Change to the Mini

About 3 months ago I made the decision to sell my 2011 Macbook Pro 13 inch and get a new Macbook Air 11 inch. The reason; it is smaller and more portable and easier to use on my lap.

This week I made a similar decision with my iPad; I got rid of my 3rd Gen iPad in favor of the new iPad Mini. The reason; it is smaller and easier to use while laying in bed.

There is definitely trade-offs to moving to smaller devices as in the scenario above; for the Mac, I lost significant storage capacity. For the iPad, I lost significant resolution on the display. However, both scenario’s are not deal killers by any stretch of the imagination.

A lot of people have asked me how I have adjusted to the Mini and why I would want to take that plunge. The reality is that after using the Mini, it is almost impossible to go back to an iPad. The 10 inch iPad simply feels clunky and huge. Almost like going from a iPhone 1 to an iPhone 5; the weight and feel is night and day.

People are also surprised to find out that the iPad Mini is actually as powerful if not more so than the iPad 3; because it is not pushing as many pixels, the performance feels snappier (Geekbench results prove this). In addition, the Mini has a FaceTime HD camera whereas the iPad 3 has a VGA camera. We do a lot of FaceTime calling now that we have a newborn, so this was a huge plus. Both my wife and I have iPhone 5’s, so moving to the Mini allows us to use the Lightening cable more universally.

Do I wish that the Mini had a retina display? Of course. I also wish that my MacBook Air had a 512GB SSD, but I couldn’t afford it right now. Now in two years when costs drop, a 512GB SSD in the Air is quite possible. I have no doubt in my mind that we will see a retina display on the second generation of the Mini, but for me, the iPad Mini is every bit as powerful as the iPad 3 and more enjoyable.

Apple is leading the charge to make things smaller, thinner, and lighter and I believe most customers are following that trend as well.

Two Things I Hate About iOS

Almost everyone knows that I am a huge Apple fanatic. I don’t try to hide my bias. When it comes to mobile operating systems, I feel that Apple remains the leader of the pack. But while it remains the best, it isn’t perfect and here are two things I despise about iOS.

Siri
When Apple announced Siri in October 2011, my initial thought was, “this is a joke, right?” No part of me finds talking to my cell phone appealing. If anything, it reminds me of those idiots who walk around with their Bluetooth headpiece on looking like a Star Trek extra.

Was Apple out of class on the day that everyone learned that people like to navigate and play with their phones? I would much rather swipe and find the application I am looking for then “ask Siri” to have her take 40 seconds to give me the wrong answer or open to incorrect application.

Yes, I know Siri is a beta application. But when Apple continues to highlight Siri as a reason to get the phone, it deserves critique. The reality is that Siri just isn’t good. The concept is flawed and the accuracy is poor at best. When I have to ask Siri multiple times I finally give up and just navigate to the application and look it up myself.

Recently, iMore.com did a poll on Siri usage by iPhone 4S users and the results, while shocking to iMore.com, were not a surprise to me at all. The poll revealed that almost nobody uses Siri.

Of the 5 people I know well that have a 4S or iPhone 5, none of them uses Siri. In fact, my good friend (not a techie) turned it off. One of my friends indicated that Siri was so worthless that they actually use it more to show people how bad it is, rather than for anything of real use.

And to my frustration, Apple continues to develop and spend time on Siri. Apple has a tendency to stick with features and highlight them (see FaceTime) even if people don’t use or like the features. But when the competition is catching up in areas of practical application (widgets, app switching etc,), Apple is focusing on gimmicks like Siri that provide little value.

It is no surprise to me that the two original founders of Siri (who were employed by Apple) are no longer with Apple. It would not shock me to learn that Apple is slightly embarrassed by this feature. People just are not that excited about it and it is time for Apple to put this feature out to pasture once and for all.

Inability to Delete Factory Applications
I understand that Apple wants to make sure that users don’t delete a critical application, but it would be nice if Apple allowed users to “hide” applications that they never use. For me, that would be Passbook, Compass, FaceTime (on my iPad), Newstand, and Clock.

Apple has a tendency to create applications with good intentions but the concept is simply flawed. Passbook is a good example. Anyone reading forum posts in the blogosphere would realize that Passbook is not simple and requires more work than necessary. Furthermore, not that many people care enough to figure it out. Most people navigate to MLB.com or United Airlines if they need to get access to their tickets anyways. They have been doing this for years. While Apple believes Passbook will be a more convenient solution, it just simply won’t catch on in my opinion. Already people are looking at hiding the application.

Another good example of a worthless application is Newstand. Apple made the argument that this would be a central repository for all news and magazine related applications. But app developers realized that this simply hid their applications and users would rather have to tap once to gain access to an app, not twice. The WSJ avoided this (smartly) while the New York Times did not. I use the WSJ almost all the time and rarely navigate to the Times. Now, most people are looking at ways to hide Newstand.

Conclusion
As I said at the beginning, I am an iOS fan. It isn’t perfect, but it gets so many things right that I can look past issues like Siri, Passbook, Newstand, and Facetime.

I would really love to see Apple spend more time on the following; notification center widgets or widgets for the main screen, better multitasking, improvements in the Weather, Stocks, and Photos application.

iPhone 5 Review

Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 on September 12th 2012 and released the device on September 21st. I have been using the device extensively for the last three days and my overall impression of the device is quite good.

Many pundits have pointed out that the iPhone 5 is more evolutionary than revolutionary. This true and for good reason. The iPhone is arguably the top selling smartphone in the world; any radical change could be catastrophic for Apple, considering more than half of their revenue is derived from the iPhone.

While the phone does appear to resemble the iPhone 4 and 4S, there are some significant changes once you hold the device in your hand. First, the device is light. Very light. It almost feels fragile, but the build quality gives you a sense of confidence that it will withstand some falls. To decrease the weight over the 4S, Apple eliminated the glass rear back panel. This was greeted with enthusiasm amongst many pundits due to the number of broken back panels on the 4/4S and the perceived fragile nature of the iPhone 5’s predecessors. Apple has gone with a brushed aluminum back for the iPhone 5 and it looks fantastic. Unfortunately, following the release of the iPhone 5, the blogosphere was filled with complaints about people scratching the back panel of their phones with ease (much like the older iPod’s). I was a huge fan of the glass panel because of its ability to ward of scratches, so I will be interested to see how these back panels hold up over time.

The next big change is the screen; my wife likened the iPhone 5 to Gumby; tall and skinny. To be perfectly honest, I am not the biggest fan of this direction. Apple makes the argument that by maintaining the width of the 4/4S, the iPhone retains the ability to use the phone with one hand. While this is “somewhat” true, it is not any more true than using a larger Android device. I still find reaching for the top right or left corner of the phone to be challenging at best; it is definitely not comfortable. That being said, I have been struggling with the aspect ratio. While a 16:9 aspect ratio works well for movies and in landscape, it looks awkward in portrait mode. Everything feels squished. Browsing the web is better than on an iPhone 4S, but it doesn’t feel as good or as natural in comparison to the other Android phones that retained a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Apple may end up regretting this aspect ratio change for many reasons. First, it makes it even more challenging to move up in size (say going to a 4.3-4.5 inch screen). Second, the iPad will likely retain the 4:3 aspect ratio, which means many developers will experience some serious level of fragmentation in developing for iOS.

With those complaints aside, I am optimistic that I will get used to the new screen and will quite enjoy it in due time. Change always requires some pain. I am just glad that Apple recognized the need to enlarge their screen from 3.5 inches.

The iPhone 5 also introduced LTE with the iPhone 5. This was the biggest addition in my opinion, having suffered on Verizon and AT&T’s slow 3G/Faux 4G networks for far too long with an iPhone. After playing with my LTE iPad, I was anxious to have the speedy network on my phone. So far, LTE has worked wonderfully. For those with an iPhone 4S considering an upgrade, the addition of LTE is a no-brainer. It is that good. I average between 6-8MB down, which was much faster than the average download speed of 2.0-2.5MB down on Verizon’s EV-DO Rev. A network.

Apple made some minor changes to the camera, which was nice, but not monumental. I found the 4S to offer the best camera anyways, but the 5 simply makes it better. Pictures seem slightly more natural, but the biggest advantage is the speed. Taking pictures was much faster than on the 4S. Apple also added the panorama feature, which is definitely a great addition and one that I love to use.

The guts of the iPhone 5 have been overhauled as well. The iPhone 5 features an A6 processor that claims to be twice as fast as the A5 processor, which was no slouch. The memory has also been doubled from 512MB to 1GB. Both of these changes have made the phone simply fly. The improved internals are very noticeable on Maps; comparing the 4S to the 5 it is clear to see how these new internal components help the 5 render artifacts as compared to the 4S; the pictures just flow naturally. The “experience” is just better.

With the iPhone 5, Apple has made some changes to iOS6. While I would like to hold off on getting too detailed into iOS6 (that is a separate blog entry), the improvements make the iPhone 5 even more attractive. The Apple ecosystem is what truly gives this phone an edge over the competition and with iCloud, it becomes even more difficult for Apple fans to wonder off the reservation.

Overall, I am happy with the iPhone 5. I do think that it will take some time to get used to the screen resolution and redesign of the phone, but overall I highly recommend the iPhone 5 to those that are looking for a good LTE phone with a strong software offering.

Madden 13: Review

As predictable as the sun sets in the west, every fall we get a “new” version of Madden NFL. For most people, the game is really a roster update. However, for this year’s version, EA Sports has attempted to overhaul the experience and make Madden 13 a unique experience worth $60.

I have been playing Madden 13 for Xbox 360 since last Tuesday, when the game was released. My overall impression with Madden 13 is pretty poor. Unfortunately it is the only Pro Football game around, so if you want to play football, this is your option. Like it or hate it.

Graphics: Average

The graphics for Madden 13 are a mixed bag. Players still move even more like robots now with the Infinity Engine driving the gameplay. There was times where I was literally laughing at some of the player models and how they reacted after a play. Some looked like they were disco dancing after the play was over. The game still feels lifeless; stadium noise is muted, sidelines look stiff, and the stadium models look average at best. The new Nike jersey’s are definitely a nice addition, but the numbers are not scaled correctly so this game reminds me more of MLB 2K rather than MLB The Show, and that is not a good thing.

Gameplay: Poor

The new Infinity Engine was brought in to make the tackles and hits more lifelike; what is has really done is added a comedic spin to a game that was not needing it. The tackles look fake, the player’s move more like robots, and the reaction to players flopping on the ground like a fish out of water is laughable. I am thoroughly convinced that at this point, the Quality Assurance department at EA is either on drugs or suffers from narcolepsy. This is horrible.

The usual problems surrounding Madden games still exists; Cornerbacks magically catch balls that they shouldn’t (jumping 14 feet in the air), running backs magnetically adhere to their own lineman, and defenses lack any ability to stop the offense.

My frustration with the gameplay for Madden continues. Why EA can’t spend their time on improving the existing gameplay is beyond me. Rather, EA feels the need to add little tweaks to “justify” the upgrade; I am thinking of “Weapons” and the “Passing Cone” which were both added and then deleted after people complained.

Sound: Average

EA should really look to how the commentating on their NHL series works and compare it to Madden. Hearing Phil Simms make the same comment over and over makes me want to hit the mute button. The stadium sound is better than in previous additions, but still lacks a genuine excitement that should be there.

Gameplay Modes: Extremely Poor

The lack of Franchise Mode is simply unforgiveable. EA claims that Connected Careers is the new Franchise Mode and a better one at that. This is about as convincing as the NFL claiming the Replacement Refs are just as good as the regular refs. Connected Careers is like a poor man’s version of the Franchise Mode; lacks all the necessary details, is hard to navigate, and is quick to frustrate.  Again, Madden will probably bring back the Franchise mode next year due to all the complaints this year, but again, why take it away in the first place? Pure Stupidity.

Overall: 5 out of 10

I give Madden a 5 out of 10; in school grading scale, this would be an F. I was on the fence about getting the game this year, but I truly wanted to see some of the improvements that were hyped for months. The bottom line is that this will be the last Madden game I purchase. I really wish that the NFL would consider brining in another development company to help bring a competitive alternative much like SCEA and MLB The Show.

The thought of EA maintaining this franchise for the foreseeable future makes me sick.

iPad vs. Mac

Since the release of the iPad in April 2010, the question among many consumers, bloggers, and tech reviewers has been; what is better, iPad or Mac? With the cost of a fully loaded iPad approaching $900 and an entry level Mac Air costing only $100 more, this question has become more relevant. Further complicating matters is the approach from Apple arguing that we are now in a “post PC” world with the need for Mac’s or PC’s declining in the wake of the iPad.

I currently own a 3^rd Generation 32GB Verizon LTE iPad and recently acquired a MacBook Air which has 4GB of memory and 128GB of flash memory.  Many people have already begun to ask; which one gets used more, which one is better, and if  your could only afford one, which one should you get?

Unfortunately, I find that these two products are distinctly different and are used for different purposes so my answer to these questions is “it simply depends on what you need to do”.

 Reading

When it comes to reading magazines or books, the iPad is the best choice. The retina screen and ease of use makes this task so much easier and better than a Mac. I love to read before bed and using the iBook app makes this a no-brainer. While I could take my Air into the bedroom and read before bed, it would not be nearly as easy.

Winner: iPad

Browsing  

The biggest compliant most people have about browsing the web on the iPad is the lack of native flash. I actually don’t find that to be as big of a problem with many web pages being optimized for HTML5. The bigger issue I have is that Mobile Safari still forces many web pages into a mobile or tablet mode, which I find more annoying. I like the full desktop view and being forced into a mobile view is a pain in my mind. For me, browsing the web is better on an Air.

Winner: Air

 

Productivity

Regardless of Apple’s efforts to make the iPad a more productive device, the iPad remains largely a consumption device. Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are all fantastic apps on the iPad, but their grown up counterparts on the Mac blow them away. Using a built in keyboard and full blown features on a Mac make this a no brainer when it comes to choosing a Mac or iPad to bust out a large document or work in a big spreadsheet.

When it comes to photo and video editing, the Mac simply has the ability to do more. The iPad requires you to be fully engaged in one application, whereas with the Mac you have the option of having multiple windows open which makes photo and video editing a breeze and the end quality is substantially better.

 Winner: Air

Gaming

To be fair and with full disclosure, I hate computer gaming. I find that computer games can vary in terms of quality depending on the set up of the computer and settings of the game.  Whereas game consoles like the Xbox or PS3 give the gamer a unified experience. As Steve Jobs would say, keep it simple. For me, computer games do not adhere to this philosophy and it explains why computer games have been declining.

When it comes to gaming, the iPad is the way to go. Much like an Xbox or PS3, the iPad provides a fairly unified experience so users do not have to stress about their specs before downloading a game. I do believe that Apple is making improvements with the App Store for the Mac, but the graphics and processor requirements for most games limit what can be played on a Air.

 Winner: iPad

 Media

Viewing videos or listening to music is fairly uniform between the Air and the iPad. Both are products that are too big to take to the gym (although I do see some idiots on the treadmill with their iPad’s). The only large difference between these two is A) the quality and size of the screen and B) the amount of storage available for those purposes. With respect to screen quality, the retina display makes watching HD video’s a dream. However, the 64GB limit to the iPad limits how many movies that can be stored.

 Winner: Tie

 Conclusion

As can be seen above, the answer to choosing a Mac or iPad is: “it depends”. The one thing I do believe is that we are not yet in a post-PC world. Until the iPad has the CPU power and storage capacity to handle full blown desktop quality applications, we will continue to need Mac’s or PC’s.

I do feel that Steve Jobs said it right; there are cars (read iPad’s) and Trucks (read Mac’s or PC’s). We will most likely need both. There are some that may only need an iPad and those that will need a Mac.