Yuhui's Apple Blogger

Why I love my Apple

2008-07-10T23:29:00.002+08:00

Ok, so I've missed the Nuffnang's "I love my Apple!" contest by almost a week. It sure doesn't pay to procrastinate. On the other hand, ever since I received the email about the contest, I had been thinking long and hard about my favourite Apple product.

And it came down to this: I don't have a favourite Apple product. I cannot, for the life of me, single out an Apple product that has made me -- pardon the imagery -- cream in my pants.

My Apple journey started a long time ago, with an Apple II (I think). It belonged to a relative and was the high point of my visit there. We'd play games on it. Sure, they were simple, green-on-black, keyboard-controlled games. But this was the dawn of the computer age and I found it fascinating.

I only really jumped onto the Apple bandwagon when I entered university. It was a PowerBook G3. Not just that, it was the lowest end PowerBook, which meant it had a passive matrix LCD screen! I had to look straight on to the screen to see anything. If I viewed from the side, I got a colourful shade of grey. But I bought it because it fulfilled three requirements: it was a Mac, it was a notebook, and it fit the budget.

I also bought an external floppy disk drive, which I used only a handful of times.

The computer got obsolete soon, with DVDs just arriving (it could only play CDs). And it showed its age with OS X. So when the Titanium PowerBook G4 came out, I bought one -- again, the lowest end due to monetary constraints. But it had a DVD drive. And it was sexeh.

And then CD burners came out! I was noticing a trend here. While I accepted that electronics were obsolete as soon as I bought them, this was just plain ridiculous. In the end, I saved up enough to buy an external DVD writer to compensate the loss. (It's been more than five years, and that drive still serves fairly faithfully.)

Then I decided to get an iMac. I figured I wouldn't need the portable convenience of a laptop any more. Of course, I was wrong, but the iMac G5 was cheaper too. So I bought one. But you know the story. Next thing I knew, Macs now came with Intel CPUs, including the iMac.

As you can see, my Apple life has been beset by disappointment after disappointment. That's why I didn't buy an iPhone from the black market here, nor the white one when I was in the U.S. It would be too expensive to go through the cycle again.

Yet, in spite of all of that, I still prefer the Mac to Windows. And it's not about a single product. Not even OS X, though I think it plays a big part.

It's the experience of using the Mac. Maybe it's the way the user interface is more pleasant and not as intrusive as Windows. (That explains why the first thing I do when I get a Windows computer is to change its theme to something more Mac-like.) Maybe it's how the graphical elements are laid out so that they make sense to technophobes. (I've read Apple's Human Interface design, and it's very well thought out.) Maybe it's how its features are limited so that I don't unnecessarily step beyond my bounds -- and believe me, that's a feature, not a bug!

So it's the combined experience of different products that make me love my Apple. Individually, the products would have made me switch to Windows. But the whole is much, much greater than the sum of its parts.

That doesn't mean I'll queue up for an iPhone 3G...

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iPhone 3G to arrive in Singapore, iTunes Store coming as well?

2008-06-10T16:48:00.004+08:00

So it's come true. Apple has released its much-awaited, second generation iPhone, the iPhone 3G. And it'll be launching it in 22 countries on July 11.

Except that Singapore won't be one of those 22. Ah well, I guess Singapore's six-million population isn't a big enough market for a worldwide simultaneous launch.

But fret not! SingTel has promised to release it "later this year". In a news release about the iPhone 3G issued soon after Steve Jobs' keynote had ended,

Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) and Apple today announced that they will be bringing the much anticipated iPhoneTM 3G to Singapore later this year.

And if you absolutely need to make your intentions known, SingTel even has an iPhone reservation page! After filling in the form, you'll need to confirm your registration at your nearest SingTel hello! store. I wonder if this still means that we could see snaking queues outside every hello!, epiCenter and iShop stores when the iPhone 3G lands...

(The bigger question for me is: when will M1 get the iPhone 3G too???)

But wait, there's more! iPhone 3G allows one to purchase applications via the App Store, which is most likely to be a wireless service. And probably built on top of the iTunes Store platform. Put two and two together and does this herald the much-ballyhooed-but-oft-delayed arrival of the iTunes Store in the Lion City as well? An eagle-eyed Netizen spotted this telling clue: an accidentally updated iTunes Singapore web page indicating prices for songs, videos and games. $1.79 per song? Hmm, I guess Apple's going to profit from the weak U.S. dollar.

Things are a-changin'....

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What will happen when SingTel brings iPhone to Singapore?

2008-05-19T23:38:00.002+08:00

Well, I guess I'm a little late with the "big news", which is that SingTel has confirmed officially that it will be bringing the iPhone into Singapore. Estimated time of delivery: later half of the year. That's in line with the rumoured September launch date. If the other rumours are true, then it could also mean that we'll see the 3G version.

Meanwhile, in today's papers, there was a write-up about what could happen next. The basic premise is that people who want an iPhone already have an iPhone, thanks to the black market here. Personally, I can't imagine paying $800 for a 2.5G phone, but hey, I'm also the guy who coughed up more than $500 for my first phone with a crappy camera, so who am I to compare?

Anyway, the point is, when SingTel brings the iPhone to Singapore, it'll probably only be able to get a small share of new customers. The bigger market could come from those who want to upgrade from their hacked versions. That assumes that these people still have money to upgrade and SingTel is willing to take in these somewhat illegally modified iPhones.

So where would SingTel get its sales from? The article highlighted another group: aspirants from neighbouring countries where the iPhone is not available. It so happens that these folks are also probably the same ones who send their children to study in Singapore with money pouring out of their ears and mouths. Yeah, lots of rich kids here who are eager to snap up the iPhones for themselves and, of course, sell them back home for a quick buck, thus making them even richer.

Let the iPhone frenzy begin anew!

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Is the iPhone coming to Singapore?

2008-03-20T00:08:00.004+08:00

According to the local news, local telco giant SingTel will be bringing Apple's iPhone into Singapore in September! However, this hasn't been confirmed by SingTel as yet.

Still, I'm sure that there were generally three responses to this news:

Gasps and moans from those who bought iPhones from the U.S. and hacked them to use locally,
Screams of joy and desire by those who couldn't afford to buy the iPhones from the black market, and
Calm indifference from the rest of the masses who can't understand the craven desires of these two groups of people.

My reaction to this piece of news was two-fold: Assuming that the news is true and SingTel will be bringing in the iPhone,

Will it be a 3G version? Because there's no such thing as EDGE here.
Is SingTel actually willing to give up part of its subscriber revenue to Apple (since that's Apple's policy)? How many sacred cows did it have to slaughter???

Personally, even if it does arrive in Singapore, I don't see myself buying it unless it has 3G capabilities and at least a 3-megapixel camera. I've seen the picture quality of the current iPhone and, while the photos look nice on the phone's screen, it just can't compare with what I get from my trusty Sony Ericsson K800i. And, of course, the price has to be right.

Anyway, September is only six months away. We'll just have to wait and see, unless some friends are willing to ignore the NDA gag order...

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It's official: HD DVD is dead. Long live Blu-Ray!

2008-02-19T22:20:00.000+08:00

After months of build up and days of rumours, Toshiba today officially announced that it's giving up on HD DVD. And not a moment too soon. By end of March, it will not have any more HD DVD players, recorders or other gadgets. That's only a month (and a few days) away!

Of course, Apple has always been in the Blu-Ray camp. Intriguingly, though, it has not released any Blu-Ray device yet. Perhaps it was waiting for the "war" to end before revealing its hand?

Or maybe Apple TV Take 2 and MacBook Air gives a clue about its strategy. Both devices eschew an optical drive in favour for downloads or streaming. Apple TV receives its content from a host computer wirelessly, including HD content, or logs onto the Internet to grab YouTube videos. MacBook Air is too thin to fit an optical drive in, and relies on another computer's drive (again, connected wirelessly) to load software from discs.

Then there's the iTunes Store, which has shown that people are willing to pay for media-less content at a fair price. Finally, even backing up a hard disk no longer requires removable storage. Case in point: Time Machine. The contents of your computer are automatically backed up to another hard disk. Especially with prices of hard disks continuing to drop, there's really no need to rely on DVD or even Blu-Ray for storage.

All of which just goes to show: is the optical drive still necessary? And if not, then was the Blu-Ray vs HD DVD war even worth fighting over?

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Who else should buy Yahoo!?

2008-02-03T00:56:00.000+08:00

Microsoft's planned purchased of Yahoo! for US$44.6 billion has the entire tech world shaken up. Sure, it's been rumoured for a long time, but I don't think anyone ever really expected the ball to drop. But drop it did, and we may have to live with the repercussions.

Assuming that the deal doesn't go through (hey, who knows how influential the Flickr/Del.icio.us membership base really is?), who else should buy Yahoo!?

News Corp
- Pros: Combining Yahoo!'s huge membership base with MySpace's could turn the portal into a goldmine for mining people's habits, similar to how Google knows "everything" about its subscribers. Yahoo!'s strong media focus would also mesh well with News Corp's traditional businesses.
- Cons: Microsoft's huge bidding price has artificially inflated Yahoo!'s valuation. Murdoch might not be willing to shell out that kind of money, especially after buying the Wall Street Journal.
Time Warner
- Pros: TW needs to make an impact online. So far, all of its efforts have been to support old media. Its purchase of AOL didn't go according to plan and it needs to get back into the saddle - quickly! Also, like News Corp, Yahoo!'s media strengths would play well with TW's many businesses.
- Cons: Its management team comes from old media and has no idea of how to make use of new media. Buying Yahoo! could turn into another AOL-style debacle.
Google
- Pros: Combining the world's largest and second largest search engines would set Google far apart from the runner up. Also, Yahoo! is the most used website outside of the U.S., giving Google incredible international reach. Yahoo!'s Web 2.0 services, like Flickr and Del.icio.us, could also be integrated easily into Google, bringing the latter even closer to organising the world's information.
- Cons: Google is too big. The U.S. and European Union wouldn't allow it without significant - and crippling - concessions.
Apple
- Pros: Yahoo! is already working with Apple on optimising its services for the iPhone. Both Yahoo! and Apple share the same Silicon Valley culture of independent innovation that change the world for the better. Apple also needs a significant online presence besides its iTunes Store. .Mac hasn't progressed much since its launch. Folding Yahoo!'s services into .Mac (or the other way around) would make Macintosh computers and iPhones even more valuable than they are.
- Cons: Steve Jobs wouldn't allow it. He's too focused on devices and getting people to buy music and videos online. Buying Yahoo! would dilute his focus, which may prove to be bad news for Apple overall.

So while I hope the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal doesn't go through, I don't know if there are any other "white knights" available. However, I still think that Yahoo! has sufficient strengths to continue operating as an independent company. It has market share, it has clout, it has sustainable services. It just needs to find the right strategy and the right people to carry out that strategy.

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"MacHeads" - documentary on the cult of Mac

2008-01-24T00:35:00.000+08:00

MacHeads - the movie (trailer)

It seems like more and more documentary movies are made, especially after Michael Moore's "Farenheit 911". The latest one that I've come across is this intriguing movie called "MacHeads". Apparently, it takes a look at the so-called "Cult of Mac", i.e. Macintosh users who have become so obsessed with the computer that they practically worship it.

The trailer shows snippets of interviews with a range of people, from the famous ones, like Guy Kawasaki (and a few other people whom I recognise but can't name), to folks who switched to the Mac and never looked back.

I think that this could be an informative movie, provided that it's presented objectively, of course. Mac die-hards are a well-known breed who make for good documentary fodder. All in all, you'd probably be left with one of two feelings: sheer awe at the power of the Apple/Macintosh brand, or pity for these Mac "cultists".

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Time Capsule: how soon before it becomes a BitTorrent client/server?

2008-01-20T23:58:00.000+08:00

One of Steve Jobs' most intriguing announcement at his Macworld 2008 keynote was "Time Capsule". Apart from its name, which only Apple's marketing folks could've come up with, it also opens the doors to new possibilities. It's meant to be a companion device to Mac OS X's backup program, Time Machine.

But a quick rundown of its features suggests that it could be more than what it's designed for:

Small: 20 x 20 x 4cm,
Light: 2kg
Lots of disk space: 500GB or 1TB (that's 1,000 GB)
Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
Firewall
NAT support
Works with both Mac and Windows

From what I've heard, there's a mini-Mac OS X in the machine to make it operable. If so, then this is no dumb machine. It's practically a full-fledged computer that does one thing really well: file storage.

Which means that it could function as a huge -- and stylish -- BitTorrent client/server (servent). (Ok, maybe "huge" is subjective. I'm sure that there are people who have 1TB of disk space and still complain that it's insufficient!) Essentially, BitTorrent software could be installed on it, then controlled remotely though the host computer to manage its file transfers.

There are already similar devices in the market, but I don't know if they've caught on with the ~~pirates~~ downloaders. However, their advantages are two-fold: you don't need to leave a computer running (which means less power), and the devices are Wi-Fi routers too, so they can be used as backup devices as well.

Therefore, Time Capsule is a BitTorrent servent in reverse; it's already a backup device, now it just needs BitTorrent capability. And since BitTorrent is open source, some enterprising genius could put a program together and load it into Time Capsule. Hey, if folks can hack the iPhone, then Time Capsule can't be that big of a challenge!

And even if Time Capsule doesn't have an operating system, I doubt that it'll be long before a talented hacker or two installs Linux (or Mac OS X, for the purist hacker) and loads BitTorrent on it to fulfill the function.

Time Capsule take 2: Apple-branded BitTorrent servent.

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Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard": the largest beta tested Mac OS yet

2008-01-19T17:23:00.000+08:00

Steve Jobs announced at Macworld San Francisco 2008 that 5 million copies of Mac OS X 10.5 a.k.a. Leopard had been sold. And that this amounted to about 20% of the installed base. (I don't think the 5 million number includes copies of OS X 10.5 included with new computers.)

When I heard (or rather, read) about this, I immediately thought, "Wow, that's a lot of beta testers!" Apple had seemingly succeeded into using these 5 million customers to weed out bugs that its internal QA team was unable to.

I'd been following the numerous problems that upgraders had faced. There's a very long list over at Macfixit.com. Issues included graphics distortions, incompatibility with existing programs, files deleted/changed, and more.

Other complaints not related to upgrades had to do with an important component: the user interface. The three main complaints were the translucent menus, Downloads folder in the Dock, and difficult-to-identify folders.

Which is why I did not upgrade to Leopard. I'm waiting for the bugs and other silliness to be more-or-less removed before taking the dive. Or maybe I'll spring for a new computer for the Intel CPU and faster speeds.

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Apple stops sale of hacked iPhones in Singapore

2007-12-07T08:51:00.001+08:00

Front page news today -- Apple threatened local sellers of hacked iPhones with legal action if they persisted with their sales. As a result, it's now going to be more difficult to find a hacked iPhone in Singapore... unless you know where to get one. And I don't, so don't ask me!

Note, though, that it's still legal to parallel import iPhones into Singapore. (Yeah, you can parallel import almost anything into Singapore, if it's in its "virgin" state.) So you should still be able to buy iPhones in Singapore, just not the hacked/unlocked ones.

Personally speaking, I used the iPhone a few times while on holiday in the U.S. and, seriously, the thrill dies after the third usage. That's why I don't plan to get one for myself. Besides, hardly anyone ever calls me on my current phone line anyway... (telemarketers don't count!)

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Reason #2389 to buy a Mac: Smaller PPT files

2007-10-04T23:21:00.000+08:00

I never thought that I would promote a Microsoft product as a benefit to use a Mac, but here goes:

A graphics-heavy PowerPoint file could actually use less disk space on a Mac!

I was working on a presentation at home on my iMac and the file came to a hefty 4MB. But when I re-saved the file in Windows -- even after compressing all of the images to be optimised for the screen, the file size weighed in at a whopping 8MB!

I saved half the disk space on a Mac!

This was admittedly a non-scientific observation. But still, saving 50% of disk space is quite a significant difference. Truly, the Mac business unit at Microsoft has churned out the best version of Microsoft Office.

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Comparing Apple/AT&T iPhone plans to Singapore's plans

2007-06-26T23:21:00.000+08:00

Apple and AT&T announced three mobile plans for the iPhone today. These range from US$59.99 to US$99.99. At first glance, I thought, "Wow! That's outrageous!" I was sure that comparable plans in Singapore would be much cheaper.

Alas, how wrong I was.

Here's a table comparing the plans.

Carrier	Incl. SMS	300 mins	400 mins	450 mins	680 mins	700 mins	900 mins	1,350 mins	1,500 mins	2,000 mins
AT&T (US$/S$)	200			59.99 (92.26)			79.99 (123.02)	99.99 (153.78)
SingTel	360*					105.79			221.81
SingTel	500**	99.75				162.75
M1	300*		42.00							105.00
M1	500	47.25				81.38
StarHub	300				92.40
	500	47.25				81.38
	900	50.40
	2,000									197.40

All of the local telcos offer free incoming talk time until the end of 2008 at the earliest.
* Based on non-promotional usual price
** Based on first year's subscription rate

At first glance, it seems like there are some local plans that look more affordable than AT&T's. Of course, I'm not comparing apples with apples (pardon the pun), because of variable charges like extra minute charges, registration, etc.

But wait, there's more! AT&T offers unlimited data usage. In contrast, the local telcos offer add-on data plans:

M1 - $313.95 maximum (for two of its data plans)
StarHub - $105 unlimited

M1's maximum data charges alone far exceed any of AT&T's combined talk and data plans. Meanwhile, StarHub's cheapest mobile plan doesn't look so cheap once you add the extra hundred dollars. (Unfortunately, I couldn't find any prices for SingTel's maximum data charges or unlimited plans, if any.)

So it would seem that the iPhone plans are actually cheaper than what you can get in Singapore! And here, I always thought that mobile plans in the U.S. were a rip-off.

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Steve Jobs' anecdote at iPhone launch that no one talked about

2007-03-21T23:46:00.000+08:00

It's been about two months since Steve Jobs announced the iPhone. There's been a lot of news coverage and gossip and rumours about it. Yet, I haven't come across anything that mentions something that I think should be especially significant too.

During the presentation, Jobs' clicker for the slideshow stopped working suddenly. While waiting for it to be fixed, he regaled the audience with a tale from his high school days.

Back then, Steve Wozniak, who later co-founded Apple with Jobs, made a device called a "TV jammer". It worked like a remote control, but scrambled TV signals instead. When the picture got fuzzy as a result, someone would tweak the antenna to get the picture back. (Remember, this was back in the day when television sets had antennas sticking out the back!)

In the end, Woz would play with his jammer until the student, who thought he was "fixing" the antenna, got into an awkward position. And it was hilarious to observe (for Jobs, Woz and anyone else who was in on the joke)!

Link to video

Sounds familiar? It should. It's a story that's entered Apple lore, joining other tales like "phone phreaking" and the Apple I computer. I've personally read variations of the story so many times that I've lost count, yet I never grow tired of reading or hearing about it again.

But to have Steve Jobs tell it was breathtaking. It has nothing to do with how familiar the story was with his audience. Rather, it's about Jobs' relationship with Woz. Somewhere along the way, the two close friends drifted apart to the point where they simply acknowledged each other. But as these stories go, the two patched up a few years ago (though I don't think they're as close as before).

And then Jobs goes ahead and tells this story about his former best friend. When I heard it, I thought, "Wow!" It sounded like Jobs was, in his own showman way, proclaiming publicly how proud he was to have Woz as his buddy. As if he was saying, "Woz was my best friend and let me tell you how awesome -- no, insanely great -- he was!"

On another level, Jobs, who rarely reveals anything about his personal life, was willing to relate this story in such an intimate manner. I think it made him come across as more "human". It felt like he was removing a barrier between him and his audience, giving them permission to enter his personal space (albeit very slightly).

And those are the two reasons why I think his little anecdote was so significant. It's not necessarily news worthy, but to the Mac faithful, I think this move was more ground-breaking than the iPhone announcement.

Pity that no one else seemed to pick up on this. Or maybe I'm just a sentimental fool.

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Apple iPhone

2007-01-10T22:41:00.000+08:00

I suppose I could give my two cents on the new Apple iPhone. And it's this: I wouldn't get it if it was available in Singapore, for three reasons:

I've already shelled out big bucks for my current phone, so my money would be better spent elsewhere,
it's a version one electronics item, and if there's one thing I've learned along the way, it's to never buy a version one electronics item, and
I already have two iPods, so I really don't need a third one.

I am, however, more intrigued by its software. The one thing that caught my attention were the widgets. I assume that these would be, functionally, similar to the ones that work in Mac OS X's Dashboard. In fact, I dare say that the "programs" that were demonstrated are redesigned widgets that are already available, e.g. address book, calendar, even the music player. So I see the next step as being able to sync my favourite widgets into the iPhone, in the same way that I'd sync my contacts and music.

Anyway, that's all I'll say about the iPhone. However, I was intrigued by the icons. Everyone says Apple makes the best user interface. So just by looking at the icons in this reduced-size image here, can you figure out what the icons represent? (Assuming that you don't already know what they are.) The only two I had trouble with were the first and third icons in the ~~last~~ third row. The rest seem self-explanatory, though I'd change the last one in the first row.

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