January, 2002

Lackey: Hi, Steve? Er – sorry; Mr. Jobs? Hi, my name’s Frank. I work down in, oh well, it’s not important. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that there’s this site – Spymac – that’s been getting a lot of press lately with some leaks about an Apple PDA. I know, I know – it’s total bullshit. They’re pulling these pictures out of their ass. But it’s got people talking. Their mockups are really hideous, but what if we did something like that? Not something so played, like a PDA, but maybe something like PDA, phone combo? Wouldn’t that be cool? Hello, hello?

March, 2003.

Lackey: Yes, Mr. Jobs? It’s Frank again. Hey, I’ve gotta tell you – we’ve been monitoring Mac-related chatter in magazines and on forums, and there’s this guy, Dvorak? You know him? God, he won’t shut up about Apple switching to Intel processors. I know, I know! Please don’t be angry with me – I know it’s a pain in the ass, and would require massive developer support. Yes, I know it would be almost impossible to get legacy apps to run well. But, but we have to do something! He just won’t shut up about it; he’s driving everybody nuts!

March, 2006

Frank: Hey, Jobso! How’s it going? I’m bananas about Intel right now, B-T-W. Anyways, just wanted to let you know, there’s a bunch of people running their mouth about that PDA rumor. I know, I know – I thought that we could shut’em up with the Rokr too, but that thing was such a piece, right? Anyway, I still think it would kill, if we did it right.

January, 2007.

Frank: Stevie! What’s happening? Congrats on the iPhone? That thing is pimp! It’s gonna move like nothing else. Yeah, umm, that’s what I’m calling about. I know, I know – we’ve given them Intel, we’ve given them a goddamn phone – what more can these people want? Everything they ever crow about is getting handed to them and it’s never enough. You know, I heard a few of them clamoring on, hoping that they’d be able to make apps for the iPhone. I know! I told them that the web is gonna be really bangin’ on this machine, but they wouldn’t let it go. We might need to look into that. Maybe some kind of SDK, some paltry gesture – well, we’re gonna have to do something to shut these people up.

And that’s not all. The latest thing? A subnotebook. Subnotebook. I don’t even know what that means either! Doesn’t matter that we make the best damn portables in the industry. They want something smaller! Something lighter! Yeah, it’s horseshit, isn’t it. Anyways, that’s it.

January, 2008

Frank: Another killer keynote, Steve. Love the new iPhone firmware. Those dancing icons are the fucking best. Anyway, diggin’ the MacBook Air, the new Mac Pros. Seems like everything’s sewn up, right? I mean…these rumor sites, they’ve got everything now! I’m predicting three months, max, and they’ll be closing up shop. Talk to you later, buddy.

I saw this picture, recently:

We don’t live in a vacuum. As people, it takes a long time to change our ideas, and the fact that Apple has managed such a transformation in mindshare in such a short period of time is fairly remarkable. I expect to see quite a few MacBook Air’s in there, the next time it’s taken.

Ok, not exactly the first one, but I hope it’s at least one of the most comprehensive and among the easiest to read. It’s posted at ConcreteCMS.com, the website for the company where I work as director of technology. Get the full story over there:

A First Look at OpenSocial
Answering Questions About Google’s Effort at Standardizing Social Network Widgets, and the Creation of Your First OpenSocial Widget

Who should read it? Any web developer who has any questions about OpenSocial; anyone curious about what OpenSocial brings to the table; and anyone who thinks its a death knell to Facebook applications. By the end of it you’ll know all about OpenSocial, and you’ll even know how to write a social widget.

Oh, and please, give me feedback.

Just in time for the primaries, here’s something I cooked up to waste time and facilitate arguments:

PoliticalBubbles.com

It’s fairly self-explanatory: choose a candidate, give’em a quote, and paste your code on your various websites/social profiles. It’s harmless fun. But don’t take my word for it; what do you think, Fred Thompson?!

Please, feel free to post bugs or suggestions to this entry. (I’ve got a few things in the hopper, but would love to hear from others.)

Just caught this on Slashdot:

Free IMAP on Gmail

We use Google Apps at Concrete Websites, so I thought I’d check, and – lo and behold – we have it! You have to check your account’s settings tab, and if you’re lucky, you’ll see Forwarding and POP/IMAP (it used to just be POP.)

Once I confirmed that this option was available, it was a matter of five seconds before I retrieved my iPhone, and attempted to get my Google Apps email account integrated into it – hoping that IMAP access would end all manner of painful interaction between the phone the Gmail account (much of which has been recounted elsewhere.) Fortunately, Google has a helpful page that lists connection information for a variety of platforms – including, yes, the iPhone .

So far I’m pretty impressed. Deleting messages in the iPhone deletes them nearly immediately in Gmail. Your various labels are reflected as IMAP folders (including All Mail, allowing you to keep your mail nicely archived while still using your iPhone.) I’m looking forward to being able to go back to using Apple’s Mail client, which I’d abandoned due to the difficult nature of sharing multiple POP clients with one POP mail account.

Thanks, Google!