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What are these coupons for, anyway?
I have been buying Apple software for years and years now. As a result, I have a stack of these proof-of-purchase coupons. I don't know what they're for, because I've never, ever used them for anything. The coupons themselves say, "To get software updates and other special offers from Apple, you'll need to use the coupons below as your proof of purchase."I got four of them just with my copy of iLife '06, which suggests that I'll have several opportunities to take advantage of "special offers from Apple" that require these coupons. It hasn't happened yet.There's more. The card of coupons also warns, "Important: Do not discard these coupons. Only original coupons can be used as proof of purchase. Copies will not be accepted." Wow, "Do not discard" in bold type. Like I said, I've got a stack of these, from various pieces of software. Just waiting for a special offer. Anytime now, Apple. I'm ready. With my coupons.
iLife 06 Tip: Edit iWeb sites on more than one Mac
I've been poking around in iWeb to create a wedding site for my fiance and I. While I really like the app, I share one of the big peeves around the web: sites created in it are only edit-able on the originating Mac.Thankfully, MacOSXHints has come to the rescue again, with a fairly simple method for giving your iWeb sites some portability so you can edit them on more than one Mac. Basically, the tip involves tracking down where the iWeb support/package file lives in your Home directory, moving it to something like a flash drive and creating an alias (of sorts) so iWeb is none the wiser.While this is a fairly simple work-around, I second MacOSXHInts' call to Apple: this really needs to be enabled natively so a work-around like this doesn't have to exist.
Is Photocasting totally non-standard?
Not that Dave Winer is the complaining type, just like Mossberg is a "tough critic," but Dave and Kevin Yank have been swimming around in Apple's photocasting business. They didn't like what they saw. Remember Jobs saying something about photocasting using "industry standard" RSS stuff? I remember that phrase specifically, although I don't recall if it was regarding photocasting (I think it was). In fact, I remember looking at my brother and thinking, "yeah right." The RDF shook off for a moment, because I know that Apple, while they do love to look at standards, won't always adhere to a standard if they don't want to.In this case, looks like they took secrecy over compliance. Instead of asking someone like Winer (who would gladly hold his tongue if it's to promote a standard instead of break it), as there is no standards body for RSS, Apple just kinda forged their own standard. Yeah, it uses standards in the same way I use the military: I'm glad they are there, but I never joined up. Basically the RSS is so screwed up the only way to read the feeds is to use Safari.The full details of what is broken is over at this unofficial documentation of iPhoto 6.0 photocasting feeds. Dave Winer has his words, witty as always, and Kevin Yank winds up saying what some are thinking: "Apple is the new Microsoft." Although I would like to point out that that unofficial documentation goes to Apple lists, and I have a feeling they are going to look at this. Heck, they might even fix it! So next year I'll gladly pay another $79 for XML that "just works."
No upgrade for iLife
A question posted over at MacSlash brought up a great point about iLife that's worth revisiting with this new release: it doesn't have an upgrade price/option, and never has. The question at MacSlash comes from a reader who purchase iLife '05 on Dec. 26th 2005, barely three weeks before his Steveness dropped the iLife '06 bomb.What do you readers think of this? iLife, in my opinion, is already a steal at $79 (especially since it blows away Windows suites that retail for hundreds of dollars), and it's obvious that Apple is basically letting go of iLife at a loss with new Macs to entice new customers and switchers. Still, I can understand the sting this user must feel, now that his $79 purchase just became last year's software, so to speak. So what say you, readers? Should Apple offer an iLife upgrade?
iLife '06 packaging: Hot or not?
It has become something of a yearly tradition that Apple changes the packaging and overall look of iLife marketing materials. This year we get the iLife 'ribbon o' fun' and a much smaller retail box.Less packaging is good for the environment, but Cameron Moll wants to know if you like the new look of the packaging. Let him know, and feel free to comment here as well.[via Daring Fireball]
First look at iWeb via a blog made with iWeb
iWeb, the newest member of the iLife family, has garnered lots of interest from web developers, bloggers, and podcasters. Will it be the end all and be all of web development? Ok, probably not, but will it make creating blogs easier?Sam Kass isn't so sure. He takes iWeb for a spin and comments on it via a blog he created with iWeb. He says it is painfully obvious this is 1.0 release, but it has potential.And for everyone wondering about the HTML output of iWeb, just check out the source on Sam's blog.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Rush on iLife '06 at the Apple Store
I stopped by the San Francisco Apple Store last night to pick up a copy of iLife '06. There was a serious line at the cash register, and everybody seemed to be buying iLife. My friend tried to get the Family Pack and was told it was sold out. The moral -- if you want a copy of iLife right away and can't wait for shipping from the online store, get to your local Apple Store quick. Granted there's probably a higher demand in San Francisco right now than elsewhere, but once people catch on to how cool the new version of iLife is, there could be a run at other Apple Stores too.The only thing that bummed me out is that the San Francisco store wouldn't honor the $59 education price available on the Apple Education site. So I had to fork out the full $79, which, to be honest, isn't bad given the number and quality of apps in iLife '06.
Apple posts podcast tutorials
Now this is pretty cool: Apple has posted a series of eight video podcasts to the iTunes Music Store [link] that explain how to make a great podcast (both audio and video) with iLife '06. Topics include setting recording levels in GarageBand, making use of introductory music and sound effects, adding web links and images and editing video with iMovie HD.Check out these video tutorials, they contain some useful information.[Via Micro Persuasion]
Send us your iWeb sites and your Photocasts
Ok, so some of you have had iLife '06 for a little while now, and I want to see the fruits of your labor. Leave an URL for a page that you created using iWeb in the comments, or the address of a Photocast.Let's share the love, folks!
Reader report: iLife '06 has arrived
Brett Edwards wrote to let us know that his copy of iLife '06 arrived today. He placed his order yesterday and popped for overnight shipping so iLife was in his hot little hands faster than two shakes of a rabbit's tale.The install took about 20 minutes on his Powerbook G4 1.67 (how old school!) and clocks in at about 7.2 GB for the full install.Has anyone else gotten their hands on iLife '06? What are your first impressions?
Survey: is .Mac worth it yet?
With last month's 1 TB bandwidth update to .Mac and all the powerful new one-click photocasting, podcasting and vidcasting features of iLife 06 with iWeb, I thought it would be a good time to check in with you TUAW readers again to find out if .Mac is looking any more appetizing in this post-Macworld 06-keynote world.Personally, I can't wait for my copy of iLife 06 to arrive, and I'm happier than ever to own a .Mac membership. But enough about me, what about you, TUAW readers: are you a .Mac member with a copy of iLife 06 already on the way? Do the new features tempt you all the more to sign up, or are you still not sold? Let's hear it!
TUAW's Macworld predictions scorecard
Swing and a miss! When we made our pre-keynote predictions yesterday, we felt reasonably confident. Now, as the smoke clears, we can see just how far off we were. Let's review: C.K. - black Intel iBooks running on flash memory. C.K. got the Intel part right. Partial credit. Damien Barrett - a Mac mini media center with iLife '06, programmable remote. I really wanted to see this one come to fruition. Alas, it just didn't happen. I was with you on this one, Damien. Dave Caolo - iLife '06 including FrontRow. Wow, what was I thinking? We did get iLife '06, but that was hardly a stretch. As for FrontRow...maybe next time. David Chartier - a nearly-finished preview of 10.5 Leopard, with a release scheduled before Vista (like that's hard to do). I was wondering if we'd get even the slightest hint about Leopard. I guess we'll have to wait until the World Wide Developer's Conference. Laurie A. Duncan - iWork 06 gets a major update, finally offering a viable alternative to Office for OS X. Partial credit to Laurie as well. At least Steve didn't refer to iLife as "...Office for the rest of your life" this year. Worst. Slogan. Ever. Scott McNulty - Sell your songs on iTunes, publish your blog on .Mac, get your vlog streaming from Apple's servers. Scott scores on blog publishing via .Mac. As for Apple hosting people's vlogs...I've got my fingers crossed for that one. Victor Agreda Jr - AirPort Express update that includes video streaming. Drat, this would have rocked! Are you listening, Steve? Some of you scored better guesses that we did. Joshua wrote, "iLife '06 with iWeb...updated Mac Mini...expanded .Mac...iWork '06." Brad nailed "...Intel iBooks, 10.4.4 and updated iLife/iWeb." JayB wins the TUAW Dreamer's Award with, "The idea of the huge 50 inch plasma tv with built in computer seems like a feasible Apple product." Amen, brother.
My "head-slap" moment from Steve's Keynote
The January keynote is usually a doozy, and today's was no exception...not by a long shot. For me, there's always that one moment that causes me to smack my hand against my forehead and just say, "Wow." This year, it wasn't the flash of iLife '06, the shiny new Mactels or even the .Mac enhancements. No, this year I was blow away to see that iDVD now supports third party DVD burners! Holy cow! *smack*How long have we Mac users clamored for this, and how long has Apple used their non-compliance as a means to sell Macs? Finally, Apple. Thank you.So, what was your "head-slap" moment? I know you all had one.
Apple releases iLife 06, Photocasting, iWeb addition
Apple today unveiled iLife 06, a major update to their award-winning suite of multimedia applications. The largest updates came to iPhoto, which can now handle 250,000 photos and features better, full-screen editing options. A major new feature is called Photocasting, which will allow an iPhoto user to publish their photos to the web using RSS technology, allowing anyone to subscribe to a feed of their images and the ability to be notified of updates. You can also subscribe through your own copy of iPhoto 06, which will allow you to actually download the images and use them as if they were your own, enabling editing as well as ordering prints, cards and now calendars.GarageBand 3 now features a "Podcast Recording Studio," along with professional podcast sounds, a Podcast Radio Engineer, iChat Interview Recording and iMovie Scoring.iMovie HD 6 adds Apple-designed iMovie themes, real-time effects, cinematic real-time titling, enhanced audio tools and effects, multiple open projects and video podcast/blogging abilities.iDVD 6 brings Magic DVD, widescreen DVD abilities, an enhanced map view and the much-requested compatibility with 3rd-party DVD burners to the table.A new addition to the iLife family is iWeb, a much rumored new app that does what everyone had assumed: it will allow .Mac members to easily publish content from other iLife apps such as podcasts, imovies, photos, blogs and more to their .Mac space. It features Apple-designed templates, easy flexible site creation, and iLife media browser and one-click .Mac publishing. I guess there was a reason behind that 1 TB bandwidth upgrade back in Dec.Even with all these great new features, iLife 06 still sells a single license for only $79, with a 5-license pack for $99, and is available today at the online store. I'm sure local stores will have it in soon, as well.
iLife 06 and iWeb to be introduced at Macworld?
A MacRumors Forums user spotted the image to the right on Garageband's podcasting page earlier today. It lists iLife '06 (though the link just goes to the iLife page) and a mysterious application called 'iWeb.' iLife '06 seems like a no brainer, since I am sure Apple will be releasing this suite every year at Macworld.iWeb is the real interesting thing here. Is this some sort of web authoring tool? Will it have some uber-benefits for .Mac members? Is this all baseless speculation?We will soon find out.Thanks to gaboosh for sending this in.
