ForbesOnTech

It's Time to let Steve Jobs Enjoy Some Peace-- Shouldn't Media know When it's Too Intrusive

    I've grown quite tired of technology and business writers making hay and headlines with reports on the health of Apple's co-founder Steve jobs.

    Reports in Gawker Media's ValleyWag here stating that Mr. jobs had been admitted to Stanford hospital over the weekend, speculating he was being operated on for Liver Cancer drove me over the edge.

    The post carried information from a source identified only as being an employee of Stanford Hospital.That an employee of any hospital would publicly disclose whether or not anyone is a patient at the hospital and provides the media any information on a patient's condition goes beyond despicable. Furthermore, that bottom feeding reporters who never leave their offices or homes to conduct basic "fact" gathering would base their information on such sources goes beyond the pale. In addition, what sets my teeth futrher on edge about ValleyWag and other media outlets coverage of Steve jobs is that reporters don't seem not to be asking a fundamental question: "Does the source have reason to know the information they've provided me."

    I've reached the point in life where I've grown exceedingly tired of reading about Steve Jobs. That's not the same as saying I don't care about Apple, or Mr.Jobs' future or impact on the company and personal computing.

    Truthfully, i care about both Apple and the cautionary tale that I think will be Steve Jobs' heritage when the day comes he leaves Apple at the end of a very noteworthy career.

    There are  Several things I'd like to see in this regard: Foremost, I want to see a reporter or book author get off their asses, out of their offices and try to make face to face contact with Jobs after having first prepared appropriate questions. Part and parcel with this, I'd also like to see named sources in articles and forthcoming books. I'm tired of the same rehash of the story told initially by ex-Infoworld reporters Paul Freiberger and Mike Swain in the seminal book, "Fire in the Valley." Editorial managers and literary agents have played a huge role in my changing view of how poorly Mr. Jobs and Apple has been covered. No one seems to be demanding basic reporting, resulting in books that under serve Apple's on-going story.

Also, why have so few reporters tried to turn Apple board members, or informed third parties into sources? If there was ever a time for enterprise reporting techniques to be used on Apple, it's now.

    It's unfortunate that the working press has gotten lazy in its Apple coverage. It's a sad day when hacks turn to second rate sources, or do their reporting while leeching free drinks at parties hosted by Web 2.0 sometime luminaries blowing chunks of their first-round funding on parties for technological strap hangers.

    Covering Apple and Steve jobs has always been a challenging editorial assignment for most reporters.  Sadly, few reporters ever drilled down beyond this company's veneer and the culture of it founders.  I hope that someday, an author will take the time to do a worthwhile book on the culture Steve jobs created and drove. What I've read for the last decade, however, convinces me that stories about Apple are under reported and overblown.

    Steve jobs faces serious health issues. In addition to being Apple's on-leave chairman and CEO, he is also a husband and a father. It's time he was allowed to have some semblance of privacy--Jim Forbes 01/25/2009.

        (Disclosure: I covered Apple as a reporter at InfoWorld and PC Week and admit to having used unnamed sources at times when the source declined to be named but satisfied me that they had reason to know about the subject matter I was reporting on. I was known to rummage through trash, call people in the evenings and conduct  amicable "ambush" interviews away from controlling corporate spokespeople. )

Apple's new Macbook; Great graphics, Solid Construction--But is an Aluminum Unibody Reason Enough to Buy?

       I’m not immune from the excitement surrounding Apple’s new Macbook.

So, I trekked 8 miles down to the Apple store at the local Westfield Mall and waited my turn to touch and look at Apple’s beautiful new portable.

       Fortunately, when I came home, a boyhood chum who also lives in the San Diego area called me, mentioning he had the new MacBook and invited me down to his place for a “test drive.”

      Fishtailing down four lanes of I-15, I pulled into my buddy’s driveway 20 minutes after I hung up. I sat down in front of his new shiny MacBook and opened a Works document file.

      I like the fit and finish of the new macbook with the 13-inch screen a great deal. The case appears solid enough to withstand earthquakes, repeated trips around campus in a back pack as well as hurried runs through hallways to ad hoc staff meetings.  Solid construction is vital to any portable, since it’s yet another guarantee of product reliability On it’s shiny aluminum surfaces, Apple’s new Mac Books look tough, as in Panzer tough.

      My one minor concern about this machine’s construction is based on what I know about metals and alloys.  If I bought one of the new machines, I would make damn sure I also purchased a padded sleeve for it. One of the downsides of aluminum construction is that aluminum is easily scratched.

       The screen on this machine may be one it’s most important feature. It’s incredibly bright and produce displays that should make most users quite happy.

       In fact Video is the one application that sets the new unibody Macbook at the top of a very short list of portable computers that may be ideal for enthusiast video editing. Its nVidia graphics controller flat out delivers screamer performance and the backlit glass panel display yields stunning grsphics. I was extremely surprised to see how good displays looked on the new MacBook when I took it outside. The display gets high passing grades from me indoors or outdoors.

       One downside: Apple’s use of an nVidia video controller designed for desktops may cut into battery life, but appropriate power management should address this slight shortcoming.

       Another element of the new Apple unibody portables that’s apparent is this: Apple’s learned from its past mistakes. For example: the new machines come standard with an optical drive (not included in the Macbook Air) and important user interface hardware such as the keyboards and trackpad have also been changed.

       I like the new raised keys used on this revamped portable line. They have above average tactile feedback.  In fact, I believe the Macbook’s new keyboard is as good as anything used by Lenovo on ThinkPad machines.

       I have mixed feelings on Apple’s new (glass-covered) track pad. On one hand the lack of surface tension is nice and honestly compliments using gestures for image and data manipulation. Sadly, I inadvertently sent the cursor to unexpected places on the screen two or three times during my brief test of this new portable (caused I suspect by the fact I have very large hands and am somewhat handicapped in my left hand). I quickly, however, mastered and came to admire the clickable trackpad, which seems to me to be a natural, but long-overdue extension of track pad technologies

      In summary, the new MacBook’s design is nice and helps to make it standout in a crowded market. Its construction, fit and finish compliment the image of this portable’s durability.  The graphics controller and screen technologies deliver an experience that’s well above average. I really do like the trackpad and keyboard on the new unibody Macbook and MacBook Pros but sincerely wish Apple had used lighted keys on this new product line’s entry level machines. I think Apple’s pricing for the unibody Macbook’s is artificially high but believe there are users who will buy them anyway.

      In the grand scheme of things, aluminum unibody construction is nice, but I doubt it’s a tipping point in anyone’s purchase decision. This seems particularly true in a market where consumers are increasingly influenced foremost by price.  If you buy a new unibody Macbook go the extra distance and buy a padded sleeve to cradle this notebook in your backpack, book bag or attaché case. And, unless you want to spend hours rubbing and polishing out scratches, never ever put your keys in the same luggage real estate as your new MacBook.

   TGhe new Macbooks don't make it to the short list of "poroduct's I'd like to buy" because iu think it's priced to high—Jim Forbes on 11/01/2008

Microsoft Wake Up--Apple is gaining Intellectual Capital and Market

I’m a big fan of all-in-one computer designs like Apple’s new svelte iMac. I like they way they look and I love the idea of freeing up desk space for more of the essential clutter of my life. Truth be told, I think Apple’s industrial designs are fetching. But that’s not why I think watching Apple’s progress in the computer market should be a primary concern to Microsoft and a small handful of licensees such as Hewlett Packard, Gateway, and Acer (all of which have also developed and marketed all-in-one desktop designs over the years).

Three times over the last 9 months I have urged friends or relatives to buy an Apple iMac. In each case, I made my recommendation because an Intel-based iMac didn’t require that the owner go out and buy Mac-specific software, or because the consultee could really benefit from several of the Mac’s somewhat unique features.

The most important Apple feature today is Mac OSX. It’s incredibly reliable, powerful and one of the most utilitarian operating systems ever developed for a personal computer. And I believe OSX is a real threat to Microsoft’s one-time market hegemony.

Another thing I really love about current the current and just released iMac line is its software bundle. It’s first-rate and redefines the words and concept of “personal productivity software.” It’s not like much of the current disk wasting shovel ware that clutters up most consumer Wintel machines. I’m somewhat interested in cinematography and filmmaking. If I were a lot younger and in college, I’d have an iMac in my dorm and use it to produce documentaries on California history and other topics I’m interested in.

One of the best start-up pitches I’ve ever seen (including the nearly ten years  I produced Demo shows) was shown to me last year at a local college. The entire pitch was assembled and produced using bundled Mac software and shown to me on an iMac with a huge 24-inch screen.  It was presented using iFilm and had I been capable of investing in this student business plan I might have cut a check on the spot. Hands down, it was better than any PowerPoint pitch I’ve ever seen.

Apple has changed recently. While it enjoys the most loyal user base in the known galaxy, it now seems to understand that money doesn’t really  grow on trees . The iMac platform comes with most everything anyone needs to get basic tasks completed and it doesn’t require its users to go out and spend nearly a grand on software and hardware, or to become software-copying felons. Chalk another one up for the new Apple.

That iMac can also run Windows is not the least bit important to me. And, looking back over 20 years, it’s never really been all that important to Mac users since the capability was introduced via add-in coprocessor cards when the first expandable Macs were introduced a long time ago.

I hope Microsoft is paying close attention to what Apple has done with OSX, and the Mac’s personal productivity applications. And this certainly applies to the manufacturers of Windows-based computers.

Apple’s designs are attractive and moderately priced. But there is still one thing that the Wintel architecture does much better than Apple.  That task is using a desktop computer as a personal video recorder.  As it stands now, Windows Media Center computers are much less expensive than the iMac/Apple TV combination.

Wintel for now has a decided lead in tablet computing. Although Apple reportedly has much of the basic technology for tablet computing  in house, it has yet to launch a convertible version of it’s MacBook portable.

But I have a gut feeling that this too will change before the leaves on my stone fruit and avocado trees turn red, then orange, then brown.

In the end the more competition there is in the marketplace, the better the experience for users. And who knows, maybe a renewed hard charging Apple could force Microsoft off the dime and make it refocus on true innovation. Jim Forbes, Apple Dreaming on rural northern San Diego County on 0870/07/2007.