Working That Apple Body Type

Apple, Inc. is reportedly working on a healthy lifestyle product that includes iTunes-like software, physiological sensors (such as heart-rate), a rewards tracker, and a group activities facilitator. AppleInsider is reporting on the patent. The system will integrate with iPods and the iPhone.

The software includes interview modules to quiz you on your eating, exercise, medical, social and career information, which it uses to create a custom workout plan for you. You can then use the software to track your workouts and progress.

The software also suggests a deck of workout cards from which a user can pull the cards with exercise that he or she wishes to do. The deck is presumably culled from exercises that the person can do based on his or her health and other factors .

The deck forms a workout list that then can be downloaded to your iPod or iPhone. Instructions for proper technique with diagrams are included for reference. You check off the exercises as you complete them. That is synchronized back to the computer software when you sync.

The sensors can be worn or potentially integrated into a headset. The iPod downloads the data to itself, then syncs the info back to the computer software.

The software also lets you upload your data to pit yourself against others online, such as is done now by the Nike-Apple running product. If that is not your thing, the software also includes a reward system.

The question is, if an apple body type means you get dementia in your 70's, do you really want an Apple iBody?

Phone Tag

Roughly Drafted analyzes the iPhone's potential as a gaming device. Its hardware specs are superior to the competition. It has better graphics. It has the best OS. The accelerometer makes it a one-of-a-kind gaming device.

If only June would get her sooner!

Bad Apple

Google's corporate philosophy is, "Don't be evil." It treats its employees like kings and expects them to produce great products. It is the open concept that permeates most of Silicon Valley.

Yet, Apple, the biggest Comeback Kid in the Valley, plays by the old rules - secrecy, opacity, and near-hysterical proprietory protectionism. But it works for Apple.

Wired has a great article on how Apple implements the Old School philosophy and why it works for them.

Honestly, I don't think Apple is probably a place that I'd thrive, given Steve Jobs' reputation for shrieking at underlings. Who needs the stress?

But I accept that others thrive on such stress and Apple's success is undeniable. Its secretiveness has spawned websites dedicated to the Mac rumor mill. As a marketing strategy it has worked wonders.

Even I can't wait to watch Jobs' keynote addresses when Apple makes them available. Actually, I'm almost a fanboy, except that I maintain some objectivity. I remain objective about new products.

I knew the early music phone between Motorola and Apple sucked the minute the details about it were released. I knew the iPhone would be a success the first time I saw its details.

I still remain skeptical about the AppleTV until DVR capabilities are added. Recent patent office filings show Apple is at least considering adding the capabilities to its media device. With that addition, I'd definitely want one. I'm not sure why Apple didn't have DVR capabilities on the AppleTV from the beginning. But it admits it made mistakes and is working to correct them.

Better than almost any other company, the contemporary Apple knows how to cut its losses, or wait for the market to catch up to it while it learns from its mistakes and improves the products to a point that they are hits.

But Apple also knows how to take risks. It will try new products that leverage its specialty - combining sleek hardware with user-friendly user interfaces and software - knowing that it has a better than average chance to make it successful.

For instance, the iPod reportedly started out as the brainchild of Tony Fadell, an independent contractor and hardware expert. His idea was not just for the hardware, but for the tie-in to a music store that integrated with teh MP3 player.

He left his job to become an independent contractor. He then shopped his idea around the Valley. Everyone turned him down, except Apple. He sold the idea to Apple management and predicted that it would totally change Apple in ten year's time to be a music business instead of a hardware company.

Apple hired him, gave him the resources to complete his idea, polished the Apple with its usual secrecy. Apple contracted with PortalPlayer to create the device prototypes. There were a lot of obstacles and tight supervision by Jobs himself. There was a lot of consumer tests to perfect the design.

Jobs micromanaged the device and interface design. He wanted to play music within three clicks. He couldn't hear the music and had them make it louder (thanks to Steve's reported partial deafness, we all can hear our music sitting by jet engines).

He almost killed the entire project just before it went into production because the battery drained in three hours, even when off. When the energy usage issue was resolved, Apple bought a majority stake in PortalPlayer before the product was released.

When Apple released the product, it took time and further improvements to become the juggernaut it eventually became. With the addition of the iTunes Store in the second generation iPod, Fadell's vision came to fruition. The one-two punch of the hardware and software/music store is what ultimately hit the consumer's nerve.

Before Apple, loading an MP3 player was cumbersome and cludgy. Apple created iTunes to make ripping CDs easy and device loading effortless. When it completed iTunes with the iTunes store, Apple had created the Golden Path of Least Resistance for its end users.

In addition to the article on the iPod development, another article on the iPhone development process shows how the company polishes its Apples.

Apple reportedly shopped the iPhone around to all the major U.S. carriers. All balked at the demands that Apple made. Carriers enjoyed great power over hardware manufacturers and the software on the hardware prior to Apples entry into the market.

User interfaces on cellphones were proprietary and every one of them was distinctly user unfriendly. The thought seemed to be that users would wade through badly written manuals to discover how to use new features and services.

Then the carriers couldn't understand why users didn't widely adopt new technology the carriers offered, such as photo mail or internet access. No amount of marketing could change the rule of nature: people take the path of least resistance. If you don't build your product to be easy to use, the end user will resist the learning curve.

Apple offers easy to learn interfaces that are fairly consistent across new iterations. For instance, although the iPod clickwheel interface went through many iterations across the generations, once learned, the user didn't have to relearn very much to use each new one. It was always intuitive and required little effort. Apple provided the path of least resistance intentionally.

Likewise, even though the multitouch interface was a new one, it was easy to learn even without reading the manual. Apple provided commercials and tutorials that showed how easy it was to use. It wrapped its interface in its sleek contemporary minimalist hardware design. Apple did everything right that prior hardware manufacturers failed to do properly.

Apple knew it had a killer product. It demanded concessions from carriers in exchange for having its product on their network. Apple sought to change the economics and power paradigm of the wireless industry in the same way its iPod shook up the music industry.

Carriers probably didn't like the idea of opening their networks up to allow for visual voicemail. They probably balked at subscription payments to the manufacturer. They definitely didn't want Apple in the drivers seat.

Only one carrier took the risk and reaped the rewards - AT&T. It didn't have the best network footprint, nor the best data network, but it had the ability to take the risk and trusted Apple to provide a premium product.

In contrast, imagine how different Sprint's market standing would be if it had been the iPhone carrier. No other carrier stood to gain as much or lose as much. The iPhone, combined with Sprint's other problems, has nearly crippled the company as droves of customers left the company. The iPhone would have bought Sprint time to fix the other problems.

For better or for worse, Apple's iPhone has changed the wireless industry. Although some balk at buying the iPhone in Europe where deep discounting of handsets is king, more than a few people are ponying up the purchase price to get Apple's superior design and interface.

When the iPhone 2.0 is released in June, Apple is set to conquer the corporate wireless market, bringing yet more rewards to AT&T. The IT critics of the iPhone have almost all been converted as Apple delivered all of its wish list.

Even the iPhone's other critics, who wanted to be able to put software on the iPhone, have been largely silenced as iPhone 2.0 brings the ability to not only put software on the iPhone, but even market and sell it in an iTunes-like Apple store.

Of course, Apple knew it had the interface and technology to make it work, so it demanded some concessions of the software world. All programs had to be vetted by Apple to be included and no one is allowed to add programs outside of Apple's process (although jailbreaking doubtlessly will continue).

Wired's article points out that most Silicon Valley companies subscribe to a variation of Google's practice, treat employees well and good things will float to the top. Apple subscribes to the older draconian business philosophy but still succeeds. A company must select the business philosophy that works best for it.

Apple, like Jobs, is demanding, obstinate, secretive and doesn't necessarily have the best employee benefits. Trust of employees or suppliers will never be its second nature. But it usually delivers because everyone there knows they will all win if the product succeeds.

Finally, Steve Jobs gets results from his employees because he has high standards that he consistently employs, he expects the best from his employees and lets them know when he is disappointed, and he praises his employees when they succeed. He knows he has to praise as well as pummel.

The business lessons I have learned from Apple are:

1. Take risks that leverage your key strengths.
2. Work on a product until it meets it exceeds customer market expectations.
3. Don't be afraid to cut your losses on a product if it doesn't work.
4. Don't retreat from a market if you fail.
   
5. Learn from your mistakes.
6. Use your mistakes to make a better product.
7. User interface, user interface, user interface. (Golden Rule of Path of Least Resistance)
   
8. When a market reaches saturation, the only differential is design.
9. Design can only be effective if it is combined with a great user interface.
10. Demand concessions if you have the best product.
11. You can only pummel your employees for failure if you also praise them for success.

Although the last one doesn't quite fit my management style, I do take to heart that one can't provide superior manage if one doesn't expect superior performance and provide the tools and structure to allow employees to succeed or fail.

Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Apples of War!

The TSA was befuddled. It was supposed to be a computer, but there weren't any ports in the back. The x-ray revealed that there was no hard drive. What kind of heinous son-of-al Qaeda was this?

The TSA was on the job, my friend. They did not intend to let this MacBook Air wreak its sleek industrial design on the unsuspecting flying public.

No sir, the TSA does not care one iota for this rapidly developing "technology" that "benefits" humanity at the expense of flying safety. They don't care for it one bit. Not one of them has an iPhone for quick internet research for a reason, mister!

They have given Apple notice that they are not going to take its "technology" lying down before, when someone dared cross their path with the Apple iPod accelerometer in his Nike running shoes when going through security.

Apparently, the media has failed us again by failing to mention that terrorists are now deploying industrial-designer terror devices with the Apple logo shining on the front cover. (New al Qaeda wordy ad slogan: "We're going to kill you American devils, but be assured that we'll send you to hell with style and industrial élan!")

The poor Apple early adopter paid the ultimate price, above and beyond the SSD option price tag. He missed his flight while the TSA drones tried to figure out what danger the MacBook Air's Solid-State-Drive (SSD) posed to flight safety.

Mind you, one young TSA agent knew exactly what it was and told the others. They didn't believe his voodoo talk. Never mind that a paltry 64GB SSD doesn't present a threat to a business meeting let alone a flight.

The decidedly unhip TSA drones made the detainee start it up and prove it was a computer by running a program. Disappointed, they eventually let him pass.

On a similar note, according to the TSA blog, it turns out that San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and other local TSA offices "reign of terror" has ended thanks to consumer complaints and inquiries to the national website. The local offices were making passengers take all electronics and cords out of their bags all on their own initiative.

The national office found that local TSA offices just wanted to see every Blackberry, PDA , digital camera and all their cords and chargers despite the fact that federal regulations didn't require it and that it created a significant delay to the lines. The national office ended the practice within the week.

I was surprised recently at SFO with the order to empty all electronics, cords and chargers into trays on a recent trip. It added a half an hour to the already tedious wait in line as all the surprised passengers tried to quickly comply. It also took me about 10 trays by the time I fully unpacked my carry-on and computer bag.

Well done, SFO TSA! You really know how to put the "ass" in "hassle"!

An Apple a Day

I watched the liveblogging of the Apple media event today for the iPhone SDK. It was a better event than I anticipated.

I didn't expect Apple to deliver on nearly as many enterprise wishlist items as it did. I'd say Apple scored a home run on delivery of full ActiveSync and Microsoft Exchange functionality.

The iPhone will have push email, calendar and contacts; remote calendar and address book editing; global address list; certificates and identities, WPA2/802.1x; enforced security protocols; additional VPN protocols; device configuration; and remote wipe.

It should boost the sales of iPhones in July after the enterprise features are released in late June. The anticipated release of the 3G iPhone in June should also produce a significant bump in sales.

The other announcement from Apple was equally anticipated. Apple will release its SDK (Software Development Kit) for the iPhone in late June. The beta is being released today to developers.

The applications created will be marketed on a new store within iTunes and from the iPhone directly. Apple is keeping tight control of what apps can be installed on the iPhone, so it is not allowing free distribution and installation of iPhone applications.

Of most importance to my nephew, who already covets my iPhone, was the demonstration apps on the iPhone. Apple demoed a few of its own applications.

My favorite was the graphic program that lets one distort a photo and then shake the iPhone like an Etch-a-Sketch to return the picture to normal. Apple also created a space fight game that demonstrated the use of the iPhone's accelerometer to steer the ship in space.

AOL Instant Messenger comes to the iPhone in an excellent looking application. If only there were an easy way to use iChat without the use of mirrors to gain use of the camera on the back of the iPhone.

I'm not really a gamer because gamepads defy my level of eye-hand coordination. I don't even play many computer games unless you have to memorize very few keyboard commands. But Electronic Arts and SEGA might change that with their iPhone games.

SEGA showed how using the accelerometer completely changes playing games in a natural and easy way with its demo of "Super Monkey Ball". SEGA even commented that they had to fly in a graphic artist to scale up the video quality of the game as the iPhone had better video than they anticipated. SEGA's game was a console quality game, not a cell phone game.

Electronic Arts demoed "Spore", which looked like a lot of time-wasting fun for a commute ride home. I thought that EA's video quality was better than SEGA's even after SEGA sent in an artist to help upscale its images.

Business applications for the salesforce and for the medical community were intermingled with the flash-ier games (inside joke if you read yesterday's comments by Steve Jobs on Adobe's Flash). It was pretty clear that the bloggers weren't as interested in these applications as the enterprise user surely is. However, I found these interesting when I watched the event this evening.

Salesforce.com demonstrated its applications it had built in two weeks with one engineer. The level of detail and integration possible on the iPhone was impressive when compared to Windows Mobile applications or Palm applications one is used to seeing on smartphones.

Epocrates demonstrated its medical database of pharmaceuticals. It was impressing to watch how they were able to create new ways for doctors to find drug names based on shape and color on a smartphone platform. The VP, Chuck Dietrich mentioned that they were able to include higher resolution pictures of the pills due to the iPhone's graphics capabilities.

The only miss today was that neither of the new features - enterprise functions nor the SDK - will be delivered until June. Rumors already had the SDK pegged for June release so that was not a huge surprise. But the enterprise functions should have been delivered sooner.

An earlier release of the enterprise functions could have increased sales of the iPhone for the second quarter and carried the anticipation for the SDK and iPhone apps through until the SDK delivery in June.

It feels like Apple squandered an opportunity when its stock is in the doldrums. From the look of Apple's stock price today, Wall Street agrees. There was a drop in price from yesterday instead of the usual stock bump after a Job's event.

Snap Decisions - Digital Photography 3.0

I was reading this article on CNET about the future of digital cameras. There is interesting technology on the horizon where a lot of production standards will be set by the camera software rather than post-production software, such as iPhoto or Photoshop.

Similar to the cellphone market, camera manufacturers try to control their product well beyond their field of expertise. The maker chooses the hardware and the software that makes the most marketable, but not necessarily the best camera combination. Each maker's user interface is different from the other. Choosing a new camera, like choosing a new cellphone, comes with a steep and uncomfortable learning curve.

Many of us have purchased a new camera only to return to the old familiar one because we did not want to commit the time and mental energy to learning a new maker's curious choice of interface and software. In fact, it creates a situation where consumers don't want to purchase a new camera because the perceived benefits are not as great as the perceived learning curve necessary to conquer the new camera.

Consumers are forced by manufacturers into a search for the Holy Grail of cameras - ease of use and high quality hardware at a reasonable price.

In the old days of cameras, it was easier to choose among camera brands. Each brand had a reputation for its level of quality in optics and mechanics of the hardware. There were resource magazines that reviewed and provided apples to apples comparisons to help make the purchasing decision. The software remained comfortably in the consumer's brain.

But now, each maker's quality is of similar mediocrity and the only distinguishing characteristic is one poor user interface after another. It is only a matter of time until the digital camera market reaches a point of stagnation.

Style is usually a good market distinguisher that enables items of similar quality too create new market niches when a market reaches stagnation. Unfortunately, style is a horse that cannot carry the digital camera market.

Unlike cellphones, style is less important in cameras because cameras themselves are not carried often enough nor are as visible when used. The public don't attribute any good connotations to the consumer's taste if the device is largely unseen. And as we've seen to date, slapping a color on the same boring hardware does little to distinguish the mediocre field.

As the iPhone has shown in the cellphone market, style is not enough. It requires style and an intuitive interface to slay the competition. Were the iPhone to be merely stylish, but contain the same unintuitive user interface of its competition, its style would not have been enough to draw the attention and consumers it has enjoyed. But because it is so easily understood how to operate it, the style and ease of use makes it an easy sell.

A better business model would be to standardize camera hardware so the software on the camera could be user upgradeable. The OS would need to be standardized as well.

Users could choose and install software for their cameras based on software features and interfaces that work best for each person and her art.

It would free up hardware makers to manufacture cameras based on actual quality in optics and electronics. People will always need or want new cameras.

In fact, it makes it possible to sell the same person several cameras based on specific uses. A portable and micro range for travel and those who just want to snap the occasional photo, bulkier SLRs for the serious hobbyists and controlled light situations, and professional grade cameras for those who need to coordinate lighting and other hardware with the camera shutter.

Most people would be willing to buy one or two cameras if they were shown the benefits of each type. More so if the user interface were the same so there were no steep learning curve as currently exists. The users would benefit from a standardized OS and user interface that makes switching between cameras easy and intuitive.

Standardized hardware would also return the hardware to it's pre-digital state - where it is easier to compare apples to apples in the camera hardware world.

A standardized hardware and OS would also set the standard that extends the user interface to the third-party software. Suddenly it becomes easy to take produce great quality photos by anyone who is familiar with the common interface. Adding software to the standardized hardware enhances the experience and quality of photos. Software becomes easy to sell, install and use.

In short, it would make camera hardware into what it has become - a portable computer. The field is crying out for an Apple iShot with standard hardware and an intuitive user interface, allowing consumers and professionals alike to focus on the art of photography and not with working around the shortcomings of manufacturers' software incompetence.

Otherwise, camera manufacturers will find themselves increasingly obsolete. Cellphone makers are already learning how to combine standardized hardware with style and intuitive interfaces. Since cameras are already part of that market, how long until the software market takes advantage of those common operating systems and interfaces? Then the entire casual camera consumer market will dry up for the current makers.

Once the consumer benefits in the casual market, how long until the demand for the same occurs among serious hobbyists and professionals? If camera makers wait until then to learn the lesson, they may not be able to survive the new competition that springs up by embracing the inevitable turn this market will take.

Conversations Never Heard on MUNI

"I don't know why people think physicists are all nerds. Just the other night we were pulling an all-nighter in the lab when a superstring fight theoretically broke out."

"The other night, Marty and I were having dinner with friends when, naturally, the conversation turned to the Higgs boson."

"Omigod, Marjorie, it's him! I could just die. I wish a black hole would open up and swallow the light whole!"

"He's so indecisive. Multiverses blink in and out of existence while he tries to choose a restaurant."

"Look what I spelled with my iPhone calculator! Oh, wait, it doesn't work."

"Hey baby, wanna get physics-al?"