/Toys/RssScreensaver
omfg! thanks smart terminal dude ... uh, trevor. but ummm, I have Tiger 10.4.3 and I think that was inaccurate. I figured out to instead use this and it worked. Its awesome.
/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background &
---------------
oh and yeah I think this ss is cool but really theres no point in reading a screensaver thats stupid... as if anywone even uses RSS ... Psh!!