DerekMartin.ca

Where are we heading with OS Eleven? As Steve said, “Back to the Mac”.

• Fact: iOS appeals to people who don’t like or don’t understand “computers”. They simply couldn’t use iOS if it got more complicated.
• Fact: Most current OSX users love OSX and would hate to see it “dumbed down”.
• Fact: iLife apps keep borrowing more and more features from their “Pro” counterparts (Aperture -> iPhoto, Final Cut -> iMovie, Logic -> GarageBand)

OS Eleven will be a dual-mode OS.

Think of it as Beginner Mode vs. Pro Mode

Or to keep with Apple’s Consumer/Pro naming convention: iOS vs OS Pro

Each user can have their own account on the Mac.

When you setup your account, you’ll be able to choose:

1. Consumer
2. Pro
3. Custom

What will those get you? - ConsumerAppStore, Launchpad, AutoSave, full-screen by default, filesystem is hidden, iPhoto, GarageBand, iMovie - ProManual installs, The Dock, manual saves, windowed by default, filesystem is exposed, Aperture, Logic, FinalCut - CustomAllows you to choose any or all of the above options

OS Eleven will be the first operating system ever to be aimed both at power-users and “mere mortals”.OSX recently changed how filetype associations work with respect to what program opens them. Everyone was baffled by this. Why? I’m betting it has to do with Lion’s upcoming AutoSave & Resume State features.

If you hide the filesystem from a user, and the user clicks on a document, they’ll expect it to open in the program they used to create it, not some other program just because of some arbitrary file association.

Get ready, because that is coming in OS11, along with:

• better performance on recent hardware (which supports OpenCL)
• OpenCL is used & becomes required by the OS itself
• a new filesystem (ZFS was rumoured for ages)
• FaceTime camera will be used to log you into your account via face detection
• FaceTime will get a little brother — TalkTime, which is audio chat without video
• Push notifications will be included (a FaceTime or TalkTime call will ‘ring’ all your Apple devices - ipods, iphones, macbooks, macs, appletv)
• iOS will become multi-user, and will also use face detection to sign people into their accounts (and connect them to their clouds)
• iTunes separated into multiple apps for iTunes, iVideo, iBooks, iSync
• Possible Facebook integration at the OS-level? Facebook as native cocoa API?
• Support for capacitive+resistive touch-screens (use a stylus when you want to, otherwise fingers or mouse or trackpad, or a combination of all of them)

As usual, Apple is bringing the future to us now. One more thing:Many of you have been wondering why Apple hasn’t already bought Dropbox. It’s because they have more seamless plans. AutoSave to iDisk & AutoResume from iDisk… on any device, as long as it’s connected to the same MobileMe account, the same way you can pause/resume Netflix movies on different devices. P.S. - thanks to Ian McQuillan for planting the seed of these thoughts in a conversation this past summer

Comments from my old blog:

(Derek)[http://www.derekmartin.ca] said: Thanks for your comment Chris.

User education is where the attention needs to be

Would-be users don’t want to be educated. They’re not interested in computing. They’re interested in being social, and being entertained.

I bet “Simple Mode” has iAds, and “Pro Mode” costs $1000 extra

That sounds so correct that it actually horrifies me.

everyone should aspire to know more

True, but they should get to choose what they want to know more about. Most people choose to use computers as a gateway to other information, and have no interest in the computer itself. We shouldn’t force them to need to know. Anyone who wants to tinker should be able to — just like with cars. at 2010-11-08 20:09:20

Chris Browder said: Actually, Zye, I DO make modifications to my 13-year old vehicle and original, 260,000 mile strong engine. I fully understand how it operates, and I also know what has broken based on the change in pitch to the turbo, the diesel clatter, and the color of the smoke — much like a NASCAR Mechanic. It’s the reason why this vehicle has lasted all this time, if left to the hands of amateurs for pay (“Professionals” as you call them), my car would long have thrown a tensioner, stripped teeth from the running belt, and shoved a piston into the valve and I’d be out a vehicle that gets upwards of 50MPG Highway (suck it, Prius).

It’s people like YOU that have dumbed down my diesels with the requirement for automatics because you’re too lazy to find another route to get to work, leave earlier, or Deity-forbid DEMAND TELECOMMUTING for your job.

If everyone drove as I did, cars would be pushing 70 to 80MPG without hybrid assist, last 10 to 20 years, and become INVESTMENTS and not one-time-use items like a Toaster. I laugh when people say my car isn’t an “investment,” I beg to differ. I run at about 18.7 cents a mile, standard reimbursement for any company or US Government is around 53-cents a mile. No other car will do that, not even the oh-so-perfect Prius (marketed as a Sedan to the masses when in reality it’s a Hatchback, but no one questions authority anymore).

In my world, I’m not alloted the affluence and luxuries of taking the car to a shop unless it is absolutely necessary. Out of my own will to live I’ve fabricated replacement parts, teaching myself as I went. To most, I’m a full blooded can and will do American. To you I’m just retarded, throw it away and buy another one.

I hope you see my point, because I’ve attempted to make it crystal clear.

User education is where the attention needs to be. Linux programs compiled from source omit unnecessary bloated code, resulting in smaller install sizes and faster running on the hardware. Apple used to know A LOT about this but now that they’re back to their standard duality, we wan’t to make our outsourced chip maker lose sleep at night right to chose rhetoric, as they’ve had since the 1990s before Jobs came back.

Just when OS X was starting to become the OS it should be, it’s given a very clear death knell. Think I’m nuts? This is the same company that told you “email will always be free,” then two years later turned iTools into dotMac and required $99 a year to get your email back, and don’t think it was seen by users who became very intertwined with their free offerings that it was anything BUT a money grabbing hostile takeover.

It’s ironic to me that a search engine came to the rescue offering truly free products in exchange for targeted, sensible advertising. Facebook for iPhone now has ads. I can bet you “Simple Mode” does too, and “Pro Mode” costs $1000 more than the purchase price.

Just wait and let’s revisit this and see. The lemmings are set, Apple’s changed the DRM scheme so many times exporting your files via conversion is basically impossible. Those who saw the writing on the wall and played the Pepsi iTunes game to their fullest advantage (a jab back at the company that turned the very people who would need a 5GB music player — music pirates and snobs — into criminals with their one-way, locked down mythology for how it should be done) have already ported their media into a non-traceable, non-crippled file that works on millions and millions of car CD Players that support “MP3” and not “AAC.”

I believe that everyone should aspire to know more, and see a challenge as that — a challenge to better yourself. Instead we pander to the namby pamby and bring the goal closer so that Special ED can feel like a winner.

We’ve entirely reversed Evolution, at least in America. Thank some Deity above that I can move to central europe and be around a slightly less sheeple. (Canada’s not too bad either, I hear.) at 2010-11-08 19:33:44

(Zye)[http://www.zaidrasid.com] said: Chris, thanks for the enlightenment. There is a word that us laymen use to describe your type as well. It’s called pretentious. at 2010-11-11 18:37:24

(Zye)[http://www.zaidrasid.com] said: Great predictions Nostradamus:) But about your first ‘fact’: the reason that iOS appeals to me is more about ease of use and a holistic seamless experience. It doesn’t mean I don’t like computers. In fact I love my iPhone and my Mac and it doesn’t mean that I don’t understand them. I just don’t want to invest any of my time trying to figure them out. The way that I perceive the common user is very similar to a good user interface experience. You keep it simple and you don’t make me think. If you want to call it laziness that’s fine but that’s the job of the computer! It’s suppose to make my life easier. The onus should be on the computer. I want to get home, turn it on, have it ready and do what it’s told. I want it to work seamlessly with any peripherals just by plugging them in and without searching for drivers or performing installations. It’s like my car, I don’t jump into my car on the way to work and modify the engine before I leave. Do you fully understand how your car engine works as you drive? Could you tear apart your engine? Does it make you dumb not understanding the complexities of a modern engine? No, and you shouldn’t have to. It’s job is to get you from point A to B, without breaking down and without any additional work or under the hood maintenance. I think that’s all the common user is asking for. Keep it simple. Make it intuitive.

It’s why Apple has always created great products. And it’s a big market.

Great series, btw. What happens if all your predictions are right at the moment the clock is approaching 2012? at 2010-10-29 13:49:53

(Derek)[http://www.derekmartin.ca] said: Good point, Zye. That’s actually why I like Apple stuff in general. I don’t have to mess with it, the way I used to have to constantly tweak & fix my PC. The turn-it-on-and-have-it-work factor is what I love about my Playstation3, too. No worries about upgrading graphics cards, or adding memory or whatever. It just works. These days I see PCs as high maintenance, and PS3/Apple stuff as low maintenance, and I love them for it. at 2010-10-29 14:36:32