There’s nothing the Mac Roundtable crew likes more then an Apple Keynote. On this episode we talk about what was announced at the WWDC Keynote (in only the way the MRT crew can).
(Show note: Chuck did join us for a short time at the beginning of this episode but had to drop out due to poor hotel Internet)
Your hosts:
Steve Stanger: SteveStanger.com | twitter
John F. Braun: Mac Geek Gab | Twitter
Chuck Joiner: MacVoices | Twitter
Allison Sheridan: NosillaCast at Podfeet.com | Twitter
Jeff Gamet: The Mac Observer | Twitter
Links:
WWDC Keynote video
OSX preview
Macbook Air
Mac Pro
iOS 7 preview
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Nice to hear all your voices, great commentary, great show.
I have two specific comments. (I know it’s time to post a comment about any podcast when I find I’m yelling at my iPhone!)
#1. You all were pointing out elements of iOS7 which copy other systems, WP8, Android, WebOS, etc. I say stop it! Does anyone remember January, 2007? Gee, nobody copied what we now know as iOS. The smart device market is maturing as it continues to evolve. Of course ideas get copied all around. It’s how you implement and improve on the basic idea copied that makes a difference. And, that’s what Apple does so well. You watch…swipe up control, swipe down Notifications from android, flat and fonts from WP8, etc. will just simply be better somehow when we all get iiOS7 this Fall.
#2. Regarding FaceTime voice only calls; I believe the intent is when someone call to you, you will have the option of answering voice only, or audio/video. THis way, for whatever reason you’d prefer to not be on camera, or have to manage the camera you can still take the “call.”
Also, the voice only option could be good for a Skype substitute for iPod Touch or iPad users. This because FaceTime is always on as it’s part of the iOS, whereas Skype needs to be launched so it’s active.
Comment by Bob Correa — June 12, 2013 @ 8:33 am
A compliment and a complaint:
First the compliment. I have been a longtime Mac Roundtable podcast listener. I’ve enjoyed them and most important of all, I’ve learned from them. Thanks so much for all of your efforts. I know it’s voluntary and I do sincerely appreciate it. You have contributed significantly to the Mac community.
Now the complaint. I did not listen to this complete podcast (#216). It would have been the first one following WWDC that I would have heard and I was looking forward to some insightful discussion. After about fifteen minutes or so I switched to a different podcast even though it was a pre-WWDC podcast. All that I had heard on the Roundtable up to that point was discussion about how the Apple presenters were dressed, whether their shirttails were tucked in or out, their presentation dynamics, etc. No real mention of anything substantive about the Macintosh, iPhone, OS X, IOS 7,etc. Perhaps it’s just me, but that’s what I wanted to hear about – your expert perspective on the content of the presentations instead of your probable less-expert comments about how the current presenters matched up with Steve Jobs’ presentations.
So I respectfully ask that in the future please discuss less about the appearance of the presenters in Apple events, less about the effectiveness of Apple commercials, and less about Apple stock variations. I’d prefer to hear about the Apple related hardware and software. I do realize that it’s your show and you can do as you please.
Thanks for almost all that you do.
Comment by Russ Tice — June 12, 2013 @ 9:17 pm
Thanks for the comment Russ. Usually I would be the last one to talk about “wardrobe” at a Keynote. I’m the one who initiated the discussion early on because one of the things that’s been discussed on this and other shows is how dry things have bee on since Tim took over. It was exciting to see the Apple guys having a good time. That discussion was somewhat tounge and cheek but we did spend the next hour talking about the tech announcements. Give the show another listen.
Comment by Steve — June 12, 2013 @ 9:34 pm
Have you guys never seen an Apple keynote before? Jony Ive has regularly been featured in video interludes at many keynotes in the past — perhaps more so during the Steve Jobs era, I’ll grant you that — and I distinctly remember seeing him in the audience on at least a few of those occasions.
And Chuck’s hotel connection was painful to listen to. Might I suggest next time you’re in that sort of situation, that you use SkypeOut and call him via phone? As byzantine and outmoded as it sounds, it actually works quite well. Until recently, one of my cohosts on my podcast had what is probably the worst Internet connection on the planet; however we were able to get him on using SkypeOut. Yes, he sounded like your typical telephone call, but it was definitely listenable. Better than listenable in fact. You don’t need to pay for the SkypeOut subscription, you can pay for it on a case-by-case basis with Skype credits.
Comment by Donald Burr — June 12, 2013 @ 10:54 pm
Re the Safari complex animation and CPU power thing – This worries me, as I frequently have apps running in the background doing stuff (long compile sessions, video encodes, etc.) and I *don’t* want those apps to be slowed down if I happen to switch over to Mail and read an incoming email, or I want to watch cat videos on Youtube while my code is compiling. Hopefully Apple will give developers a way for their apps to tell the system “hey! this app is doing something *important* on the user’s behalf! Don’t put me to sleep when I’m not frontmost!”
Re iCloud keychain vs MobileMe – Yes this is a rehash of MobileMe Keychain Sync. But the important things to note are: (A) Safari will generate strong passwords on the fly, which the old MobileMe keychain sync did not; (B) the sync will include other information besides passwords (mainly credit card info for online orders); and (C) iOS devices will get to play now too. I am particularly looking forward to (C). Yes I know there are great solutions like 1password, etc. My problem is that if I am browsing around in Mobile Safari, and I hit a site that requires me to log in, I have to transition to the 1Password browser and work in the 1password browser for the rest of that session, which is jarring. Having it all builtin is definitely going to be a plus. Also Craig Federichi (sp?) mentioned that WiFi passwords will also be synced. No more having to go to an external source and copy/paste when prompted with a wifi password, or having to try and hunt and peck it in using the iPhone keyboard.
Re the Mac Pro vs the Cube – The problem with that analogy is that, as Allison mentioned, the Cube was underpowered, even compared with other machines of its generation. It was pure style over substance. As far as expandability, all you had was USB, which just does not provide enough bandwidth for the kinds of tasks pros demand (video capture, yada yada). (And it might not even be the somewhat faster USB 2.0 we’re used to today, it could have been USB 1.0, which is even worse). Whereas Thunderbolt and the new Thunderbolt II have more than enough bandwidth to handle HD video capture, really fast disk arrays, etc. And they stuffed a lot of high end hardware in the new Mac Pro; it is most definitely NOT underpowered.
Re iOS weather app – Uh, guys, have you seen today’s iOS weather app? It has a Yahoo icon on it too. Apple is using Yahoo’s weather data to supply data for their weather apps, both in iOS 1-6 and now iOS 7 as well. Nothing to see here, move along.
Re Control Center – this is going to be the #1 most used feature of iOS 7 for me. Everyone always says to save battery life turn off Wifi/bluetooth/dim the display/yada yada. But I always was too lazy to do that… you have to quit what you’re doing, go back to the app launcher, find and launch Settings, then a few more taps to get to the wifi/brightness/etc setting and to set it. Now it’s just a swipe up from the bottom and boom. And laugh all you want, I use the flashlight A LOT. And now I don’t need to install a separate flashlight app to get it. (PS: I’m surprised they didn’t add a auditory flatulence generator button too, they could corner that part of the app store market as well. 😉 )
Re auto app updates – My understanding is that this behavior can be turned off by a switch in the settings app. (Don’t ask me how I know this, I would have to, uhh, liquidate you.) Also the nice thing about the app updates is that it actually keeps a log of what updates were installed, and when they were installed, and you can go back and look through this log at any time to see what apps were updated; also the log includes the release notes supplied by the developer, so you can see excatly what changes/features/etc. were updated.
Comment by Donald Burr — June 13, 2013 @ 12:06 am