At Work On a Mac

Wow, Apple launched the iPad. I was traveling but managed to watch it “live” (blog) on Gizmodo in GMT+1, thanks to Jonathan. It’s fun to let the dust settle after such an important product announcement. Personally, I never liked previous tablets that have surfaced every blue moon over many years. I always thought they provided an awkward user-experience, had poor graphics and were pointless (no pun). Not anymore.

I know there is plenty of criticism, all from people who have not used the product as it will only be available in a month or so. The gist of the critics are: no Flash, no phone, no multitasking, no OSX, no HDMI, no camera, no battery replacement and overpriced Flash memory storage options. The Apple bashing runs havoc in the forums, PC people thinking Steve Jobs has delivered yet another promised land sermon to his followers. You know you’re on to something when you’re being attacked rather than ignored. You know you’re on to something when a Macromedia Flash incompatible device (iPhone) is overselling all other smartphones.

I’ll tell you why I will be buying one. Because I’m addicted to my iPhone and this is an iPhone on steroïds. Besides, because it uses the Apple App Store, I will most likely be able to set up a VoIP softphone on it… More choice.

There’s a fundamental difference between wanting a device to do everything (especially things it was not intended for) and owning a device by design, because it fills needs. I read email almost in real time. This device will improve this user-experience or at least widen the reading opportunities.

I watch (read) movies in bed. This device will improve this experience.

I read books and magazines. This will make them more accessible. It is an extension of the paper reading experience. Not a replacement.

I read and edit spreadsheets. This device will allow me to take this necessity to different, new locations and settings.

It is not a laptop. It is not a phone. It is certainly not a PC tablet running Windows. It is an iPad: a reading device like no other.

Every so often I stumble upon nice little apps from indie developers that I just have to buy. It’s a compulsive thing. My latest one is Cinch, from Irradiated Software, a small software developer that is best known for SizeUp. If you just thought “Who?” and then “What?” after reading this, you’re not alone.

Cinch is a new app that does something similar than what SizeUp does in that it helps you position windows (lowercase w) on your desktop. Say you want to move a file and you’ve opened 2 different Finder windows to do so. Clinch allows you to simply drag one window to the left of the screen at which point it will auto-resize to take up exactly 50% of the screen. Do the same with the second window and your screen is now split into 2 equally sized Finder windows.

SizeUp, a utility I’ve reviewed here a few months ago does the same thing but works with keyboard shortcuts. Since I know a lot of Mac users are not big fans of keyboard shortcuts galore, I think Cinch as a good chance of getting popular.

At 7$, it’s cheap and works really well. If you need that kind of utility, it’s well worth your 7$.

I thought François’ idea of a top 10 list was brilliant so I figured I’d just steal the idea. I won’t do a global top 10 though since it would look a lot like his except for a few places where he’s dead wrong. I mean, you don’t need VLC, right ? Just install Perian. And while Coda is quite nice, I’m still an avid TextMate user and I’ll be until they release version 2.0, sometime this millennium.

Hey, they are taking their time to make a nice product. I mean, it worked well enough for Duke Nukem, right? What?

So no, I won’t create funny category names like “Cause you really want to know what I had for breakfast” (Tweetie 2) or “Works great but I still can’t find a reason to use it” (PathFinder 5.5).

No, I won’t do that. What I will do however is tell you about a few of the apps I found in 2009 as part of my monthly demos for the Montreal Mac User Group.

Snippet.app

If you’re a programmer, I think Snippet.app could be something you’d find a lot of uses for. Nice little app (free demo, 13$ to purchase) with a slick UI that allows you to quickly store and retrieve text snippet. You can assign tags to each snippets for easier retrieval and the app runs as a menulet so it doesn’t get in your way. You even get a global shortcut key to call up the search panel.

Delibar

Delibar is one of those apps I still don’t know how I managed to survive all my life without it. Incredibly slick UI and the app works flawlessly to both search and add to your Delicious bookmarks. At 18$, it’s not cheap, but it’s an incredibly well done app. Heck, even the web site looks delicious.

img2icns

From the folks who brought you Delibar comes img2icns, an app with an incredibly slick UI (noticing a trend here?) and a name with very few vowels. Forget the name though, that little app works great. It allows you to convert any PNG file to Mac OS X icons and vice versa. Simple, elegant and there’s even a free version.

Nik Software plugins

If you’re a photographer, you probably know about Nik Software already. If you’re not, you probably don’t care so in a way, this description is completely useless to just about everyone. Insanely good plugins or Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture. Not cheap at 300$ for the suite, but how about a 25% off coupon? Use DZISER at checkout to save 25%. You can thank David Ziser I guess for this code. I don’t know the guy, but I love the code.

Photomatix

Another great app for photographers. Photomatix is simply the best app out there to create HDR photos (like this one for example). Highly recommended.

Layers.app

One last one for the road. Layers.app is the kind of app that makes you wonder why nobody had thought of it before. Layers is used to take a screenshot of your screen, but as its name implies, that screenshot is in fact a PSD file with every element on the shot on a separate layer. Brillant. Expensive is another way to put it (25$), but hey, if you’re someone who regularly needs to take screenshots for product demos and stuff, why not.

Or maybe you’re just like me and you buy neat apps for no good reasons other than to support the developers.

Have a great 2010 guys. All five of you.

I had to migrate my data and applications to a brand new MacBook Pro a while ago. It made me realize how essential some of these applications are to a traveling new media person who loves to be able to be productive with technology and who does not necessarily have a pocket geek to bring along on all these trips.

Here is a compilation of my must-haves for 2010. Let’s do it in in a countdown fashion so you’ll finish reading with the best applications in mind. I also throw in an attempt at David Letterman’s presentation format to make it more entertaining.

Here are the top 10 reasons for owning these best apps or online services.

10. Because not everyone understands limitless mailboxes and huge presentations are so much more appealing. There is YouSendIt for that.

9. Because things that move on your screen are people too. They need to be saved. Why is it so easy to capture stills natively? Multimedia, video, motion and animation. YouTube anyone? Are all part of taking the office on the road without a techie.
SnapZ Pro X provides a perfect remedy to an inherent system discrepancy.

8. A Swiss knife equivalent for Web site programming? You never know when you will need to edit HTML, PHP, CSS. You better have CODA with you then, even if you know.

7. Because files need to be saved, shared, exchanged and edited somewhere away from home (replace home by office as they have become synonyms in this day and age). Transmit is the best FTP client there is for the Mac.

6. Because picture editing, morphing, blending, adding and retouching all rhyme, we need Pixelmator.

5. Because there is never enough video codecs, alternatives and options. Thank the community for VLC.

4. Because the more experience you gain, the more contacts you gather. Contactizer Pro offers the best price-quality ratio in the contact management category.

3. Because data has a tendency to get lost. Invest in Time Capsule.

2. Because The Office is a TV Series you cannot replace with an Open one. Yes you need Microsoft Office no matter what you have heard, there is simply no replacement for this ubiquitous software suite. It is so well integrated that you often think that Word is Excel without a grid. Or is it the reverse? Good luck to OpenOffice.org nonetheless.

1. Because Google is a monopoly that works.
Google Docs, Google Search, Google Mail, Google Wave, etc.

But, please Google, invest in user interface design, user-friendliness, user-experience, and style in 2010. Design? What’s that? It’s about all qualities that have more to do with function than engineers think and make functionalities so much more attractive and enjoyable. The quintessential difference between PC and Mac mentalities? Google, eat some Cocoa, Quartz and Aqua. The text based interface has outlived its purpose.

0. Because you always need more than 10 applications to do anything whilst away from the office and that a countdown hopefully goes to zero. There are Keynote (iWork), iChat, Skype, Eyebeam iTunes, and, and, and..

I wish you a very productive 2010 and good health!