Tips From Tony Blog

I can’t recommend investing in expensive high-definition (”HD”) video equipment, at least until Apple starts cleaning up the hassles for everybody else. NONE of the stuff currently available is guaranteed to be able to function properly due to the new, hardcore “content-protection” restrictions coming up.

You may not have noticed this before, but I haven’t written a single word about the new high-definition video disk formats (Blu-Ray and HD-DVD). One would think that somebody who surfs on the very tip of the wave of change would have expressed some strong opinions a long time ago.

Well, they stink, I don’t desire to own them, and I don’t support them. I don’t know ANY other “early adopter” who owns either one. It’s as simple as that.

The problem here is that every decision being made in the high-definition hardware arena is being made in favor of the Lords of All Media. NOT YOU. Your job is to buy their stuff, and to take what you get, and then to pay for all-new stuff when they decide that you should.

Basically, NOTHING in the HD world is being designed without the big corporate media-owners getting first crack at protecting their profits. They want to control all aspects of the signal; from the disk surface, to the pixels that land on your screen, and all hardware in between. That’s a problem, because the general public has not been graced with any guarantees that one component will allow the next one in line to function.

No wonder folks have already cracked the existing HD-DVD copy-protection scheme.

This sort of consumer-hostile thinking led to the failure of the “iPod-Killer” Zune media player. You would think that manufacturers would learn, but they just keep flailing way.

I was reading this fascinating article about the horrors of trying to make high-definition media work with Windows Vista, but it’s awfully techno-nerdly, so I’ll hand-edit the following quote so that non-nerds can get the gist:

“I’ve just had my first experience with High-Definition content being blocked. I purchased an HP Media Center PC with a built-in HD DVD player, together with a 24″ ‘high definition’ HP flat panel display. They even included an HD movie, ‘The Bourne Supremacy’. Sure enough, the movie won’t play because while the video card supports HDCP content protection, the monitor doesn’t. (It plays if I connect an old 14″ monitor)”

It’s all bad news, which is why I’m very curious about Apple’s future HD plans - They are gently shifting into the high-definition hardware and software market, and I believe that the other manufacturers are anxious to follow Apple’s lead. If ANYBODY can tame the messy, incompatible hardware, software and delivery channels without pissing everybody off, it will be Apple, and everybody else will gladly follow the leader.

The sheep need a Border Collie!

Any idea how I can find out who manufactures our Dell 3010cn laser printer which we have here at work? We’re trying to buy replacement cartridges without going through Dell, and figure somebody must make them for whoever the manufacturer of the printer is. The label on the back says “manufactured for Dell” so we know someone else is building them.

- Go to Google Maps

- Type in your local mailing-address (example: One Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014) and search for it.

- Click on “Find Businesses”

- Search for

toner recycling

- Each business entry will have contact-info, and some of them will even have web-links for their home-pages.

CALL THEM and ask them directly. If the “engine” inside your Dell is a common one, using common cartridges, every toner-recycling shop will be fully aware of it. It’s their business to know.

Toner-recycling (which is what you really, really want) is THE most cost-effective way to pay for toner, and it’s ecologically friendly. It’s also very, very local by nature, which is why I sent you to Google Maps. Many local places will even stop by to pick up the old cartridges to be refilled, and will drop off the fresh ones at the same time.

It’s to your advantage to develop a long-term relationship with one of your local toner-recycling shops.  It’ll save you thousands of dollars!

Dateline: Macworld Expo 2007

Photoshop CS3

I spent some time watching the Photoshop CS3 beta demonstration today, and it was wonderful - The main impressions I’m taking away with me are:

- It’s jammed with new, very worthwhile features
- It’s a lot faster (on Intel Macs), and
- It’s going to be worth the upgrade, but…
- We will all need to take tutorials to find the best new tools.

Once Photoshop CS3 comes out in final, production form, I will probably be giving overview classes, just to motivate everybody to learn more.

Apple Consultants Network

I spent some time chatting with the folks representing the Apple Consultants Network today, and I think that I’m going to re-join. I used to belong to the ACN back in the very first days, but it didn’t suit my needs at the time. According to everything that I’m hearing, it’s time to give it another look. I expect that I’ll be getting referrals from other local consultants, once they find out that my specialty is CREATIVE people - Fussy, non-linear, high-maintenance types. I love ‘em!

MOST nerdly consultants get a bad case of the hives from folks like that. Creative folks don’t communicate in the same fashion as technical types, and they tend to talk right past each other. I’m unusual because I can speak fluent Geek (sometime it feels like Ancient Geek), but I relate better to artists than to accountants.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of vendors, products, publications, handouts, demos and people that I haven’t written about, and I feel guilty about it (that darned Catholic Guilt!). Instead of trying to feed you the whole smorgasbord via two-fingered typing, I chose to absorb the entire show osmotically and to use what I’ve learned in future writings. If you’re one of my local clients, you can grill me directly, next time that we see each other!

I’m very glad that I came here this week… It’s wonderful to be at the very tip of the wave of change, and everybody here is on the same blissful high. I haven’t seen anybody be a jerk. I’m surrounded by Techno-Hippies!

Dateline Macworld Expo 2007

I don’t have a unifying theme for this posting, so I’ll just ramble (in a really endearing way) for a bit:

The iPhone

I’m finding it difficult to express how the upcoming Apple iPhone has avalanched over everyone’s consciousness here. It’s clearly a big hit with the early-adopter nerd crowd. From what I’m hearing, it’s all that anybody’s talking about in Las Vegas at the CES convention. Lots of people in Nevada are wondering if they are attending the wrong convention!

This photo doesn’t begin to show how many people are jammed around the Apple pavilion. The seats are full of nerdy oldsters, and they are surrounded by hundreds of avid people who don’t move a muscle (or blink much) during the entire presentation. It’s a standing-room-only show, over and over, all day long.

The AppleTV Box

I griped about the lack of support for geeky file-formats yesterday, but I’ve relented a bit since then. Who knows? Maybe Apple’s two supported file-formats for high-definition video will force the rest of the world to stop coming out with exotic video-clips that require a dedicated techie to enjoy. I really don’t relish finding player-programs that constantly need to be upgraded in order to support some new, alien video format. It’s time to settle down and go with the simplest answers. Thanks, Apple!

I Think That I May Have Instigated A Fight

I went up to one of the guys from Apple’s Aperture Team and asked him whether they had inspected the new Photoshop CS3 beta yet. He told me that nobody had said anything about it to him, so I pointed him to the Lynda.com booth about 200 feet away and told him that they featured some free Quicktime tutorials that clearly demonstrated how Adobe Bridge (that comes free with Photoshop CS3 beta) is a direct rip-off of ALL of Apple’s Aperture interface design and features. He got a hard glint in his eyes and thanked me very fervently.

I suspect that Apple’s team is going to be very angry at Adobe for designing software (included with Photoshop) that is designed to kill off Apple’s pro-photographer business! If scuffling breaks out while I’m here (or a naked knife-fight), I’ll video-capture it for you on my Treo 650. Yes, my next phone will be an iPhone.

Warm, Tender, Affectionate Thoughts about Microsoft

I admit it - I’m a complete pig for being pampered. I’ve been tramping around the Moscone Convention Center for the last few days, lugging my computer bag and getting back-aches. One of the high points of my day is to arrive at the Microsoft Blogger’s Lounge. I sign in, sink into a big, comfy chair, hook up to a nice, fast Ethernet cable and grab a soda. MmmMMmmmm… Nerd Paradise.

I’ve been writing these messages from the Lounge, and it’s so much better than sitting on the sidewalk outside the Apple Store, getting pigeon-poop on my butt while I leech the free Airport signal after the store is closed. I can afford to pay ten dollars a day to get Internet access at my hotel, but I object on moral grounds.

To me, it’s sort of like being charged for water, or electricity, or sewage pipes (or air) in the modern age. The Internet is CRUCIAL in the new century, and being charged for it (when the competition doesn’t) is just plain dumb. No hotels without free internet from now on!

What’s In My Plastic Bag

Everything that I’m buying during this trip is a Business Expense, but I’m still being very frugal in my choices. My wildly-profligate days are over. So - What items have I found that I’m willing to spend money upon?

- I couldn’t resist the Expo Discount Price for Micromat’s Techtool ProToGo software, which simplifies the process of creating digital “doctor’s bags”, in the form of those little keychain drives that contain all of the best diagnostic-tools for a computer consultant’s needs, along with a bootable copy of the operating-system.

I can whip out my keys, plug in a thumb-drive, re-start while holding down the Option key on the Mac’s keyboard, and start up my favorite diagnostic programs that will help me to fix the Mac’s problems. It’s a heck of a lot faster than booting from a CD - around 1/3 the wait. I have better things to do with my youth and beauty than wait eighteen minutes for Disk Warrior to boot frm a clunky old CD!

- I bought three MacAlly IceCams - They were cheap, and they will allow more of my family-members to video-chat with the rest of us. You can’t get iSight webcams from Apple any more, and the used-iSight market is pretty expensive for what you get.

So, I bought three webcams that will work (adequately) with older Macs, and this will shove a few family-members further along the path to long-distance web-chatting pleasures. I love my family, and want to see them more often.

- I bought a few MacWorld 2007 shirts. Two of them say “Mac Daddy” on them, and the third one is a nice “bowling-shirt” design.

What I WISH Was In My Plastic Bag

- I’m quite attracted to the NEC Multeos flat-screen LCD monitors. I’m planning to sell my 1961 Imperial Crown Convertible on eBay starting March 1, 2007, and I have only ONE “frivolous” purchase in mind after I sell the car and several tons (no exaggeration) of parts. I want a big-screen display for the living-room.

I’m limited to a certain physical size for the display - It has to fit between the hammered-copper sconces on the wall of our 1918 Craftsman-style bungalow’s living-room. Also, it shouldn’t be an eyesore design that will clash with our “turn-of-the-century front parlor” decor. Whatever monitor I eventually get, I’m tempted to construct a frame out of quarter-sawn oak that will make the monitor appear to be an antique from 1918!

So, I stopped by the NEC booth and threw some unusual questions at the reps standing around. All of my nerdly concerns were handled nicely… My main interest was in how Mac-friendly the plug-in connectors were. No matter how pretty a display may be, if it doesn’t just plug in and work right away, EVERY SINGLE TIME, I can’t be bothered. Right now, the Mac-friendly NEC’s are at the top of my wish-list.

If you are about to buy a big-screen monitor for any purpose, it must, must MUST support “1080P” resolution. If it doesn’t clearly say so, walk on by. Only the newest monitors can handle such enormous resolution, but you WILL want it someday, so don’t be a cheapskate.

(Dateline Macworld Expo, in San Francisco)

‘This is a VERY PRELIMINARY review of what I have seen so far, and I will undoubtedly have a more-informed set of opinions later on.
Steve Jobs’ Keynote Speech

No, I did NOT attend the keynote speech this morning… I wasn’t willing to spend that much money. I had a lot of fun DURING the keynote, though. I was at the big Apple Store a few blocks away, reading the online blogger notes that described what was going on inside the auditorium. I was gleefully shouting out the high points to the Apple employees gathered around me in a crowd. My picture is going to be a in at least twenty publications!

The Quicktime broadcast of Steve’s speech is now available for your pleasure - It’s well-worth watching.

In the meantime, just head on over to apple.com and browse the featured pages.

iPhone - The Newton Returns!

I was one of the uber-geeks who rushed out to buy the Apple Newton MessagePad when it first came out in 1993 - Nothing like it had been seen before, and it was a brand-new platform that borrowed nothing from anything else… Unfortunately, it shipped before it was fully-cooked, and when the Palm Pilot came out with a much simpler set of goals that were easily attained, the MessagePad was dropped from the market. The Palm Pilot was ALL about simple integration and exchange of data between the computer and the Palm Pilot. The Newton was a closed system.

Apple evidently learned a bitter lesson from the experience, and has waited almost ten years to attempt a whole new interface again. When Steve Jobs announced this morning that Apple had created the third major interface redesign, he listed the mouse-based interface, the iPod scroll-wheel, and the new iPhone interface. He tactfully avoided mentioning that OTHER major interface… The Newton’s pen-based system. Ah, well. He’d probably kick me in the shins for saying such an awful thing!

The new iPhone will be able to exchange just about any information between the computer and itself. Once it’s there, the new interface makes navigation so easy that you don’t even need a manual. That’s an enormous accomplishment. Yes, I’m planning to get two of them for our household, once they start shipping in June.

It’s Safe to Buy an Airport Base Station Again!

For a few months, I’ve been urging people to hold back on buying any kind of Airport Base Station. I knew that Apple had stopped production a long time ago, and they had to come out with something new. The new ones are really cooooool… They work faster, with greater range, and they can share multiple printers AND multiple hard drives!

They’ve finally given the Airport Extreme multiple Ethernet ports, just like any cheaper, modern router.

AppleTV

I’m trying really hard to see this delightful piece of hardware from the viewpoint of the average, non-nerdy household. It’s going to do VERY well and is going to sell a lot of big-screen TV’s. It’s hard to fault it when it is so sweetly designed. Yet, I’m sad because I want one so badly, but towering geeks like me can’t really USE it, at least so far.

At this moment, I have at least fourteen high-definition movies on my Mac - Not ONE of them will play on the AppleTV box. The modern age demands support for more and more standards, and the AppleTV supports only two - MPEG4 and H264 Movies. I’m bummed! I want to play files that I find all over the Internet - Waaah!