AndyIhnatko
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Daily Update for March 5, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Andy Ihnatko switches to Android
Andy Ihnatko kicked off a multi-part series for TechHive that talks about why he has switched from the iPhone 4S to the Galaxy S III. It wasn't a trivial move as he gave up an unlimited data plan, grandfathered from his first-generation iPhone purchase, in order to switch. In the first part of the series, Ihnatko details some of the killer features that drove him to switch, but it comes down to this: I made a slow, cautious and careful examination of what I want and need from my phone, and at the end of this mobile warrior's pilgrimage, I couldn't escape the conclusion that the best phone for me is no longer an iPhone. Ihnatko will spend the next few posts discussing several features that he likes in Android. The series will end with a post summarizing why he feels Apple hasn't lost its way, even if it temporarily has lost a high-profile advocate. You can read the first post in the series on TechHive's website.
Daily Update for April 19, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Andy Ihnatko on the iPad as his main mobile computer
Andy Ihnatko wrote an article for Macworld UK in which he talks about living in a post-PC world with the iPad as his main computing device. He discusses how the iPad has changed from a content consumption to a content creation device, thanks to some bold developers willing to push the iPad to its limits. His most salient point comes at the end when he questions the future of Apple and the 11-MacBook Air, which is almost the same size and does almost the same things as the iPad. He writes, "I don't see doom for the 11-inch MacBook. But I do think whatever Apple does to this Mac will tell us a lot about how the company wishes to define computing in general, and Mac OS specifically, for the next five years." [Via Daring Fireball]
Talkcast tonight, 7pm PT/10pm ET: Ihnatko Edition!
Once again the weekend is coming to a close, so it's time we gather together for another Talkcast! Normally we have a variety of things to discuss, but this week we're going to shake things up with a very special guest: Chicago Sun-Times technology columnist & author Andy Ihnatko, a veteran of Mac commentary and all around delightful fellow. Odds are good some of the regulars will call in as well, and if we're fortunate (and my voice holds out) perhaps there will be some TUAWTF aftershow action. Join us, won't you? To participate, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for +5 Interactivity, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Blink or X-Lite SIP clients, basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!
MacTech 2010: Andy Ihnatko on the coming of Lion
Commentator Andy Ihnatko took the stage at this week's MacTech conference here in Los Angeles today to give the conference keynote. In his talk, Ihnatko spoke about the upcoming new version of OS X, Lion, and specifically three different features of it. First, he talked about the Mac App Store, and what he thought would be the outcome of Apple bringing an App Store system to its desktop platform. Then, he spoke about what he called "unitasking," and how focusing on just one task at a time both changes the way computers work and the way we do, and finally he mentioned Apple's changing hardware, and how the new MacBook Air embodies Apple's ongoing curve in hardware creation and production. First up was Ihnatko's opinion on the Mac App Store so far, and he said that though he'd been "trying to get upset about it," he actually liked the idea. "The good news," he said, is that "Apple really doesn't care about" developers. Instead, it cares about users, and from users' point of view, the Mac App Store is actually a great idea. Though developers may have issues with it, Ihnatko said that anything that allows more than the around 200,000 (he estimated) Mac users out of 40 million to actually purchase and use apps will end up being a good thing.
Andy Ihnatko: iPad is pure innovation, one of best computers ever
Uncle Walt has weighed in, and most of the other big tech pundits are starting to weigh in on the Apple iPad. The Chicago Sun Times columnist and Mac geek extraordinaire Andy Ihnatko has offered his input, not only in the first of what he says will be many posts about the device, but also in an interview on Leo Laporte's TWiT Live MacBreak Weekly. The headline says it all -- Ihnatko says that the iPad is one of the best computers ever. He starts his review by saying that the iPad meets or exceeds all of the hype that preceded the release, and then goes on to mention that "it's a computer that many people have wanted for years." As in Walt Mossberg's review, Andy comments that it can easily last 10 hours on a charge, it can hold just about any piece of media you ever want to carry with you, and that it does the "dull compulsories of computing (Mail, the web, and Microsoft Office-style apps) so well" that the iPad will, in many cases, take the place of a standard laptop computer. Ihnatko, who has had the pleasure of playing with an iPad for the last week, gushes about Apple's innovation, saying "I'm suddenly wondering if any other company is as committed to invention as Apple. Has any other company ever demonstrated a restlessness to stray from the safe and proven, and actually invent things?" The result? As he says, "The iPad user experience is instantly compelling and elegant... It's a computer that's designed for speed, mobility, and tactile interaction above all other considerations." Ihnatko thinks that Apple got the design of the iPad right because "the excitement slips away after about ten seconds, and you're completely focused on the task at hand... In situation after situation, I find that the iPad is the best computer in my household and menagerie." During his TWiT Live interview, he stated that "battery life is frickin' incredible." With the most aggressive use, he was able to get 6 - 7 hours of use, but when he set the device for more sedate battery usage (volume and brightness both turned down), he was able to get over 11 hours of use. For those of you who are used to getting your laptop scorched by a Macbook, you'll be glad to hear that the iPad never gets warm. Ihnatko was demonstrating web browsing on the device, and was amazed at how fast scrolling occurred. We'll try to get Andy's TWiT Interview link up a bit later for your viewing pleasure.
Andy Ihnatko on Verizon Droid "iDon't" ads: baloney (mostly)
Most American television viewers have been treated recently to endless reruns of Verizon's "iDon't" advertisements. These ads attack the iPhone, playing music that's similar to that played in iPhone ads while displaying a series of messages stating such brilliant and cutting phrases as "iDon't have a real keyboard," "iDon't run simultaneous apps," and so on. Mac fan and Chicago Sun-Times writer Andy Ihnatko was apparently as fed up with the ads as most of us here at TUAW, so he took Verizon to task in a Wednesday column. In the column, he takes on Verizon's claims and for the most part finds them lacking or at least overblown.In describing the faults of the ad campaign, Ihnatko says "Its claims about the limitations of the iPhone are baloney (Mostly.)" Andy has been testing the new Motorola Droid phone for an upcoming review, and he does like the phone -- a lot. But his take on the ad campaign is right on the mark: "Verizon's 'iDon't' is a terrible commercial. It provokes experienced iPhone users like me to get all Tyra Banks on the phone and the Android 2.0 OS. That can't possibly be good for business." Don't mess with us iPhone fans, Verizon... [via Chicago Sun-Times]
Ihnatko says Apple tablet could play hero to comic books
Speculation based on rumor can be frustrating. But when the rumor is of Apple's fabled tablet, and the speculation is of a new golden age for comics, the 13-year-old kid in me comes alive. Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Andy Ihnatko says there are hints that Apple is getting into the digital comic book market, a statement he likens to saying "Apple is helping to create the digital comic book market." Digital comics today, he argues, are where digital music was in 2002. Legitimate businesses are so fractured, clumsy, and behind the times that pirated comics (online illegally one day after hitting store shelves) provide the best user experience. Enter LongBox, a company that has made the rounds at comic book conventions this year pitching an iTunes-like store for buying and selling digital comic books. Ihnatko talked with LongBox CEO Rantz Hoseley, peppering him with questions and looking for reasons that LongBox was doomed to failure. What he found instead was a company that respects the comic book as a medium, that has made publishing to the LongBox format (.LBX) as simple as adding a plug-in to the software publishers already use, and that has plans for outfits as big as Marvel or DC all the way down to the lone artists publishing on their own.
Get your TUAW discount to the Voices That Matter: iPhone Developers Conference
Addison-Wesley Professional, the publishers of many books on both Mac and iPhone development, is hosting the Voices That Matter: iPhone Developer's Conference October 17 and 18th in Boston. TUAW wants to make sure that the budding iPhone devs in our readership are able to attend the conference, so we have an exclusive discount code for you to use when you register.The conference is focused at experienced Mac developers who are looking for a quick way to get the skills required to build, test, and distribute iPhone and iPod touch apps. The speaker list for the conference is impressive and includes: TUAW's very own Erica Sadun (Conference Program Chair) Aaron Hillegass, author of Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X (Keynote Speaker) Mac and technology pundit Andy Ihnatko (Keynote Speaker) Peter Bakhirev Lee Barney Erik Buck Bill Dudney Dan Grover Daniel Jalkut Steve Kochan Bill Licea-Kane Mike Morton Jonathan Rentzsch Fraser Speirs August Trometer Marcus Zarra TUAW readers can save $150 on their conference registration by providing the special priority code PHNTUAW when registering. If you register before September 12th, you can combine your TUAW discount with Early Bird pricing and save a total of $350.The iPhone app market is still going strong even in this execrable economy, so this is a great opportunity for Mac developers to get the smarts to make the leap to the iPhone market.
On the trail of Fake Steve Jobs
Everybody's favorite anonymous Mac commentator might be a little closer to becoming not-so-anonymous. If you checked out Fake Steve Jobs's site yesterday, you might have seen a short post about a marginally funny iPhone Haiku site. I've still got the post in my Google Reader, as you can see in the pic. Seems harmless, right?That's what FSJ thought. But apparently, the link was sent to him by the guys at Sitening (who also created the Haiku site as a lark), and the link he was sent was a specially created link, made up just for FSJ by the Sitening guys. See where this is going? When he clicked the link, they tracked his IP, and here it is: 68.160.21.224. That IP traces back to a Verizon service, which the Sitening guys say is in Boston, MA.And then the story gets even stranger. Diego Barros at the Radio Active Code Blog posted a comment on FSJ's post about the tricksey linkses, and then the post itself was removed completely. FSJ usually seems pretty easygoing about this stuff, so the fact that he actually took it down gives credence to Barros' suggestion that FSJ is on the run.So who does all this point to? So far, this evidence all says Andy Ihnatko, who lives near Boston, has written for both MacWorld and Playboy, and has worked anonymously before-- apparently he wrote parts of Roger Ebert's movie guides. TUAW dropped him a note asking him about the rumors, and we'll let you know if we hear anything back.Thanks, Diego!
iPhone runs Leopard says Ihnatko
You can add Andy Ihnatko to the short list of people who have played with an actual iPhone, not a paper cutout. Andy spent a good 45 minutes clicking around the interface and let's us know that the how experience was smooth. The phone reacted quickly to his commands (something my Q doesn't do) and he even claims that the virtual keyboard let him type faster than a physical keyboard (that is something I'll have to try myself before I form an opinion of it).The most interesting note Andy has is that the iPhone is running Leopard. Those fancy onscreen effects are courtesy of Core Animation. Sadly, Andy also confirms that a Flash plugin for the web browser isn't in the cards, at least not yet but we have months to go before the iPhone ships.
Let's go to Macworld and get married!
Isn't it sweet when geeks fall in love? You may know Shawn King as the host of the great Your Mac Life internet radio show. You may not know that he met his wife-to-be at the Macworld expo of three years ago, and got engaged at last year's expo. How else could you possibly wrap up this story than with a Macworld wedding? A host of notables from the Mac community will be in attendance when Shawn and his bride tie the knot at the end of this week, including Chris Breen on piano, David Pogue (who will give away the bride) and Andy Ihnatko (who will actually perform the ceremony; he's a deputy marriage commissioner in the State of California). Good luck, you crazy kids![Via Cult of Mac Blog]
