Tag Archives: apple
General

Steve Jobs

By on Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Finished reading Steve Jobs, the official biography by Walter Isaacson, over the long weekend. The biography is very personal with Jobs himself confiding directly to Isaacson his opinions, his thoughts, his motivations, his aspirations. This is further supported by close friends and business associates, even rivals and enemies. Of course, given Job’s intense privacy, you still feel you’re not getting everything. But I guess this is as close as you can get.

Even better, this book is not just about Steve Jobs. Because they’re closely intertwined, it is also about the companies he founded, Apple, NeXT, and Pixar. Creativity and innovation are Job’s hallmarks and it provides a glimpse of the creative and innovative processes in those companies. One thing you note is that in these companies, it’s not just Jobs coming up with ideas. A lot, including many that he initially rejected, also came from his colleagues. A definite read not just for fans and admirers of Jobs but also for any student of business.

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Gadgets

Galaxy S2 vs iPhone 4S

By on Friday, October 7, 2011

A lot of people are disappointed by the iPhone 4S. I’m not, so I tried to understand the disparity. The easiest thing to do is to look at the numbers. Numbers tell a lot, but not everything. As can be seen from the CPU clock speed wars and later the camera megapixel wars. So with that in mind, I laid out a side-by-side for comparison against the de facto Android flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S2.

What the numbers tell me is that the Galaxy S2 has set the bar and that the iPhone 4S merely matched it. But that’s by the numbers. People who are numbers fixated were disappointed because of this. But the previous generation Galaxy S more or less matched the iPhone 4 in specs. Yet, in sales it was pretty far behind. This can be attributed to marketing and the merits of the phone. How much of each, or even simply which one, depends on your particular bias. Other people were caught up in the hype and were disappointed. They practically set themselves up for it.

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General

RIP Steve Jobs

By on Thursday, October 6, 2011

This morning, when I got to my desk and checked the iPhone, I read the news: Steve Jobs has passed away. Just a day after the launch of Apple’s latest iPhone, just a few months after he resigned as CEO of Apple. His passing is the end of an era for Apple, the industry, even the world. He is a visionary whose ideas, principles, and philosophies (much influenced by Zen) are what formed Apple and its products to what they are today: less technical and more functional. Or more simply put: simple and works. He will be missed.

 

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Gadgets

Apple iPhone 4S

By on Wednesday, October 5, 2011

I tried to guess how Apple’s Let’s Talk iPhone event would go. Boy was I so wrong!

Of course, they will announce the iPhone 5. It’s not the iPhone 4S or 4+ because it makes marketing sense to have the iPhone 5 match iOS 5. And just one phone because the notification badge says 1.

There’s no need for a low-end phone because iPhone 4 will, after the announcement, become the lower-end phone. Maybe they will come up with an iPhone 4 with lower memory but it will still be an iPhone 4. There’s no marketing sense in calling it iPhone 4-.

The iPhone 5 will be a taller, wider phone with an aluminum back following the general design pattern of the iPad 2. Although the display is bigger, resolution remains the same as the iPhone 4 because they want to leverage the current existing Retina apps. It will have a dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, and 64GB storage in line with current smartphones specifications. But these will not be highlighted or maybe even mentioned.

Yet, I’m actually glad I was.

I wasn’t even considering getting the supposed iPhone 5 because it was bigger and, frankly, the iPad 2 design isn’t that great. So I was thinking of just maintaining the iPhone 4 upgraded to iOS 5. But by upgrading the internals and retaining the form-factor, you get a premium compact smartphone with up-to-date specs. And I could even reuse my iPhone 4 cases (I have three). Now I’m actually considering getting one.

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Gadgets

Let’s Talk iPhone

By on Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Apple has finally sent out invites to their much anticipated October 4 press conference. So on Tuesday October 4 10AM at their corporate HQ in Cupertino, CA, Apple will make an announcement.

Of course, they will announce the iPhone 5. It’s not the iPhone 4S or 4+ because it makes marketing sense to have the iPhone 5 match iOS 5. And just one phone because the notification badge says 1.

There’s no need for a low-end phone because iPhone 4 will, after the announcement, become the lower end phone. Maybe they will come up with an iPhone 4 with lower memory but it will still be an iPhone 4. There’s no marketing sense in calling it iPhone 4-.

The iPhone 5 will be a taller, wider phone with an aluminum back following the general design pattern of the iPad 2. Although the display is bigger, resolution remains the same as the iPhone 4 because they want to leverage the current existing Retina apps. It will have a dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, and 64GB storage in line with current smartphones specifications. But these will not be highlighted or maybe even mentioned.

Now let’s see if I got anything right.

Waiting.

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