Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Back in the early 80s I started using PCs and learned how to program them using DOS (Disk Operating System). I had to type everything, line by line. I typed thousands of lines of code. There was nothing onscreen to point and click on. There was no Mouse or TrackPad. I remember one day in 1984, I was in downtown Santa Rosa California. I walked in Santa Rosa Computer Center to look around to see if they had anything new. I walked up to this small beige box. It had a 9-inch black and white screen with a graphic drawing of a Japanese girl. It had a small keyboard and this other little box with one button and a cable attached to it, I had no idea what it was. The graphic was amazing looking, the detail that it had, I've never seen anything like it on a computer screen before. In those days computers could only display text and the displays came in two colors; Green and Amber. Even though the graphic drawing was in Black and White, I was impressed with how detailed it was. After seeing that first Macintosh computer, I tried to learn everything about it and the company who made it, Apple Computer Inc. I read the history of how the Macintosh became to be. Steve Jobs co-founder of Apple, wanted to create a computer that was as easy to use as a kitchen appliance. He wanted to take the computer code off the screen and have everything in plain english. He wanted to take it a step further and have a pointing device and graphic objects called Icons that you could click on in order to reduce the need for typing. The graphics on the screen were laid out to represent the top of a desk with Icons that looked like sheets of paper and folders. In the bottom right-hand corner of the screen was an Icon of a Trash can. With the mouse, for example, you could click on these Icons and drag them around the screen. You could drag the sheet of paper icon and put it into the folder icon or the Trash icon. I couldn't believe how simple it was to use. It seemed to good to be true! Well, ever since then, I used the Macintosh as much as I could and eventually stopped using DOS altogether. Before the Mac, I never thought a computer could ever be so easy to use. I thought computers had to be complicated because it could do so many things and in order for it to doing anything, you had to tell it what do to using lines of complicated computer code. Steve Jobs will be missed. If it wasn't for Steve's Innovative thinking, companies and consumers around the world wouldn't have the technology we have today.

Coddingtown Mall

Every time I go to the Apple Store in Santa Rosa it's always full of people. Normally, that would be a good thing, but the problem is that the Apple Store at Santa Rosa Plaza is practically a hole in the wall. With a city as big as Santa Rosa, Apple picked the wrong city for their experiment of testing their smallest stores. I have a solution to this problem. Santa Rosa's first big shopping mall Coddingtown would be a perfect location for either a second Apple Store or one big one for Santa Rosa. Coddingtown needs more business coming in and since the Apple Stores are doing such great business right now, it seems like a no-brainer to put an Apple Store in Coddingtown. With the kind of attraction the Apple Stores have right now, it would benefit Coddingtown and its tenants immensely. There is one problem, since Simon, one of the biggest mall management companies, owns both Santa Rosa Plaza and half of Coddingtown, it creates competition between the two malls. Now, like my Dad told me, it's possible in the Apple Store's leasing agreement at Santa Rosa Plaza that Apple can't have another store within so many miles of each other and/or in a neighboring mall owned by Simon Management. I think Codding Enterprises, (original owners of Coddingtown) made a bad decision by selling half of Coddingtown to Simon Management. It's not good to become partners with your competition. Unfortunately, by doing that with Simon Management, Codding Enterprises put Coddingtown's future in jeopardy. Even though there is a new Whole Foods Market at Coddingtown now, I don't think it will bring enough business in to keep Coddingtown going. I think having an Apple Store in Coddingtown Mall would get it back on its feet again.

Mac OS X 10.7 LION

Since Apple's announcement of the next release of Mac OS X 10.7 code named "Lion" I've been getting my MacBook prepared for this new Operating System release. In the past few weeks I've been playing with a pre-release version and it does have a different "feel" to it and yet it still has all the familiar things that we are accustom to on the Mac. With the release of the "Magic Pad" and the "Magic Mouse" last year, being Solid State devices and using technology borrowed from the iPhone touch screen with the Swipe & Pinch gestures, I can now see what Apple was preparing to do in this upcoming release of Mac OS X "Lion". If you use the TrackPad on your MacBook or you have one of Apple's new Pointing Devices, then you'll be able to move within your Mac a lot faster and efficiently using different Swipe & Pinch gestures. Apple announced that there are 250 new features in this new release. Playing with the pre-release and going through those new features, Apple is beginning to take the Macintosh to the next level of Ease Of Use. When the Macintosh first came out in 1984, I understood where Apple was coming from. With this next level of Swipe & Pinch gestures, there may be no need for a file system as we know it today, because Apple has incorporated a full auto-save system within Mac OS X Lion. In the next new versions of your favorite Applications running in Lion, they will no longer have the Save Command under the File Menu. You just do your work and Lion takes care of the rest. Lion can also remember where you left off the last time you shut down your Mac if you choose, again to speed things up and make your Macintosh experience more efficient.

By the time Mac OS X Lion is released some time this July, I will be ready to help you get started and you'll end up with a greater user experience than ever before. You can contact me here for any Apple Product related help or any questions you have.

Summer is a Great Time for a TuneUp!

It's June already and in the past I've mentioned that every 6 months it's a good idea to give your Macintosh computer a TuneUp. With the heat of the summer, it can take a toll on your Mac and wear out your hard drive. If that happens, it makes it difficult to recover your Important Files, especially if you don't have a Backup in place. Also, as you are using your Mac and you are getting the Spinning Beach Ball increasingly more often, that's a sign that your hard drive is working too hard searching for all the bits of data to put together in order to bring it up on the screen. At the same time, there can be flaws in certain Applications that can also contribute to the dreaded Spinning Beach Ball which can be corrected. Part of the TuneUp process that I perform includes making sure your Applications are Up-To-Date in addition to correcting internal System Code. If you would like a TuneUp done on your Macintosh; Contact MacMobile Services at: mserv@sbcglobal.net or call (707) 994-2886 to schedule an appointment. Stay Cool.

The Re-Designed iPad 2

Announced yesterday in San Francisco, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs took to the stage with the re-designed iPad 2 and comes with IOS 4.3. The first noticeable difference is that it's 33% thinner and a 10th of a pound lighter than the first Apple iPad. The iPad 2 has a Dual Core A5 processing unit that's 2 times faster and 9 times faster Graphics than the original iPad but has the same low power consumption as the A4 processor in the original iPad, which means that the battery charge will still last 10 hours, even with the faster processor. The iPad 2 has a Front and Rear camera and comes in Black or White and will work with both AT&T and Verizon carriers. Both Photo Booth and FaceTime software is included to take advantage of the new built-in cameras. The rear camera not only takes snap shots but doubles as an HD video camera which brings about the next version of iMovie, now for the iPad 2. iMovie for iPad 2 includes a Precision editor, Multitrack audio recording, New themes and AirPlay to your Apple TV. Share your videos in HD. It's a Universal application which means any project that's in iPad 2, can be transferred back to your Mac. A second Apple App for the iPad 2 will be Garage Band which includes 8 tracks of recording and Smart Instruments that helps you learn how to play an instrument. Both iMovie and Garage Band will be priced at $4.99 US each. IOS 4.3 brings better Safari browser performance, iTunes home sharing which allows access to your iTunes library on your Mac or PC to stream your music and videos to your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Better AirPlay streaming to your Apple TV 2 such as being able to view video from a web page and any App. You can use Apple TV's built-in slideshows when streaming photos from your iDevice too. There is a new Preference for the right-side iPad switch which can either act as a mute or a rotation lock switch. The last major feature in the IOS 4.3 software update is a Personal Hotspot for the iPhone 4. This will allow you to create a wireless Internet connection using your iPhone 4's 3G network for your laptop computer when there isn't a wireless Internet connection nearby. A new HDMI adapter will also be available. It will offer Mirrored Video Output which means anything that shows on the iPad screen for example, will show on the HDTV that the iPad is connected to. The HDMI adapter will support resolutions up to 1080 progressive, it'll work with all apps, will support screen rotation and no special setup or configuration is required. The HDMI adapter will cost $39.00 US.Then, there is the new covers for the iPad 2. The covers feature a magnetic hinge which grasp and auto-aligns itself to the iPad 2. Has a Micro-fiber lining underneath that cleans the iPad 2's screen, wakes the iPad 2 when lifting the cover and sleeps the iPad 2 when closed and is easy to remove or change. It comes in 10 colors, 5 colors in Polyurethane for $39.00 US and 5 colors in Leather for $69.00 US each.

The iPad 2 will be the same price as last year's iPad.

The iPad 2, IOS 4.3, iMovie and Garage Band for iPad 2,

will be available March 11th.

Thank You

I would like to say Thank You to my clients and family that have supported MacMobile Services over the years and during these extremely tough economic times. I'd like to thank Phil Doty of Fairfield for his generosity recently. I'd also like to thank Bill Bounsall of Bounsall Construction in Calistoga and Larry and Joyce Brown of Farifield for their generosity and the long relationship with MacMobile Services over the years. A special thank you goes to my aunt Shelley at Marin Country Arborists Tree Service www.marincountyarborists.com for her support from the beginning along with my Mom who keeps encouraging me to keep going and not to give up during these rough times.

I want to thank the following clients for their great testimonials for MacMobile Services, I really appreciate the kind words for the work I've done over the years. It means a lot to me knowing that my clients are satisfied customers; Michael Rosenthal, Al Bayless www.albaylessphoto.com, Phil Doty, Max Beere, Ron Kline, Layna Kinsman, Elissa Benn, Dr. James Neely, Michael Witt and Vern and Linda Bendsen. I look forward to providing much more service and support to you in the future, Thank You.

Suggestions Welcome

MacMobile Services wants to improve our services and further customize services to fit our clients better. Any suggestion you have would be greatly appreciated. You can leave a comment at the end of this Blog entry or send an email at: mserv@sbcglobal.net or send a Tweet at JohnAtMacMobile.