No Zach, the convergence of devices and platforms has been under way for a LONG time. Everyone WANTS a spot at the table. But, friend… Apple was the one to finally say “Here’s how it’s done. The table is now set.” Microsoft may come in and gorge themselves at the table. But, as you so eloquently CORRECT yourself throughout your screed… Apple brought us to the Post PC era. It’s up to Window (8 or 9 or 10…) or some other platform to beat the champ.

Point to something other than the Office platform (PC or Mac) that is pulling it’s weight at Microsoft. XBox? Bing? BingHoo? Can Microsoft even execute anymore? I wonder… I think Microsoft is precipitously close to ushering ITSELF out of the PC era and closely following Apple into newer, more fertile field. IMHO

No one is yet talking about who replaces COOK! Tim is a brilliant ops guy. Sure, he gets strategy. He’s helped drive it at Apple now for nearly a decade for crying out loud. The guy “gets it”. No question.

But, who becomes Apple’s next COO is really pretty important.

In fact, AAPL has several key executive jobs to fill. Serlet – Developer Relations. Johnson – Retail. Very quickly Tim Cook will have the opportunity – né the responsibility of hiring in his “Cabinet” to carry the ball for the next [several] years. So, are these internal young stars we’ve not seen much of yet? Are these people we’ll say… oh, yeah, that makes total sense? I’m betting we already know these people.

See, Apple has a University internally for continuity. They want everyone to know… Apple isn’t going to change too very much. We like them the way they are. They like them the way they are. So, sure, people come and go… even higher ups. Continuity and panic control were expected and factored for.

So, here’s the 64-bit question… Who is the Apple management dream team?

Something’s really niggling me about his return though… I just don’t see it happening. It’s time to wonder now… will Steve Jobs return to the office off this most recent medical leave? I love to think he’s coming back. If for no other reason than to tell us all he’s licked the sicknesses plaguing him. To see his home built. To see old and new friends enjoying their lives. To build his “one more thing” that we fall in love with all over again.

Tim Cook has done a MARVELOUS job of showing Wall Street he’s not only capable of running the business. But that he’s capable of LEADING the business too! Which, let’s admit it… we fan boys love Steve for his charisma and chutzpah as much as anything he’s done on the business savvy side of things. In Tim we have another LEADER. Someone who gets the gestalt of design, business, supply-side. Someone who’s had his fill of the kool-aid alongside us. He’s as much a fanboy as the rest of us. He’s one amazingly driven gentleman.

Will the existing leadership take hills for him should his day come? Hell yes. Will the legion fanboy hang on his every word? You know?… I believe we will. It may take some getting used to him. Getting to know him. What makes him tick. But, I think all our love for Steve will be transferrable to Apple’s next full-time CEO. And I honestly think that’s Tim Cook. Retention of the existing talent set will be crucial. Forstall, Cue, Schiller, Ive, ALL the hardware and retail leadership, Serlet… Man, what a phenomenal bench! and that’s just the top of mind crowd. The veeps and directors and engineers and evangelists that bust their humps to get all this magical stuff done. Again, if anyone has the leadership chops to keep the house that Steve built together… It’s Tim.

An Apple, Inc. without Steve is a lesser place. To be sure. But, the Apple we all know and love is chock full of Steve-inspired, Steve-vetted goodness for many years to come. And, there’s no one better than Tim Cook to see that legacy executed and ultimately built upon and surpassed. I can think of no more appropriate homage to Steve Jobs than to take Apple Inc to the next level under able adult supervision WHILE he’s still kicking.

My hope is the AAPL board will name a successor while Jobs has the steam to bless the new Don.

The Solio charger is pretty darned slick. I like the idea of having the ability to charge my phone in a pinch. Maybe I’m at a ball game. Maybe I’m on a picnic. Maybe I’m at the zoo. No, the REAL zoo… not my house. I can think of a hundred situations where having that extra little bit of juice could be handy. I’m constantly pushing the edge of my charge even though I routinely speed charge in the car. Adding the Solio to my backpack will make a ton of sense (once the sun returns to Oklahoma for a while).

This product is so super simple. Plug one end of the cable into the Solio and the other into your iDevice. Push the powerup button on the back of the Solio. Voila! You’re charging. Daylight required of course.

I, personally, wouldn’t use this everyday to charge my stuff up. It’s slower to charge than I’m accustomed to. And, it’s meant for good lighting conditions. No workie while I’m sleeping at night. But, there’s no denying it serves a great purpose and the green aspect is a definite feel good (even down to the packaging).

Disclosure: gWH!Z was supplied with a review unit only which was returned after evaluation. There was no compensation offered, paid or accepted for this review.

The dilemma for us is a little unique. Most of what we produce (locally aggregated store circulars) are fed today to the iPad only through the NATIVE client over http. So, we can afford to be agnostic in our approach forward at this point. We’re actually in a great position to deliver a web app experience that for the most part is consistent across all devices. And, I’m excited about that truth be told. The nice thing about the web apps route… EVERYONE has the same point version release. No lengthy delays for approvals. As it turns out these are compelling cases for choosing the web app route. The dilemma comes down to one of monetization.

Shoppers are paying for the “Store Circulars” app today via the iTunes App Store. It’s important to continue making revenue from the app. So, do we hook a web app into this new Google subscription doohicky and charge that way? I’m adamant that we’re NOT going to rely solely on advertising/sponsorship. CPM and CPX is all fine and good. But, having made my living by the fickle ups and downs that way a few times before. It’s not something I’m excited about doing again.

Conversely… do we remain on the native path? Supporting multiple platforms (even within the same OS). The emerging App Stores give us some super distribution and reach. But, with it comes the expense of some % of revenues that are split with the hosting App Store. Not to mention the ugly need to actually develop distinctly different apps for each of those platforms. I don’t dispute the value of what the App Stores provide or the % of revenues for each sold app they take. They earn it. No argument there.

The problems are compounding for app developers though… More platforms means we face more choices which ones to develop for and which ones we’ll forego.

It’s the reason I like the idea of wrapper software frameworks like PhoneGap. I’m not savvy enough yet to build a universal app from the ground up. I still hire out some parts of the app that are beyond me. Anything that gives me a leg up on building once and deploying across multiple platforms AND app stores… I’m going to like a lot. Even to the point that’s a pure web app.

Are you other mobile developers facing similar issues? How did you solve for your situation? And, of particular interest, how did you manage to monetize your apps?

This new law requires your (elected) state school boards to do something specific. Most comply but seven in your county don’t. In fact, they VOTE not to follow the law.

Scores of affected families get together and try mightily to persuade the districts to recognize what they’re doing is willful misconduct. These districts maintain what they’re doing is trying to figure out which law to follow – the constitution of the state or the recently passed law. State precedent is clear though – All state laws are considered constitutional until adjudged otherwise AND that only courts have the jurisdiction to adjudge in such a way.

At this point the school boards are dug in past the point of reasonable dialogue: They are intent on interpretting laws. The families recognize this can’t stand and sets a bad precedent.

The families float a little known, little used statute they call “Writs of Ouster” which simply requires a number of signatures equivalent of 1% of the last election for the office(s) in question or 15 signatures, whichever is higher. One such Writ of Ouster is filed against a district and immediately three of the districts rescind their positions because it’s certain the board members are personally responsible for their own legal fees. It has now become a personal liability the districts can’t cover. They’ve lost their shield.

Shortly thereafter the remaining four districts are told by the State Attorney General, “We’re taking similar action. You have four days to rescind your positions.” The boards do so. But, not without also belligerently voting to sue the Attorney General ASAP.

The parents have had enough of the rogue and defiant behavior of the district boards and file Writs of Ouster against them all.

At this point you have no idea what law these boards are objecting to. At this point you simply know they’re doing things they ought not be doing on principle alone. There is no legal position to support their actions. They’re simply rogue elected officials who won’t respond to reason.

Can you blame the parents for taking drastic measures to reel in their education system?

• You don’t buy a gAuto. It is strictly by referer only.
• Right off the bat, the gAuto is a stark white box. No visible seams, tires, nothing and only one very plain point of entry. Also worth noting, there are no Windows. Just lots of Chrome.
• Don’t be fooled. The gAuto is deceptively complex. Only PhD’s can tinker under the hood.
• The only known mechanic is one “Matt Cutts”. Identifiable by the “I’m not Matt Cutts” t-shirts he wears.
• On the inside is wraparound seating with one BigTable in the middle.
• The ignition starts with one of two buttons “Drive” or “Feeling Lucky” (I strongly suggest the “Drive” button for most occasions)
• The gAuto goes from stock still to your final destination (no matter how far) in 0.24 seconds. They’re constantly working on acceleration. (It’s the breaking they have a problem with.)
• The navigation is simply Voice activated. Arriving at your intended destination is dependent upon how specific you can be with your input.
• Insurance for your gAuto is provided on a daily basis by whoever has bid the most for the privilege.
• Traveling outside the magic triangle is discouraged.
• Don’t forget to plug your gAuto in at night… it’s an all-electric jalopy after all.
• Mileage is all relative.
• The Owner’s Manual is quite specific, “Objects in the mirror are nowhere as big as we are.”
• And, every gAuto has the same license plate: “B.E.T.A.”

So, let this be a warning to other PR folks out there… When I tell you I’m more interested in something specific (iPhone related kit or such) please just move on to better bloggers out there who can and will give you a fair review – the kind you’re looking for.

REVIEW

The DisplayPort to DVI Dual Link (USB powered) converter connects Displayport to DVI, HDMI and VGA at some rather impressive upper end resolution (2560 x 1600). I’d never know though: with my older MacBookPro I couldn’t muster the components necessary to put the unit through the paces. Despite asking the PR rep if I should simply send the unit back… I kept getting a persistent “Do you plan to review?” line of questioning. As if I hadn’t asked if I could send it back. So… here’s the nut of the review. It’s neither good nor bad because I couldn’t adequately test it.

On the PLUS side… the StarTech.com catalog is friggin AWESOME. You thought RadioShack had all the goodies? Oh no, my friend, StarTech carries some pretty exotic stuff that I’d wholeheartedly suggest you geek out to when you have a chance. (At least I found something positive to offer, right?)

1) Remove your existing printers via System Preferences.

2) Launch Applescript Editor

3) Cut and paste these two lines and then run the script (you’ll need your admin password):

do shell script "echo '# enable AirPrint

image/urf urf (0,UNIRAST<00>)' > /usr/share/cups/mime/airprint.types" with administrator privileges

4) You can either REBOOT your mac -or- you can kill the CUPSD process via Activity Monitor. It’ll revive itself after a few minutes. Your call.

5) Once CUPSD is running again you can re-add your printer(s) and then SHARE the one(s) you want via System Preferences.

And guess what!? You can now print from your iPad or your iPhone. Oh, hell YES!… you just did what Apple should have enabled from the get go. Congrats.

I’m taking a break from my normally technical blogging to begin the VOCAL OPPOSITION to any and all school districts who oppose The Nicole Henry Scholarship law (OK HB 3393). The Oklahoma Legislature passed a fantastic bill for special needs children (one of my children qualifies) and now the Jenks, Bixby, Broken Arrow and (perhaps my Tulsa) school systems are opposing it. WTF people!!! This further proves your interest isn’t aligned with the best interest of the children. Your interest is in alignment with the use of funds that are no longer in your control. And, you’re hiding behind constitutionality. I call BS!

Yes, I’m mad. I’m mad that you are suggesting the STATE doesn’t have the authority to appropriate funds as they see fit. It’s Law folks. It’s in the books. Get used to it. Can laws be overturned. Sure. Go ahead and challenge it. We’ll sue the school systems for DAMAGES.

You’ll find parents and private school administrators have cast a vote of no confidence in YOUR abilities to serve our childrens’ needs adequately.

You’ll also find these same parents are going to create a MASSIVE noise like none you’ve ever encountered. You’re about to pound sand in the worst possible way. You thought you’d make a grab for the cookie jar. Instead, you’re causing REAL damage to households and businesses across Oklahoma for which we WILL seek damages. Your net loss folks. Best wake up now.

You’ll also find your place is to EDUCATE our special needs children and not look at them as a way to obtain an inordinate amount of money per head to fund your special projects that have little to nothing to do with our special needs children. Go ahead and deny this happens. You’ll find yourself challenged on hundreds of fronts to PROVE every dollar was directed appropriately.

What you should be doing instead is barking at the State Legislature to STOP appropriating your highway and Lottery dollars and putting them toward other projects. That IS your’s. Go fight for it and stop picking on special needs children and the law that helps THEM.

Our children are NOT pawns and you’re about to get a big can of whoop ass poured all over you. You’ve let the hornets out of the nest and you’re not getting them back in.

Seems in Apple’s rush to market they didn’t live up to one of their own tennets – Openness. Even if it’s only cross-platform between their mobile OS and their desktop OS… that’s open enough for me. As is, FaceTime is too proprietary.

Perhaps Apple comes out with something in a future release of one or the other or both… For now I see a need and intend to fill the need. That will be done with FaceMeld. Stay tuned.

You go on this big screed about “open standards”. While…

In your other corner you have this wonderful but 1/2 forgotten platform called OSX (which was notably absent from this years WWDC by the way) which you graced with a pretty nice iChat protocol.

Now, why have TWO proprietary (ie. NOT open or otherwise known as CLOSED) Apple protocols when they could be made to work great together over public internet?

Is it because selling two iPhone4′s is that much better than giving us a little OSX/iOS cross-platform compatibility?

Is it because it’s planned to be an iOS5 feature?

Is it because it’s going to be melded into ONE protocol? Which one wins out? When?

Is it because you really have in mind to FINALLY come out with a Windows version of iChat that will work with Mac iChat and iOS FaceTime? (I’m full on delusional at this point to think this might happen)

Guys, it’s genius you have this FaceTime thing going on. But jeez Louise! Make your shiny new thing work with your other shiny things! Please?!

I’m sitting in a coffee shop one day grumbling to an acquaintance about my email address getting a ton more spam than usual and suspecting it was due to signing up for one of a dozen or more services recently. He said, “You should have appended your email address.”

Huh?

“Yeah, all you have to do is put a PLUS symbol after your actual email ID (but before the AT symbol) when you register for stuff and you’ll know who’s doing what with your email. If an email comes from someone unexpected with THAT appendage it was obtained… somehow… probably without your knowledge or consent.”

Bullshit! It couldn’t be THAT easy. I need a service or something to do this… I think those were my exact words to him.

“Oh, yes it is that easy and you don’t pay a penny to do it. Helps me figure out who I can trust and who I can’t. Try it.”

Hell if he wasn’t right (mostly). I’ve registered with a TON of third party services since as Gerald+SERVICEID@mydomainname.something… and it’s worked like a champ on my domain, on gmail but not on Dot Mac (or Mobile Me or whatever the hell they’re calling it this year… iMe?) Anyway, point being I’ve been able to isolate some offenders. I’ve been able to prioritize some actions based on the TO: field (AT&T, Apple, special vendors I really don’t want to miss messages from, etc).

Test it yourself. Not all email servers will behave with the + symbol in the ID area. If you send yourself a message with +TEST after your ID but before the @ symbol and it delivers… you’re in tall cotton. If it bounces your email server doesn’t play nice. Not sure why some do and some don’t. That’s just the breaks I guess. But, once you figure it out there are all sorts of things you can do from there. Have fun & spread it around.

If someone’s intent on doing you wrong they’ll be able to GREP that +TRACKING@ element out and THEN sell your information downstream. But, not all sleaze bags are that smart. Trust me, it’ll be eye opening and you won’t have to have a bunch of email addresses to keep up with.

- (BOOL)deviceCanMakePhoneCalls
{
    BOOL canMakePhoneCalls;
    if ([UIApplication instancesRespondToSelector:@selector(canOpenURL:)]) {
        // OS 3.0, so use canOpenURL
        UIApplication *app = [UIApplication sharedApplication];
        canMakePhoneCalls = ([app canOpenURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"tel:+44-1234-567890"]]);
    } else {
        // OS 2.x, so check for iPhone
        UIDevice *device = [UIDevice currentDevice];
        canMakePhoneCalls = ([device.model isEqualToString:@"iPhone"]);
    }
    return canMakePhoneCalls;
}

What this doesn’t do is show the button (or hide it). Now, if you know how to solve for any this more elegantly… please, do tell. AND… if you’d like to help me via ichat or Google Chat to walk through the Reachability issue… lemme know!

So, when the email came in asking me to review the i1015 Micro Case (for iPhone) I have to admit, my expectations were pretty lofty.

The GOOD
The i1015 seals TIGHT. So, if you work in a dusty environment or maybe a little bit wet/misty… this case might just do the trick for you. The lid is transparent to boot. There’s a handy jack outside that couples with the phone on the inside. While I haven’t tried this (and don’t recommend it by any stretch) I suspect the i1015 will float if dropped in a lake.

The BAD
What seems to be missing to me is a charging/peripheral slot. For instance, I might be on a boat (or sitting on the front porch when the neighbors sprinkler turns on). My phone should be able to charge while safely stowed away. There really aren’t any security features… It took my oldest (8 years old) less than a minute to open the box. All the other Pelican cases I’ve owned were lockable… I like the idea of being able to store my iPhone in a shock absorbing case, still use it AND charge it. So, that’s where my expectations were maybe too high.

The UGLY
I suspect there’s no way around the bulk. It just seems unnecessarily big in my opinion (about as big as the 3GS box my phone came in when I bought it).

I’ll probably give this unit to my neighbor across the street. He bought the iPhone on opening day just like I did and is an avid fisherman (taking his boat out regularly). Wouldn’t it be great to know his iPhone didn’t go down to Davy Jones’ locker because of the i1015. THAT would be one swell success story… Maybe he’ll toss HIS phone into the drink just cuz. If he does I’ll let you know all about it.

What I like about this app… it steps us through the programming and considerations behind 14 very different apps. Lots of different frameworks covered and the walk through behind the steps involved is quite good. It helped me get my app ready for App Store submission… Can’t give anything a higher recommendation than that!

I have a fairly substantial library of iPhone dev books and this one’s ing the top three I crack open on a regular basis… What’s also nice is all the source code for the apps is conveniently parked online and reasonably commented.

Definitely recommend ++

Those of you who know me realize I’m no developer despite these many years of being an Select member of the ADC. I’m barely a graphic designer (by my own standards). But, I can reverse engineer stuff be it code or whatever and obtain a passing understanding of things fairly quickly. So it has turned out to be with iPhone apps (web and native alike).

My first app has been submitted to and declined by Apple in the past couple weeks. It’s been a real trick to address the last of their two objections. But, I’m grateful the problem has been so hard for me to overcome… it’s forced me to explore nooks and crannies of the iPhone SDK I might never have stretched myself to investigate. My problem’s not yet solved… I’ll stick with it and perservere and in the process meet some fascinating people and methods in the process. And, reinvigorated my respect for these tiny little devices and the development platforms available for them.

Even if I never develop another app by my own hand I’ll have gained a first hand respect for the magic you adept developers weave and the magical tools Apple has made available to each and every one of us for free.

I’ll be honest and say, in my opinion, I still like the stock iPhone earbuds better overall. I tend to make handsfree calls while I’m driving and the noise cancelling mic on the Earpollution HAS been getting better feedback from people on the other end of my iPhone calls than the stock Apple earbuds. That’s really important. On my part, though, when I’m driving, I notice more noise from my environment (road noise, radio, etc) through the Earpollution buds. Which, for emergency vehicles… might be important too. The audio clarity and range seem to be about the same to me.

Amenities… The iFrogz box came with a variety of earbud cups to attach and I may have really odd shaped ears, I dunno. I never found a cup that created a nice seal. Your mileage may vary.

They also have the ability to control your iPhone with an inline clicker.

Let’s say you’ve lost or damaged your stock iPhone earbuds and are looking to replace them. The good news is there are decent options at a nice value point.

Snow Leopard unlimited server will cost $449 and ships at the same time.

Visit http://store.apple.com/ for more details.

Shay is one hard working guy and a new dad to boot. I’ll never know 1/3 of what he does about development. But, for $.99 I can hang with him feeling a little (okay, a LOT) more in the know than before. He’s packed over 475 cheat sheets for HTML, Rails, CSS, jQuery, Prototype, Obj C, testing, text editors, etc.

Get yourself some “CHEAT” today and support a super nice guy who created a super helpful app.

Hey, Shay… what do I do with all these little O’Reilly pocket guides now?

It’s free to play. It’s fun. And, there’s no telling where this thing is going. Right now, it’s a total rocket ship. I’ve checked for terms and conditions… there are none. So, seems we’re all clear to proceed. If you’re on the verge of quitting/abandoning your SpyMaster account… Please, consider wiring me your liquid assets balance. My Swiss Bank account is 000000027398 1153681740385

I was a good sport about a (successful) assassination attempt on my account (@GeraldBuckley) and was rewarded with a massive heaping of in game cash. I’m now set on in-game cash and basically continue playing just to level up and kick as much high-level booty as I can. It takes a LONG time to make enough to open a Swiss Bank account. However, once you have one (and I do) it’s trivial to wire money to other accounts and “open” them for the other player. Even $1 xferred would do the trick.

I’ve been wondering what I could possibly DO with all this excess in-game cash… and the entrepreneur in me has prevailed.

I’m selling it!

For $5USD I will happily wire $500K to your in-game Swiss Bank account. Because the Directorate has capped the amount of funds that can be transferred between two acounts I can send as much as $500K to as many accounts as I like. I accept PayPal (gerald@grocio.com) or TwitPay (@geraldbuckley) or Amazon Payments. Remember to include your ENTIRE Swiss Bank account number or the transfer will be delayed unnecessarily as I’ll have to email or DM you.

So, to recap:

• $5 USD via paypal, amazon payments, or twitpay for $500,000 in Spymaster funds
• I need your Swiss Banking # (you can either follow me and dm it or you can email it to me)

I’ve been on Twitter for a LONG time and have a terrific reputation. I work hard and I play hard. But, at the root of it all is an entrepreneur. ’nuff said there. You may want a little more proof-positive I have what I’m selling. So, a picture is worth a thousand words…

Not only do I feel listened to (due to the very cordial contact from Mr. Ron Okamoto & the last open letter) but the recent decision to go forward with the Snow Leopard Developer Forum is a VERY welcome move. I’ve logged in and looked at the lay of the land and by the looks of it I’m most definitely not alone. LOTS of healthy participation going on.

Thanks again.

Very sincerely yours,

Gerald Buckley

Click thru for the bigger pic. Just thought, given the insanely high pitch this topic is getting (maybe rightly so, I dunno) it might be fun to put a little levity into it if possible. Certainly not something a parent would like seeing happen right about now. On any other day it’s just funny or gross. Today…? You decide.

And, our buddies at DivX have graciously done it again and given us 100 DivX Pro (Yes… PRO!) serials.

These are for Mac only folks (this is a Mac-only blog except for the frequent jabbing at the “have-nots” I do for sport).

HERE’S HOW YOU SCORE THE HOTTEST NEW SERIAL NUMBER AROUND..

1) Follow me at Twitter. I’m @GeraldBuckley

2) message me by tweeting ”RT Follow @geraldbuckley He’s giving out 100 FREE DivX7 Pro serial numbers for Mac” Copy it and paste it… unless you’re on iPhone (boo!)

If you don’t follow me I can’t DM you the serial number. You have to do BOTH to score the SN. And, YES, I *will* be following you back

It’s taken about 5 months to rack up each of the last couple of 100,000 marks. Lately I’ve been spending the majority of my time on my startup and on some of the other social networking sites and less time writing. Once the Snow Leopard release arrives I’ll have MUCH more to blog about.

The “Installing Leopard from DMG” post is by far the most popular post here.

The “Open Letter to Tim Cook” post resulted in an interesting conversation I can only write about AFTER a certain something happens. And, of ALL the 1,100 posts to date… it’s the one post I’m most proud of. And, before too long, you’ll see why: I’m told it’s going to manifest in a major announcement out of Cupertino.

Finally, ALL of the comments and commenters are so very appreciated. Keep ‘em coming.

Seems it’s invite only and they’re hard as hen’s teeth to get right now. Even if you have a Grand Central account it’s not switched over just yet and an invite is still required. Follow @GoogleVoice at Twitter or read the blog for more details.

<< Google Voice Blog: Moving to Google Voice! >>

One thing that ROYALLY blows my mind though is ZFS. As Leopard was coming out there was a hint that ZFS was going to be a staple in the release candidate. For whatever reason that didn’t happen. It appeared all so briefly in one of the Leopard seeds in the Disk Utility app. So, being the good little Apple dev I am… I put that baby to the test. I strung several external drives (of differing makes and capacities) together and formatted them ZFS. Damned if it didn’t work as advertised. But, what really screwed with my noodle was when I added a fresh drive to the mix… adding it to the ZFS volume was super easy and slick as hell. Why isn’t that available RFN? I dunno. But, I liked it and hope it comes back. SOON!

Now, imagine if all the above was all done on SSD drives. Holy crap! At that point you have a highly scalable VERY small footprint array of some formidable scale and wicked fast speed. Not sure what the power consumption looks like. I have to think it’s much improved per Gb pushed/pulled. I’m all for cloud computing and things like Amazon’s S3. But, if I had a read/write intensive, mission critical app and could address it with a local SSD array… WOW!

Mr. Cook -

As an Apple Developer in good standing for several years I have hoped for an online venue whereby we select & premiere ADC members could freely exchange methods, best practices and work arounds.

But that hasn’t happened.

We’re expected to abide by our NDAs. Which means innovating for things like Snow Leopard either happens at WWDC or have to wait until after launch.

Isn’t there a sanctioned way to do this?!

I don’t mind trying to learn & innovate while under observation. The give and take can only HELP solidify developers’ affinity to Apple. As is a lot of this is happening outside of view of Apple and at the cost of the platform.

Gerald Buckley
(918) 813-9745
geraldb28@me.com

An ideal outcome IMHO would be a discussions.apple.com type arena where Select and Premier ADC members could freely exchange ‘how to’ type info. Frankly, getting the web services up and functional in early versions of 10.5 Leopard were insanely hard. That is until a little more documentation came around. But, testing that stuff was central to what I wanted to contribute and, frankly, what the developer notes were asking for. Now, you tell me, how can I pitch in (while still honoring my NDA to Apple Developer Connection)? There is a LOT more good that could come out of a new, sanctioned “portal”/”exchange”/”marketplace” than any bad. Heck, I don’t mind paying a bit more for it. There are a ton of us who just can’t or won’t make it to WWDC regularly. And, it’s a shame the innovations that could be brought to market closer to the each launch of a new Apple OS have to lag for lack of a sanctioned/moderated place for Apple’s developers.

So, if you would please raise your voice in support of something like this I’d like to think we could usher in some fresh positive policy at Apple with regard to Developers. Or, at least let them know, we’re not above doing it ourselves in plain sight and in the pirate tradition of Cupertino. (There’s a warning shot across the bow sure to draw a cease and desist)

Next week I’ll be delivering a talk titled “A Tale of Two Founders” at the OpenBeta2 event in Oklahoma City. If you’ve ever thought of starting a business, let alone a dot com, I’m going to do something that gets me well outside my comfort zone (thanks for setting THAT bar so high Loic!) and takes us to a very transparent place about the good (lots), the bad (far and few) and the ugly (yes, there is broken glass occasionally) of my startup, Grocio.com. I’m going to deliver a no-holds-barred, up close and VERY personal, roll your sleeves up peek behind the curtain of a dot com startup determined to make it in Oklahoma. From being down to our last 87 cents to the threat of lawsuits to the highs of raising capital to weathering the media attention and a few forward looking statements that require me to invoke dirty words like “Sarbanes Oxley.” If you’re a VC or an angel investor with intentions of attending this talk please give me a heads up so I’ll at least know where the heckling is coming from and why.

TEASER

Grocio’s past week and a half has been… interesting. I’ll stop short of saying it was difficult. It wasn’t. Not particularly. It was a challenge of patience and discipline to not spontaneously combust. But, it wasn’t difficult. Clear as mud? And, it was this past week and a half that hatched the idea for this particular talk. There are maybe half a dozen people in the know of what the key peeps around Grocio had to go through last week. Who said ANYTHING about crime scene tape!? If you’re the least bit curious of a few of the highs and lows you’re in for as a startup… hot foot it to the OpenBeta2 web site and register to attend (7pm Thursday, March 12th, okcCoCo, 715 Hudson Ave, Oklahoma City).

I’ll be headed out of Tulsa shortly after 5 on Thursday. If you’d like a ride in the Startup Mobile I’ve lovingly named “Bootstrap” you’d do well to call “shotgun” quick. WARNING: I *do* drive fast (not kiding) and the Odwalla and RedBull will flow freely. Yes, I find bribing geeks to be very effective. If we don’t die a fiery death on the Turner Turnpike, we’ll be back to Tulsa around 1 am Friday morning.

Finally, I’m whoring hiring myself out quite a bit lately with speaking gigs, writing magazine articles and guest blogging. It’s something I find I like doing. If you need an irreverent (not to be confused with irrelevant) delivery to wake up your audience, call or text me at (918) 813-9745. You will advance straight to the head of the line if you’re offering a ride on a nuclear submarine, a tandem jump, a ride along with the Life Flight helicopter crew or a contract to publish my book “Rough Air Ahead”. You think I’m kidding!? No siree, I’m not. Those are top of my Bucket List and if I don’t bag them all by 1 am next Friday morning… I’m plain screwed.

I simply point to the continuing saga that is Flash (lite or otherwise) for iPhone.There are two possibilities here. It’s way down in the skunkworks and is getting some serious polish applied to it and we’ll see it when we see it. Which is classic Apple. OR (and this is more likely) there is something getting in the way – politics, technology, something and we’ll never know about it fully. Keep in mind Apple and Adobe have a love/hate relationship. For those of you not in the know just look at the business that is Adobe and you’ll see where their bread is buttered (hint: it ain’t the Mac platform and they tend to launch products on the Windows platform first). The love between these two companies is shallow and doesn’t run much deeper than the the thickness of the income statement.

Look. I own an iPhone. I was one of the masses on Day One. Still have that phone. Use it on a daily basis. It’s shortcomings are piling up though in light of the onslaught of feature rich alternates (Google Gears, non-Quicktime video, higher quality photo optics/zooming, copy/paste, not to mention bluetooth stereo, etc… the list is LONG). It’s an OK phone and a slick interface. But the arms race has heated up and it’s incumbent upon Apple (as the instigator) to maintain the high ground. I don’t think they have the balls to do what it takes to mature the platform fast enough to stay competitive in the long run. Even though they dropped “Computer” from their name… that’s what they remain. An OS and application company.

Folks, the reality distortion field has weakened greatly of late and Apple has a choice to make. Open up a bit or don’t. Tim Cook’s job is maybe a little easier should Jobs not come back. But, until that shadow is dealt with… I’m betting Apple doesn’t open the iPhone’s web browser fully and my declaration of BS stands for a while longer.

HELL YES! Not just “HELL YES!” but think of something far more profane and that is what I meant to say.

Mike, why, in this day and age of falling infrastructure prices would you turn down OpenX.org for your hosted ad platform? [DISCLAIMER: I'm in no way affiliated with OpenX except as a happy customer paying ZIP for their services.]

• Hosted or Open Source. Your choice! (Think “WordPress”)
• FREE up to 100 million impressions per month.
• Text, graphics, Flash… all are acceptable media types.
• Fantastic backend reporting.
• You get to keep 100% of what you kill.
• You’re in control of the CPM, CPA, whatever model you pick.
• You’re in control of the inventory and how it’s displayed and to who.

Yes, you have to pay a sales force to close the deals. And the problem with that is…?

As a startup I’m tasked with evaluating options, navigating a dizzying amount of choices and making an educated decision. But, sometimes, an option comes along (like OpenX.org) that just takes all the choices off the table with such a compelling value proposition.

Now, for those of you with a little less traffic than TechCrunch… Can you think of a better solution for YOUR company to create it’s own DIY ad network? For the life of me… I can’t.

• Meg Whitman’s off on a whiff to go all Gubernator 2.0 on us. So, she’s off the short list.
• Gates is too busy selling shoes with Jerry Seinfeld.
• Carol Bartz and Jerry Yang have new gigs.
• But, wait, Sue Decker came available… Hmmm…

Nah! Cook gets it. As much as I’d like to see Ive run the show… the professional manager Cook is the right call. Just so long as Ive gets all the aluminum his not-so-little CNC mill can munch, Phil Schiller is re-assigned to iChat evangelist and Bertrand Serlet is given the state of Oregon as his annual bonus for all the goodness we’re going to get in Snow Leopard.

And, you heard it here… Jobs ain’t coming back folks. He’s out. He just doesn’t acknowledge it (publicly) yet. He’s going to retire across the board – Apple and Disney – in one fell swoop. He’s earned his place in history plus some. Exit. Stage right.

First impressions – love it.

Deeper in I find I’m really only sort of in love. Kinda like being half pregnant. Only this somehow works.

I live in Keynote and Numbers these days. So, I really like what has been made available. But, I’m finding I’m not so happy with what has been (seemingly) taken away. Particularly in Keynote. The Apple Remote doesn’t seem to pair with Keynote 09 now. And, there is no Flash export option. Neither one is a show stopper. But, my pretty new flame has a wart right where there shouldn’t be one.

[EDIT: on the plus side I held off writing about the hard-to-find Keynote Remote iPhone app. Turns out it wasn't searchable but was hidden in plain sight nice and prominently on the App Store landing page. And... it works fabulously. It controls the presentation very nicely with plain gestures. And, while you don't see the actual transitions from slide to slide or the slick builds... it's totally controllable. One wish for the next rev of Keynote Remote (which is 99 cents btw) is that it had a built in timer. Presenter notes are there but no timer. Ah well...]

So, why is that a good idea? I think people are seeing a lot of ghosts behind trees right now and this one just may have been planted to get Ballmer back to the table. Imagine the chairs that would fly if he, for one instant, thought Apple was seriously considering taking his sloppy seconds only to trounce him soundly in the end-run.

I really don’t see this happening though. You have Eric Schmidt as an Apple Director. Not a person I’d easily or readily dismiss due to a merger or product direction. He’s already marginalized a bit due to the competing tendencies between iPhone and Android. Still… An aquisition of Yahoo! while fun to think about just doesn’t ring true.

Yes, Yang came out on stage and did the whole poster-boy thing at the iPhone intro. And, Jobs went to Yahoo! HQ and told them they have greatness in them.

But, so what!? This isn’t the stuff of mergers. Not to mention the nuts and bolts of such a deal. Does Apple really want to have the additional drag Yahoo! would add to operations?

Nah.

As things heat up in my various roles at work, with my startup and on the home front… there’s just a lot less time to devote to blogging. For me, personally, it’s been an extension of my life experience to be able to take a half-hour and compose a decent post regarding say the impending release of Leopard or the latest from MarketCircle or to delve into some of the more speculative aspects of what’s around the bend for the Apple experience.

So, what has been going on? OK.. in a nutshell.

I met Jay Shuster a couple weeks ago. You know his work. He’s the sketch artist behind Pixar’s Cars and Wall*E. Neat, neat guy. Also, at the same event (Art Directors Club of Tulsa) was Michael Wallis, author of the defining book on Route 66 and consultant to Pixar for the movie Cars. He actually lives in Tulsa.

Somewhere around here is my ass. It’ll turn up someday. I was up painting on the 24′ ladder one day and my behind just fell off. BAM! it hit the ground and I haven’t seen it since. Between all the obligations I have stacked up there’s about four hours of “sleep” each night.

Wwaah! wwwahhhh! I know… Actually I love it as there’s never a dull moment. For instance, right now I have a dual processor G5 XServe gutted on my desk at the office. It’s giving me some (phantom) ass pain with the odd stuff it’s doing (basically, it wouldn’t power up consistently and when it did… it wouldn’t boot). Fortunately we have an AppleCare Service kit for it. Replaced everything there is to replace via the kit and the problem remains. Without getting into the details of the whats, whys and such… It’s problems like these that sometimes give me the a lot of joy. Being able to say, “Problem solved. What’s next?” is a treat whether it’s hardware, business finance or a key hiring decision.

So, if I do go silent for long spells here you might check the Grocio blog (chances are good if I’m quiet here I’m quiet there) or you could conclude I’m just absorbed in things best left not blogged about for now.

Hope everyone’s Thanksgiving’s were great and you Christmases are queued up to be great.

The main differences? No big on-stage dog and pony and it was put on here in Tulsa by Tulsans. Yes, you heard that right – Tulsa, Oklahoma! See! You shouldn’t be flying over next time. Stop and stay a while! I’ve said it many times before to Dave Winer and Robert Scoble… Native Tulsans have a mutated risk-taking gene and it’s a nod back to the day when people settled the Indian Territories (I’m native american btw) and started exploring for oil and building toll bridges across the Arkansas river. We’ve been taking “life and limb” sized risks since day one of this city. We’re entrepreneurs genetically.

Spirit Bank and the Kauffman Foundation were kind enough to put up prize money + resources galor. Maurice Kanbar was nice enough to put up office space. The Tulsa Metro Chamber, TEDC and many others have offered terrific resources as well along the way.

Leaders from all disciplines within the Tulsa community rallied behind our mayor and Sean Griffin (for the second time now) to fortify our business plans and impart their lessons and wisdom. Their leadership and commitment through this process was extraordinary. I said it before the awards, I’ve said it since will say it now and maintain it all along the circuit -

If you’re a startup, there is no better place in America to startup than right here in Tulsa. The resources are tremendous. The cost of living is spot on. The economy is positive and we’re upbeat about the immediate future. Plus our commutes (or lack of) will probably cinch it for you. Don’t just put us on a checklist to evaluate. Come visit. There are lots of us who would happily be your guide and show you around. What other city will do that for you!?

Grocio.com next moves?

Lot’s of people have asked, “Have you spent all that money yet?” In my mind I’ve spent it a couple times over. But, no, I haven’t spent any of it. There are a few modest obligations that I’m very grateful to have been able to postpone until some funding arrived. IOU’s in other words. So, those are first order of business. Outside of that we’re into the next phase of the business plan – hardcore development. We’re now on the path to get from prototype to production. That will burn through a bit of the award money and we’ll find ourselves at the next round of funding in short order.

“$30,000 or $60,000?” We’ve won $30,000. We’re in the process of earning a match from i2E. In January/February I’m expecting to have good news to announce along these lines. I have no reason to believe we won’t be awarded the matching funds.

The inevitable question, “Did you quit your day job?” NO WAY! and am making no plans of doing so. My employer has been really understanding the past several months and naturally curious about all the recent press and what my intentions were/are. If you’ve ever had a side business you know there are boundaries to respect. Don’t ever lose sight of that. Trust me, I know it’s hard. But, there’s a lot at stake and frankly… you have to keep in mind who’s paying the bills. To do otherwise says a fair bit about your character and how you might run your outside venture. Enthusiasm is great. Don’t let it make you a sloppy business leader. P’s & Q’s…

“Are you talking to VC?” Only every opportunity I get. If you’re looking to invest in a cool new startup with a bunch of new found street cred… Call me (918) 813-9745

“When does Grocio.com open for business?” We’re open now for FREE pre-registration. There’s even a screencast that shows some of what it is we’re going to unveil and how it’s going to work. The comparison shopping side of the operation opens in February ’09. November ’08 was my target. But, because we were so tight in on the holiday shopping period with a lot of work to be accomplished and with a lot on the line… we’ll waive off and fire up the engines in February ’09. Still, registration is free and those are the people who will be notified first once we’re on final approach.

“What grocery stores will you have? What’s the geography?” We have three really large branded grocers on board now. There’s not a grocer in America we’ll turn away. Just yesterday a north California chain came calling. I’ve talked to one store operations up to the largest there is. Talk us up to your local grocer and chum the water for us. OK?

The media has been a great friend through all of this. So, to answer the “Are you willing to talk with us on the record?” ABSOLUTELY. No segment, article or blog is off limits. Go to Grocio.com and all my contact info is there.

[EDIT: Recieved a few DM's at Twitter asking for the behind the scenes of the Spirit Awards. Someting to address - What goes on behind closed doors? There's my next writing assignment. Stay tuned.]

The Tulseys are a celebration of the Global Entrepreneurship Week and the winner in each category gets (what I hear to be) a slick trophy (no money at stake). I love Tulsa. And, more than that, I love the risk taking nature of the people here in my home town. You can go way back to the formative days of this town whether it’s the land speculators, the oilfield folks, the toll bridge across the Arkansas… People were really doing some cool stuff. Sticking their necks out and trying new, risky and life threatening things. Bless their souls.

Fortunately that DNA exists in spades in Oklahoma. And, I hope, is reflected in what we’re trying to do with Grocio. Thanks!