Does Apple do everything right (by doing everything wrong)?

Just found this Article on Wired.com: How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong (via).

The article talks about Steve Jobs way of keeping Apples products as closed to anything other than Apple's own products as possible, and doing this in times when all other big IT companies like Google, and even MS, promote Open Source and Open Standards. The article says that this is right now the secret of Apple's success.

It really is an interesting read. But I strongly disagree with it! No one can really know today, if Apple is doing the right thing, when competing against a company that is using Open Source Software and Open Standards excessively. We all remember the war between MS and Apple, and the way Apple suffered because MS gained a lot of share in the market by licensing their products to other companies. Apple only escaped that by finding new markets, in which MS arrived to late (IPods against Zune, ITunes...).

Now this seems to be over, but the new competition is Google. Google and Apple never competed against each other before, but this is about to change. Google just released the SDK for Android, their new OS for mobile phones, and Apple released their SDK for the Iphone. Google's OS is Open Source, with a lot of manufacturers just waiting to release phones for it. Apple is in for some big competition, and no one today can say whether Apple has the right strategy!

Arthur C. Clarke - Farewell

Just saw it on Technorati: The author of 2001 died at the age of 90. Farewell and rest in peace to one of the greatest visionaries in science and fiction!

HDR Photography

I started playing around a bit with HDR Photography. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, it is a way of using more color information in your photos the it would normally have.
For this you actually use three photos of the same image. One normal photo, and one underexposed and one overexposed version of the same image. Using a special software, these photos are then combined to a single image, that has all the color/contrast information of all three photos, the HDR or High Dynamic Range photo.

But here you are not finished. You still need to calculate a new normal or LDR (Low Dynamic Range) photo from this new source, using the special software again. There is quite a lot of different software available, that can do this for you (for example Photoshop). The one I used is qtpfsgui, an open source app available for linux, Mac and Windows. I took a photo with a tripod at a lake near my city, and here are the results:

The first photo is the normally exposed original photo, the second is the HDR version. As you can see, the second photo has a lot more details both in the sky (background) and trees (foreground).
Click to enlarge!

I added a few links about HDR photography:

• photo blog - niebrugge images: hdr photography
• a pro talking about hdr photography
• backing winds: how to create professional hdr images
• a tutorial about creating hdr in photoshop
  

A few Thoughts about KDE 4

No, I am not a Mac user. I would like to be, and maybe someday I will buy one. But right now, I am not a member of the happy Apple family. So I am stuck with the other options out there, Linux and sometimes Windows.

Being a technology addict, I have to try every piece of technology out the second it appears, and that is the reason why I am using the new KDE 4 for nearly two month now. And I like it! For Linux Desktop Environments it is a very huge step forward. No, it is not perfect yet, actually it is far from perfect. A lot of functionality everyone is used to now is still missing from it, other features are not working as good as in other systems. A few things are simply great, like Dolphin, the new filemanager.

But I do not want to talk about features, what I want to talk about is the general aproach it takes. I know nearly every DE available for Linux, I know MS Windows, and I do actually know MacOS X. Nearly all of those Desktops for Linux either try to mimic Windows (like the old KDE), MacOS (Gnome), or simply use advanced forms of the console windows. Enlightenment actually tries to mimic Win and MacOS at the same time, with the result being kind of... hard to use effectively for me.

KDE 4 is the first time in the Linux world, that someone really started to develop their own solutions to the problems that appear when creating a new Desktop Environment. And it works. The way everything on the Desktop is treated as a widget in KDE 4, even icons, is just one example. I do not care about the missing features, they will come with KDE 4.1 or 4.2. But the general approach is now not a fake Windows or MacOS screen any more, but something unique and wonderfull. I love it, it is fun to use, the available features are well thought out, and the new approach will allow the developers to even overtake any other Desktop Environment at least in some parts. It is simply the route to go.

"I love the IPhone!" - "Will you get one?" - "Ahhhh... No!"

I have seen the IPhone. I think it's a great piece of modern technology. But will I get one? No!

Why?

• Because its overpriced. In Germany, the only provider to offer you an IPhone with a contract is T-Com. They offer you three different, very expensive, options for a contract with an IPhone. And then, you still have to pay 399€ for your phone. The only other option to get an IPhone is to buy it without a contract - for over 600€. Too much for me.
• It doesn't have 3G. In Germany, T-Com is the only provider offering a decent EDGE network, everyone else uses 3G, so why use an IPhone. The situation is the same in other places in Europe.
• It lacks in features. Sure, Safari is cool. The interface is polished. The Screen is amazing. It has a built in IPod. It just feels very Apple. But, it doesn't have a decent camera. It does not record decent video.
  

So while I love the current IPhone, I will never get one. Lets compare: a very decent touchscreen phone with a better camera and 3G costs you nothing extra when you get it from a different provider with quite a similar contract. A few days ago I ordered an LG Viewty which should arrive tomorrow. I will keep you posted whether its a great replacement for the IPhone.

To Apple: Please continue, bring out a new IPhone, innovate a little more. Let it have 3G. Sell it for a reasonable price. Let other providers sell it. I will be the first to buy!

Just a quick hello

Hi,

wow, now i'm a blogger. that was easy.

ok, i know this is nothing special yet. and probably with all those bloggers out there, it will be hard to create something special here, but i will do my best. maybe some will start to read this, and maybe, just maybe they will like what they see.

me, that is a 27 year math student living in berlin, germany. oh, and i'm not a complete social disaster, like most math students you probably heard of, or at least i don't think i am. for those who want to know more, read my profile.

why do i want to blog, you ask me? someone really wise but forgotten once said "because i can!" and that really says it all.

so, what will i blog about? well, about all things in the new digital lifestyle. things i like (like googlemail, facebook, digital photography ...), things i hate (myspace...) and things i find absolutely ridiculous (windows mobile...).

ok, if anybody reads this first post on this blog, be welcome, enjoy, and if you don't, feel free to tell me. i can take it ;-)

Jonathan