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| Subtle changes to Apple software: More innovation on its way? | | Date Created: 26 Sep, 2005, 01:15 PM |
 I've been enjoying the substantial improvement in Apple's products in recent days, including changes in .Mac and iTunes.
These are subtle rather than revolutionary shifts, but they portend big shifts to come, from my perspective of a long time Mac user and Apple watcher. Small improvements - and the mac mini has been rumoured to undergo a further update soon - "inform" Mac users that Apple is on the case.
Windows users, or Microsoft observers, hear frequent talk of updates and currently many MS watchers are feeling excited about what the company will release in 2006, including Vista and Office 12, which look look huge shifts.
Apple too has undergone a huge shift, moving to OS X, and portending another huge shift in June next year, when the first Intel-powered Macs are scheduled for release. I'm expecting that for most users this shift, as dramatic as it might be, will actually be almost invisible in day to day use, albeit hopefully with exciting new hardware.
.Mac has finally be updated. Apple has been talking this up for some time, firstly with talk of exclusive content for .mac accounts, such as widgets. This hasn't happened, but .Mac has been improved with the quadrupling of standard iDisk size (250MB -> 1GB) and doubling of the 1GB size to 2GB. I have several accounts, and the smaller one, where I keep my podcast files, is due for renewal very soon. So for that I'm grateful, as I was repeatedly being warned my email was almost reaching its quota. And I was running out of disk space for my podcasts, which I can now commence once more in my niche field.
But there have been some subtle changes too.
If you go to the default Safari homepage, it takes you to Apple's homepage here when you fire up Safari:
http://www.apple.com/startpage/
Now look on the right side and you'll notice the invitation to explore .Mac. It looks like this: |
 If you click on the arrows, you're taken to the various .Mac areas which allow you to explore the various .Mac features.
But if you are logged in to your .Mac account via the www.mac.com log-in area, and then either refresh the Apple start page in Safari, or open a new tab and go to the same URL, your .Mac log-in is registered. |
 The .Mac welcome changes to recognise your log-in as you can see here, at left.
Now it recognises your .Mac account name. You are then presented with one of a number of possible icons which relate to various features of .Mac: iSync (as illustrated), Backup, iCards, etc.
Once you are logged in, you can keep refreshing the page to see the various icons which rotate. Clicking on any of the icons takes you to the relevant homepage where you can learn more about the specific features of the .Mac application.
It's a small thing, but it is reminiscent of the personal recognition you find when you revisit Amazon.com. Now some may see this as a privacy issue, but so far I am content to have my last purchases in the Amazon database, and suggestions made to me as to new books by the same author of a book I purchased recently, or a product gizmo I ordered.
I imagine Apple can and will do the same, reminding me initially of .mac renewals, and perhaps other innovations on their way.
One more example of subtle changes Apple is introducing:
iTunes 5.0 (and now 5.0.1) introduced a change to the appearance of the world's favourite jukebox software, as well as increased functionality with respect to how iTunes searches and displays results.
But there is another welcome addition. Having setup some playlists of my own, including a "smart" one entitled "new podcasts" where I set the date to reflect the latest downloads, I am often also dragging files into other playlists manually.
When you drag multiple files, not only does your mouse icon change to the familiar green "dot plus" symbol, but the familiar red number icon (familiar from Mail where it shows new unread email) displays to show how many files you are transferring. You can see it here: |
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These subtle additions, not shouted from the rooftops by Apple, serve to tell me that Apple is sticking to its guns of continuous innovation. It helps to make my work more efficient, and while some of these changes I didn't ask for, they are welcomed nonetheless because I see the value to me.
My reading of comments so far on Vista and Office 12 are that many new additions will be foistered on end users, such that huge shifts of attention might be needed to absorb them in day to day use. This is dangerous territory for any software company, especially for Office which I have often said has features which only 5% will ever use - or is that 95% will only ever use 5% of its features?
As long as Apple keeps adding subtle yet useful innovations, and then spring surprising ones like the iPod nano, I will stay with the program. The next innovation I expect? A hardware/software combination to help me take advantage of that extra room on .mac as well as the extra monthly transfer rates to help make podcasting easier and simpler. iTunes podcast subscription helps the listener; now it's time for producers to get some Apple assistance.
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