{"id":10441,"date":"2017-03-27T00:00:13","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T07:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technightowl.com\/newsletter\/?p=10441"},"modified":"2020-04-08T12:13:22","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T19:13:22","slug":"newsletter-issue-904","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/newsletter\/2017\/03\/newsletter-issue-904\/","title":{"rendered":"Newsletter Issue #904"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>THIS WEEK’S TECH NIGHT OWL RADIO UPDATE<\/strong><\/p>\n

iTunes is the app people love to hate. It can be flaky and bloated, and Apple appears to act arbitrarily in adding or removing features. Still, it’s essential for both Mac and PC owners, and thus has\u00a0hundreds of millions of users. While Apple touts its success, each version appears to be a frustrating mixture of new features \u2014 some of which nobody asked for or needs \u2014 along with\u00a0irritating bugs.<\/p>\n

Some suggest Apple should basically throw it out and start over, and, at the same time,\u00a0separate each function into a separate app. Maybe the latter will work on an iPhone or iPad, but integration is an important part of Apple’s strategy, and thus it will remain integrated. Starting from scratch may be difficult, since it depends so much on existing Apple services. Besides, consider the many users who appear to be\u00a0satisfied with iTunes, or are at least putting up with\u00a0it..<\/p>\n

On the other hand, maybe Apple is doing just that. Maybe there is an iTunes 13 or 14 in the wings that will keep what people like, and clean up what people don’t. Maybe there will be convenience features we didn’t expect, so\u00a0iTunes can better meet the needs of its users.<\/p>\n

Or maybe enough Apple customers don’t really\u00a0care, and Apple will stay the course. It’s not as if other platforms are doing any better.<\/p>\n

That takes us to\u00a0this weekend’s edition of\u00a0The Tech Night Owl LIVE<\/a>, where we featured outspoken blogger and podcaster Kirk McElhearn<\/a>, also known as\u00a0Macworld’s<\/a>\u00a0“iTunes Guy.”\u00a0Gene and Kirk briefly discussed the probe by French authorities into alleged emission faking by more and more car makers, the latest being Mercedes-Benz. Kirk described the new features in iTunes 12.6 for Mac and Windows and some of the glitches he’s discovered that Apple needs to fix. The discussion moved to the modest March iPad refresh from Apple, and what might come next. There was a brief debate between Gene and Kirk about\u00a0the potential for the iPad as a productivity device. Gene says it could be better, while Kirk believes that power users should stick with their Macs.<\/p>\n

You also heard from columnist Jeff Gamet, Managing Editor for\u00a0The Mac Observer<\/a>. During a pop culture segment, Gene and Jeff discussed “Duets,”\u00a0the musical episode of a TV super hero show, “The Flash.” Jeff made a pitch for Apple users changing their passwords in light of recent hacking attempts, and he briefly described 2-factor authentication. The discussion moved briefly to iTunes 12.6, the limits of the Apple TV, and on to the iPad refresh. Gene and Jeff focused on the possibilities for iPad productivity, especially being able to record and edit audio \u2014 and perhaps video \u2014 assets on Apple’s tablet. Does it make sense to enhance its capabilities, or should such tasks be left to a Mac or PC?<\/p>\n

On this week’s episode of our other radio show,\u00a0The Paracast:<\/a> Gene and Chris present yet\u00a0another subject we haven’t explored with John L. Steadman, author of “H.P. Lovecraft & the Black Magical Tradition,” which explores “the real black magickal organizations that use Lovecraft’s fictional constructs as a basis for their magickal workings; I argue that such constructs can be used in this manner and that the Lovecraftian entities are just as ontologically ‘real’ as traditional gods, goddesses and demons.”\u00a0John L. Steadman is a scholar of H. P. Lovecraft and western occultism and has been a magickal practitioner for more than thirty years. He is currently a college English professor at Olivet College in Michigan.\u00a0And, yes, he has had paranormal encounters over the years.<\/p>\n

<\/a>RENEWED DEMANDS FOR APPLE TO LICENSE ITS OS<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s very easy to forget the past, and the mistakes you made. Just keeping up is difficult, and sometimes the situation changes enough that you might want to revisit something you tried before, something that failed. Maybe it’s just worth giving it another try in the hope that there will be a different result.<\/p>\n

And, no, I won’t consider that old saw that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is a classic definition of insanity.<\/p>\n

Back in the early days of the Mac, Apple was urged to license the operating system. Do what Microsoft does, they said, and thus earn license fees from all those companies who will license the OS and expand the platform. After all, giving customers a wider choice of hardware has to help build a larger user base.<\/p>\n

In the end, the key Mac OS cloners of the mid-1990s went after Apple’s core markets \u2014 the most profitable ones \u2014 with a vengeance. They delivered faster hardware in cheap PC boxes, and thus charged less. That, and the low fees Apple exacted\u00a0for a Mac OS\u00a0license, put the company in serious danger.<\/p>\n

After he returned to Apple and took control,\u00a0 Steve Jobs decided to put a stop to this nonsense. It cost a cool $100 million to take over and shutter one of the key cloners, Power Computing, but that and other moves set Apple on a realistic course. Apple earns most of its money from hardware sales, so expecting it to survive and prosper from licensing an operating system didn’t make a whole lot of sense.<\/p>\n

These days, Microsoft essentially tries to do a little of the reverse. It’s in the software and services business, but does sell\u00a0hardware. The Xbox gaming console does well enough after years of losses, but the Surface tablet probably takes more market share away from PC vendors than\u00a0Macs.<\/p>\n

So why should Apple go down the OS licensing route again? Why repeat what was almost a fatal mistake?<\/p>\n

The latest suggestions are about Apple’s questionable moves in the Mac space these days. It appears that product refreshes have slowed, and what about the company’s commitment to pros?<\/p>\n

Despite recent\u00a0reassurances from Tim Cook, it’s clear that some people question his understanding of the needs of power users and creatives. Look at the MacBook Pro, which is supposed to be a powerful business notebook. But it’s felt that Apple has ignored the needs of customers, and focused on looks over function. Did the newest model really have to be smaller and slimmer? What about allowing for the installation of more RAM? Why did Apple use last year’s Intel processor anyway? Who needs a Touch Bar?<\/p>\n

Forgetting the form factor change, Apple has given reasons for not adopting a memory controller that supports more RAM. It would require using a slower memory bus and substantially reduce battery life. Apple is already being attacked for inconsistent battery life on these notebooks, even though recent OS updates might have managed some of those issues.<\/p>\n

When it comes to Intel hardware, quad-core Intel Kaby Lake chips weren’t even shipping when the MacBook Pro went on sale.<\/p>\n

During the MacBook Pro launch event, the Touch Bar was demonstrated as a productivity tool using Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office. By now, a number of other apps are supporting this feature, but the question is\u00a0whether this is part of the reason that the new models are several hundred dollars more expensive.<\/p>\n

Besides, why would Apple add support for two external 5K displays \u2014 how many PC notebooks offer that? \u2014 if it wasn’t meant for professional users? That’s hardly a casual decision, and what sense does\u00a0it make to stick that capability in a computer that’s not meant for professional users?<\/p>\n

Now about the Mac Pro: Why did Apple release a version\u00a0without one of its best features, a decent amount of internal expansion? Besides, the product appears to have been abandoned, since it hasn’t been updated in more than three years, yet\u00a0is still being sold for the same price. If Apple has a game plan, what is it and does that promised commitment to pro users mean a new model is coming soon?<\/p>\n

So how does this fuel a renewed call to license macOS?<\/p>\n

Right now, hobbyists sometimes build what are known as Hacintoshes, which are regular or custom-made PCs onto which macOS is installed. It generally involves hacking the macOS installer to allow it to be set up on non-Apple hardware. There is an online community that has posted instructions on how to induce macOS to run on such a box, and the range of hardware that will provide the most trouble-free experience.<\/p>\n

Apple has usually tolerated the practice, since it involves an individual doing\u00a0their own thing. If people actually went into business selling macOS clones, and Apple found\u00a0out about the practice, you can be sure cease-and-desist demands\u00a0would be sent pronto!<\/p>\n

But what if Apple decided to license macOS to hardware companies to\u00a0expand the market? If Apple isn’t interested in a professional workstation, why not let someone else build\u00a0it? What about a bigger, more powerful notebook?<\/p>\n

It may make sense in theory, but it recalls the original logic behind the failed attempt to license Mac OS back in the 1990s. That move was also\u00a0meant to expand the market, but resulted in people choosing the clones over Apple’s own gear, in large part as the result of possibly prices and more options to customize.<\/p>\n

So if Apple were to make\u00a0this move for a second time, how would they insure that all or most of these Mac clones would be marketed in areas Apple didn’t touch, with models that Apple opted not to build? Don’t forget that Apple is not selling an OS. It’s selling hardware, and anything that hurts those sales could impact the company big time. How many macOS licenses would they have to sell to even cover the loss of a single sale of Mac hardware?<\/p>\n

I suppose limited licensing \u2014 with careful attention to detail \u2014 might work. Then again, couldn’t Apple simply expand the Mac hardware market with new models to provide a greater range of options for customers? The biggest argument against the current situation is that you can’t buy the\u00a0Mac that meeds your needs, so you have to compromise, keep what you have, or switch to Windows (or Linux).<\/p>\n

A new macOS licensing program would carry lots of risks. It’s not just about building models that Apple won’t sell, but about making sure such gear is fully compatible with Apple’s software and services. That’s hard enough with Apple’s own products as many of you can attest. At the end of the day, I don’t expect to see it happen.<\/p>\n

THE FINAL WORD<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tech Night Owl Newsletter is a weekly information service of Making The Impossible, Inc.<\/p>\n

Publisher\/Editor: Gene Steinberg
\nManaging Editor: Grayson Steinberg
\nMarketing and Public Relations: Barbara Kaplan
\nSales and Marketing: Andy Schopick
\nWorldwide Licensing: Sharon Jarvis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THIS WEEK’S TECH NIGHT OWL RADIO UPDATE iTunes is the app people love to hate. It can be flaky and bloated, and Apple appears to act arbitrarily in adding or removing features. Still, it’s essential for both Mac and PC owners, and thus has\u00a0hundreds of millions of users. While Apple touts its success, each version […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7116,286,94,7244,7243,7113,3427,15,23,7245,7247,7248,4735,5821,2425,1898,1894,1899,1913,1890,6927,57,1917,4991,7246,2691,6719,6550,3398,2635,7087,1924],"class_list":["post-10441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter","tag-5k-display","tag-apple","tag-apple-tv","tag-clone","tag-hacintosh","tag-intel-kaby-lake","tag-ipad","tag-iphone","tag-itunes","tag-itunes-12-6","tag-itunes-13","tag-itunes-14","tag-itunes-guy","tag-jeff-gamet","tag-kirk-mcelhearn","tag-mac","tag-mac-clone","tag-mac-os","tag-mac-pro","tag-macbook-pro","tag-macos","tag-macworld","tag-microsoft","tag-microsoft-surface","tag-os-licensing","tag-pc","tag-power-computing","tag-the-flash","tag-the-mac-observer","tag-tim-cook","tag-touch-bar","tag-windows"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}