Advertising Age’s Super Bowl poll of readers is getting down to the wire. Apple, Inc.’s iconic 1984 commercial is in the final list. Here’s your chance to cast your vote for the best. And we hope it’s Apple’s.

Here is the link to see all 19 entries and to cast your vote:

http://adage.com/superbowl/article?article_id=148594

by Ron Albu

First, I want to extend my immense appreciation for the privilege of allowing Terrence Young and me to represent HMAUS at Macworld 2011, and for  having the opportunity and luxury of being immersed in tech for a few days. Tomorrow, it’s back to reality and the work that has piled up.

I want to convey some of my thoughts about where I see Apple and tech in general are going and to lay out some issues for HMAUS to consider as we move forward.

The iPad has brought a sea change to the world of computing and communication. The iPad and the iPhone (and thus iOS) now outsell all other Apple computers (i.e. OS X) by a long shot. The tech world is still reeling from the impacts and figuring out how to respond to iOS. Hearing the leaders expressing their experience with what is happening and their thoughts about the future has been very thought provoking, and I am still digesting all of the information.

My week started with Les Posen explaining the art of Presentation Magic, and as the week progressed, I saw many things that I had not realized before. As Les points out, Apple, as embodied by the leadership of Steve Jobs, is all about magic. Witness the magic mouse, the magic trackpad, and Steve’s keynote when he first revealed the iPad, describing it as magical. Apple knows how to get the tech world as excited as a crowd waiting to see what tricks a magician will pull off next.  Apple truly is magical in that, with everyone speculating about the next big thing, or what changes will be revealed in the next product refresh, or wondering when the next new thing will happen; Apple rarely fails to surprise. Even on the financial side, Apple consistently provides conservative guidance on future income and market share, and then consistently outperforms the financial markets’ expectations. Apple has grown to the extent that it is now the second largest enterprise in the world, based on market capitalization.

Because the iPhone and the iPad are now the most important part of Apple’s business from the financial standpoint, it is not surprising that much of Macworld 2011 was focused on the iPad and what it means, what it can do, and where it and iOS are going. Some of the big names in the Apple world, such as Andy Ihnatko, have focused on learning to use the iPad as a Macbook substitute when traveling. He believes that an external keyboard is an important accessory to iPad use. When attending sessions, many attendees were taking notes on their iPads using keyboards and stands to prop up the iPad to act as a monitor. Others see the iPad as a totally new tool for doing things in different ways. Witness the exploding growth of apps and downloads and the expectations for print media moving to the Internet and tablet devices. For this type of computing, a physical keyboard is unnecessary and creates more, not less, baggage.

As usual, it was common to hear comments about the things that Apple should have included in the 1st generation iPad, or are hoped will be included in the next generation iPad (about which there is lots of speculation as to when exactly it will appear and what the changes will be). Sometimes when hearing these comments, I am reminded of Microsoft machines that try to cram in every possible feature to try to please everybody. But if you step back, you will realize that the heart of Jobs’ approach is to keep Apple products elegant and easy to use. Apple does not include every bell and whistle and clutter up its works of art. Rather, the features evolve with many magical surprises along the way.

Several presenters noted that, while iOS is basically a stripped down OS X, iOS does have some enhancements and features that are not yet available in OS X. Some complain that iPhone and iPad lack wireless syncing, a USB port, and easy wireless printing. Personally, I have concluded that these things are missing simply because Jobs wants to start clean and simple and then develop future generation products with these types of features only after they are perfected (i.e. easy, elegant, and reliable) and there has been some time to see how users react to the products. Similarly, many experts see OS X evolving to include some of the new features found only in iOS. Swiping and the magic trackpad are hints as to what may be coming. Indeed, as the power of the iOS hardware advances, along with battery technology, it is likely that these two systems will merge.

Adam Engst led a session about what we know and don’t know about Lion. Given Apple’s secrecy, there simply is not much knowledge about Lion. Although Steve Jobs pretty much promised that Lion will debut this summer, not a single build has been seeded to developers and January is already over. That simply does not leave much time for developers to make sure that their existing products will function under Lion without any glitches. This could indicate that Lion will not be a major upgrade, or, it could mean that Apple is preparing some new magic and doesn’t want any competitors to have a chance to catch up. Apple appears to have a tremendous lead over everybody else when it comes to new products. I expect rapid development of faster and more powerful processors for the iPad along with battery technology that will continue to enhance the mobility of the iPad.

Although the Macbook Air did not get much discussion at Macworld 2011, I did see a number of them. Personally, I envision that  the Air might simply be the first in a new lineup of Macbooks with both hard drives and DVD drives/burners going the way of the dodo, making room for larger, more long life batteries, yet thinner and lighter machines. Cloud computing will significantly reduce the need for storage and DVDs for loading media and music. I also believe that the pace of development of faster processors and graphics, along with ever improving battery life and larger and more available flash storage will revitalize the Macbook line as more portable, yet still very powerful machines. Even if the personal computer market slows down in general, I believe that Macbooks will continue to increase sales and market share as they change with the times.

Other trends.

Macworld Editors Jason Snell, Christopher Breen, Dan Frakes, and Dan Moren held an “Ask the Editors” session in which they were asked about the debut of their iPad magazine. At last year’s Macworld, they had announced that the iPad edition of Macworld magazine was coming soon, but it took them much longer than they had anticipated to roll out 1.0. Part of the problem is that Apple has so far refused to allow a magazine subscription model, so that magazines have been available only at news stand prices, rather than the usual much lower subscription prices for print magazines. This is about to change with the new announcement about a new Rupert Murdoch subscription publication. The debut is a big deal with a joint announcement being scheduled with Murdoch and Tim Cook. Murdoch has set up a completely new news organization with all new staff and reporters for their iPad publication. Since Apple is prominently involved in this announcement, the Macworld editors believe that, once again, Apple has come up with a new and magical approach to online news that could change journalism, or at least give it new life, rather than simply just producing a digital copy of the print media.

Personally, I have watched the decline of the print news media and have seen journalism devolve into a 24 hour news cycle with endless mindless talking points and little in depth coverage or reflection. What we have is lazy journalism. Our Fourth Estate is in trouble. If Murdoch is involved, I have to confess some trepidation about the hopes that iPad and tablets would provide for the revival of healthy professional journalism. We shall see. I was delighted to see that the Macworld editors are very thoughtful and well informed journalists and that they demonstrate the kind of analytical thinking that is critical to honest, quality journalism. I was equally delighted to hear that the print magazine portion of their business remains profitable. They are the first to acknowledge that we are in fact in the middle of a sea change in technology and communication powered by technology, and that the industry is having to deal with and adapt to this change on a daily basis.

We live in very interesting times.

Of course, these changing times raise questions about HMAUS, what we do, and what we should be doing to help our members adapt to, and stay ahead of the curve of new technology. HMAUS needs to change with the times and continue to be an important resource for the community.

Finally, I am happy to report that when Terrence and I approached presenters as well as vendors with requests for program presentations and donations of raffle items for our events, we were warmly received and our requests are being considered.  Everyone chuckled with delight when we presented them with small packages of macadamia nuts, and appreciated the Aloha spirit. Who doesn’t want to come to Hawaii? It was a great experience, but I’m also glad to be home.

Aloha and Mahalo,
Ron Albu

The Wi-Fi-only iPad version will be released on April 3. So, members who attend that already have their iPads delivered prior to the meeting will get the chance to learn more as experts from Apple give us tips. For the rest of us, it will be a chance to see what this little beauty can do, and see if we can wait until the 3G option is available in a couple of months.

The event will be free but with limited space for about 20 members only. Register NOW to get a space. (Once those spaces are filled, registration will end.)

Mark your calendars and plan to spend the day with us on Saturday May 23rd. From 9 – 4pm we are having our semi-annual Fest at the Japanese-American Institute of Management Science, JAIMS 6660 Hawaii Kai Drive. Camera and computer Swapmeet by the Professional Photographers of Hawaii and HMAUS from 9:00 til 3:30.

Place your lunch orders HERE -- Order yours NOW to make sure you’ll get one. Limited quantities except for pre-orders.

Get the a copy of the event flyer HERE.

Free, interesting talks all day long! Neat Door Prizes!   An all star cast!!

9:00 Opening and coffee. Swapmeet opens!
9:30 Cool Apple Stuff

Joe Zaret, Apple Solutions Consultant will update you what’s new, what’s coming in the Apple product line. Then he’ll demo iLife 09 and iWork 09, just out with cool features that will blow you away. Kelvin Kakugawa, Software Developer, will demo why you really do want an iPhone and tell you about how he developed his iPhone app – now available in the iTunes Store!

10:30 Break and Lucky number

10:45 Zen-tested Tech Time Machine

Hang on tight with local tech personality Peter Kay as he takes you through a whirlwind tour that combines great tech tips and time management how-to’s wrapped around Zen-like wisdom. You’ll walk away with techniques you can put to use immediately as well as ideas that can help make a really positive impact on your life. If you’ve never seen Peter “live” don’t miss this event! http;//yourcomputerminute.com

11:45 Lucky number and pickup Lunch (bento for purchase when you arrive, buy early)

12 Andy Bumatai makes Funny Business

Comedian? TV producer and host? Video Blogger? Entrepeneur? All of the above! And where did the Mac come in? Everywhere! How he did it, how you too can not only enjoy your computer, but also turn your passion into a business. http://andybumatai.com

12:45 Lucky number and break.

Concurrent Afternoon Breakouts

Session I 1:00 – 2 pm (3 concurrent topics)

Mac 101 Ross Rasmussen This is a class for newbies, switchers and for people who just haven’t had time to really get to know their Mac. We will look around the desktop, explore at the Dock, get an understanding of the System Preferences, learn some shortcuts and, most importantly, try to answer your questions. This is a good class for people who are switching to Macintosh and want to understand their machine a little better. This session is very low key and relaxed.

Cooking fabulous photographs from RAW to rockin’ with Lightroom!
Learn how to cook up wonderful images with Adobe Lightroom with Eugene Villaluz. Adobe Lightroom is a powerful suite of tools which give photographers the ability to process digital images; manage, catalog and archive files; and prepare finished images for presentation. This presentation will use actual shooting projects in a step-by-step reveal showing how to achieve visual impact with photographs.

SNL – Social Networks and Livefeeds – Burt Lum and Ryan Ozawa of Bytemarks Cafe present the why and how services like Facebook, Twitter work and how to protect your privacy.
Alltop <http://alltop.com> is an online magazine rack with more than 580 topics from A to Z. For many, understanding RSS and building feed readers can be confusing and discouraging. MyAlltop <http://my.alltop.com> allows users to customize their own page with a few simple steps. Alltop’s Chief Evangelist, L.P. “Neenz” Faleafine will demonstrate setting up and organizing your own MyAlltop.

Session II 2:15 – 3:15

iPhoto 09 Explore the new features of iPhoto with Ross Rasmussen and learn how to import and organize your photos, edit them, and share them with friends and family. Attendees are encouraged to bring their cameras and learn how to get the photos from the camera into the computer. Bring your laptop, if you have it!

Website or Blog? Yes you can! – Ever thought you could have a website or a blog up in a half hour, for free, without knowing any programming or buying any software? Well yes you can! Kelvin Kakugawa will show you how to create a website in minutes using a web 2.0 application, what blogs are and why you care, and how to create a good looking free WordPress site. So what do you need webdesigners and programmers for? He’ll show you what else is possible!

BYOC – More than a Point and Shoot Terry Takaki and other PPH photographers. Are you using your pocket camera on Auto all the time? Wonder what those other modes and controls are? Want to now how to set up a shot? Then you’ll want to come to this session. Important – BYOC – Bring Your Own Camera. It’s going to be handson.

3:15 – 4 pm Final Lucky Number Drawings, ICE CREAM and sharing in the cafeteria

Sponsors

Hawaii Macintosh and Apple User’s Society http://www.hmaus.org

Professional Photographers of Hawaii  http://www.pphawaii.org

TAPA Communications  http://www.tapa.com

Peachpit Press  http://www.peachpit.com and

O’Reilly Books  http://oreilly.com

Apple releases iPhone 3.0 Developer Beta, previews iPhone OS 3.0 software

March 17, 2009

Apple today announced that iPhone OS 3.0 software, coming this summer, will deliver 100 new features, including cut, copy and paste; MMS; landscape view for Mail, Text and Notes; stereo Bluetooth; Notes syncing; shake to shuffle; parental controls for TV shows, movies and App Store apps; and a new Voice Memo app. Apple also released an updated SDK, with more than 1,000 new Application Programming Interfaces, to registered developers.

More information about iPhone OS 3.0 on apple.com

iPhone 3.0 OS Guide on gizmodo.com

Apple today announced Safari 4 public beta for Mac and Windows. With its new Nitro engine, Safari 4 runs JavaScript 4.2 times faster than Safari 3. And it features many innovative new features that make browsing more intuitive and enjoyable, including Top Sites, Full History Search, Cover Flow, Tabs on Top, and still others. Safari 4 beta is available for immediate download for the Mac and PC. Read more: apple.com/safari

The University of Hawaii and Apple, Inc. are sponsoring another eWaste Disposal day on Saturday, October 25. This program is open for Hawai‘i residents who wish to dispose of personal eWaste on Saturday October 25 from 9:00am to 3:00pm. Residents may drive to one of seven drop off locations on The Big Island, Kaua‘i, Maui, or Oahu to recycle their personal end-of-life electronics.

There are several location on Oahu and on the neighbor islands.

See the drop off locations and more information.