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Mac users created, not born?
By this time it is a well-worn cliché that there are 10 kinds of personal computer users: those that get this joke, and those that don't Mac users and PC users. For the most part, we, particularly Mac users, want to see this distinction as personality-driven. We chose Macs because we're creative, rebellious, cutting-edge, or, if we believe the ads, just plain cool. To the PC world, we're ridiculous spendthrifts, wasting our money on overpriced hardware that dooms us to a life of marginalization and incompatibility.Personally, I see it as matter of genetic superiority. In a race for survival of the fittest, Mac users will win every time. We're infinitely adaptable. We're used to a constantly changing OS and set of core applications that we further rearrange with scores of hacks and utilities. The majority of PC users, on the other hand, got lost when Microsoft moved the "Programs" item from the middle of the "Start" menu in Win95/95/2k to the bottom of the "Start" menu in XP, and added a green arrow. The outcry against the ribbon interface in the new Office betas--the most innovative and useful UI modification to come out of Redmond in years--was so strong that the developers were forced to remove it. Meanwhile most Mac users are not only coping with OS X's mutability, but keeping up with PCs on the side; the fraction of Mac users who use only Macs is pretty small.Chris over at Restiffbard, though, sees things differently. He's decided that it's the OS that makes the user, not the other way around. For him, it all comes down to the functionality of a single interface button: the maximize button. On Windows, you can't easily resize a window larger to a 'best fit' like Mac OS X can. Sure you can drag the bottom corner, but it's much easier to just hit maximize and go full screen. This leads to Windows users becoming task-oriented users by default. For Mac users, on the other hand, it's difficult do get a full-screen window in most applications. The green "+" button resizes the window to the size of the document, not the screen. This means that Mac users almost always have multiple windows and application visible. We can switch easily between them and, probably more importantly, they're always there, reminding us of their existence, nagging us. We naturally become multi-taskers.I'm not sure how much of this I buy. I mean, really: are you going to tell me that you can take any old group of PC users in front of Macs for a couple of years and they'll just naturally become as cool as me, or Steve in a bowtie? I don't think so.But it's an interestingly fresh take on a decades-old question.Update:if (($tongue{'position'} eq 'cheek') or ($sarcasm > 0)) {$tongue{'position'} = 'notcheek';$sarcasm = 0;print <<ENDGuys, check the categories, you'll see "Humor" and "Cult of Mac." No, I don't really think Mac users are genetically superior. And I don't think I'm nearly as cool as that pic of Steve in a bowtie. In fact, I don't think Steve is as cool as that pic of Steve in a bowtie. In fact, I don't think anyone is as cool as that pic of Steve in a bowtie. Ok, maybe Woz, but that's about it.And just for the record, I don't think those of us who were weaned on Macs are cooler than "Switchers," or anyone else. If I'm cooler than you, it's just because I was born that way. :p~END;
Nintendo Wii: the wee-little things
As much as we would have loved to devote the entire day to Wii-related goings-on, we also had some other important business to attend to; and besides, there are several blogs out there that are much better at covering gaming minutiae than ourselves. Still, amongst all the hustle and bustle of product announcements, press conferences, and rumor mongering, there were a few tidbits of info that seemed to fall by the wayside, so we thought it was only right to wrap those up into one tidy, bite-size post. Perhaps the biggest "non-news" of the day, so to speak, is that Wii has lost the DVD playback functionality that had been promised in earlier-speced versions of the console -- and the reasoning behind it kind of makes sense, as one less feature supposedly brought down the price of the console, and everyone already has a DVD player to begin with. On a more positive note, we also learned that at least Nintendo-produced discs -- and perhaps third party titles as well -- will be region-free, meaning that if you live in the US but have a hankering for one of those crazy, nonsensical Japanese cooking / weight loss / "thinking" games, all ya gotta do is import. Wanna learn more? Keep on reading...
Mario Strikers Charged pics and analysis
LGC may not have dropped the launch bombshell we all wanted, but the advent of sequels to two excellent Gamecube titles is nothing to scoff at. A French website, Puissance Nintendo, has a nice collection of screen caps for the newly announced Mario Strikers Charged, and show off some interesting facets of the game. The title screen, shown above, has three options available: Domination Mode, Road to the Striker Cup, and Striker Challenges. One can assume that Domination Mode is a simple, pick-up-and-play option; Road to the Striker Cup is the longer, tournament- or franchise-based mode; Striker Challenges, then, must be a series of missions or simple challenges designed to hone one's skills. The character selection screen only shows four initial players; the rest must be unlocked in some form or another. One silhouette is clearly Bowser Jr., and others have claimed that Pikachu, Ness, and Link can also been seen in the bottom row. The characters have four statistics: Movement, Shooting, Passing, and Defense. Overall, the visual style feels similar to the Gamecube version. The original Super Mario Strikers was an excellent later Gamecube title; here's hoping the Wii version can live up to the hype.
Engadget: "Time Machine restores best, not first"
Ross Rubin has posted an interesting Switched On column at Engadget this week analyzing two of the largest enhancements on their way in Leopard: Time Machine and Spaces. Ross points out that, obviously, Apple isn't quite first with a virtual desktop manager or a piece of backup software - not by any stretch of the imagination. He even explains some of these features' counterparts from other platforms, which is an interesting trip through time and other platforms. However, Ross tips his hat to Apple's versions because they do soar above the rest in their presentation, integration and (an Apple trademark) user experience. Time Machine wins a specific merit in its own right because it seems to be the first backup utility to allow users to browse the history of their directory structure just as it existed on their machine - with file previews, folder structure and everything. This is especially useful because of the visual nature of so much of our work; tracking down a deleted roll of images, for example, is much easier by browsing their thumbnails and original folder organization than trying to guess whether IMG_0841.JPG or IMG_0814.JPG was the picture of little Johnny taking his first steps.It's a good article that gives credit where credit is due, and offers some high hopes for the quality of these major new features.
TUAW Podcast #10
Here it is ladies and gentlemen: TUAW Podcast #10 for 6/7/06. In this edition I sat down for some coffee talk with Dan Pourhadi and Conrad Quilty-Harper on everything from Apple's new 5G iPod U2 Edition to Macs in Best Buy, as well as gaming on, the finish of, and that darn glossy screen in the MacBook. We also discuss that "Why 1st Generation Apple Products Suck" article and other various bits of Mac culture.You can download the podcast in MP3 format here (42.2 MB), and it should appear in our TUAW iTMS Podcast feed soon, if it hasn't already. We recorded this via an iChat audio conference using GarageBand (which rocks by the way), and we're still working on our podcasting and audio editing skills, so there will be a little bit of noise. Also, Conrad was using his MacBook's internal mic, so let that be a testament to its quality. Nevertheless, it's a good podcast that we hope you'll enjoy.
Breakfast Topic: Game Over
It might not be something any of us are countenancing, but people do stop playing WoW. There are many reasons to quit--lack of time, money, enthusiasm. However, as with any MMO, the words "Game Over" never flash on your screen--how do you know when it's time to stop?We each have different goals when we play WoW. I play because I enjoy the social side of things, and my ultimate goal (if I had all the time in the world) would be to play every class to level 60, visiting every area and dungeon, finishing every quest line. I love the depth of WoW, and I like seeing the tricks that other classes can pull off to surprise me; I want to learn them all. I'm not in this game for epics, but I know many of you are. If I achieve that goal, I may stop playing, or I may have found another along the way.What's your core goal in the game? Have you left WoW and returned, or has it always had a place in your life?
Multi-level gameplay
Gamasutra has a Designer's Notebook piece by Ernest Adams centring around the concept of 'multi-level gameplay' -- that is, games with multiple 'levels' of interaction, or different modes of play. An example is the interrelated tactical and strategy modes found in war-games: you can make decisions that affect the entire world, but also fight individual battles on the ground.Multi-level games are more complex, but allow you to enjoy different aspects of the game -- knowing that you'll have to fight personally if you move an army to a particular spot makes you feel more involved than if the computer simulates a battle. They are hard to design, however, and balance between the different game modes is key.
Impending video games industry boom?
Over at LoveToKnow there's an interesting article, Video Games Go Boom, looking at the current state of the games industry and what's in store. Without touching too deeply on the next-generation consoles, the article makes the point that to reach out to casual gamers and non-gamers alike games need to return to the fundamental concept of having fun without being overly complex.It's a fairly obvious and laboured point to make, but if you want a reasonably unbiased view (the writer does seem to be a Nintendo fan) of modern gaming, it's a useful read.[Thanks, Cyberclaws]
