This Week's Sponsor:

DEVONTHINK

Store, Organize, and Work the Smart Way

Ten Years of Mac Mini – A Timeline→

This weekend marks the ten year anniversary of the first Mac mini. I feel confident in saying that no one has watched this little machine grow more intently than I have watched it. It’s the center of everything I do here at Macminicolo.

Macminicolo’s Brian Stucki has put together a timeline with highlights from the past 10 years of the Mac mini. It’s fun to look back at the original “iHome” rumor and I’m glad the mini (the small but powerful machine that runs this website) is still around today.

Permalink

Connected: 50% My Duty→

To ring in 2015, the boys spend some time with weird old browsers, Hackintoshes, the rumored 12-inch MacBook Air and Federico’s attempts to reinvent his nerd life.

This week’s Connected includes notes about my experiments with new apps and services as well as a good discussion about the rumored 12-inch MacBook Air. You can listen to the episode here.

Sponsored by:

  • Hover: Simplified Domain Management. Use code ‘RECONNECTED’ for 10% off your first purchase.
  • Loot Crate: a monthly subscription box service for epic geek and gamer items and pop culture gear. Use code VIRTUAL for 10% off.
Permalink

A History of Apple News and Rumors During CES

To those of us who follow technology news closely, this time of the year is dominated by the barrage of CES news. But it often seems as though Apple, which doesn’t attend the exhibition, also has some of its biggest days in the press – coincidentally, or not. This was brought to light again yesterday as Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac published details of a rumoured 12” MacBook Air and a timeline for the Apple Watch launch. I have no idea whether the information leaked to Gurman was timed to coincide with CES or not – it may very well just be completely unrelated.[1]

But regardless of the intention of Gurman’s leaker, I was curious to see whether Apple really did have big news days during CES in past years as I had remembered. So I ventured over to Techmeme (which links to big technology stories every day) and went into their archives to look at what was on their front page at 7:10 PM on every day of CES since 2007. Whenever a big Apple news story appeared, I made a note of it. This is the result.

Read more

The Ultimate Unofficial Dropbox Guide [Sponsor]

Dropbox isn’t just a folder, and you can maximize its potential to simplify your work and personal life.

The Ultimate Unofficial Dropbox Guide was created to help the modern knowledge worker who wants to make their digital life more organized and efficient. The guide is a comprehensive look to power-using Dropbox, whether you’re just setting up your Dropbox account or already think you’re a pro.

Sample topics include: Comprehensive walk-throughs for photo sharing; best practices for organizing your folders and documents; keeping your files secure; and automating tasks using IFTTT.

Complimentary bonus products include a handy keyboard-shortcut reference page, 15 Tips and Tricks for Families, and Photosharing Guides for you and a beginning photo guide to giv eaway to your less-savvy family members who still want to see photos of your kids.

For more information and to preview free samples, check out The Ultimate Unofficial Dropbox Guide’s website here.

Our thanks to The Ultimate Unofficial Dropbox Guide for sponsoring MacStories this week.

The 2014 Panic Report→

Panic is one of my favorite software companies and I’m happy to see Cabel Sasser posting this today:

Panic is a multi-million dollar business that has turned a profit for 17 years straight.

It just hit me, typing those words, that that’s a pretty insane thing to be able to say. (And, sure, we barely qualify). Believe me, I know it won’t last forever — but wow, what a kind of crazy deal.

All the problems mentioned by Cabel in the post are related to the App Store. If you look closely, the 2014 Panic Report is also a well written summary of areas where Apple’s App Stores (plural, for iOS and Mac) could improve.

Permalink

Improving iOS 8 Keyboards→

David Chartier sums up my feelings on custom iOS 8 keyboards so far:

As interesting as iOS keyboards can be, their initial implementation at the OS level is severely flawed. They’re cumbersome to setup, switching between them is needlessly tedious, and limitations make it difficult to teach users about keyboard features. As far as I can tell, all these problems require solutions and improvements from Apple at the OS level.

I only use custom keyboards that solve a specific problem: Clips, for copying multiple bits of text; KuaiBoard, for visual snippets; Emoji++, because it’s better than Apple’s emoji keyboard. Even with these keyboards (which I only activate when I need them – as utilities) I’ve been annoyed by the system’s tediousness in switching between them and lack of consistency.

I haven’t been able to stick with any replacement keyboard as my primary one. In the first version of iOS 8, keyboards were too buggy to be used as daily drivers, but even after fixes I can’t use a non-Apple one on a daily basis. I’d miss the system autocorrection, QuickType, dictation, and shortcuts that I’ve grown to know over the years. Hopefully Apple will soften its stance on what’s off-limits to custom keyboards with iOS 9. Personally, I quite like Apple’s keyboard – I just wish it supported multiple languages at once.

Permalink

Balance

When I started MacStories in 2009, two pillars sustained the narrative around Apple: its “attention to detail” and the “just works” aspect of its software. Since iOS 7, it feels like those pillars have begun eroding at a quicker pace.

Read more

Connected: The Illusion of Choice→

At the end of 2014, Stephen and Myke reflect on what proved to be a wild year in technology.

I wasn’t available for episode 20 of Connected, but Myke and Stephen did a great job in recapping 2014 and what we saw in technology last year. You can listen to the episode here.

Sponsored by:

  • lynda.com: An easy and affordable way to help individuals and organizations learn. Free 10-day trial.
  • Sketchparty TV: the fun, fast drawing and guessing game for Apple TV.
  • Squarespace: Start Here. Go Anywhere. Use code WORLD for 10% off
Permalink

Virtual: Skipping the Zombie Dinner→

This week Federico and Myke share their holiday experiences, before discussing what games are coming in 2015, Federico’s further time with Minecraft and Myke’s impressions of the Wii U.

And if you’re interested in getting started with Minecraft after listening to Virtual, don’t miss episode 20 of Inquisitive with John Moltz, co-author of The Visual Guide to Minecraft. You can listen to the episode here.

Sponsored by:

  • Squarespace: Start Here. Go Anywhere. Use code INSERTCOIN for 10% off
Permalink