iCloud and iWork for Mac

I was quite surprised to learn that Apple have not quite fully integrated iCloud into Numbers, Keynote and Pages. Surprised and disappointed.

It seems that in the iOS environment the workflow is pretty well streamlined: you work on one iDevice and it is synced with the other via iCloud. It's not so simple when you also want to work on it on your Mac! That involves downloading the file from iCloud manually, working, then re-uploading. Not quite a seamless workflow.

I'm hoping that Apple addresses this soon.

Still waiting...

I ordered the iPhone 4S on the 7th of October, and I'm still patiently waiting. I noticed that some people on the Apple discussion boards have started to receive their shipment notices, so I'm hoping it won't be much longer until I get one too!

iOS 5: Quick First Impressions

I managed to download iOS 5 for my iPhone last night without too much trouble. There was a point were it complained that it could not restore the backup, but as it turns out this was due to everyone trying at the same time!

My first impressions are good. I really like the notification centre, it is much better than the previous implementation as the alerts do not get in the way of what you are doing. It also is much more helpful, because you can see your 'alert stream' history.

I'm also impressed with wifi sync and photo stream, but I'd like to use them some more before commenting.

I'm not too fussed on Newsstand. I don't read any 'traditional' publications so I pushed it to the last screen on the phone!

Those are my quick first impressions!

iOS5 Release Day!!

Apple will release iOS5 later today, and I'm looking forward to the new features. The most useful one for me will be the new Notification Centre. The iOS 4 implementation was useful, but slightly annoying because of the blocking behaviour. I'm indifferent to iCloud (apart from photo syncing, that's welcomed) as we use Spotify.

What I am not looking forward to is the app instability that comes with a large update!

Clearing out

In preparation for the upcoming iOS 5 release in the next few days, I've been cleaning out the iPhone 3GS and the iPad. I'll be getting the iPhone 4S soon, so it'll come nice and clean with iOS 5 pre-installed!

It's amazing how many rather pointless apps you tend to pick up as time goes on. I think it'll be good practice from now on to clear out old or unused ones on a regular basis. I've read that about 5 minutes of HD video on the 4S will occupy around one gigabyte of space or thereabouts, so this is all the more important!

Steve

I have to admit that in the past, I have always wondered at how much people worship Steve Jobs. 

I have been an Apple user for a long time now. I first used the Classic back in school with its tiny monochrome screen. Then I moved on to a white shiny iBook in 2004 when i was in the thick of my PhD. It was after that I was hooked and bought a 30GB iPod. Now, with a MacBook Pro with an iPhone and and iPad it seems that my love of Apple products has continued. 

I would often wonder why so many people would say how inspirational Steve Jobs almost to the point where it would feel like he is the only person working at Apple!

I woke up this morning, and I fired up Safari and Twitter. While checking for app updates for iOS and putting my iPhone in charge I read with disbelief the news. In hindsight, it was not unexpected, but it was shocking nonetheless. 

Reading the tweets and various messages online made me realise that, whether or not Steve had massive input or into the fine details of Apple product development is unimportant; he lead at the forefront of a stunning rise for Apple, shaped the end user experience and most importantly, inspired many more people to do great things, ushering in a new era in our use of digital media. 


Sent from my iPhone