Opinion Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

One-bit Internet: The iPad is/isn't a content creation device

by Richard Gaywood (Jul 9th, 2012)

In the conclusion to my Retina MacBook repairability post, I wrote: "on the Internet, it often seems that everything must be compressed to a one-bit image: black or white, triumph or catastrophe, the very best or the absolute worst." So it goes for the eternal debate over whether the iPad is a ...

More MacBook Maintenance Malarky: examining the arguments that none of it matters

by Richard Gaywood (Jun 19th, 2012)

Last week I wrote a rather, shall we say, "robustly worded" post discussing the lack of upgradability in the new MacBook Pro with Retina display (MBPwRD). This contentious post turned into one of my highest-traffic articles for TUAW ever, and certainly my highest-commented one (possibly ...

The contentious case against the MacBook Pro with Retina display

by Richard Gaywood (Jun 13th, 2012)

Here's a list of all the proprietary stuff Apple has shoehorned into the "best Mac it has ever made", the MacBook Pro with Retina display (henceforth referred to as "MBPwRD"), taken from the iFixit teardown: Irritating pentalobe screws, which don't stop anyone determined to disassemble ...

Thumb draws opinions from the crowd, enhances iPhone app

by Michael Rose (Jun 7th, 2012)

The opinion-based social utility Thumb, approaching its second birthday, has overhauled its free iOS app and added direct like/dislike voting to its core ask-a-question feature. The new 3.5 version of the service delivers tighter social integration, in-app messaging, leaderboards/rankings and an ...

Task: Clear ripoff on steroids

by Kelly Guimont (Jun 6th, 2012)

Task ($0.99) from Nuage touch is an amazing to-do app. It's basically Clear on steroids. There's just one problem: it's not by Realmac Software, the people who invested so much time and energy creating a stripped-down, gesture-based interface. Listen folks, it's one thing when Apple Sherlocks ...

Beepocalypse: How Apple could improve multi-device reminders

by Erica Sadun (May 17th, 2012)

Today, beloved leader Victor pointed me to this write-up over at Tidbits. Although Joe Kissel's experience with quite so many devices (nine, I believe) falls a bit into the extremes of iOS/OS X use, the problem of dealing with distributed alarms is a real one: a single reminder can set off alerts ...

Instacast pricing raises hackles: are apps bought or rented? [Updated]

by Richard Gaywood (May 17th, 2012)

Update: I made a mistake about Instacast's support for notifications in the original draft of this article. Please read my corrections at the end. My apologies, readers. --Rich The release of Instacast v2.0 ruffled some feathers recently. Vemedio, publishers of the popular podcasting app, have ...

"Nanny Computing" and the future of OS X

by Erica Sadun (May 17th, 2012)

Note to readers: I failed to add a "do not pub yet" note onto this post the night before last. It was inadvertently published during our overnight before it finished research and editorial review. The post is much the same with clarification added about how and when the hotkey ban is due to go ...

On the UDID ban: Tracking devices, users and advertisers

by TUAW Blogger (May 15th, 2012)

Over the past few weeks, several ad networks have announced "UDID-independent" conversion tracking tools. As Apple's UDID ban has gone into effect, mobile advertising has had to find other ways to track device users. The problem with this is, of course, that they're still tracking. Apple's SDK ...

TUAW Deep Thoughts: How netbooks conquered the universe

by Erica Sadun (May 8th, 2012)

Look around out there. Netbooks are not only ubiquitous, they have basically conquered all of reality. Before you do a spit take and start saying words that are unsuitable for TUAW's family friendly audience, let me remind you of Apple's iPad introduction. Steve Jobs laid out the plan for how ...

You're the Pundit: Could Apple introduce iBooks Author print-on-demand?

by Erica Sadun (May 8th, 2012)

When it comes to evaluating the next big thing, we turn to our secret weapon: the TUAW braintrust. We put the question to you and let you have your go at it. Today's topic is print-on-demand. Everybody's doing it. Amazon does it. Lulu does it. Even Apple does it -- so long as what you're ...

You're Our Editor: iBooks Author or ePub for the iBooks store?

by Erica Sadun (May 6th, 2012)

Normally we turn to the TUAW Brain Trust for your opinions about hot topics in the news and your predictions about the future of tech. Today, we're switching things up. Instead of asking about where things are going, we're asking you about strategy. Here's the situation: Like many authors, TUAW ...

You're the Pundit: 50 Shades of AppleScript

by Erica Sadun (Apr 30th, 2012)

When it comes to evaluating the next big thing, we turn to our secret weapon: the TUAW braintrust. We put the question to you and let you have your go at it. Today's topic is AppleScript. "AppleScript is a bit like Office Space's Milton Wadams. It's put upon and underappreciated, but then ...

The road to OS Xi: Where iOS and OS X suffer a teleporter accident and merge

by Erica Sadun (Apr 29th, 2012)

Remember The Fly? That's the one where Jeff Goldblum tries to teleport but instead gets his genes all mixed up with a fly. "[T]he Telepod computer, confused by the presence of two separate life-forms in the sending pod, merged him with the fly at the molecular-genetic level." Look at ...

Apple's additional security steps could be better

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Apr 23rd, 2012)

As we've been hearing, Apple is rolling out some "additional security" for App Store customers. When you go to purchase an app, as I just did (it was the free Pocket app, incidentally), you may be prompted to answer three security questions and provide a second email address in case your ...