In response to an internal thread on this article…

I’m right there with folks crying foul when Apple does wrong, but I don’t buy this one. Apple’s “bastardization” of the ePub format helps push the format forward, just like Opera and Mozilla’s modifications to HTML yielded HTML 5, Microsoft’s modifications led to OpenXML and practically everybody’s Wi-Fi implementations led to 802.11n. I’m not saying it’s on as grand a scope as that, but I do think it’s a small part of that same sort of momentum. All Apple did was add some extra CSS tricks that weren’t present in the ePub standard and then tweaked the MIME type so the files identify themselves as being slightly different than standard ePub files. If nobody built on top of open standards like this, then nobody would use open standards because they would develop uselessly slowly.

And while e-ink displays are indeed better for reading than LCD’s, I take issue with the headaches-because-of-refresh claim. There is no refresh on LCD’s, just per-pixel changes when the image changes. Tablet LCD’s are the same as your desktop display, which folks read on all day long without issue.

I still prefer a tree-killing paper book to both, though!

Share this:

Bought something at the Apple Store on West 14th Street yesterday and tried the new Apple Store app for self checkout. Launch the app and it recognizes you’re in a store (GPS? SSID? Geo-fencing?). A special interface appears within the app, you click the EasyPay button and take a pic of the barcode on whatever you’re purchasing. Pay with your Apple ID (same as iTunes account) by typing your password. Your receipt appears on screen so a sales rep can give you a “paid” sticker.

Pretty slick. Apple’s got something incredibly powerful with their Apple ID system tied to customer credit card info, and they’re one of the only big players in the space that has both physical and online stores. Amazon’s got this down (duh) but not so much for offline purchasing. Facebook and Google are trying to figure out how to monetize offline purchases too, but seems like they’re playing catch up here.

Share this:

We came across a blog post discussing the dichotomy between the minimalist, industrial design of Apple products and the emotional, human design of the software found on those devices.  The writer seemed pretty annoyed by it all.  http://madebymany.com/blog/apples-aesthetic-dichotomy

Our design and user experience team had some strong opinions on the matter. This was our email thread today:

Max Z: This guys makes a couple of very good points (although I don’t agree with his overarching theme). I think the problem is simply one of consistency. Calendar on the iPad looks like its physical counterpart, while Calendar on the iPhone does not. However, Find My Friends is an app that maintains its look on both with leather stitching. Then there’s Game Center, which attempts to hit on a playful theme with a green felt background and serif fonts, while iBooks has fake pages that flick across the screen. This just needs to be fixed.

The part where I don’t agree with him is the tangent he goes on when addressing Apple’s advertising, or regarding Apple’s use of mainstream media in its keynote events. Simply put, people know they’re watching advertising because…. they’re watching a commercial. No one drops their jaw when they realize that Batman is not a documentary of a caped crusader. Same thing goes for using Winnie the Pooh as the first book in an iBooks app.

Ultimately, the author forgets one thing. Apple’s primary target audience is American, and the majority of Americans don’t live in New York or San Francisco. The majority of Americans live in the rest of the country, and they’re not “technorati”, nor do they want to be. They like things that ARE mainstream. At the same time they are also human, so they like things that are pretty, things that feel nice in their hand, and things that are intuitive. In other words, mixing mainstream with unique, beautiful aesthetic is the perfect business strategy. That might just be why they’ve been able to sell a few of their products.

Hams: Another design debate about something Apple is doing?! F yeah, my favorite!

I think another key thing here is something everyone seems to be skipping around, and it’s one of my new favorite big words d bags I mean designers use: Ephemeralization. Apple’s industrial design strategy is different from their product design/development strategy because they both have different challenges and different goals.

Aside from the inconsistency of apps between devices Max outlined so nicely, the author seems to have an issue with the inconsistency in an iPhone’s industrial design and one of the apps on it, iCal. Because we’re designing in a time where our one slick singular device handles our communication, calendar, entertainment, shopping, etc. we have to stick to conventions and maybe even aesthetic cues (for now) that the majority audience easily recognizes from past life versions of each function.

If Apple were designing iCal as a hardware device that served a singular purpose, maybe we’d see a “true-to-calendar” design approach instead of a skeuomorphic take on our multi-functional iPhone. But we are not, because that would involve a hardware case you need to change each time you switch apps.

The industrial designers aren’t designing a calendar device, or a boom box device, or a bookshelf device– they are designing a pocket sized little electronic that takes the place of all these things for you, which requires a totally different design strategy than the utilities named above.

The product designers are designing what the majority audience right now understands as some of these things transformed onto a little screen in their pocket. This will always change and this is the benefit of multi-functional devices being able to update relatively easily. It’s not inconsistent, they are two different things that work together now.

I think the most interesting piece of this whole conversation is what happens when the majority audience doesn’t recognize torn sheets from the calendar anymore but rather this skeuomorphic take on it as their point of reference.

Ivan: It already happened.  My friend teaches elementary school children, and he told me that there’s no succinct  way to describe what the Save button is. This indicates Microsoft’s slavishness to history and precedent to me, whereas Jobs made it a point to do away with the past. (The Icon Garden is a prime example.)

Toby: Actually, folks (Apple users) won’t soon recognize the digital concept of a folder soon, either.
Apple is making a pointed effort to erase the desktop metaphor from computing in order to reify the place these tools have in all parts of our lives. Rather than being misappropriated office tools, they’re lifestyle enablers. Or some shit.
The future is all groups vs folders on Apple platforms. Springboard is the new Finder (and just when Finder was finally sorta working… and written in Cocoa!)

On the tactile metaphors – even though they botch it (book metaphor + scrollbar = puke) – Apple has been telling designers at WWDC and via the HIG and design guides to replicate tactile, real-world, “physical” objects in their designs since the iPhone first came out.

They really push to make the point to designers that the iPhone and iPad (and with Lion, the Mac) don’t exist – they’re just pieces of glass that become different physical objects when an app is launched.

Why they chose to blanket Lion in what appears to be denim is beyond me, though.

Chris R: see what i just did there

Share this:

I’m really excited about several new iOS development and deployment projects that we’ve been working on at CG. We’re working closely with Apple on a bunch of solutions: at the most basic level, we’re building solutions for security and management of employee iPad and iPhone use; at the other end of the spectrum, we’re helping to realize visions such as a kiosk-like platform of thousands of iPads deployed in retail environments around the country.

We’ve learned a ton about what is and isn’t possible as we strategize ways to scale to thousands of units. Here are some of the challenges we’ve come across:

• How do we deploy and support iPads – whether ten or ten thousand – in a secure, efficient, and centralized way?
• How can we architect kiosk-like application experiences on the iPad, enabling us to design and curate the customer experience, while also allowing a true iPad experience complete with app-switching, web browsing, Facebook-checking, game-playing, and movie-watching?
• What kind of network and server architecture is needed to support a platform of iOS devices across the globe? How do we enable caching and pushing of dynamic data to the devices – particularly large amounts of media content?

Centralized deployment and support of iOS devices

How do we deploy and support thousands of iPads or iPhones in a secure, efficient, and centralized way? Mobile Device Management (MDM) platforms like AirWatch, Casper, MobileIron – and soon, OS X Lion Server – allow us to push XML configuration profiles to iOS devices. This enables centralized inventory and basic management of the devices: from what version of iOS they have installed, to some security control over how/if users can install and delete apps. For many enterprise customers, these tools are useful for administering security policies on employee-owned iOS devices. But for custom platforms like kiosks and retail experiences, MDM is not ideal due to the need for end-user interaction. What we need is a way to easily restore iOS devices back to their “golden” state in a centrally managed way.

We’re excited about the potential of over-the-air restores and software updates coming in iOS 5, but as of today, iTunes is the only game in town for this. Working within this limitation, we’ve architected some innovative solutions that enable iOS devices to connect to iTunes virtually over USB to IP converters and a content distribution infrastructure. Until iOS 5, this is a good option to have, and I haven’t heard of anyone else embracing this approach.

Rearchitecting Apple’s iOS user experience

Put an iPad in front of someone and they’re going to tap, scroll, pinch, and squeeze the user interface. The user experience is still the leader in the tablet space – though we’ve been recently impressed by the BlackBerry PlayBook. For a project we’re working on now, we want to encourage this user experimentation and interaction, while locking down some important components of the UX. Things like App Store purchases, iTunes downloads, deleting apps, rearranging icons, and changing the home screen wallpaper will quickly affect the kiosk experience. MDM solutions can help disable some of these features, but the aforementioned need for user interaction just doesn’t work for specialized user environments.

One solution we’ve had success with is a combination of custom code to disable user customization of the Springboard, plus a WebKit-based Safari replacement for browsing that enables us to prevent user download of unauthorized content. Combine these with some configuration profile-based customization of iOS and we have a good solution for locking a customer experience down and reducing the frequency of unit restores or reimaging.

The CG approach to iOS projects

Part of what makes CG stand out as a solution provider is our deeply embedded collaboration between our application development team and our infrastructure team. As the Enterprise’s appetite for customized mobile platforms and experiences grows, we’re uniquely suited as a technology partner to build and innovate on our customers’ vision. iOS is at the core of this vision and I couldn’t be more excited to be working with these technologies today. Plus, iOS 5 is on its way and it’s shaping up to be a giant leap forward!

Share this:

Yesterday Apple announced that the long time iTunes holdout, The Beatles, would finally be making their way to the iTunes Music Store. In a decade where file sharing addresses availability when the market won’t, the news is almost more novel for its, “Who still needs to buy this?” factor than anything else.

The most compelling reason to acquire Beatles music through iTunes would be for the direct masters-to-digital conversion. It’s a “purer” copy than ripping from a CD. As to whether or not repurchasing your Beatles collection is worthwhile for such a change, who can say? The laser turntable owners of the world probably think so.

The other story behind this is the interesting relationship between Apple Records and Apple Computers. In 1981, Apple Records made Apple Computers promise that they’d never get into the music business after a lawsuit over the company name. Several years later Apple introduced MIDI and audio recording capability to its IIGS line. Apple Records sued again, and the resulting decision effectively squashed Apple’s multimedia development for the next couple of years.

Frustrations over the legal battle, and its limitations placed on Apple Computers, led to the following anecdote from 1991:

When new sounds for System 7 were created, the sounds were reviewed through Apple’s legal department and they objected that the new system sound alert “chime” had a name that was “too musical”, under the recent settlement. The creator of the new sound alerts for System 7 and the Macintosh Startup Sound, Jim Reekes, had grown frustrated with the legal scrutiny and first quipped it should be named “Let It Beep”, a pun on The Beatles’ “Let It Be”. When someone remarked that that wouldn’t pass legal’s approval, he remarked “so sue me.” After a brief reflection, he resubmitted the sound’s name as sosumi (a homophone of “so sue me”), telling the legal department that the name was Japanese and had nothing to do with music.

- Sosumi – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Sosumi sound effect is still included with Snow Leopard, and is right up there with Clarus the Dogcow for favorite Apple lore among us cultists.

Share this:

Today, Apple announced that the Xserve will no longer be available for purchase after January 31, 2011. What does this mean for existing and future infrastructure that relies on Mac OS X Server and Xsan?

For existing Xserve environments, Apple will continue to provide warranty service and complimentary technical support for the product. This means that all AppleCare service and support agreements should be honored until they expire.

Apple is providing an Xserve Transition Guide with information on options moving forward. They suggest that customers looking for Mac OS X Server solutions move to Mac Pro or Mac mini hardware solutions. We have had great success with these solutions for providing basic services such as file sharing, directory services, and calendaring to small- to medium-sized workgroups.

But what about Xsan environments? Xsans could be built using Mac Pros for metadata controllers, with a few serious considerations — we lose the power redundancy and lights out management (LOM) that Xserve provides. Also, this solution will require 12U of rack space for two Mac Pro servers instead of 2U for two Xserves, which is not very appealing to customers designing server room rack elevations.

This is also an opportunity to discuss alternative SAN solutions, such as Quantum StorNext, which is compatible with Xsan. Control Group has had recent successes in deploying StorNext as an alternative to Xsan, allowing users and organizations to continue to use the Apple tools they are familiar with, such as Final Cut Pro, while leveraging a robust, Linux-based infrastructure in the server room. StorNext has a very rich feature set and does some things that are not possible with Xsan, such as hierarchical storage management.

If you remember, a few years ago Apple discontinued the Xserve RAID storage solution, the IT world panicked, and then Apple announced a partnership with Promise and the Promise Vtrak for Mac solution. Maybe Apple has similar plans for a replacement for the Xserve. Whether they do or not, there are great alternatives to discuss, so if you have questions or concerns, give us a shout.

Share this:

I wanted to thank everyone for coming out to our Final Cut Server event on Wednesday. We had a big turn out, good food and drink, and a great dialog about integration and workflow possibilities with Final Cut Server. Special thanks to Apple’s Drew Tucker, who gave a great presentation and handed out a few copies of his new book!

As mentioned during the event, we’re going to be continuing these meetups every 3 months or so, along with our partner, StudioSysAdmins. This social network for techs in the entertainment industry is an amazing resource for information, news, and a high-level of technical dialog via its email list, website, and forum.

If any of our customers or partners are interested in presenting at a future event about recent projects that the community would be interested in, please let us know. Thanks all, and stay tuned for more info on future events!

Some pics of the event below:

Share this:

Digital studios and post houses need to incorporate new storage technologies now more than ever. It’s not as simple as storing data anymore — they need a strategy for centralized storage, transcoding, rendering, backup, and archiving, not to mention a workflow that incorporates all these solutions.

One company where we helped incorporate this type of strategy is media arts firm thelab. Our latest case study on this deployment is now live on our website.

In addition to a high-performance media SAN, StorNext and StorageManager, Control Group installed a centralized rendering solution for Maya in the form of a powerful render farm. This helped thelab complete a 30-second spot for the world’s fastest production sedan, the 2010 Cadillac 2010 CTS-V, in just 25 days.

Check out the finished product, and read more about CG’s solution!

Share this:

Two years ago, Control Group’s Charlie Miller wrote a definitive piece on Final Cut Server for O’Reilly Digital Media.

Since then, Apple has released Final Cut Server 1.5, but Charlie still has plenty of insight on digital asset management solutions. So does Drew Tucker of Apple, the author of the latest book in the Apple Pro Training Series on this very topic.

• How has the landscape changed in the 24 months since version 1.1?
• How can Final Cut Server be integrated with third party and home-grown systems to accomplish transcoding, approval, and distribution workflows?
• Is Final Cut Server the right solution for your asset management needs?

Both Drew and Charlie will weigh in on these questions — and much more in the digital asset management arena — at the Advanced Asset Management Integration with Final Cut Server event on September 22 at 6:30 at Control Group’s headquarters (233 Broadway, 21st Floor).

We’ll also have plenty of food and drink on hand!

Reserve your spot by emailing RSVP@controlgroup.com.

We look forward to seeing you!

Share this:

To celebrate autumn, we’ve put together a great event with some help from Apple. We’re partnering with StudioSysAdmins, the fantastic social networking community for engineers and techs from the entertainment industry, to bring Drew Tucker down to CG to talk about Final Cut Server. Drew is the author of the just-released Apple book on Final Cut Server. Come down and join us – please email to RSVP or for more info. Check it out:

Advanced Asset Management Integration with Final Cut Server
Wednesday, September 22, 2010, 6:30–8:00pm
Control Group, 233 Broadway, 21st Floor (corner of Park Place)

Join Control Group and StudioSysAdmins as we present Drew Tucker, author of the latest title in the Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Server 1.5.

We will be discussing the catalyst events and changes to production workflow that can create a need for asset management, archiving, and centralized transcoding. We’ll also talk about Final Cut Server integrations like publishing video to online distribution platforms, passing assets to third party transcoding engines, and dealing with advanced review and approval workflow.

The event will take place in Control Group’s newly expanded offices in the historic Woolworth Building. Drew will remain on hand afterward to answer all of your Final Cut Server questions, and we’ll have plenty of local, seasonal beers to celebrate the autumn solstice!!!

For more information or to RSVP, please email rsvp@controlgroup.com.

Control Group: Technology for Big Ideas.

Control Group is a technology services firm that provides insightful business analysis and integrated technology solutions including infrastructure, architecture, software, engineering and support for some of the most innovative companies in media and entertainment, like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, IMG/Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, World Wrestling Entertainment, Walker Digital Gaming and Studio Daniel Libeskind. Our whole-business perspective results in solutions that not only make our clients more efficient, but also creates true competitive advantage, while increasing bottom line and improving shareholder value.

About StudioSysAdmins

StudioSysAdmins is a social networking community dedicated to improving infrastructure, workflows and support across the Entertainment Industry. It’s an expanding community with one common site that joins Systems Administrators, Technical Directors, Pipeline Developers, Consultants, Hardware/Software Support Engineers and Hardware/Software Vendors and Resellers (VARs) that currently work in and/or support production studios in the areas of animation, visualization, visual-fx, film, and games.

Our goal is to enable the sharing of all non-proprietary information among all of our Members and to maintain open discussions between Studios, Vendors and VARs to determine standards in order to help improve support for the installation, implementation, monitoring and maintenance of hardware, software and operating systems.

Share this: