Category: Apple

screen video capture for Mac?

On By Rick McIn Apple, product complaints1 Comment

UPDATE: I eventually paid $69 for SnapZ Pro X, excellent, though pricey.

… Later somebody sent me a link for a $30 competitor, Voila. … Looks great.

_____
Original post:

I need to quickly capture video from my computer. There are still no ideal solutions, as far as I’m concerned.

• Jing FREE … 5min maximum, no audio, saves to crappy .SWF (flash) format

• Jing PRO $15 … 5min maximum, no audio

• Camtasia $99 … complicated, slow, has features I don’t need

• Screenflow $99 … getting good reviews, but I find it even more complicated than Camtasia, slow, has features I don’t need

Screenflow also seemed to bomb the Finder on my Mac. The free trial version was first to be deleted.

• SnapZ Pro X is the best I’ve tried. But it’s $69.

I wish there was an open source, free alternative.

Apple Quicktime 10 is free on the most recent version of their operating system, Snow Leopard 10.6. It provides basic video screen grabs with audio. That’s only a CAD$35 upgrade for me.

I think I’ll try that.

new iPhone 4

On By Rick McIn Apple, Google, product complaintsLeave a comment

… Steve Jobs unveiled the forthcoming iPhone 4 at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Among the most praised features of the new smartphone is its new “retina display,” but how good does the iPhone 4’s screen really look?

At 326 pixels per inch, the pixel density of the iPhone 4 is four times that of the iPhone 3. …

Mashable

Click PLAY or watch a video demo on flickr.

Pretty.

But, I’m still not convinced this phone or any other is worth signing on for a 2yr contract. (3yr in Canada!)

Likely I’ll end up with an unlocked, no contract iPhone 3 or, possibly, an Android phone.

Certainly I’d almost never use the Facetime video chat feature.

best Apple laptop – white MacBook

On By Rick McIn Apple, product complaints, product endorsements1 Comment

Disappointed in the latest update of the aluminum laptops, I’m still recommending the white bottom-of-the-line as the “best buy”.

It’s now been updated, too. 10hr battery life is sweet.

Apple MacBook – $999

For casual users the iPad might be the better buy. It’s outselling the Apple laptops in the USA.

The iPad has problems, still, a first generation product. It’s difficult, for example, to get photos from your camera into the iPad.

Update: the MacWorld review

north to Canadia

On By Rick McIn Apple, gymnastics, product endorsements, travel2 Comments

May 15th. …

Should be safe to start back up to the Great White North.

I’m going to miss the dry, sunny “snowbird” days of the American southwest.

Death Valley sand dunes

On this long driving trip I’ve used only my iTouch as car stereo. Works great.

iTouch car stereo

I should be in Kamloops by May 24th for the Canadian Gymnastics Championships.

why I won’t buy a new Apple laptop

On By Rick McIn AppleLeave a comment

I was disappointed in the upgrade of laptops recently announced. Not much new. No big reduction in price.

Apple has been concentrating on iPhone and iPad, me thinks.

Next laptop I’ll be buying used.

… On the other hand, Om Malik is very impressed with a near doubling of battery life on the 15″ MacBook Pro. And more:

… it is really really really fast. Much faster than my old MacBook Pro, which has an SSD drive and 8 GB of memory. Apps start in a blink of an eye and even iTunes works as if it was suddenly Barry Bonds. …

What’s So Hot About the New MacBook Pros? The Stuff You Can’t See

Bill Gates: Steve Jobs can’t win

On By Rick McIn Apple, Google1 Comment

Bill Gates is neither stupid nor evil.

But my God he got a lot of things wrong in his tenure as world’s richest man.

This quote, recently released, from an interview 12yrs ago on Cringely:

…
“What I can’t figure out is why he (Steve Jobs) is even trying (to be the CEO of Apple)? ” wondered Bill. “He knows he can’t win.” …

I, Cringely

[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=Steve+Jobs&iid=8462780″ src=”f/b/d/2/Apple_Unveils_New_5a84.jpg?adImageId=12304335&imageId=8462780″ width=”500″ height=”337″ /]

…
TechCrunch – What Happens When Apple Passes Microsoft In Value? Yes, When.

Apple recently passed Walmart to become the 3rd “richest” company in the USA.

Next, Apple will surpass MS. Then fade as more open source products, especially Google, win over your hearts and minds.

Update: Why iAds Could be Bigger Than iPads

iPad – my review

On By Rick McIn Apple, product endorsements1 Comment

I stopped by Steve Job’s place in Palo Alto … to check out the iPad, in person.

• much more impressive hands-on than in the videos
• screen is very responsive
• sound surprisingly good
• many apps don’t rotate the screen from the inferior page view to the superior horizontal view
• it’s heavy (1.5lbs) … needs to be about .75lbs, ideally

As everyone should have known all along, this thing will be a huge hit. Perhaps 7 million sales in the first year. Better devices will have problems competing. (As the Zune has problems competing with the iPod.)

I’ll never buy one myself, but it’s perfect for millions and millions of casual users, worldwide. Much better than a phone, by comparison.

Google v Apple

On By Rick McIn Apple, Google1 Comment

The big fight in coming years will be Google challenging Apple. It’s war, I’d say.

Many iPhone users will be tempted to switch to a Google phone.

I’m expecting Google will win, long term, because that company is far more “open”.

Actually, consumers will win. Competition is what drives innovation.

This graphic was produced by Column Five Media.

(via GigaOM)

how I back up my computer

On By Rick McIn Apple, internet, music, photos, product endorsements4 Comments

Happy, happy. I’ve got this system running now.

I have only one computer, a laptop, backing up automatically to the cloud using Carbonite. My cost is less than $3.50 / month. Very reliable, though not 100% foolproof.

I am backing-up whenever I connect to the internet. And can restore a file or an entire laptop from anywhere in the world.

My old back-up system I’ve still got running, too: a 1TB hard drive using Time Machine software. I must physically attach the drive with a cable to do this second back-up.

If you don’t back-up, please don’t complain when you lose all your music and photos in a hard drive crash or by theft. You deserve it for not signing up for Carbonite or Mozy.