Software rules.
And geeks have inherited the Earth.
I wasn't going to watch the Apple presentation. Steve Jobs is dead and the excitement seems overblown.
But not on Monday.
You see I didn't like the news reports, they just weren't in depth enough. So I dove in, I watched the two hour and seventeen minute presentation. And I'm glad I did, because now I know what is truly going on, and I look forward to extracting the power from my devices when the software launches.
It's a hardware world in the media, run by old farts looking for metrics to make the incomprehensible sensible. Like iPhone sales. These were the same wankers who thought the gravy train would go on forever. But users knew you had to upgrade to the iPhone 5 for LTE and the 6 for the big screen. After that?
Sales started to decline, and Wall Street looked at these numbers. But they're no longer what counts.
Usability. Pushing of the envelope. Power. Those are the code words today.
It's like we're back in the seventies, at the Homebrew Computer Club. Only geeks are paying attention, and then you watch this presentation and you get excited about the possibilities.
The mainstream news is about the death of iTunes. This was on Mac sites weeks ago. AND IT'S NO BIG DEAL! All Apple is doing is exploding the app into three. Which is the way it already is on the iPhone, the device of choice. What, am I supposed to be reminiscing about Word 1.5? Or the days when a spell checker was an add on feature you purchased?
Once again, the mainstream gets the story wrong.
But the reporters were right about privacy. That's clear from the beginning of the presentation. Even better is the ability to log in with Sign In With Apple. You don't want to give all your info to Facebook, now you don't have to give up your info at all. I could explain it, but you're better off watching the presentation. Then again, you won't. But you also cough up your privacy on a regular basis and then bitch about it afterward.
They started with the Watch. I returned mine, I just couldn't see it, I'm too damn old. I don't want to put on my reading glasses every time I raise my wrist. But the demonstration was convincing, especially with the info right on the Watch, it no longer needs to be tethered to your phone. But then I also thought about the short battery life, that's the only thing holding this device back.
As for the iPhone, it's all about iOS 13. iPhone users upgrade the software on their devices, Android users don't. It's eighty five percent to ten percent.
But they tell us Android rules the world.
And Android is a pretty good product, but if you pair it with a PC... Windows has come a long way, but it's still got the look and feel of a techie-only device. The techies bitch about the lack of customization on the Mac, but that's a small fraternity, they can live on their PCs.
It's all about features, which Apple added. I know, I know, that's not sexy to the hoi polloi, but it is to those in the know. And the truth is upgrading your phone is now like upgrading your laptop or desktop computer, you only do it when the device is long in the tooth and it can't handle the new OS, or is too slow to work effectively.
As for the iPad, it now has its own OS, but it will never be a desktop replacement, but if you're a Pencil user...
I'm not, I only wish I was. But drawing is not my thing, and I don't mark up documents.
Kinda like I don't write software. But listening to the AR and Swift talk, it almost made me want to.
Like in the days when computing was a hobby, not de rigueur.
As for the new operating system Catalina, it too was about features.
That's why I blew two hours plus, I wanted to learn about the features not included in the news reports, because I want to extract as much power from my devices as I'm able to. That's right, there are the power people and the powerless. And if you're the latter, you really don't know what's going on.
Then again, we live in a world where so much is going on, no one can grasp it all.
But the mindblower was Minecraft Earth. The demonstrator put herself in the game. You'd have to see it to get it. And it made me realize the kids know what they're doing, if you want to get them out of the house you've got to build something exciting, or they won't go. Baseball has no chance against videogames. You can see why eSports is such a big deal. But most prognosticators have never been exposed to these games, they're brain dead in front of the flat screen. It's almost like music in the sixties, burgeoning, big, but the mainstream didn't get it until Woodstock. There will be a Woodstock moment in videogaming, just you wait. Could just be the money involved, but it's gonna be something that shows the oldsters they're on the wrong path.
So, the world is being pushed further by software. Sure, Apple released the halo Mac Pro, but if you're spending five figures on a computer, you already know all this, and now only pros will truly pony up for this stuff. Hell, the monitor STAND is nearly a GRAND!
But you were wowed by the features.
Emojis and Memojis are the entry points. But your devices have much more power than that. But chances are you don't know that, you probably have never even used AirDrop.
Yes, the leaders are pulling away from those who've been overloaded, who no longer care. But if you don't understand software, you don't understand the future. Like those in government trying to regulate Facebook. Believe me, limit the social media giant and something else will pop up, just like KaZaA blew up after Napster closed.
Oh, and one more thing... There were women presenters, even a handicapped presenter, to the point where you wondered if Apple was picking these people based on their identities. But, they did a good job of presenting, not only males are into computing. Or gaming for that matter.
Your devices will do more than just surf the web and send e-mail. You can now edit your photos easily, without having to be a pro. The big wheel keeps on turnin', and you'd better get on the Proud Mary or you're gonna be left behind.
www.apple.com/apple-events/june-2019/ And if you pull up the status bar at the bottom of the screen, you can see dots. Hover your finger or mouse over those dots and you can go directly to the part of the presentation that interests you most.
To see Minecraft Earth, go to 2:01:15, even better, navigate to a few minutes before to 1:58:45 to see the technology that makes this game possible.
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