Larry Dignan is dead wrong: Apple and AMD

technology,

Is it really fair to even pick on ZDNet these days. Adrian Kingsley is about the last writer they have on staff that I can even read without wanting to fall out of my seat. Take this little gem from an Apple speculation piece:

bq. Add it up and AMD could provide the graphics capability Apple is looking for. As AppleInsider noted, AMD traditionally trails Intel on raw performance. However, Ghz is a secondary issue for Apple buyers. An Apple purchase is about design, quality, OS X and ease of use. AMD can get by on the Ghz equation with a mere close enough to Intel if the graphics stars line up. Sean Portnoy asks whether folks would buy an Apple with AMD inside. I’d argue that the processor is a secondary consideration (at best) for buying an Apple.

Gee thanks, Larry. Give me a second to grab my box of crayons so I can scribble down a reply to your sweeping generalization about Apple users. I mean, the desire to own a computer that is easy to use is obviously mutually exclusive from the desire for a computer that is fast and powerful, right?

Oh, wait…

When run against PC laptops, the MacBook Pro line (running Windows under Boot Camp) has, on several occasions, been “the fastest Windows laptop in its class”:http://www.google.com/search?q=macbook+fastest+windows+pc. There goes that argument.

Apple doesn’t refresh their line up as frequently as many PC manufacturers do their consumer lines, so between refreshes, consumer-oriented PCs run away with faster processors. However, when you move up the line to a business-class machine like Dell’s Latitude or Lenovo’s ThinkPad, there are a lot of similarities. These companies test these configurations more thoroughly, so they don’t change as often. This results in a more stable configuration, but they also cost more. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

As an Apple buyer, I’m all about performance. I’d be unhappy if Apple moved to Intel while AMD offered an inferior product, and today, that’s the case.

I’d be willing to bet that the reasons Apple was talking to AMD were twofold:

1) AMD has graphics switching technology similar to what Apple just implemented on their own, so it may have been that AMD’s Optimus technology was up for consideration, but was ultimately ruled out.

2) It is in Apple’s interest to keep Intel on their toes. You never sit down at the table with one vendor and one vendor only. That’s a great way to hand margins over to your supplier.

Return to form

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Time Magazine has an excellent “gallery of vintage computers”:http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1670168_1461055,00.html from the book titled “Core Memory”. What’s striking about the photos is just how much “design” is there. I’ve always admired Apple for their dedication to making a computer that not only works well, but is pleasing to look at. A lot of hardcore geeks scoff at this notion, treating design as a superfluous luxury not worth paying for. I feel pity for the person that does not see any value in beauty. I absorb everything I see and hear, so I choose to surround myself with positivity and beauty. The benefits are worth a few extra dollars to me.

Security? We Don’t Need No Stinking Security!

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As someone who builds web applications, stories like this scare the hell out of me. “Apache.org suffered an attack affecting several services spread across different infrastructure”:http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=6123&tag=nl.e539, all stemming from a single XSS attack. To a sysadmin, the prospect that this could happen to them results in pure terror. At least for this sysadmin.

The guys at Apache are smart. They’re real smart. They’re so smart that if they are “sysadmins”, I should be considered some sort of pre-schooler who happens to know how to shell in to a server and copy/paste some lines of text. Just the fact that they can put together such a detailed account of how the attackers got in shows just how smart they are. I’ve been in charge of systems that were hacked before, and it is _extremely_ difficult to put together a detailed post-mortem like this.

So, the message for today is, watch your back, triple-check your security, and pray to whoever it is you pray to.

I’m king of NYC!

random

Over the course of the last year or so, I’ve received a couple of strange emails and phone calls that I didn’t understand until a few months back when I finally replied to one of the messages and got some clarity. Apparently, a fellow named Brad Lander is running for City Council in Brooklyn. His website address is http://bradlander.com, which is of course very similar to mine.

So today, I received a cryptic message on my answering machine from guy named John E. (last name omitted to protect the innocent) claiming to be an old friend. Problem was, I had no idea who the hell John E. was. Thankfully, I made the connection between this call, John E’s Syracuse area code, and the emails and calls from the past.

Fortunately, “Mr. Lander”:http://www.bradlander.com/ seems like a really stand up guy (this cannot be a coincidence /cough cough/). I sure hope he wins so I can travel to NYC and throw my name around when trying to get a reservation at a good restaurant.

8-bit 4lyfe!

technology,

This pleases my inner geek. Click to view the video on DailyMotion (boo for lack of an embed option).

“!http://www.bradlanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/pixels.jpg!”:http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcv6dv_pixels-by-patrick-jean_creation

John Gruber Gets it Wrong?

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I have tremendous respect for John Gruber — which is a bit like a weekend hobbyist photographer saying they have tremendous respect for Henri Cartier-Bresson; who cares? — but “I think AppleInsider was right”:http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/04/08/ai-expose. Many consider the app switching panel in OS X to be a component of Exposé. This means that the new app switching mechanism in OS X works very much like “Exposé”, depending upon your definition. It’s also worth noting that AppleInsider used some pretty specific language describing the way it would work:

bq. “Those familiar with the design of iPhone 4.0 said that the user interface will resemble Apple’s desktop Expose feature, in that a key combination — *reportedly hitting the Home button twice — will trigger an expose-like interface that brings up a series of icons representing the currently running apps*, allowing users to quickly select the one they want to switch to directly. When a selection is made, the iPhone OS zooms out of the Expose task manager and transitions to that app.” (Emphasis mine)

The important part there is the bit about the “icons”. John’s implied definition of Exposé would require a description where the applications are tiled on the screen.

Maybe it’s not fair to say John is wrong, but that he has a more strict view of what Exposé encompasses. The current Exposé page on Apple’s website doesn’t show the app switcher any more, but I’m pretty sure it used to back when Leopard was introduced. The app switcher interacts with Exposé in an important way, which is why some people include it.

*OS X App Switcher*

p{text-align: center;}. !http://images.apple.com/findouthow/mac/images/app_switcher_gallery_1.jpg(OS X app switcher)!

Stupid human tricks

random,

This morning I watched my cat jump three times her standing height and I thought, “Gee, it must be cool to be able to jump three times your own height.”

Then I went about my business fixing breakfast, as my cat watched on from the bar between our kitchen and dining room. At that moment, I had another thought. I’ll bet my cat is thinking, “Gee, it must be cool to be able to get your own food from that big white box.”

Human: 1
Cat: 1

Let’s call it a draw.