iTunes is finally in the Microsoft Store | Ars Technica: "Promised just over a year ago at Microsoft's Build conference in 2017, Apple iTunes is now finally available in the Microsoft Store."

Do as I say, not as I do.

Labels: Apple vs. Apple

Apple posts strong $45.4 billion in revenue on growing sales of 41 million iPhones: "As for the Mac, sales were 4.3 million, up slightly from the same period in 2016. Sales of the Mac were also up from 4.2 million in the March 2017 quarter."

Or, as they say, back to my Mac!

Labels: Apple ][ Forever, Apple vs. Apple

Amazon supercharges GPU power, spits out Nvidia-backed G3 • The Register

Look, ma, I smell Metal in the cloud...

Labels: Apple vs. Apple

'OK, everyone. Stop typing, this software is DONE,' said no one ever • The Register

Parallels forevah!

Labels: Apple vs. Apple

Developers Are Already Impressed With Apple's Augmented Reality Software - Motherboard: "At this year's annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple released a suite of augmented reality development tools, which it refers to as ARKit. It's only been out for a week, and already, it's being called a game changer. "

Also rich in superlatives and low-calorie. Personally, the amazeballs of Metal has given me reason to forgive Apple for Swift.

Labels: Apple vs. Apple

Apple announces support for external graphics cards, virtual reality platforms in macOS High Sierra: "Introduced alongside Metal 2, Apple's next-generation graphics API, the forthcoming support fulfills a promise made when Thunderbolt ports were first included in Mac years ago. Specifically, Metal 2 includes new assets that work with external GPUs connected over Thunderbolt 3. "

Hey look: a developer announcement!

Labels: Apple vs. Apple

Microsoft launches finished Visual Studio for Mac with support for all Apple platforms: "The finished Studio release can be used to create apps for macOS, iOS, tvOS, watchOS and Android, as well as Web and cloud apps, Microsoft said. Some features include Git integration, an extension system, and multi-platform app templates."

I'm a big fan of Apple products and a long-time lover of Xcode. However, with that said, once the iPhone started taking off, Xcode became a somewhat hostile platform for traditional Mac development. Too many changes, too many compromises from supporting both iOS/Mac in one tool, too many releases, too little backwards compatibility, too many bugs. Too many great Mac development features were ripped out of Xcode. I still enjoy/use the tools but I also like to be able to chart a practical development plan without getting hit on the head with a forced upgrade once a year. Not everything about agile and continuous deployment is a boon. Microsoft, for what it's worth, built a huge business by taking care of their ISV's first, not chasing consumer fads. The ISV's built Windows into what it is, a platform juggernaut in vertical and horizontal markets. I'm cautiously optimistic about these new tools from Microsoft and I also think it's great for the Mac platform to have more serious developers using Macs for everything: shell scripting, Android, Mac, iOS, web, and, why not, Windows and C#.

Honestly, I don't need a new compiler and a new operating system upgrade once a year. And I don't think anyone else does either. Except maybe the press.

It could be worse though, one might be stuck maintaining JavaScript. That's the real nightmare: code written last week that only runs on one browser (and only the build that came out last week).

Mac OS X development was so orderly under the stewardship of Avie Tevanian.

Here are some interesting, related thoughts about the lack real value in the hype of constant churn:
youtube.com/watch?v=3E7hkPZ-HTk
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/05/windows-10-hits-500-million-devices-growing-by-two-thirds-in-a-year/

Labels: Apple vs. Apple

Uber Secretly Tracked Users, Spied On Lyft Prompting Tim Cook To Threaten Apple Store Expulsion | Zero Hedge: " The idea of fooling Apple, the main distributor of Uber’s app, began in 2014. At the time, Uber was dealing with widespread account fraud in places like China, where tricksters bought stolen iPhones that were erased of their memory and resold. Some Uber drivers there would then create dozens of fake email addresses to sign up for new Uber rider accounts attached to each phone, and request rides from those phones, which they would then accept. Since Uber was handing out incentives to drivers to take more rides, the drivers could earn more money this way."

If the rules allow iPhone device holders to perpetrate fraud, I think the rules should be changed.

Labels: Apple vs. Apple

US appeals court says public has right to sue Apple over App Store exclusivity: "A U.S. federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that people do indeed have the right to sue Apple over limiting iOS devices to apps from the App Store, potentially paving the way for an open app marketplace in the future."

Caveat emptor.

Labels: Apple ][ Forever, Apple vs. Apple

Apple engineer briefly discusses early iPhone work, hardware development security: "Lambert claims that he wrote 6% of the MacOS Kernel as measured by lines of code, or about 100,000 lines a year, much of which was repurposed for the iOS kernel."

Code can last a long time if the layer underneath it is solid.

Labels: Apple vs. Apple

Apple AI researchers gagged no more, now allowed to publish and confer with colleagues: "After years of silence from Apple's researchers over fear of losing commercial intellectual property, the company is now allowing employees in artificial intelligence to not only publish their research, but also interface with other academics in the field to further the overall development of the technology."

Either the end of the beginning or the beginning of The End.

Labels: Apple vs. Apple

The guy who named iMac says Apple's names are too confusing | Cult of Mac: "Former Apple marketing guru Ken Segall helped launched Apple’s string of i-devices, but now he says that the company has lost its way from simplicity lately and there’s no clearer sign than the confusing naming scheme of the iPhone.

Hmmmmm.

Labels: Apple vs. Apple