Friday, January 25, was the 35th anniversary of the Apple Macintosh computer. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long. I was in college at the time, and one of my professors bought a Mac and brought it to class. We were all amazed at what a graphical user interface looked like and at what this little computer could do. It was so different from the Apple II computers we were using then. I know it’s an over-used term, but it seemed like magic at the time. I was enthralled and wanted one so badly, but didn’t have the money. I had had “the bug” for computers since a high school trip to the local college, where I got to play around on a mainframe. Seeing the Mac and how different it was cemented my interest in computers. It would be many, many years before I was able to own my own Mac, but these early experiences led to my career in the software industry.
Tech
Blog Addresses, Oh My
When I decided to start blogging again I also decided to move from my self-hosted blog site to wordpress.com. As you may have read elsewhere on this blog, I’m tired of futzing around with all the techie stuff, and am working hard to have a simpler tech life. To that end, I figured moving to a managed site would be better. And it is! I really like what wordpress.com offers and how it works. No more manual updates, no more wondering why my site is so slow or not working at all. That’s all good. But…
Continue readingiPhone X
When I talked about the upcoming release of new Apple hardware, I mentioned that I wasn’t sure if I would upgrade my iPhone 7 to the new iPhone X. I’m sure you all knew, as I guess I did too, that writing those words clearly indicated that I would upgrade. And, I did.
Vacation, Apple Watch and Relaxation
I recently spent almost three weeks in Hawaii. This was my first opportunity to take my new cellular Apple Watch Series 3 on a trip and see how it performed. I have to say, I’m pretty impressed. I upgraded from the original Apple Watch and wondered if I would notice any meaningful difference. Well, I did!
Continue readingNew Apple Gear
I watched the Apple special event last week, even though there were so many leaks that I didn’t expect very many surprises. To me, one of the great things about Apple’s events is the story they tell and how they show their hardware and software working together in ways that solve problems for real people. So, while knowing (or at least, having a very good idea) of the hardware and some of features that were going to be a announced, I was excited to hear what Apple had to say about it all.
Continue readingHurricanes, Nerves, and Technology
As hurricane Irma heads toward Florida, my wife and I are worried. We both have family living there and they’ve all decided to stay during the hurricane. We’re concerned about how they will fare during and after the storm. We feel so helpless because we’re on the west coast of the US and aren’t there to help them. However, it’s been amazing how technology has been able to help us feel just a little less helpless.
Continue readingApple Special Event
Apple has announced their next special event. While I’m excited to see what new hardware they’ll unveil, I’m really most excited about the launch of iOS 11, which will likely be a week (or so) later.
Continue readingAlexa and Cortana: Together?
From Recode: Amazon and Microsoft are working to integrate Alexa and Cortana. Apparently they believe that each assistant has something that the other lacks.
Continue readingiPad
As part of my new focus on writing, I’m moving my computing life to an iPad. I’ve used an iPad since it first became available and have always been intrigued by the potential of the device. I think the iPad is at the point where it can fulfill all of my computing needs.
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Words from Rob 