Apple
Google Chrome - Just Another Browser?
I hadn’t really heard of Googles entry into the browser market until today, and frankly, when I heard about it I was probably more annoyed than anything else. Firefox has been great. I’ve really become addicted to a lot of the plugins (especially Firebug). But over the last few years, Firefox has become a little bulkier, and perhaps my plugin addiction has taken away from my browsing experience.
I still am not sold on the world needing another browser. At least, not unless it’s awesome. Well, the good news is I think that Chrome has a fairly solid chance at being something pretty close to awesome. The UI is very minimalist, and the rendering is lightning fast. Start up is fast. I like the bookmark system, and search. And some great developer tools are already integrated. I think a lot of this is thanks to Apples WebKit rendering engine. And that kind of sucks, but only because Apple didn’t make a good browser with what is obviously superior technology.
I guess it sort of frustrates that Google made the browser that Apple should have made. Apple made a great Web Rendering API in WebKit, but just because the API is doing all the hard work, doesn’t mean the Browser should be boring. Yeah, I’ve liked Safari, but it never really did anything for me. It seemed like a good browser, but nothing about it really stood out. Chrome on the other hand is just different enough to actually stand out, and shows enough promise for me to really keep an eye on new developments.
So overall, Chrome is just another browser for web developers to keep in mind, although Safari/WebKit is pretty standards based, so it should be all good. And, at the very least I’m glad that Google made something different enough to be a welcome addition to the market, even though it’s probably not a Firefox killer (yet).
New theme, and update.
Posting from my iPod! Just updated wordpress to make use of the touch app for wordpress. Seems pretty slick so far.
Learning Cocoa. Again.
It’s been a long time since I did any Cocoa programming, and even what I have done in the past hasn’t gone much beyond a few tutorials here and there. The interface builder always intrigued me though, but I think what always was the killer for me was some of the subtle, and not so subtle differences between Obj-C, and C, and the insane differences between Obj-C, and C++. I sort of got the bug after downloading the iPhone SDK (Cocoa Touch), and seeing just how close it was to Cocoa. Also, the iPhone Simulator is fun to play with.
I’ve just finished building a few “Hello World” type apps though, and the difference between making those, and trying to do anything in Win32 is just insane. It honestly even feels easier than web development. At least the prototyping side of it, and getting the interface all plugged together. I just feels like such a a natural way to build an application. I kinda wish I could build websites in that way. Anyway, I really shouldn’t be learning Cocoa since I actually have a freaking website to finish (ack). But it’s sorta fun learning for now. If I make anything cool, I’ll try posting it along with the source code.
Post MacWorld Thoughts
As a long time Apple fan, and Mac user, I feel pretty close to the company. I really like to see them do well, since I was such an advocate during what was maybe their worst times. But I can’t help but feel oddly let down after this MacWorld keynote. I don’t think it was the lack of an, “and one more thing”. The MacBook Air seems like a REALLY solid product, and very drool worthy. I mean, if it’s one thing Apple can do, it’s the ability to bring sex appeal to hardware. So it’s no surprise , I suppose. And maybe that’s why I feel oddly… let down. Maybe I’ve come to expect too much, and I no longer worry if my favourite computer company will continue to make products I can feel passionate about. They’re pretty much set with their giant piggy bank, and a generation of people who call MP3 players, simply “iPods”.
So alas, the underdog is maybe no longer the underdog. And, maybe his Steveness and the all powerful reality distortion field will finally be brought down. Why? All of the sudden there are journalists from the PC world, and practically everywhere else who finally care to cover Apple events. And here’s where the problem lies. Not all of their last names are Pogue, and not all of them are from Mac magazines, and rumor sites.
One thing I will say though, is that I no longer feel the need to defend Apple, or its products. That says a lot in itself I think of how far Apple has come. They aren’t the underdog anymore, and great things are expected of them. When they don’t deliver, maybe there are the handful of the old faithful who still care enough to bitch about it. But, so long as they make the products others fail to deliver (ie. MacBook Air), I know I’ll continue to cheer on every success.