¶ To The Crazy One

Steve Jobs

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Apple's Think Different ad campaign from so long ago captures not only the culture of Apple and its community, but clearly paints a picture of the man who planted the seed, nurtured the initial growth of ideas, and even restored health to a withering orchard — Steve Jobs.

Today Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple.

I'm not even quite sure what to say yet.

How about we start with Steve's words:

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

Perhaps, a letter of my own is fitting.

Steve,

I'd be lying if I said that you hadn't changed my life. The fruits of your labor have been a near-daily part of my life since I was a small boy. The last decade has been a heck of a ride. I went from just being an enthusiast to being a believer in everything Apple stands for.

Some call me irrational, but I know that Apple is much more than a simple corporation. Apple is a forum where some of the most talented minds of this modern Earth gather in conference under the belief that we can change this world for the better. And that is something that transcends the walls of 1 Infinite Loop and into the hearts of those who use these artisan tools to create beauty in words and code and pixels and bits.

Everyone I've met that works for Apple believes this. Everyone I've met who sees more than a product in your tools believes this. It's an honor to be a part of this creative culture.

What Apple stands for is a part of me. It is one of the essential pillars of my identity. Ask my friends and family. There is rarely a day that goes by that I am not using these tools before me to make someone's day a little better, whether that is through words on this site, an encouraging note to someone, or connecting eye-to-eye with my parents so they can see their grandson from hundreds of miles away.

To put this simply — thank you. I wish you many years of health and enjoyment with your family.

-Chris

Tempest Milky Way

This amazing time lapse video was filmed in central South Dakota, which is coincidentally where I grew up. Simply stunning.

A Trusted System

Federico Viticci, at MacStories, talks about having a reliable, trusted system for getting your work done. If there is one extensive article you read today, make sure it is this one.

For me, the trusted system has become a synonym of great software developed by people that are serious about the bits and Xcodes they work with. Software from people that have something to lose if things go south. Apps from developers that are deeply invested in the platform — apps from people that often do this for a living but that are also users of their own creations. And this synonym has led me to trust the smaller, indie devs less, because I always fear the app I’m showing interest in will be discontinued tomorrow and never come back to support my needs.

I can vouch for being burned by some devs who took my money, and other people's money, and then promptly left their app to rot or removed it from the store entirely. Granted, this happened early on in the App Store, it was a new market, but I am also more cautious now. I've developed relationships with some developers, like the folks at the Iconfactory. I trust AgileBits with my most secure credentials. I could go on.

Even more so, I have become very hesitant to adding new items to my trusted system. I agonize over mucking with my home screen layout because it means retraining muscle memory. But that doesn't mean I won't go search for something new if the need arises. However, I read many reviews and weigh the usefulness of an app heavily before trusting it by clicking the buy button.

Disruptive

Patrick Rhone:

Dear Anyone Else Who Thinks They Have A Chance In The iPad Market,

You don’t. The iPad is the fire that sucked all the oxygen out of the room. Apple zigged and you guys are still trying to figure out what a zag is. It’s sad really, to see companies that were once at the top of the NASDAQ stumble around digging for pocket change in your high-end sofa cushions.

It is time to stop looking and, like HP, face a simple truth – you can’t win playing the iPad game. Because it is not the tablet game. It is the iPad game. And you can’t make those. You can’t even manage to make something as good as those, at least not at that price. Apple has the channel locked up price wise. Tim Cook saw to that. You will never be able to build at the same cost they do and produce anything even close. And let’s just skip the whole integrated end-to-end platform discussion because you guys are just not built that way.

[…]

Apple did not beat you with the iPad. They beat you with the iPad market. A market they created out of the ashes of burning netbooks, low cost laptops, and PCs that no one really liked or wanted in the first place. There simply was no other option at the time available for them to buy otherwise. Apple created that option.

This whole thing is worth reading. It is hands-down the best plain-English analysis of the tablet iPad market I have read yet.

Perspective

Shawn Blanc interviewed Thomas Brand about why he uses a Newton MessagePad as his primary writing machine. Brand had this to say, among other things:

Using a MessagePad as my primary writing machine more than ten years after its untimely demise keeps my thoughts about technology in perspective. While staring into its monochrome olive colored LCD I can’t help but take a step back from the technology I am reviewing and decide wether[sic] or not today’s story is really such a big deal. Technology platforms come and go, but it is how we use them that makes a difference.

I wonder if similar things will be written 10 years after the original iPhone.

Classic Color Meter

For reasons unknown to anyone outside Cupertino, Apple handicapped their previously wonderful Digital Color Meter utility in Lion. Many folks are probably unaware of its existence, but Digital Color Meter, which resides in the Utilities folder, was great for locking onto a pixel and getting the hex code or just about any other color syntax. I used this all the time.

But Lion's version removes nearly all of its usefulness. I was pretty peeved when I went to use it and it didn't work for my usage anymore.

Thankfully, there's an app for that. A developer named Ricci Adams made Classic Color Meter and put it on the Mac App Store for a buck. Let me tell you, that is a buck well spent.

The Morning of the Week

For those who work with their mind, Mondays should be for dreaming and planning. They are the morning of the week, and each Monday brings with it a new beginning, a fresh start, and a sea of potential.

Mondays are my favorite day of the week for the same reason the morning is my favorite time of the day. The morning is when my mind is most clear — there is not yet the accumulation of “mental clutter” from the activities and worries of the day and the whole day looks like a blank canvas.

A wonderful piece from Shawn Blanc last Monday. It's true that the weekend is always a news lull, which is good and relaxing. And then comes Monday with a torrent of pent up articles and news. It can be overwhelming at times. They say once something is put on the Internet it will always be there, even if it is promptly "removed". Remember that. Use Monday as a blank canvas to create for Tuesday through Friday.

Quote of the Day: Lisa-Jo Baker

Lisa-Jo Baker:

If you've only got one hour in the day to write, don't spend it defeated. Spend it writing.

I need to hang that on my wall.

So long, webOS

Speaking of streamlining, a press release from HP:

…HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.

And here I thought RIM would be the first iOS competitor to crack.

¶ Streamlining

Late last night Engadget scooped a story that AT&T would be "streamlining" its messaging plans. AT&T last did this about 8 months ago.

Back then, they offered 200 messages/month for $5, 1500 for $15 and unlimited for $20. Their first streamlining nixed the $5 and $15 plans in favor of 1000 messages/month for $10, and left the $20 unlimited plan untouched.

As of 21 August, AT&T will be streamlining further to just the $20 unlimited plan and then having pay per message at the rates of 20¢ per SMS and 30¢ per MMS.

Ben Brooks takes a fairly positive outlook:

…before the customer had to guess how many messages they will be sending, with the new plan the message is clear, “do you plan on sending text messages or not”.

And he's right, overall, that is a good thing. My wife and I each have the old 200 messages at $5 per month. We're light texters. Granted, I do come close every month to going over my limit (and have a few times in the past three years). And it sucks having to keep an eye on the meter.

Thankfully, Apple's iMessage service is just around the corner. I know that most of the people I text have iPhones, so those messages will circumvent AT&T's messaging service altogether. This should enable my wife and I to stay on the 200 message plan until AT&T eventually kicks us off.

I think what bothers me the most about this streamlining is the price. $20 a month has been and continues to be outrageous for messaging. And for two people, the $30 family unlimited plan isn't that great. If this announcement was accompanied by a reduction in the price of unlimited, it would look much better. Instead it looks a little greedy.

Let's face it, SMS takes very little bandwidth. MMS takes a little more. But at the end of the day, it is all just bits. Why isn't messaging lumped into our data plans by now? Seriously, we're on metered data plans now, 200 MB or 2 GB, depending on what you pay for. Why not just take our messaging off of that? That is essentially what Apple will be doing with iMessage if you aren't connected to Wi-Fi.

Simplification of choice is nice, and having the choices be per message or unlimited is great. But the cost of the difference is incredible. As for me, I'll be staying on my ancient messaging plan until I am forced to change, and I will be patiently waiting for iMessage to roll out.