Tag Archives: apple

May 15 2012

New 3d Mapping is on its way

It wasn’t that long ago when I first used a GPS unit in my car – it was on an old Psion ‘green screen’ hand-held computer. That was 1996, it was clunky but just about operable. Of course GPS is everywhere now – and my golf watch is just brilliant.

We are now used to having an enormous amount of data in our pockets – the iPhone was really a revelation – especially with the map feature. The mapping software is brilliant and I guess I use it most days. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world it finds stuff. Of course we are all used to google maps too – I use these at work (most days) although I find those on Bing to be slightly better. The 3d photographs are generally good – although sometimes the light isn’t great – making some views unusable.

But it looks as though the bar has now been raised by the Apple guys. They have a pathological hatred of Google and have evidently been chipping away at their dominance – after all we can’t have two giants ruling the world?

Apple have suggested that their newest maps will be in 3d. And an example has been released – showing a video fly through of Oslo. It’s amazing! Apparently this has been rendered from a mixture of satellite data, user photographs and some clever algorithms.

You have to watch the video to believe it. This will certainly take mapping imaging to a new level. I can see this being even more useful to me in my day!

May 12 2012

Portable Speakers….

I bought some small portable speakers in New York four years ago – they were really good, but they got a bit wet last year at the Isle of Wight Festival. It turns out they weren’t waterproof and so emitted a hiss in protest. Irritating at the best of times. They got binned.

So I have been looking for replacement. Ideally so that I can listen to my iPod / laptop when I am away. An external speaker is a necessary luxury!

The solution has been found in the form of a Jawbone Jambox. I bought it in the shop girls don’t get – the Apple store in the Meatpacking District of New York. It was $199, so not cheap.

It is fantastic. The sound from the tiny little box belies its size. And better still it connects to my phone and laptop by bluetooth (although there is a dinky little red flat wire for a speaker connection). It also has a microphone so you can use it for ‘hands free’ – the reception is really clear. I haven’t used it for conference calling, but it looks as though it will handle this with ease.

It’s an impressive bit of kit, really well built, cool to look at and sounds as good as some hi-fi systems! The battery life is around 10 hours too. It could have almost been made by Apple – it’s so good!

It now accompanies me everywhere – so when the need takes me I can do Tiger Feet on the train or wherever…

May 6 2012

The Apple iPad – profit galore!

I blogged about the amazing Apple store in New York last week – and I came across a fascinating article in the Economist on the flight back across the pond.

It was about the iPad. This is famously made in a factory in China where conditions may not be entirely ideal! Certainly labour costs are a fraction of the US (or Europe for that matter). But the Economist have estimated the costs and profits per iPad – they are in Dollars, but you get the picture.

Sale price – 16gB wi-fi model – $499

Costs:

Materials $154
Labour $33 (of which $8 stays in China)
Distribution / retail – $75

Profits

Subcontractors – $88 (all over the world)
Apple – $150

So a nice tidy 30% profit to Apple.

I think the ipad is creeping up on us, I do use my (second generation) one a lot now. If I’m in London and travelling light is it great. I wouldn’t yet want to type a long report on it, but for general email / browsing / presentations it’s brilliant. And I have had my Estates Gazette on it this weekend for the first time…

I can see it become the defacto business tool.

Mar 31 2012

The Apple Poem

Iam reading Steve Jobs mammoth biography at the moment. It’s really interesting. I came across this poem in the book and liked it so much, I thought it should feature on my blog. I’m not sure if it’s entirely good to see so much of yourself in it, but hey ho!

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine.
They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,
are the ones who do.

There endeth the lesson.

Mar 4 2012

Apple – from a garage to a major US employer

I mentioned yesterday that I have just finished Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell selects certain people who achieve greatness; and Steve Jobs was one such person.

Gladwells point was that very often greatness (or failure) is achieved by a set of circumstances. It’s not usually just one thing, but rather a set of incidences.

And the connection here is that I am reading the Steve Jobs biography on my (replaced) Kindle. It’s a fascinating story about how two people (Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak) started Apple in a garage back in 1976. It is an incredible story so far – and I’m only part way through the book.

What is even more amazing is that in the last 24 hours some clever statisticians have calculated that in the USA over half a million people are employed by or supported by the Apple network. That’s a lot of people! In 32 years that’s also a phenomenal story of success.

Of course Apple also employ people outside of the United States. It is estimated that another half million are employed at the plant which makes some of the Apple gear!

It seems incredible – from humble beginnings to one of the biggest companies in the world, a set of goodies which permeate our world – and permeate my world in a big way. This blog came to you courtesy of my little MacBook Air….

Jan 7 2012

A fascinating book – about Steve Jobs

In my second Christmas list I was trying to be helpful in setting out what people boys might like for Christmas – with a sort of Apple flavour. I didn’t get any of these things – mainly because, as it has been observed, I already own them…

I have already bought the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson – although it is on my Kindle. I am still to start it – at over 650 pages, I am waiting for the right moment! But I did get another book for Christmas – “Inside Steve’s brain“. It isn’t quite the undertaking of the autobiography.

I have just finished it and it is a fascinating insight into the genius that was Steve Jobs. It focuses on the way in which he operated – mostly from interviews with people who were around him. Although some of the book feels a bit ‘padded’ in parts (I suspect there was no real access to the man by the author, Leander Kahney) there are some really interesting nuggets about how Apple worked.

In summary, it worked because of the drive of Steve Jobs. It worked because he had single-mindedness and an absolute belief in what he was doing. His attention to detail was legendary. His was a world of product differentiation. He was fascinated by materials and the way in which they could be used.

He had another skill – he surrounded himself with exceptionally talented people (like Jonathan Ive) (Sir Jonathan that should be!). The best of the best. I think this is a great business lesson. As he was employing the most talented people he could track down this raised the bar – the rest of the team had to aim a little higher. The opposite of this (and I saw this with one person I worked with in my days in a plc) is that you employ someone to make you look better – this just drags the quality down – not up.

The book is partly business coaching, part biography. It works better on the level of business lessons.

The autobiography is next … I don’t expect the review too soon though!

Dec 17 2011

Blokes Christmas Present List Part 2

It seems that I may have made some glaring omissions from yesterdays ‘ideas list’. I apologise, but my colleague and fellow blogger Simon Dare hit the nail on the head (as did Mr Baker) in observing that there were no Apple goodies. Mr Dare was probably right in that I probably have more Apple kit than most…

But, for the sake of you beige-box people out there who don’t mind staring at those little egg-timer things, there are some pretty brilliant bits of kit with little Apple logos. In no particular order ladies, your blokes might like…

1. An iPad2 – superb bit of kit that has allowed me to lose my notebook. Writing is so last Century!

2. A MacBook Air – 11.6″ screen is fantastic. And it doesn’t break your arm carrying it.

3. IMac 27 – for the desktop. Eyewatering display. Like a razor.

4. Iphone 4 – simply the best.

5. Apple TV – great for streaming images from your laptop or iPad onto your HD TV screen.

6. Ipods – you could go for a shuffle, nano, touch or classic.

7. Magic Mouse – unbelievably good and very clever with gestures (not rude ones)

Having looked down the list, I seem to have one of each of these, except that I don’t have the current line up of iPods. In any event Apple don’t have an iPod big enough to carry all of my music (322Gb at the last count)

I hope this helps…

And tomorrows blog is a very special edition – ideas for blokes. From Mrs G – and ‘just in time’ methinks!

Nov 23 2011

New York – the essentials!

When you have been to New York 17 times there are some things you can afford to miss (the tourist attractions!). But there are some essentials. Having just got back to Blighty I thought I would scribble my recommendations!

Breakfast – The Cupping Room Cafe on West Broadway. Just great food and a great atmosphere. The way your day should start. And if not The Cupping Rooms – Edwards on west Broadway is a close second.

Boys Toys – the best shop on the planet – B&H Photo – just near to Madison Square Garden. Acres of ‘toys’ – and not all Apple. A photographers nirvana. When you have done that – the Apple Store – there’s a few of them. The one at the south-eastern corner of Central Park is quite cool – but the one in the Meatpacking District on 14th is pretty good too. The original one in Soho is being refurbished – so has a temporary home around the corner.

Neighbourhoods – Soho and The Meatpacking District are great fun to explore. The scale of the buildings here is more ‘normal’ and you can find some really interesting places.

Pizza – It has to be John’s Pizza on Bleeker Street, They don’t do slices and you have to pay cash – but $30 for two is great value – and this is where The Ramones had their Sunday lunch.

Star Spotting – you have to look carefully as the reason the celebs love the place is that they blend in. But I have seen Eddy Izzard, Ricky Gervais, Bill Murray and Charlize Theron (twice).

Humbling moment – go to Ground Zero. It makes you realise the devastation on that 9/11 fateful day. The new Freedom Tower is now a significant landmark – which you can see for some distance – and it’s not quite there yet!

Coffee – The New Yorkers do coffee shops rather well. There are hundreds of them. Often accompanied by Cup Cakes – clearly the healthy types. There’s a Starbucks on nearly every corner. But the independents are pretty good too.

Music – Bleeker Street Records is just a gold-mine of music. It has been there for ever and stocks an amazing range of CD, vinyl and even cassettes (remember those). The new vinyl is reasonably priced too – $15-20. Downtown at J&R you can pick up some bargains too.

So that’s this trip over – I guess we’ll have to wait for another couple of months to get back here…

Nov 9 2011

The paperless office

It was a few years ago that this phrase was born, a sort of utopian world where you no longer needed a pen and paper. We would speak at computers or type away. It wasn’t something that I could do easily. I like scribbling ideas and notes in my Moleskine books.

Latterly I had settled on a squared book, which contained pages of sketches, notes, to-do lists and minutes of meetings. It was a great aide-memoire.

But I have seen the light. And gone paperless (well almost).

I have had an iPad for some time (actually since the day they were launched) – but a few weeks ago, I got an iPad2 – and swapped my old machine with a colleague. I found that I wasn’t using the 3G capabilities – and he wanted that facility.

The new bit of kit spurred me into action and I decided to see if I could manage without my notebook. And since 10th October I haven’t scribbled anything in it. It is partly because I have discovered Evernote – which is a free App – and one that synchronises with my iPad, macbook air, iPhone and iMac. It is really clever – it lets me clip things to it – web addresses, PDF files and the like. All of my projects are in one place. I can add to notes and they are sorted by project.

Alongside this I am using DropBox and Iprocrastinate for my to-do list and for sharing documents respectively.

It was interesting to be at a clients office last week – and be able to discuss some land with him – by showing him a crystal clear OS map on my iPad – rather than one of my sketches! Of course, I could have printed the plan off, but I didn’t know I was going to be discussing this particular matter when I went to see him. As I build up the notes and database, I can see this method of working becoming more useful.

And just in case, for the moment, I am carrying my notebook around… I wonder what a psychiatrist would make of that! Safety Net?

Nov 6 2011

Miles and hours

I thought I would monitor my cars performance during October and have observed the following:

1. I worked 21 full days (some of them longer than others) and then some Saturdays.
2. I drove 1,767 miles
3. My car says I spend 61 hours and 45 minutes attached to it – thats just over 8 days in English money!
4. It also says I averaged 29mph – not exactly fast! But quicker than a chicken.
5. I spent £335 on diesel – ouch.
6. We managed an average mpg of 33.8mpg – much better than my RS4.
7. I went to Guildford, Wakefield, The Isle of Wight, Manchester as well as lots of places around Nottingham and the East Midlands. I can’t recall them all as I lost my diary when I upgraded to the Cloud… thanks Apple.
8. I drank more Costa Coffee than can really be considered healthy, and managed only one Starbucks - which is a volte face.

I need to spend less time attached to the car I think?