Linked List: June 6, 2008

Friday, 6 June 2008

Apple Launches Official Keynote Podcast ★

New podcast feed with video from previous Apple announcement events, and, presumably, Monday’s WWDC keynote at some point.

The Quest for Perfect iPhone Earbuds ★

Derek Powazek:

Yeah, I love my iPhone. I use it more than any other gadget. So a good pair of earbuds is critical. And you can’t use just any pair because the on-cord clicker/mic makes the device so much better.

I’ve spent way too much money trying different ones, but the perfect pair still eludes me. Here’s my take on the ones I’ve tried so far, in order of cheapest to most expensive.

I’ve stuck with the Apple ones. I don’t think they sound particularly great, but I’ve never liked the sound of any earbud (as opposed to full headphones), so I just can’t see spending $100 or more on replacements. This is a good survey of what’s out there, though.

Ben Charny, Flash Expert ★

Remember Ben Charny, the Wall Street Journal reporter who back in February wrote this ill-informed story regarding the iPhone and Adobe’s Flash? He’s got another doozy:

Just how will Apple meet expectations? Using the patent application as a guide, Apple appears to be making room on the iPhone for flash memory, which means an end to Apple’s standoff with Adobe that’s kept iPhones from easily viewing a plethora of Internet videos.

Apple has said that Adobe’s flash media player, which is on hundreds of other phones, doesn’t perform up to Apple’s standards for the iPhone.

So flash memory means support for Adobe Flash. Brilliant.

Update: Perhaps this flash memory will also allow for low-light flash photography with the iPhone’s camera?

The Clone Thing ★

The “let’s jump to a big conclusion” interpretation of the new “Mac”-less “OS X Leopard” banners hanging in Moscone for WWDC is that it might signal Apple’s return to third-party OS licensing. I.e. that Macs are Apple’s computers, and “OS X Leopard” might run on computers other than Macs.

A fun theory, but I don’t believe it for a second.

The Machine That Changed the World: The Paperback Computer ★

Andy Baio is posting The Machine That Changed the World, an extensive hours-long 1992 documentary on the history of computing. Part three covers the development of the personal computer and the graphical user interface. Includes 1991 interviews with Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Larry Tesler, and more.

IconResource ★

My thanks to Sebastiaan de With and IconResource for sponsoring this week’s DF RSS feed. IconResource offers a series of videos explaining and demonstrating professional icon design, both theory and techniques. The videos are available in HD QuickTime as well as iPhone-ready versions, and you get an assortment of Photoshop project files. If you’ve wanted to learn more about icon design, IconResource is a great way to start. Regular price is €95, but DF readers save €15 using this link.