John F. Braun
The Mac Observer?s Mac Geek Gab http://www.macgeekgab.com/
Monday?s Mac Gadget http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/features/mondays_mac_gadget/
Twitter: @johnfbraun
Chuck Joiner
The MacVoices Group http://www.macvoicesgroup.com
Twitter: @chuckjoiner
Steve Stanger
The Mac Attack http://www.themacattack.tv
Twitter: @tmasteve
Victor Cajiao
Typical Mac User podcast http://www.typicalmacuser.com
Typical Shutterbug Podcast http://www.typicalshutterbug.com
Twitter: @victorcajiao
WWDC Keynote – We discuss what we feel was left out of the keynote as much as what Steve Jobs announced during the keynote.
PICKS
John
TotalFinder http://totalfinder.binaryage.com/
Steve
AirVideo ($2.99) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-video-watch-your-videos/id306550020?mt=8
Fast PDF ($.99) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fast-pdf/id365270223?mt=8
Victor
Camera + iPhone app. ($2.99) http://campl.us/
Chuck
Take Control of Apple Mail in Snow Leopard by Joe Kissell ($15)
http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/snow-leopard-apple-mail
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Great show. A good mix of knowledgeable guests. I, being an old Mac tech guy, share some of Victor’s concern. I understand and accept that Apple is on a roll with the “i” products roadmap. Mobile technology is hot, and generates a lot of revenue for a lot of companies. And no one does it better these days than Apple. So I can’t blame them for keeping a sharp focus on it, but at the same time, they need to keep people excited about Mac products.
I know you were joking with Victor concerning his Mac Pro, but I believe, currently the iMac can be built to surpass the performance of a Mac Pro. {http://www.macworld.com/reviews/product/343881/review/27inch_imac_core_i5266ghz.html] As a Mac Pro owner also, I’m bothered by no mention of the Mac’s future. I own an iPhone, iPad and iPod(s), but it’s my Mac Pro and MBP 13″ that gets my work done.
And lastly, the datacenter is here in NC, not SC, as stated. It’s about an hour from where I live. People here are very excited about it, although it will be so automated, very little jobs will result from it (in relation to it’s size). We’re hoping Apple treats NC better than Dell did, who moved out early and took the jobs and tax benefits with them. Another reason to buy an Apple 😉
Enjoyed the show!
Comment by Alan — June 11, 2010 @ 12:34 am
Great show as usual guys. Thank you.
I have to bring up the accelerometer vs. gyroscope discussion. John was quite correct that the gyroscope is like an accelerometer-plus since it gives the iPhone additional degrees of measurement.
There is one point however that needs clarification. An accelerometer can work in a zero g environment to measure linear acceleration. What an accelerometer can’t do in zero g’s is measure the orientation of the device. An accelerometer needs gravity to do this. Gravity is effectively an acceleration in the downward direction. An accelerometer can measure this force in the three (x,y,z) dimensions of the iPhone. Using these measurements the iPhone can determine its orientation with respect to gravity. Without gravity it can’t do this. But it still can measure changes in velocity in any one of these dimensions. Note the calculation of orientation based on gravity is somewhat crude due to the single force (gravity) being divided amongst the three dimensions. It also takes an accelerometer time to detect a change in orientation since it does not directly measure rotation rate but instead calculates the rotation rate based on differences in device orientation.
The gyroscope on the other hand directly (nearly instantaneously) measures changes in orientation (i.e. rotation) in any axis rather than liner acceleration of the device. The gyroscope is much more sensitive to changes in device orientation both in terms of response time and measurement accuracy. And, unlike the accelerometer, it doesn’t need gravity to measure changes in orientation.
When you combine the accelerometer with the gyroscope you get six degrees of measurement: linear (x,y,z) acceleration and rotational (yaw, pitch, roll) movement. The sensor combo results in a great gaming device since it measures both large sweeping movements of the device as well as subtle rotations very quickly and accurately. And you can do it in space … an added bonus!
Comment by Steve Sheridan — June 11, 2010 @ 6:13 pm
Alan thanks for the comments and sorry for getting my Carolina’s mixed up. I know that these days the iMac can be a monster and I’ve considered replacing my MacPro with one. Every time I do I think about the flexibility that my MacPro gives me (adding and replacing Hard Drives, eSata interfaces etc), and then I just think, I’ll wait until I can afford another Mac Pro.
I love the fact that all of us in the MRT gang can be open with each other and respectfully disagree or agree to disagree. I am the newest of the Mac users in this panel for sure and I was always taught to respect my geek elders
Comment by Victor Cajiao — June 11, 2010 @ 8:01 pm
I’m listening to the show for quite some time now and enjoy it a lot. Its both fun and helpful. I’ve just one little comment on the sound of John’s voice. In some episodes it was fading and very hard to understand. Does he use a poor quality mic?
Comment by Johannes — June 12, 2010 @ 2:47 am
Great show, but I’m having a problem swallowing (heh, pun) your sushi analogy. Sushi (food) is finite. It takes resources to create, and only a certain amount can be created given a certain amount of resources. To catch the fish, you need a boat, a paid crew of fishermen, and fuel. Then you have to clean and gut the fish, which means you have to pay a fishmonger. Then you have to prep it in the proper manner for sushi, so you have to pay a sushi chef. And so on. Also sushi is not infinite; there are only a finite number of fish in any given ocean at any given time. The all you can eat folks are gambling that, for every guy with a Victor-sized appetite that walks through the door, there’d be one or more people like my girlfriend’s mom, who eats like a bird. Since they’re both paying the same amount of money, the bird-lady’s make up for the Victor’s, and it all balances out.
Bandwidth, on the other hand, isn’t bound by such constraints. The economy of scale is completely different, as bandwidth is, in effect, infinitely expandable. It doesn’t cost that much to make bits. There aren’t a finite number of bits in the universe. The economy of scale is completely different.
What I suspect is that the broadband companies are starting to hit the wall, probably because their networks aren’t built up properly, or they didn’t spend enough money on their infrastructure, etc., and rather than manning up and fixing their infrastructure, upgrading their capacity, etc., they’re putting the blame (and the onus of essentially managing their bandwidth) on their customers, and their rivals (i.e. AT&T blaming Google, Youtube, etc. for increasing their traffic).
So, no, that analogy really doesn’t work for me. I’ve always found it to be somewhat… fishy. (Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.)
Comment by Donald Burr — June 13, 2010 @ 1:37 am