Philip Baeten

Defining a "Retina Display".

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:37:16 +0100

This is a very interesting post written by Richard Gaywood at TUAW.

It appears that the term “Retina Display” is not some clever marketing trick. You should read this.

Some Thoughts On Facebook

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 19:28:06 +0100

Two years ago I left Facebook for two main reasons. The first reason why I left the mother of all social networks is the fact that people were annoying me. I am aware of the fact that you can unfriend people, but back in the day I thought it was too rude to do that. Now, I think differently.

The second reason is privacy. You could have guessed that one, right? Facebook had a fair amount of criticism on their privacy policy these last few years and I personally think this problem is still there. There are some options available to protect your privacy from the outside world, but there is still a fair amount of work to be done — especially on how Facebook is handling personal data.

I never thought about signing up again in those past 2 years. There wasn’t “a need” for doing that, neither there was a purpose to do so. Nevertheless, things have changed. Whilst Facebook already was a huge success amongst individuals, these last few months it started to get pretty popular amongst various services on the internet. Think of Spotify for example. New users are only capable of signing up for the service if you have a Facebook account. I think it’s great you can use your account for various services instead of separate accounts, but you have to give the user an alternative. Spotify isn’t doing that. Plenty of sites on the internet are giving you an option, like The Verge for example. By taking away this choice you are losing more customers then you gain.

The problem goes further. Occasionally, I have a group assignment at university with people I’ve never worked with before. I notice that the communication with team members is much harder when you don’t have Facebook. Last time, they met together without letting me know. Furthermore, sometimes Facebook is needed if you want to sign up for special events like job fairies.

Apparently, there’s also a special Facebook group of my department, Applied Economics. They share information and extra material like summaries of courses which you don’t have access to if you’re not on Facebook. At least, that’s what I have heard.

You see this is getting problematic. I am missing out on things I shouldn’t miss out on. Not only is the internet forcing me to sign up for Facebook but also my colleagues at university.

I have to admit there are some benefits to Facebook. It’s nice to keep up with people you actually like. Since this is my second from last year at university, it might be a good idea to make sure I keep in contact with some of the people I met at school. While there are other methods available for doing that, Facebook is by far the easiest way to do it. People change their address, phone number or even their email address but their Facebook account probably stays. Let’s say it’s more convenient.

That’s how I see Facebook. I see Facebook as a service to keep in touch with people you don’t see every day. It’s a tool for maintaining contact with others. For me, it’s not a service where I tell what music I am listing to, post some videos or quote some famous people and act like I’m smart. There is nothing wrong with that, but I am not that type of guy and I am sure I am not the only one. I don’t have the need to check Facebook every hour or day.

There are also some new filter options available which I didn’t have when I was active on Facebook. I think that’s something I missed during that time and it’s definitely something I would use.

It’s in a way like using Twitter. If you follow people who tweet uninteresting or silly things, the experience is rubbish and you get annoyed easily. The fix is simple. Don’t follow those people. The same goes for Facebook.

I will probably sign up again. Starting over might help me to use Facebook in a way I am comfortable with. While the privacy matters still remain, I can see real value in the service.

Steve Jobs narrates the first Think Different commercial...

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:46:59 +0200

Steve Jobs narrates the first Think Different commercial “Here’s to the Crazy Ones”. It never aired.

Terry Lucy: Steve

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:16:38 +0200

Terry Lucy: Steve:

I thank Steve, and Apple, for igniting a passion which has overtaken my life

I couldn’t have said it any better.

The Steve Jobs I knew

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:41:33 +0200

The Steve Jobs I knew:

Goosebumps

Class Notes

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 12:42:09 +0200

Class Notes:

Quintin is going hardcore with this Dropbox + Simplenote combo.

Worth a read if you are a student who takes notes in class.

Gimme Bar

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:38:42 +0200

Gimme Bar:

Harper:

I never thought to look into using a bookmarking service - especially as I was very hesitant to start using another web service (mostly for my sanitys sake).

What he suggests is using a new service called Gimme Bar. You should check it out.

The guys at Gimme Bar are also really funny (which is a plus, right?).

AAPL exceeds 400 dollar again

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 09:30:15 +0200

For the first time since Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple, the stock exceeded 400 dollars.

Who said the stock may fall because of Steve’s resignation?

Nothing has changed really. I even think Apple will become more successful in the future and it’s stock price will keep rising.

Apple's success

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 22:01:09 +0200

Apple’s success is enormous. What’s the reason for this success?

Steve Jobs surrounded himself with remarkably talented designers, retailers, and engineers because he understood that the most talented performers aren’t motivated primarily by money or status. -Bill Taylor - Harvard Business Review

I’ve been thinking about this for quite a while. Other companies can copy Apple as much as they want, they will never reach the same results. You can copy certain processes or products but you can’t copy Apple’s people. Apple has a human capital advantage that cannot be achieved by other companies.

There is only one Steve Jobs, there is only one Tim Cook and there is only one Jonathan Ive. It’s the talent that’s working at Apple that’s making the difference. Apple hired people with extraordinary skills that their competitors simply don’t have (for now).

Here’s an example: Other firms can try and make a laptop like the MacBook Air that’s equally thin and powerful at the same price but they can’t manage to get it done. The competitors aren’t able to manufacture a tablet like the iPad and sell it for $499 that has the same quality like the iPad. You can’t buy a better laptop for the price of a MacBook Air, you can’t buy a tablet for the same price like the iPad. They simply are not able to do it, how hard they try.

Apple’s economies of scale are huge. This gives them the opportunity to sell an iPad at $499 while others apparently can’t match this price with a device that has equal quality to the iPad (serious iPad competitors are mostly more expensive). Tim Cook is brilliant in supply chain management so Apple can keep costs as low as possible and meanwhile creating high quality stuff.

Apple’s economies of scale cannot be matched by their competitors. Tim Cook is responsible for that. You can copy design and features but you can’t copy people and their skills. Because of Tim Cook Apple has these economies of scale. I better rephrase that sentence: because of Tim Cook’s extraordinary skills Apple has this advantage over their competitors.

While Steve Jobs isn’t the CEO anymore, this philosophy is baked into Apple itself. They will keep attracting the best skills of the industry thus leading to the best result they possibly can reach.

I think there are loads of people with remarkable skill that want to work for Apple. Apple pushes boundaries like nobody else. Innovation is their trademark and I think this is a very attractive environment to work in. Apple itself is an attractive company to work for as well. This is positive to enforce productive work.

The corporate structure of Apple is also different from its competitors. They are configured like a startup. A big startup that is. From a Human Resource perspective this is a very productive environment to work in where people can fully explore their skills and potentials and most importantly grow. If you can reach this stage in your Human Resource planning, you create an advantage that others don’t have.

It’s all about having the best skills in your company and give them to chance to keep developing. These skills create an advantage for the company itself.

“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.” - Steve Jobs

After Steve Jobs came back in 1997 there were still many talented people working at Apple. Despite these people Apple was 60 days away from chapter 11. Steve came back and introduced some new people as well as keeping the best of those who already were working at Apple. Having great talented people in your company is not enough, it’s what you do with them. You have to present them with challenges and opportunities. You need to convince them of the vision the company has and get them on board. Who can do this better than Steve Jobs himself right?

Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it. - Steve Jobs

It’s all about the people at Apple. It always has been and it always will be. After all, they are the ones who make the difference, not how many dollars you put in R&D. Careful, it’s important to invest in R&D, but having great people in your company is equally important!

Dude, where is your floppy drive?

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:55:28 +0200

So here’s the thing: a few days ago, I stumbled upon a video about Steve Ballmer. In my opinion, he’s a champion at embarrassing himself, but that’s an entirely different discussion¹.

Anyway, in the comment section, I found this:

Apple’s famous for missing standard features on there products…. (the exact comment)

Now this pissed me off. The person who wrote that comment is a clear Apple hater and that is of course his or her right to be. What bothers me is the persons lack of vision. The writer of this comment is obviously missing the big picture.

First of all, a CD-drive is indeed a standard feature of computers these days. However, this doesn’t mean you need one. It also doesn’t mean it needs to stay there. You remember the floppy disk? Back in the day this was a standard feature but now most of the people who are using a computer don’t even know what a floppy drive is. Apple killed the floppy drive because something better came along. And Apple is doing the same with the CD. Furthermore there are clear signs that Apple is getting rid of the CD drive. The latest example is the Mac Mini that ships without a CD-drive.

Apple is going to kill the CD-drive and everyone else is going to follow their example.

Another “standard function” the Macbook Air doesn’t have is an ethernet port. Seriously, who is using an ethernet port these days? If you are serious into cable management you use WiFi. Period.

Some people forget why Apple is leaving out these features on the MacBook Air. They clearly don’t see how thin it is and how little it weights. You have to compromise in certain areas.

In stead of mocking Apple and its users some people should consider thinking about the reason why Apple is making these kind of decisions.

When there are better alternatives you need to have the guts to take the leap and go for it. And Apple is exactly doing this.

They got a vision, they got balls. They take risks and they do what they believe in. Apple pushes boundaries. There aren’t a lot of tech companies with the same attitude, they just follow the leader.

/rant

I never saw a CEO behave like this. ↩

Writing

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 00:28:59 +0200

A few months ago I started this blog. The reason was very simple: I wanted to write about the things that interests me.

You may know I live in Antwerp, Belgium. This means my native language is Dutch. Throughout our education we do get English as a course next to French and German. While I personally think my English isn’t bad, it could be a lot better. Writing in an other language can be difficult and I might have underestimated it.

You will find spelling mistakes, you will find grammatical errors. The most important part is that people notify me when something goes wrong. I really appreciate it, I do.

I want to get better at writing, I really do. I love it and it’s fun. There are times when it can be frustrating if I want to express myself but I can’t because I am stuck - and by stuck I mean I don’t know how to formulate myself in English. I need to edit over and over again until I think my point is clear enough. This takes time.

When I finished an article, I ask somebody to proof read my article. That person is a native English speaker and they really help me getting better at writing. They correct my spelling and grammatical errors as well as telling me if the post has a purpose or not. To Quintin and Maxim, thanks. Check out their work!

My writing skills are far from those of Shawn Blanc or MG Siegler and my skills will never match theirs. I don’t mind that. Writing isn’t my job and it probably never will be, I just like doing it.

And I really think my writing is improving. The more I write, the better it gets. At least this is what I hope and you may notice it too (or not).

This is still the very beginning of this blog. I hope, in a year or so, the quality of my articles will be better but for now I can only try.

Decoding Steve Jobs

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:48:00 +0200

Decoding Steve Jobs:

The day Steve Jobs resigned as the CEO of Apple, a friend sent me this link.

“Jobs’ fabled attitude toward parking”, writer Leander Kahney says, “reflects his approach to business: For him, the regular rules do not apply.”

And that, I think, is one of the reasons why Steve Jobs is so succesful. He does things different, he thinks different. He takes risks. When he is conviced of something nobody can stop him. He is determined to change the world. And he did.

And the fact that he isn’t the CEO of Apple anymore doesn’t change a thing. He will still try to come up with new innovative things where nobody else thinks about. Why? Because he loves Apple, he loves his job, he loves to do what he does.

But don’t think you’ll do better as a leader by acting more like Apple’s leader. Trust the art, not the artist.

Exactly. There’s only one Steve.

I wish him well and I hope he stays hungry and stays foolish.

Siegler about Microsoft and the Post-PC era

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:37:36 +0200

Siegler about Microsoft and the Post-PC era:

Another must read post written by MG Siegler.

No matter what you think of HP’s big moves this past week, their step away from the PC world speaks volumes. They’re not doing it because they’re batshit crazy. They’re doing it because sales are declining and the margins suck. They’re doing it because they can’t beat Apple.

It’s not a good sign for an industry when the leader of that industry quits and walks away. No amount of spin can change that.

It is indeed not a very good sign. We will need to wait and see what the future brings us, but I think tablets, uhum, iPads will push the PC to the background.

My use of Keyboard Maestro

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:56:00 +0200

It’s a little contradictory. Just when Apple releases Lion with all its fancy gestures, I am committed to become a keyboard ninja.

All I need is my memory to remember all the shortcuts and Keyboard Maestro 5. No training from Yoda on how using “The Force”. Keyboard Maestro will do.

What is Keyboard Maestro?

For the people who don’t know what Keyboard Maestro is, or does, it’s an app where you can configure various macro’s for all kinds of task on your mac.

I really, truly, struggle to define what Keyboard Maestro (‘KM’) does for most computer users. Simply put, it makes my life very easy. It isn’t a tool for the ‘average’ user, it is a tool for people who don’t like repetition, a tool for people who want speed. There’s a learning curve to the app, but it’s not insurmountable. -Ben Brooks

I will not be reviewing Keyboard Maestro. There are plenty of good reviews out there from much better writers and another review would just be a waste of time. If you want to read a review of Keyboard Maestro, I highly recommend reading Ben’s review.

In stead, I want to give you a few tips or inspiration. When I first tried Keyboard Maestro I didn’t know what to do or what shortcuts would help me work faster on my mac. Like Ben says, there is a learning curve. I was a bit overwhelmed by all the features Keyboard Maestro offers. There aren’t a lot of things you can’t do with Keyboard Maestro.

The first thing you need to do is try to see what actions you repeat regularly. Those can be very simple, like quitting apps, or something complex like creating Markdown links.

Keyboard Maestro and the use of Markdown

Since a few days, I am writing my posts in Markdown. What is Markdown? Well, who can explain better what Markdown is than the man who invented it himself:

Markdown is a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers. Markdown allows you to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, then convert it to structurally valid XHTML (or HTML). -John Gruber

Markdown is very easy to use and super fast. And I configured a few macro’s that can help make it even faster and more productive.

One of the things I regularly do when I write a post is linking URL’s or quoting people. In stead of typing the brackets I simply make markdown links with 1 shortcut:

The same goes for quoting text:

I made a more complex macro to insert images in markdown style. First I take a screenshot. After I have done this, I select the image on my desktop and type the shortcut ⌘⌥⇧+ I. After this, Keyboard Maestro does the rest.

First, it prompts a dialog and asks me what the name of the image needs to be. When I click OK, the file moves from the desktop to my dropbox public folder. Then Keyboard Maestro makes the public link (because I can’t figure out a way to copy the public link from the dropbox context menu) and pastes it into Byword with the needed markdown editing.

The dialog:

This is the result:

You obviously see this is a very fast way of creating those links or synthaxes. This saves me a lot of time.

Assigning macro’s to certain apps

One of the great features Keyboard Maestro has is the ability to assign macro’s to certain apps. For example, in Safari I made the shortcut ⌘ + I for sending stuff to Instapaper. This shortcut only works in safari and not in other apps.

Other great tips

You can find a bunch of awesome tips on The Brooks Review. Ben also has a macro for bottom posting in Sparrow. You can find it here.

Another very useful macro is the “Super Quit”. What it does is just quitting all the running apps (except the ones who are in your “exception list”). This seems useless at first sight, but soon you will see how much time you gain with simple macro’s like these.

Try it yourself!

If you want to try Keyboard Maestro you can! There is a trail available on the website. Alternatively, you can purchase the app from the developers website or purchase it in the Mac App Store.

If you want to use the macro’s I discussed above, send me an email.

If you have tips or comment, don’t hesitate to contact me!

A quick tip for mail.app in Lion

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:47:00 +0200

When you want to see the emails you have sent in the conversation view (like you do in Sparrow), enable “include related messages”.

"Now, you might ask : Why should I believe them? They are the ones who brought me MobileMe!"

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:54:05 +0200

“Now, you might ask : Why should I believe them? They are the ones who brought me MobileMe!”

- Steve Jobs at WWDC 2011.

It’s great to see a CEO like Steve Jobs to admit the mistakes he did. He goes even further by fixing his mistake and giving us iCloud, a feature we will talk about for years.

Lion and the student

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:07:00 +0200

With Lion coming up in a couple of weeks we all now know the good and the bad. I’ll leave that for discussion. What I would like to talk about is how Lion can benefit certain groups of consumers - in particular students.

I really think Apple has had this group of consumers in mind, and that is not a bad move. Students are a big chunk of their customer base, especially in the laptop segment. Integrating certain features into Lion is a great move to even extend this consumer base - and augment the customer experience in general.

Of course, most of the features are made for the masses and not only for the students. Just look at the revamped mail.app, Airdrop, resume or many more. But this doesn’t mean some features are especially targeted at a certain group of consumers.

When Apple announced features like Version or Auto Save, it really stroke me with the thought: “This is really made for students or writers”. The ability to look into previous versions of your work is a great addition for anybody who is creating documents, spreadsheets and more. In the case of students, writing a paper for a certain course can take several weeks or months, depending on the deadline. The ability to see all the changes you made during that time can really be a plus. Sometimes you delete pieces of text or images because it doesn’t fit in that current “state” of the document. The power that lies in Versions that it’s not deleted but, lets say, archived. And this is a big advantage. When you need that piece of text you wrote in the beginning or the fancy image you used you just go back and copy it and integrate it into your latest version. Its like fine-tuning your document. Anybody who is writing text or something similar will benefit from this feature, I am sure of it, and Apple thinks that too. Of course, the same goes for Auto Save. Imagine that you will never lose your documents again because you simply forgot to save it. Loosing a big chunk of your paper is not the best day of your life. Mechanisms like this will spare us the frustrations and the panic of loosing content.

It all lies in the philosophy of Apple. It just works. We don’t have to do anything, it’s been done for us. And Lion goes a step further with these kind of features.

The Back To School promo may prove my thoughts. It proves that Apple is indeed targeting the students. Giving students a 100 dollar gift card is also a very good idea of Apple. Apple as well as the students will gain from this promo. Apple with the 30% cut and students of course with 100$ of apps and music.

We cannot underestimate the Mac App Store in all this. It is a great way to find and buy apps or games. When it comes to the students, there are a ton of great apps to download. 100$ is a very welcoming gift.

I am convinced that Lion will help me as a student, I hope Lion will help you too, whatever your kind of work is.

(Overlooked) technology in the music business.

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:00:00 +0200

Recently I watched the documentary “Back And Forth”. It tells the story of the Foo Fighters. If you are a fan, I highly recommend the documentary.

At a certain point in the documentary they talk about the recording method of their new album: Wasting Light. Apparently, it’s all recorded on tape, which basically means there is no room for error. If they want to let it sound perfect they need to play absolutely perfect, which is almost impossible.

They can’t use a fancy feature like logic’s flex time or anything like that. And I must say, that’s impressive. You see, technology helped us in numerous ways and it made our life easier. Imagine a life without your iPhone, iPad or laptop. These days, our lives are in these devices. We depend on them, every hour of the day. Technology keeps evolving faster then we can keep track of. As technology keeps evolving, everything gets old pretty fast. This means that older technology can be overlooked. People tend to choose for the newest available technology. The same goes for the technology used in the music industry. The fact that there is unbelievable software available to mix and record music in a relative easy way doesn’t mean they need to use it. The Foo’s are a good example. They recorded in an old school way.

Recording on tape isn’t the easiest method of doing so. Just imagine the hours Taylor Hawkins, the drummer, spend on the intro of Bridge Burning. If you record it on tape and it’s a bit off, you need to record it again. Imagine what time it takes to record the whole song or the whole album! With programs like Logic Studio, it can be fixed quite easily without much effort.

Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful we are able to use the newest technology and gadgets, but we don’t need to use it to make something great. The Foo Fighters is a million dollar band. This means they have the resources to use the best technology there is available, but they don’t. They prefer recording on tape, which will never be perfect. They don’t mind the fact that their recorded music will never be perfect, which I must say, isn’t a bad thing.

I am not telling people shouldn’t use the newest technology but it’s remarkable that a band like the Foo Fighters, who are selling millions of records, are using an old overlooked technology and deliver a great album! They have million pounds available and they make a record in a garage. It’s incredible.

On the other hand, I am told that Gorillaz have made their latest album exclusively on the iPad. Technology is an extent of peoples talent. The music made by the Foo Fighters or Gorillaz is not the result of the technology they use. It’s the result of their talent.

This may be a very confusing post, I am aware of that. All I am trying to achieve is telling you that we don’t need to use the new and finest technology but we can. It’s all about personal preference.

Bose headphones - Guest post by Roel Van Thillo

Sun, 08 May 2011 19:46:00 +0200

You probably all know the following - very annoying - situation: you put on your on-ear headphones, press play on your iPod and notice that your headphones aren’t working properly anymore. Well, I encountered that problem a few weeks ago with my Sennheiser headphones. After I used them for about a year, the connection of the cable to the jack was broken.

The Apple in-ear headphones produce an awful sound, so I decided to buy new around-ear headphones. Because my Sennheiser gave it up so quickly, I didn’t want buy that brand anymore, althoughthe quality of the sound is solid. After I heard from a few friends about the amazing quality of Bose, I had to visit their website to check out what product I could buy.

Bose has of course the three stereotypical headphones: in-ear, on-ear and around-ear. I clicked straight through to the around-ear headphones, because they offer the best quality of sound and they are, forme at least, the most comfortable to wear. In that specific segment Bose offers two types of headphones: the noise-cancelling ones and the normal ones. The noise-cancelling headphones are really awesome, but also way too expensive for me, so that narrowed my search down to two different types of headphones: the Bose AE and the Bose AE2, respectively 129€ and 149€. The AE2 costs 20€ more than the AE because Bose enhanced it at a few levels. For instance, the design has improved quite a lot, as did the solidity. But the biggest asset of the AE2, which persuaded me to buy it, is the possibility to replace your audio-cable, that nasty thing is usually the first component that fails.

If you are an iPhone owner you can even buy a separate cable, which has a microphone and iPod-control. I didn’t buy that cable, because I believe 50€ for such an accessory is just too much.

After a few hours of listening to music on my iPhone and on my Mac with my new headphones, I can confirm that what I heard about these headphones is completely true.. The sound is crystal-clear, as well at the high frequencies as at the low frequencies. The bass is perfectly in balance with the higher tones, which makes your listening experience just awesome. A 150€ is quite a high price for a pair of headphones, but I believe it is really worth it!

You can contact the author of this article on twitter.

Jerry Vzr about the MacBook Air.

Fri, 06 May 2011 21:26:05 +0200

A few days ago, I read an exquisite article on the blog of Jerry Vzr about the Macbook Air. You can and must read it here. The article made me thinking so I would like to shine my light on the matter.

I am not going to repeat what Jerry said. Like I have told you, you should really read his blog, since it’s well written.

Currently, I have a macbook Pro 13” from 2009. It’s the best thing I have ever bought so far, I have no regrets. I take it with me every single day to the university. It’s fast, the battery life is unbelievable and it weights nothing in my backpack.

So, why should I buy a Macbook Air in stead of a Macbook Pro when the latter dies?After reading Jerry’s post, I realized that a Macbook Air would be a very good laptop for me.

The mobility of the device is simply what does it for me. The Air must be a joy to carry around. My MacBook Pro is a very good machine on the go, but the Air would do an even better job.

I am only concerned about the performance of the Air in comparison with the MacBook Pro. Although, I think the Air would be the perfect laptop for me in this period of my life.

But for now, I settle with my MacBook Pro with pleasure.

Check out Jerry’s blog for more interesting subjects!