Saturday 3 December 2011
Drumming Trials
Had a great percussion trial today in front of Oscar winning Director Danny Boyle, who has been appointed 'Artistic Director'. The trial was to test our playing skills to play at the Olympics. I was surprised how easy it was today!
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Olympic auditions
I will be attending my 3rd audition this Saturday where 800 drummers are expected to audition for a spot to perform at the Opening ceremony of the Olympics next summer in London. If I make the grade this weekend then I will be going to the Olympics!
Saturday 8 October 2011
The Genius of our time
On Wednesday the 5 October, the world saw the passing of Steve Jobs. A visionary, a prophet, a leader, a messiah and genius. The man who co founded Apple changed the world with his vision of what people wanted before they knew what they wanted. The man who brought us the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone and iPad was the best CEO of his generation if not the best CEO of all time turning Apple round from the brink of distinction in 1997 and guiding it to become the largest, most profitable and envyed tech company in the world. Many competitors have tried to imitate not innovate and have never bettered the creations of Steve Jobs.
He made computers and gadgets 'cool' by 'thinking different'. The man, who, in my opinion, should be regarded in the same genius category as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford changed the world in so many ways and affected the lived of billions around the world with his wonderful creations. The Mac, launched in 1984 was the first computer to use a mouse and a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which changed computing forever by bring the personal computer (PC) into the home for the first time, and is still the way we interact with our PC's today. Steve Jobs brought the unloved computer into daily human life by combining utility and beauty in a way that few other technical innovators have achieved, and most never attempted.
Thomas Edison did not care about the aesthetics of the light bulb. Henry Ford transformed modern life by means of the motor car, but insisted that customers could have "any colour, as long as it's black", an attitude that would have him sacked at Apple, but Steve Jobs had a passion for not only how things worked but how his creations were designed. He will be remembered for putting the world in your hand.
The iPod, launched in 2001 transformed the music industry with the integration of iTunes by downloading music digitally and transferring it onto a tiny device allowing you to have your entire music collection in your pocket. iTunes did contribute to the collapse of CD sales, but it was going to happen anyway.
When the iPhone was launched in 2007, it put all other mobile phones to shame. The iPhone's intuitive grid interface, its sleek design and the ability to download different Apps, changing the way we interacted with our phones literally changed the mobile phone industry over night and dragged the smartphone to the mass market and made the 'mobile internet' a reality. The iPad has also created a whole new category of personal computer 'the Tablet'.
Steve Jobs also created Pixar into a animation company among his achievements. Without Steve Jobs, cinemas would be without Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr Potato Head, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc and A Bug's Life.
Jobs and Jonathan Ive both have a Zen-like approach to their work. They think about their products, then think some more. The idea is to arrive at a design that cannot be improved either by taking anything away or adding anything to it. Arthur C. Clarke said that any technology sufficiently advanced was indistinguishable from magic. Steve Jobs's Apple made magic universally available, and the magic came in beautiful boxes. Owning an Apple product is an act of social promotion. An Apple product makes life better and more beautiful. It is the greatest design story of them all.
The world will miss his unique vision, I will miss his brilliance, his genius, his charisma and his wonderful Keynote presentations. I am priviliged to have lived in the 'Steve Jobs Era' to see the invention of the personal computer, the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad and Apple TV. I will miss the man I have admired above all others. The world will be at a huge loss without him, but will be ever grateful for changing the world and our lives.
Where Edison spread the light, and Ford made the motors run, Steve Jobs put the world in your hand. He made beautiful things and made useful things, but more than that, he made the world see itself in a different way. And that, in the end, is the definition of a genius.
RIP
He made computers and gadgets 'cool' by 'thinking different'. The man, who, in my opinion, should be regarded in the same genius category as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford changed the world in so many ways and affected the lived of billions around the world with his wonderful creations. The Mac, launched in 1984 was the first computer to use a mouse and a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which changed computing forever by bring the personal computer (PC) into the home for the first time, and is still the way we interact with our PC's today. Steve Jobs brought the unloved computer into daily human life by combining utility and beauty in a way that few other technical innovators have achieved, and most never attempted.
Thomas Edison did not care about the aesthetics of the light bulb. Henry Ford transformed modern life by means of the motor car, but insisted that customers could have "any colour, as long as it's black", an attitude that would have him sacked at Apple, but Steve Jobs had a passion for not only how things worked but how his creations were designed. He will be remembered for putting the world in your hand.
The iPod, launched in 2001 transformed the music industry with the integration of iTunes by downloading music digitally and transferring it onto a tiny device allowing you to have your entire music collection in your pocket. iTunes did contribute to the collapse of CD sales, but it was going to happen anyway.
When the iPhone was launched in 2007, it put all other mobile phones to shame. The iPhone's intuitive grid interface, its sleek design and the ability to download different Apps, changing the way we interacted with our phones literally changed the mobile phone industry over night and dragged the smartphone to the mass market and made the 'mobile internet' a reality. The iPad has also created a whole new category of personal computer 'the Tablet'.
Steve Jobs also created Pixar into a animation company among his achievements. Without Steve Jobs, cinemas would be without Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr Potato Head, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc and A Bug's Life.
Jobs and Jonathan Ive both have a Zen-like approach to their work. They think about their products, then think some more. The idea is to arrive at a design that cannot be improved either by taking anything away or adding anything to it. Arthur C. Clarke said that any technology sufficiently advanced was indistinguishable from magic. Steve Jobs's Apple made magic universally available, and the magic came in beautiful boxes. Owning an Apple product is an act of social promotion. An Apple product makes life better and more beautiful. It is the greatest design story of them all.
The world will miss his unique vision, I will miss his brilliance, his genius, his charisma and his wonderful Keynote presentations. I am priviliged to have lived in the 'Steve Jobs Era' to see the invention of the personal computer, the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad and Apple TV. I will miss the man I have admired above all others. The world will be at a huge loss without him, but will be ever grateful for changing the world and our lives.
Where Edison spread the light, and Ford made the motors run, Steve Jobs put the world in your hand. He made beautiful things and made useful things, but more than that, he made the world see itself in a different way. And that, in the end, is the definition of a genius.
RIP
Wednesday 24 August 2011
Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple
Steve Jobs’ resignation as chief executive officer of Apple is the end of an extraordinary era, not just for Apple, but for the global technology industry in general. Jobs is a historic business figure whose impact was deeply felt far beyond the company’s Cupertino, Calif. headquarters, and who was widely emulated at other companies.
And now, for the first time since 1997, he won’t be the company’s chief executive who helped change the world of technology. Extremely well-informed sources at Apple say he intends to remain involved in developing major future products and strategy and intends to be active within the company as Chairman of the board, while new CEO Tim Cook runs the company day to day.
CEOs resign every day, so why is this departure so meaningful? Most people are lucky if they can change the world in one important way, but Jobs, in multiple stages of his business career, changed global technology, media and lifestyles in multiple ways on multiple occasions. He did it because he was willing to take big risks on new ideas, and not be satisfied with small innovations fed by market research. He also insisted on high quality and had the guts to leave out features others found essential and to kill technologies, like the floppy drive and the removable battery, he decided were no longer needed. And he has been a brilliant marketer, personally passionate about his products.
In his first act at Apple, the company he co-founded in 1976, he helped envision and catalyze the personal computer revolution. The Apple II computer he developed with Steve Wozniak wasn’t the only mass-market PC released in 1977, but it was the one that had the most enduring impact. In 1984, he again upended computing by leading the development of the Macintosh, the first commercially successful computer to use a mouse and graphical user interface. It cemented the template for how every computer works today, even though Apple was handily bested in the PC sales wars by archrival Microsoft.
After being forced out of Apple in 1985, it’s well known that Jobs ran an unsuccessful computer firm called Next. But he also did a couple of game-changing things during that exile. First, Next developed an operating system that later morphed into the excellent Macintosh operating system, called OS X, and also the operating system that drives Apple’s mobile devices, called iOS.
In addition, he purchased Pixar, a small computer animation firm which he was able, over years, to turn into one of the world’s most successful movie studios and later sell to Disney for billions. It changed animation forever.
In his most recent act, he returned in 1997 to take over as CEO of Apple as part of that company’s purchase of Next. What he found was a diminished company which was reputedly only months from bankruptcy and saddled with mediocre products.
Fourteen years later, the company is a highly profitable behemoth, the most financially valuable and influential technology company in the world, whose every product is eagerly anticipated, snapped up quickly by consumers, and aped by competitors, even though they are often priced higher than rival devices.
While CEO of the revived Apple, he introduced the dominant digital music player, the iPod, and created the most successful digital media service, iTunes. He introduced the first super-smartphone, the iPhone and the only truly successful tablet computer, the iPad, which is in the process of replacing the laptop, at least in part. And he built the world’s largest app store.
These devices and software services have dramatically changed the mobile phone industry, the music industry, the film and TV industries, the publishing industry and others.
Meanwhile, even while declaring that we are in the “post-PC era,” Jobs resuscitated his early baby, the Mac. While it may never become the world’s biggest selling computer, it is lusted after worldwide, and its sales have outgrown those of the overall PC industry for five years running. Plus, with models like the sleek, solid-state MacBook Air, he’s actually merging the tablet and the PC.
Now, rumors are rife that Apple is working on re-inventing another common device: the TV. The secretive company won’t say a word about that, but nobody should be surprised if it happens, just based on Jobs’ track record. That’s why the day Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple isn’t like the day a typical CEO resigns. It is an end of an Era.
The reason I am writing this post is because I am extremely sad to see Steve Jobs relinquish his role as CEO of Apple due to ill health, having recently recovered from pancreatic cancer. I have grown up with Apple. I first used an Apple computer back in the late 1980's, while studying computer science at school using an Apple II. I now use a Mac for photography and graphic design as well as owning an iPhone and iPod. I have seen the whole evolution of this remarkable company from the brink of collapse to go on to become the most valuable company in the world under the guidance of Steve Jobs.
Me meeting Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will always be a highlight for me, but I will miss the showmanship and charisma of Steve Jobs during Keynote presentation's. He is a marketing genius. I expect all will be revieled in his auto biography, due to be released within two months. Time will tell how this will affect the long term plans and future of Apple.
And now, for the first time since 1997, he won’t be the company’s chief executive who helped change the world of technology. Extremely well-informed sources at Apple say he intends to remain involved in developing major future products and strategy and intends to be active within the company as Chairman of the board, while new CEO Tim Cook runs the company day to day.
CEOs resign every day, so why is this departure so meaningful? Most people are lucky if they can change the world in one important way, but Jobs, in multiple stages of his business career, changed global technology, media and lifestyles in multiple ways on multiple occasions. He did it because he was willing to take big risks on new ideas, and not be satisfied with small innovations fed by market research. He also insisted on high quality and had the guts to leave out features others found essential and to kill technologies, like the floppy drive and the removable battery, he decided were no longer needed. And he has been a brilliant marketer, personally passionate about his products.
In his first act at Apple, the company he co-founded in 1976, he helped envision and catalyze the personal computer revolution. The Apple II computer he developed with Steve Wozniak wasn’t the only mass-market PC released in 1977, but it was the one that had the most enduring impact. In 1984, he again upended computing by leading the development of the Macintosh, the first commercially successful computer to use a mouse and graphical user interface. It cemented the template for how every computer works today, even though Apple was handily bested in the PC sales wars by archrival Microsoft.
After being forced out of Apple in 1985, it’s well known that Jobs ran an unsuccessful computer firm called Next. But he also did a couple of game-changing things during that exile. First, Next developed an operating system that later morphed into the excellent Macintosh operating system, called OS X, and also the operating system that drives Apple’s mobile devices, called iOS.
In addition, he purchased Pixar, a small computer animation firm which he was able, over years, to turn into one of the world’s most successful movie studios and later sell to Disney for billions. It changed animation forever.
In his most recent act, he returned in 1997 to take over as CEO of Apple as part of that company’s purchase of Next. What he found was a diminished company which was reputedly only months from bankruptcy and saddled with mediocre products.
Fourteen years later, the company is a highly profitable behemoth, the most financially valuable and influential technology company in the world, whose every product is eagerly anticipated, snapped up quickly by consumers, and aped by competitors, even though they are often priced higher than rival devices.
While CEO of the revived Apple, he introduced the dominant digital music player, the iPod, and created the most successful digital media service, iTunes. He introduced the first super-smartphone, the iPhone and the only truly successful tablet computer, the iPad, which is in the process of replacing the laptop, at least in part. And he built the world’s largest app store.
These devices and software services have dramatically changed the mobile phone industry, the music industry, the film and TV industries, the publishing industry and others.
Meanwhile, even while declaring that we are in the “post-PC era,” Jobs resuscitated his early baby, the Mac. While it may never become the world’s biggest selling computer, it is lusted after worldwide, and its sales have outgrown those of the overall PC industry for five years running. Plus, with models like the sleek, solid-state MacBook Air, he’s actually merging the tablet and the PC.
Now, rumors are rife that Apple is working on re-inventing another common device: the TV. The secretive company won’t say a word about that, but nobody should be surprised if it happens, just based on Jobs’ track record. That’s why the day Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple isn’t like the day a typical CEO resigns. It is an end of an Era.
The reason I am writing this post is because I am extremely sad to see Steve Jobs relinquish his role as CEO of Apple due to ill health, having recently recovered from pancreatic cancer. I have grown up with Apple. I first used an Apple computer back in the late 1980's, while studying computer science at school using an Apple II. I now use a Mac for photography and graphic design as well as owning an iPhone and iPod. I have seen the whole evolution of this remarkable company from the brink of collapse to go on to become the most valuable company in the world under the guidance of Steve Jobs.
Me meeting Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will always be a highlight for me, but I will miss the showmanship and charisma of Steve Jobs during Keynote presentation's. He is a marketing genius. I expect all will be revieled in his auto biography, due to be released within two months. Time will tell how this will affect the long term plans and future of Apple.
Friday 29 July 2011
Is OS X Lion Apple’s Vista?
When the day came to install Apple’s latest and greatest OS, the biggest cat that would top them all marking 10 years of Apple’s OS X, all the usual preparations were carried out of insuring all software updates were installed and files backed up ready for the revolutionary download. Much expectation was placed on OS X 10.7 aka Lion, and like many, eagerly awaited to finally install the new operating system.
The download was smooth, taking 50 minutes to download and install the 3.75GB OS from the Mac App Store, but after starting to use Lion, it became apparent that this new version of OS X could turn out to be Apple’s equivalent to Vista. Vista as you know turned out to be a disaster for Microsoft as software and peripherals stopped working and the OS was extremely buggy as individuals complained on how bad Vista performed. I have used Macs since the days of OS 8 as well as the many versions of OS X without any major problems as Apple have always shipped an extremely stable and impressive OS that supported all installed applications.
My first impressions and experience with Lion have been negative. Apps that I have used for years are no longer working, my scanner can’t be used - as Lion no longer recognises the software, Apps that can be used are taking longer to launch and are constantly crashing like Aperture 3 and InDesign CS5. iTunes would not open initially saying it was created by a newer version, and my Mac has dramatically slowed down to such an extent that it now frequently freezes with the spinning beach ball of death, with the only remedy being to force quit or to restart. I have also noticed some weird behaviour from Lion such as intermittent Wi-Fi connection, folders on the desktop rearranging themselves on restart, keyboard functions working then not working, some of the desktop images in system preferences suddenly disappearing before my eyes, and the most annoying is in Mission Control as it displays windows on top of each other rather than as separate spaces like it is supposed to.
OS X Lion is also the first OS from Apple that won’t run PowerPC applications. In Snow Leopard, the Rosetta translation engine allowed PowerPC applications to run, and run well, often faster than they ran on the older PowerPC Macs for which they were developed (before Intel based Macs). Lion no longer includes Rosetta, so your applications that you have been running on your Mac for years will no longer work. No one expected eternal support for PowerPC software, nevertheless, people still rely on some PowerPC applications.
I am also unhappy with the overall ‘look’ of Lion as my Mac now resembles a giant iPad with Launchpad displaying applications like those found on my iOS devices to ‘swipe’ through pages of apps. Why couldn’t we simply have all the applications in one window in alphabetical order to view when launched? I know we can rearrange them, but we shouldn’t need to do this. I will just continue to use the applications folder I have in the Dock which allows me to view all of my apps just how I want them when launched which makes Launchpad redundant. The overall look of the new OS has now become ‘consumerised’. What this means is that the integrity of User Interface (UI) design that has been so beautifully implemented throughout OS X for a decade is changing and is now starting to look cheap and monochromatic as all coloured icons have now been replaced with gray ones, which are hard to make out.
Mail has also dramatically changed to mimic the iPad, and I have to say, I don’t think Mail needed changing on the Mac, especially the new look of the icons which threw me at first as they resemble the colourless icons in iTunes. But it seems Apple are changing things just for the sake of change to appeal to the consumer who already own and use iPhones and iPads. Quite frankly, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We want our Macs to look and behave like Macs, not like iOS devices.
There are some nice features in Lion to its defence like right clicking Pages, Keynote, TextEdit and Preview in the Dock to view and access previous files opened and being able to view previous web pages by a flick of a finger rather than having to click back buttons is a really nice touch but the majority of new things in Lion are just gloss and pointless. Other new additions to Lion cross the line like animations and Autosave. Autosave is by far the most annoying as every document is automatically saved. The problem with this is that the user, has no say what is saved and what is not. For instance, you could be working on a document in Pages to be mailed as a pdf, once you have sent the pdf, all you want to do is close down the document without saving as the file does not need to be saved. Due to autosave, your file is automatically saved, and the next time you open up Pages to start a new document the last file you worked on automatically opens up... Why? How annoying is that going to be to everyone? Especially as Apple have now removed ‘Save’ and ‘save as’ and replaced with ‘save as version’, and as far as I know, this cannot be disabled!
I have always had a love relationship with my Mac, as it has always been a dream to use as well as enjoying the beautiful UI, something that has always set the Mac apart, but now feel like getting a divorce and going back to Snow Leopard, which I know some have already done, just like PC users did when they switched back to XP from Vista. Though I feel the switch back could be a painful one.
The download was smooth, taking 50 minutes to download and install the 3.75GB OS from the Mac App Store, but after starting to use Lion, it became apparent that this new version of OS X could turn out to be Apple’s equivalent to Vista. Vista as you know turned out to be a disaster for Microsoft as software and peripherals stopped working and the OS was extremely buggy as individuals complained on how bad Vista performed. I have used Macs since the days of OS 8 as well as the many versions of OS X without any major problems as Apple have always shipped an extremely stable and impressive OS that supported all installed applications.
My first impressions and experience with Lion have been negative. Apps that I have used for years are no longer working, my scanner can’t be used - as Lion no longer recognises the software, Apps that can be used are taking longer to launch and are constantly crashing like Aperture 3 and InDesign CS5. iTunes would not open initially saying it was created by a newer version, and my Mac has dramatically slowed down to such an extent that it now frequently freezes with the spinning beach ball of death, with the only remedy being to force quit or to restart. I have also noticed some weird behaviour from Lion such as intermittent Wi-Fi connection, folders on the desktop rearranging themselves on restart, keyboard functions working then not working, some of the desktop images in system preferences suddenly disappearing before my eyes, and the most annoying is in Mission Control as it displays windows on top of each other rather than as separate spaces like it is supposed to.
OS X Lion is also the first OS from Apple that won’t run PowerPC applications. In Snow Leopard, the Rosetta translation engine allowed PowerPC applications to run, and run well, often faster than they ran on the older PowerPC Macs for which they were developed (before Intel based Macs). Lion no longer includes Rosetta, so your applications that you have been running on your Mac for years will no longer work. No one expected eternal support for PowerPC software, nevertheless, people still rely on some PowerPC applications.
I am also unhappy with the overall ‘look’ of Lion as my Mac now resembles a giant iPad with Launchpad displaying applications like those found on my iOS devices to ‘swipe’ through pages of apps. Why couldn’t we simply have all the applications in one window in alphabetical order to view when launched? I know we can rearrange them, but we shouldn’t need to do this. I will just continue to use the applications folder I have in the Dock which allows me to view all of my apps just how I want them when launched which makes Launchpad redundant. The overall look of the new OS has now become ‘consumerised’. What this means is that the integrity of User Interface (UI) design that has been so beautifully implemented throughout OS X for a decade is changing and is now starting to look cheap and monochromatic as all coloured icons have now been replaced with gray ones, which are hard to make out.
Mail has also dramatically changed to mimic the iPad, and I have to say, I don’t think Mail needed changing on the Mac, especially the new look of the icons which threw me at first as they resemble the colourless icons in iTunes. But it seems Apple are changing things just for the sake of change to appeal to the consumer who already own and use iPhones and iPads. Quite frankly, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We want our Macs to look and behave like Macs, not like iOS devices.
There are some nice features in Lion to its defence like right clicking Pages, Keynote, TextEdit and Preview in the Dock to view and access previous files opened and being able to view previous web pages by a flick of a finger rather than having to click back buttons is a really nice touch but the majority of new things in Lion are just gloss and pointless. Other new additions to Lion cross the line like animations and Autosave. Autosave is by far the most annoying as every document is automatically saved. The problem with this is that the user, has no say what is saved and what is not. For instance, you could be working on a document in Pages to be mailed as a pdf, once you have sent the pdf, all you want to do is close down the document without saving as the file does not need to be saved. Due to autosave, your file is automatically saved, and the next time you open up Pages to start a new document the last file you worked on automatically opens up... Why? How annoying is that going to be to everyone? Especially as Apple have now removed ‘Save’ and ‘save as’ and replaced with ‘save as version’, and as far as I know, this cannot be disabled!
I have always had a love relationship with my Mac, as it has always been a dream to use as well as enjoying the beautiful UI, something that has always set the Mac apart, but now feel like getting a divorce and going back to Snow Leopard, which I know some have already done, just like PC users did when they switched back to XP from Vista. Though I feel the switch back could be a painful one.
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