Random thoughts: Apple’s 100,000 iPhone apps and the Google GPS app
Filed under: Apple Bashing, Cynicism, Opinion, iTunes
Two things happened today that filled me with a resounding feeling of… “meh”. Well, actually lots of underwhelming things happened today (I’m rather hard to overwhelm thanks to various mood evening drugs)) but two Apple-related things happened.
Apple to hit 100,000 iPhone Apps
The first announcement did not officially come from Apple itself, rather it came via the blog-o-sphere. Apparently Apple has now passed (or will reach in the next day or so) the 100,000 mark of apps on iTunes. I’m not all that sure that Apple should be all that proud of hitting that milestone. If anyone should be proud of that astronomical number, it is the developers of Apple’s iPhone Software Development Kit. They apparently did such a good job at designing the SDK that even people who have zero talent, originality, programing or artistic ability can now easily create a horrible app that does basically nothing. Read more
Apple’s new iPod touch web ads almost makes you think the touch is a real gaming machine
Filed under: Apple Bashing, Apple Fanboyism, Hardware, Opinion, iPhone, iPod Touch
It’s no secret Apple is pushing the iPod touch as a gaming machine – Steve Jobs said as much when lamely trying to explain why the new iPod touches didn’t have a camera (as if game makers couldn’t find a creative way to make use of one).
But if there was any lingering doubt that Apple was trying to push the iPhone/touch platform further into the mindset of hard core gamers, this new web ad on super gaming site IGN ought to clear up any misconceptions.
Unfortunately, even a fanboy such as myself must admit that the iPod touch and the iPhone are somewhat lacking when it comes to games. For the past year I have tried to convince myself the touch screen could be made to take the place of analog controls, but I just can’t kid myself anymore. As the games being released become increasingly complex and ever more graphically stunning, it’s obvious that the interior of the iPod touch is more than up to the task of handheld gaming – but it’s the outside that needs work.
Oh sure, many developers have come up with clever tricks and inventive control schemes, but aside from a few standout casual games that were inherently designed for the touch screen interface (Flight Control, Puzzlings, Fieldrunners…) the majority of games would benefit GREATLY from some sort of analog control buttons. Sure, driving games LOOK like they work great in the 2 second clips in the Apple ads, and tilting to steer works well enough, but find me ONE die hard racer who likes having to precisely hit certain areas of a flat screen while turning said screen in order to break, shift, shoot, etc. Even some of the first games ever made (PacMan, BurgerTime, Frogger) are too difficult to play on the touch. And forget about First Person Shooters and Football. No matter how impressive the graphics, and no matter how well companies like Gameloft are able to design their psuedo-analog controllers, covering 35% of an already cramped screen with your thumbs is no way to play a game.
Above: Where the hell is the iControl Pad?
Quite frankly I am surprised Apple has not yet come out with it’s own dockable gamepad/external battery device. Remember the GameBone, the iJoyPad, and the ethereal iControlPad? They all looked great (well, they all appeared to WORK great, that is) but despite over a year of publicity and hype, to date not one has physically shown up here at the lab for testing (note to those developers, please send us one for testing, we’re DYING over here!).
Above: …and the GameBone?
Quite frankly by now Apple should not only have come out with its own controller, but it should have also have released a set of APIs to let developers incorporate the controls into their games. So far the avalanche of iPhone/iPod touch peripherals I expected after Apple announced support for 3rd party hardware earlier this year has yet to materialize. At this point it is pretty clear that if Apple wants to create a viable gaming accessory market, it is going to have to get the ball rolling itself – perhaps even literally with a dockable trackball, for Centipede.
Above: … and the iJoyPad?
In the family friendly hand-held gaming arena, there is no doubt that Nintendo is still king, but if Apple truly wants to compete with the big boys, they’re going to need to take a page from the New England Patriot’s playbook, and take a page from their competitor’s playbook. Nintendo always markets its own (usually superior) peripherals for its consoles and handhelds, but also allows other companies to market their own. Apple should do the same. Without a way to control games while avoiding covering them with our fat fingers (and stereotypes be damned, most die hard gamers DO have pretty fat fingers) all the advertising on gaming sites in the world won’t bring the iPod touch true gaming street cred.
How does Apple feel about its products?
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Humor, Opinion, video
This video is a little bit unfair in that if Apple unveiled the new iPod nano and said:
“It’s OK… maybe not a must-have upgrade, but if your old one breaks it beats getting a Samsung YP-P2 or something…”
it might make for a somewhat uninspiring keynote. However, only the most devout Apple fanboy can deny that Apple tends to be a bit generous with the self-congratulatory adjectives. If you are not laughing by the time Phil Schiller sends it back to Steve, then you have no soul.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Jimmy Schapira for the link!
[via College Humor]
Macenstein’s “Mac Chick of the Month” (September 2009): Yael Markovich
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, Mac Chick of the Month, Opinion, Rumors
Welcome to Macenstein’s “Mac Chick of the Month”. Each month we feature a different die-hard, Mac-loving girl who is (almost) as well designed as the Apple products they love. This month we present you with the lovely Yael Markovich, an Israeli model who just happens to be a die-hard Mac Chick!
Read more
Top Ten Reasons to Upgrade to Snow Leopard TODAY
I’ve seen more than a few interweb critics panning Apple’s Snow Leopard as merely a service pack update, but since installing Snow Leopard yesterday morning, I’ve decided they couldn’t be more wrong. Sure, the only REAL change is the 64-bit stuff that likely won’t matter until sometime around when OS 10.7 comes out, but I’ve noticed more than a few “must-have” goodies that each on their own would more than justify the upgrade cost. Here’s 10 reasons why you should upgrade to Snow Leopard today.
1: State of the Art: The version number (10.6) is now 20% higher than version 10.5.
2: Performance: The “Jelly” visualizer in iTunes feels like it might run slightly faster
3: Another word for “awesome”. Snow Leopard includes an all-new thesaurus – the Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus second edition. That’s right.
4: Time-saver: CyberDuck no longer launches, thus saving you tons of wasted ftp-ing time.
5: All-new look: There are now a couple new Snow Leopard-themed wallpapers
6: Rack ‘em and Stack ‘em: “Stacks”, the Dock view nobody ever used, has been updated (although you still won’t use it)
7: Faster shut down: Because…. um who has an extra 8 seconds to spare in this crazy world of ours?!
8: Big Time Graphics: Finder icons can now be as large as 512 by 512 pixels, four times as big as Leopard was able to dish out!
9: Automatic time zone setup: Apple says “If you’re traveling around the world, the last thing you want to worry about is whether your computer is set to the correct time zone. ” I think they meant to say was “the last thing you’ve probably ever worried about is whether your computer is set to the correct time zone”. But hey, it’s there.
10: It only costs $30: And if you have more than 1 Mac, you can rationalize the cost by bringing it down to $15, $10 (or even lower!) with multiple installs. (Oh, don’t act so high and mighty – we all know you never buy the family pack).
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