• Read the profile of your user (photo, nickname, real name, age, sex, location, work and education history, and interests),
• Read your user’s list of friends/connections,
• Read/Write your user’s status message,
• Read your user’s list of Updates (i.e. their activities from Yahoo! and the rest of the Web),
• Write your user’s activities from inside your app into her Updates stream,
• Query, filter, and join any data from Yahoo! and other Web services via YQL, and
• Broker your user’s permission to access this information using OAuth.

What does all this mean? It’s simple. An app using this SDK can pull in my Yahoo! profile information, plot me and my friends on a map (grabbing the locations stored in our profiles), compare our listening preferences (grabbing our favorite music preferences), and broadcast my activity (i.e. “Micah just posted a new high score of 18,478 in Bejeweled 2“) which, in turn, drives my friends (and more) to your app.

You can learn more at YDN (as well as find all the documentation).

And, if you build anything interesting using the code, please let me know… we’re always interested in showcasing great developer-built solutions (using Yahoo! technology) on the YDN blog. Even better, come out and join in at the iPhone Dev Camp Yahoo! is hosting July 31 – August 2, 2009.

With the rumored Apple TV-minus-the-box-plus-the-TV unit days from being announced, I wanted to add one more set of thoughts to his before any such unveiling.

Mike was one of the folks behind Yahoo! Mash, a testbed for some of Yahoo!’s social efforts soon to be released. In my mind, Mash’s key feature was the ability for anyone to create a profile for someone who hadn’t yet joined the service. The thinking was that some folks just don’t want to spend the time setting things up… but if someone already did all the work, why not? (And, as someone who has had to setup innumerable electronics and computer purchases for others, I can attest to the success of such efforts; knock out most of the setup hassles, and you’ve got a happy user you’d otherwise have never had.)

In a similar vein, why not offer the ability for users to setup and customize software profiles for others on the Apple TV? There’s a reason people still joke about how hard it is for their parents to setup a VCR: configuring home electronics is never as easy as you’d like. Mac users are generally well known for their evangelization of the Apple platform; why not give them an opportunity to prove it?

My thinking is this: Apple should provide a Mac andWindows application (or Web app) that allows a user to specify the following settings:

• WiFi settings
• iTunes Library pairing
• Television model (with supported resolutions)
• Cable provider and channel lineup (Apple TV doesn’t use this now, but if they ever want to tackle PVR, this would be good info to get)
• YouTube username
• Flickr username (and usernames of Contacts to track)
• MobileMe username
• Slideshow settings
• Podcast subscriptions

Once entered, the application can generate a patchstick disc image and load it directly onto a USB thumb drive, much in the same way that Boxee’s and XBMC’s patchstick is created. With this USB drive, a user could then plug it into their Apple TV, restart the unit, and have their settings injected in a matter of minutes. Even if this were just for individuals to do for themselves (i.e. not to help setup someone else’s Apple TV), the time (and frustration) savings would be considerable.

With that simple application, Apple could take the hassle out of an already-somewhat-hassle-free, living room electronics experience. And, with that, take on a bigger home entertainment marketshare.

Fortunately, no one waited for Apple to create the Boxee patchstick to extend the Apple TV. For those capable, why not create a patchstick creator to do just this?

Or so my theory goes.

Why is that? Apple dropped the Apple TV on consumers in January 2007 as a “hobby.” Since then, it has released several software updates, including a major on-demand kiosk service this past January.

Also during that time, Apple has released two versions of the iPhone, one of its biggest mainstream successes to date. Unlike the Apple TV, though, Apple provided iPhone users with an App Store: a means of extending the device with 3rd-party-developed Apps.

These Apps are developed somewhat differently than those for the Mac desktop. Namely, rather than the keyboard and mouse standards of yore, they are tuned to leverage the device’s alternate input mechanisms (multi-touch display, limited visible real estate, accelerometer, gyroscope, location-aware GPS/WiFi, Bluetooth, camera, and cellular connection) and alternate environments (indoors/outdoors, small physical screen, one-handed interaction, noisy surroundings, varied lighting, etc.).

Because of this shift in development, Apps developed for the iPhone (in my argument) are more in line with Apps that would be useful for the Apple TV (and not desktop Apps). The Apple TV currently ships with an Apple remote control that took some cues from the iPod: it has a 4-direction clickwheel and two buttons (Play and Menu). This limited set of possible interactions generally works well for the TV, but would work terribly for desktop Apps (where users are used to multiple inputs: 104-plus keys on a keyboard and a dual-click, scroll-wheel mouse). Anyone, in fact, who’s had to enter their 32-character WiFi password on the Apple TV unit using the directional clicker and Play button knows such interaction is painful; what is easy on the computer desktop is very difficult six feet away from the screen with limited input controls.

Apple clearly knows this.

To date, Apple’s software updates have added very few Apps to the Apple TV. Those they do provide are primarily restricted to “browsing” functions (i.e. tasks that involve simple directional scrolling and a couple clicks). Aside from browsing/playing video content, you can browse/play music, photos, and podcasts. In the few cases where the user needs to do more than browse or play, “keyboard entry” is limited to activities such as entering search terms for podcasts or supplying a username and password. Why? Because moving across a virtual, on-screen keyboard one click at a time with the Apple remote is time-consuming, painful, and so not “Apple-like.”

However, Apple has begun to tie the iPhone and Apple TV together already to simplify such a complex interaction. By releasing the “Remote” Application on the iTunes App Store at launch, Apple now provides Apple TV users an alternate means of accessing a virtual keyboard: rather than click with the Apple Remote, users can instead access the iPhone’s virtual keyboard (far from perfect, but light years better than the Apple TV’s beast). Aside from just keyboard entry, the “Remote” App also provides alternate menu access to controlling the selection and playback of video and audio content on the TV.

With one tiny App, Apple unveiled a powerful connection between the two non-Mac devices. Suddenly, users have two devices that stand tall on their own, but, by joining together, add up to be greater than their sum. The result? Giant, hi-def HDTVs as the display; Web-connected computer capable of handling concurrent App tasks and video signal decoding; a remote that has a multi-touch display, accelerometer, gyroscope, camera, and cellular connection; and (maybe most importantly) a compact format that fits well in a home living room entertainment center.

Because of this possibility, I would predict Apple begins to do 2 things:

1. allow developers to create rich, Internet-connected, iPhone-controllable Apps for the Apple TV using an extension of the iPhone SDK, and
2. distribute Apps to the Apple TV using the iPhone App Store (potentially with a filter for TV-only Apps).

So, aside from creating a cool home entertainment hydra, why would Apple enable the iPhone SDK for development of Apple TV Applications? I would posit several reasons:

• Name:
  I’ll lead with my weakest argument: the iTunes App Store is called the iTunes App Store, not the iPhone App Store. This would seem to suggest Apple is keeping the door open to distribute Apps to platforms beyond the iPhone and iPod Touch.
• Greed:
  $30 million was earned in the first month of the App Store’s release, with $70 million more the following month. Six million total Apple TV units are predicted to be in homes by end of 2008 compared to the 12 million iPhones in the market now. This would suggest a theoretical $25 million/month for the yet-to-be-supported Apple TV unit. Do I think that’s unrealistic? Sure. But even 1/10th of that figure would suggest an attractive revenue stream.
• Development Environment:
  Both Mac and iPhone development use Apple’s Xcode. And while the iPhone uses it’s own OS, the Apple TV uses a customized OS X. Apple TV App development could leverage UI controls and the simplified focus of the iPhone while having access to OS X’s amazing developer palette.
• Patent Mining:
  Apple filed a patent two years ago suggesting some big changes to the product: the Apple TV as a lightweight widget/application platform. The thinking therein appears to suggest that app-like widgets could enhance a user’s viewing experience (whether by facilitating live chat with other viewers, providing contextual information against the current feature ala VH1′s Popup Video, etc.), and describes a number of possible widgets: Weather, Stocks, World Clock, Sports, and Video Chat.

Because of these points, I believe there’s a strong chance Apple will further connect the iPhone and Apple TV. Or, Apple could replace the Apple TV entirely, and come out with a killer Mac Mini/Apple TV-hybrid unit. One generally never knows what Steve Jobs has up his sleeve until his Tuesday announcements…

(Side note: this isn’t a new idea… several more-informed folks have suggested similar ideas in the past. AppleInsider proposed the Apple TV as a “casual gaming” device, and The Unofficial Apple Weblog has been clamoring for Apple TV Apps for some time. Update: The Inquisitr just proposed a similar call for an Apple TV App Store.)

Inquisitor
Download Inquisitor | Previous recommendation that must be recommended again
Aside from far-faster page-loading performance, Inquisitor makes Safari the one-and-only browser choice on the Mac. (Don’t get me wrong: Firefox is fast, open source, and worth having on your machine. Safari’s just much, much faster, and better integrated into the Mac.) The plug-in, now financed by Yahoo!, modifies Safari’s top-right search box in the following ways:

• Change the default Search provider
• Adds auto-complete
• Adds search term suggestions
• Shows the first 3-5 results for your search in a bubble with a preview
• Allows you to add customizable links to alternate search engines (mine target my Delicious.com links, Amazon, Google Images, Flickr, Wikipedia, and Yahoo!’s intranet)

To top it off, it is super fast. It’s free, and very easy to install. Do not wait.

If you use a Mac, this should be the very first piece of software you install.

Quicksilver
Download Quicksilver | New to this list
I fought this for a long time, and I now regret doing so. Quicksilver is so many things, but at its basic core it provides a time-saving application and document launcher… via keystrokes. While the mouse and other inputs (like trackpads, Wacom tablets, etc.) provide precise pixel-level control over the cursor, the keyboard is undisputedly one of the fastest data entry devices for all things text. I mention this, only as I had previously argued it was faster for me to leave whatever I was doing, move the cursor down to the Dock, and click on an App I wanted to open. Unfortunately, I was wrong on two accounts:

1. Moving my mouse down to the OS X Dock, finding the App, clicking it, and then moving back up to the newly-launched App’s location takes a fair bit of time and thought.
2. Many times, the App I want isn’t in the Dock, so I either need to pollute my Dock with all App possibilities I may at some point want or invariably have to switch to the Finder, find the App by clicking through folders structures, double-click it, etc.

With Quicksilver, I simply hit Ctrl-Space, begin typing the App’s name I want, and hit Return as soon as I see it enter focus in the middle of my screen. My cursor stayed put, my fingers did what they were already doing, my Dock is now sparse and very easy to scan, and I can limitlessly access all Apps with roughly five keystrokes (3 of those being Control, Space, and Return).

Further, after seeing Mozilla Labs release Ubiquity for Firefox, I’m further convinced that these keystroke command lines are best suited for language-driven actions than cursor/touch interactions… and will hopefully become more commonplace.

1Password
Download 1Password | Replaces Pastor
1Password is a life-saver. While OS X has a built-in Keychain application which remembers OS-level passwords, 1Password reaches deep into all Web browser Apps (such as Safari, Firefox, Opera, WebKit, Fluid, etc.) to extend password (and contact info form) remembrance. What does that mean? Instead of collecting all your passwords on a piece of paper or an online notepad, 1Password automatically collects all the forms you fill out online and makes them one-click away from being resubmitted later on. These passwords then can be synced between multiple Macs (via their free my.1Password.com service) and iPhones (via their free 1Password iPhone App).

As added features, it can generate very secure passwords for you, remember multiple accounts (if you share the same computer with several people who use Yahoo! or Gmail), and can store and access non-Web site passwords (such as software serial numbers, frequent flier accounts, or frequent shopper perks).

Now, all you need to remember is the one password you use for 1Password.

Fluid
Download Fluid | New to this list
Fluid doesn’t make sense to most people I discuss it with, unfortunately, but it is among my favorite Apps. Fluid lets you take any Web page and turn it into its own App. “Why,” most of my friends ask, “would you want to do this?” Safari, Firefox, and other Web browsers all seem to get sluggish and/or crash right when you need to check email or perform a quick task. When that happens, everything you have open inside of them is frozen. This isn’t a big deal if you’re checking the New York Times or another news site. It is, however, a big deal when you use some Web pages like Apps themselves (think: Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, Mint, WordPress, etc.).

Fluid, in essence, turns your favorite sites into standalone Apps. This gibes you some of the many benefits Apps have over Web pages in OS X (such as new message count for email or new items for RSS feeds). Each App created by Fluid runs in a protected instance of Safari, meaning that if Safari slows down, your App doesn’t (and vice versa). Lastly, you also get Growl notifications, Greasemonkey extensions, and much more.

WordService
Download | New to this list
I still am surprised that Apple supplies a built-in Dictionary and Thesaurus, but not these tools. And, further, that someone provides all of these free-of-charge. And, further, that no one seems to know about these.

DEVONtechnologies has made an OS X plugin (called a “Service”) that allows you to do the following to text you have selected in most Apps:

1. Convert to Initial caps of sentences
2. Convert to Initial caps of words
3. Convert to uppercase (all caps)
4. Convert to lowercase
5. Convert between straight quotes and smart quotes
6. Get statistics (letter, word, and line count)
7. Convert between Mac, Windows, and Unix line endings
8. Sort lines ascending/descending
9. Shift left or right
10. and plenty more…

Needless to say, if you ever deal with text (whether in email, Word docs, or browser form fields, this Service will be worth an installation. You can always access it then, too, by selecting text, opening your App’s menu (i.e. “Safari” menu in the Safari App), navigating to the Services item, and then opening Convert, Format, or Insert.

Adium
Download Adium | Replaces Proteus
Previously, I recommended Proteus for multi-service instant messaging; I’ve long since converted to Adium. First, Proteus is no longer under development. Second, Adium has been squashing bugs and adding features at an amazing clip. You can not only chat across the major services (AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, ICQ, GoogleTalk, etc.), but you can now chat with Facebook friends, too. It taps into OS X’s built-in Address Book for contacts, and is very customizable.

AppFresh
Download AppFresh | New to this list
Far from the last App to download is AppFresh. This software should be built into Apple’s Software Update mechanism, but until it is, there’s AppFresh. It scans your Mac, lists all the software you have, lets you know which are out-of-date, and (best yet) lets you update those you select without leaving this App. Keeping up-to-date was never so easy.

Other Recommendations
The following Apps have been useful to me, although they are far from the standard, daily-use fare of the aforementioned Apps:

• FFXporter
  Free, lightweight plugin for iPhoto which lets you upload your selected photos to Flickr. (This has been a long time coming.)
• Secrets
  Exposes numerous OS X software “hidden” preferences for quick manipulation. Many similar Apps charge $20 for this; Secrets is free, and allows users to quickly add other prefs to the system as they’re discovered.
• Punakea
  Tiny, lightweight App which lets you quickly tag files (ala Flickr and del.icio.us) in the Finder.
• RapidoWrite
  Create shorthand for text snippets, ala TextExpander… but $30 less (i.e. free).

Whenever I need to do a backup, I find myself repeating a pattern. I select a series of files and folders, and then check their total file size via the Finder’s Inspector palette (Cmd-Option-I) to see how close that is to the CD/DVD disc’s available space. Once I get just the right amount (i.e. 760MB, 4.3GB, or 8.1GB), I then want to isolate these files so as to remember which groups of files will make up their own disc.

The problem with this approach, is that the best way to do this (that I’d found to date) was to create a new folder, and move those files inside that folder. Unfortunately, I don’t always have a pile of empty folders waiting right along side these files ready to hold them. If I then create a new folder, it often loses the selection of the files I had (as the OS now focuses attention on the new folder, rather than the previous selection). As such, I then have to go through the same task I did before creating the folder (manually selecting and sizing different groups of files).

There has to be a better way. I tried a number of different 3rd-party add-ons and applications, but nothing quite did the trick. And, in the absence of all hope, I finally tried Apple’s Automator, which reminded me a bit of Yahoo!’s Pipes.

I first checked to see whether anyone else had solved this issue via Apple’s Automator Downloads and a 3rd-party Automator downloads site, but no go.

I then did what any grown man or woman would do… search for it on the Web. Still no luck.

Finally, I broke down, and tried to pipe a solution together in Automator.

It took hours. And several separate attempts.

Maybe you need a CS degree to figure out Automator? I’m not sure. But wiring together such a taskflow proved nearly impossible… at least, wiring together a graceful experience of such a taskflow proved impossible. Certain components in Automator allow variables, but I can’t define the output of one step as a variable that can then be used in another step. Unfortunate.

Eventually, and largely due to a mistake, I was able to get a solution in place by forcing a series of dialog boxes. It’s far from graceful, but now I can right/Control-click on items I’ve already selected, and then navigate a quick contextual menu tree (More » Automator » Move Selected Items to Folder). After several seconds, a pop-up dialog box then asks whether to save it to the Desktop. Instead, choose “Other…” from the “To:” drop-down menu, and then create a new folder wherever you desire in the resulting Open dialog box. Then press the Open button, followed by the Continue button, and voila: your selected files/folders move to their new folder.

You can download this ‘Move Selected Items to Folder’ Automator workflow, unzip the file, and install it on your Mac at “~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Finder/“. If those folders don’t exist, I imagine you probably just need to create that folder structure to be in business.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy Automator exists. Obviously, without it, I’d still be stuck with my broken taskflow. Nonetheless, Automator could stand to leverage some of Pipes’ learnings (such as variable creation and concurrent task operations). (And, not to be partisan, Pipes, of course, could leverage some Automator’s beauty and Recording functionality… maybe via a Greasemonkey script?)

If you’ve had similar taskflow problems, download the workflow, and let me know your thoughts. Also, if you know of a more graceful solution (or can code a more seamless Finder experience), please let me know… I imagine I’m not the only one who’s faced this issue before.

This effort was soon copied by MacUpdate, who offered a MacUpdate Promo bundle which also provided some great apps. MacHeist, not to be outdone, hacked that promotion, and offered users the ability to get additional free apps by buying the MacUpdate Promo bundle through its hack.

Well, it’s back again.

The new MacHeist II effort offers 11 Mac apps for $49. That includes the following applications:

• 1password, $29.95
  All your confidential information, including passwords, identities, and credit cards, is kept in one secure place provided by Apple’s OS X Keychain. Sounds useful. Verdict: Keep.
• AppZapper, $12.95
  I’ve been looking to get this one for some time. Adding and removing apps on the Mac is pretty simple, but it can be difficult to know where all an app tucked away its associated files. AppZapper makes it a simple issue. Verdict: Keep.
• Awaken, $12.95
  Awaken allows you to set any song in your iTunes library (or a playlist) as the buzzer on multiple alarms. Sorry, but my Mac isn’t by my bedside. Verdict: Pass.
• Cha-Ching, $40.00
  Checkbook balancing, budgets, bills and expenses handled “iTunes-style.” Me? I need automatic synchronization with my online accounts… I like software to do the work, not me. Verdict: Pass.
• CoverSutra, $22.00
  A CD jewelcase interface for iTunes with cover art on your desktop with Last.fm integration, fully customizable keyboard shortcuts, and instant player controls. Honestly? CoverSutra needs iTunes open to play music… I think I’ll stick with one app rather than two to do such a simple task. iTunes is way too bloated as is; last thing I need taking more memory is another music player. Verdict: Pass.
• CSSEdit, $29.95
  This is considered the top-tier CSS editor on the Mac. Happy to now have a full license, as I do a considerable amount of CSS-based design work. Verdict: Keep.
• iStopMotion, $49.00
  Use your Mac’s iSight to streamline the process of capturing and processing stop motion film. Sounds cute, although probably will only use once. Verdict: Will Try.
• Pixelmator, $59.00
  A layer-based image editor that uses the Mac’s built-in iSight, graphics card, and a full-screen editing mode. I beta tested this app early on, and will be interested to see how it matures. Verdict: Keep.
• Snapz Pro X, $69.00
  This one’s huge. It’s been the de facto screenshot and screen capture (i.e. video) app on the Mac for years. Verdict: Keep.
• Speed Download, $25.00
  Downloads from your browser, FTP, iDisk, are handled and sorted by type– movies go into Front Row, music goes directly into iTunes, etc. Sounds interesting… and likely to annoy. Verdict: Will Try.
• TaskPaper, $18.95
  A bare-bones, text-based to-do list to keep you organized. While I like the ability to edit either in the app or any other text editor, I’ve begun to take a liking to Things. Verdict: Will Try.

To top it off, MacHeist II will again donate 25% of its proceeds to one (or all) of the non-profits listed below:

• Action Against Hunger
• AIDS Research Alliance
• Alliance for Climate Protection
• Direct Relief International
• Humane Society International
• The Nature Conservancy
• Save the Children
• Save Darfur
• Prevent Cancer Foundation
• World Wildlife Fund

As I write this, $71,491 has already been raised for these organizations. Not bad.

So, check it out. $49 for CSSEdit, Snapz Pro, Pixelmator and 1Password alone would be a good deal; the rest is gravy. And, you’ll be helping some good folks in the process.

Address Book

Mac OS X’s Address Book is one of the strongest features of the entire operating system, in my opinion. Accessible not only through the Address Book application, it can be queried and manipulated by any other application. This means my contact info for a person can be called (and edited) by my instant messenger app, my email app, my photo management app, and even my library cataloging app.

That’s killer. Sadly, though, the Address Book application hasn’t received much attention since it was released years ago. Occasionally a new feature is added (two, in fact, with the new Leopard release!), but fundamental Address Book issues haven’t been resolved for years. I won’t try to catalog them all, as honestly, that’s a pretty big task. However, there are a couple tweaks that would add significant value.

• Additional Services

  The Web’s changed a bit since 2000. OK, it’s changed a lot. Kids these days aren’t emailing; they’re sending messages via Facebook. They’re posting video on YouTube. They’re calling on Skype. And they’re uploading photos on Flickr.

  But how do I represent any of them in Address Book, as I’ve got a lot of friends who use these services? I could add direct links to their profile pages as Web URLs, but that wouldn’t make it easy for other applications to make sense of that data in a meaningful way (the way they can with phone numbers, email addresses, instant messaging handles, etc.).

  In my mind, the best way to accommodate this issue would be extending what I call the “Services” list, which currently lists IM services: AIM, Jabber, MSN, ICQ, and Yahoo. (I can tell you, as well, how many times I’ve updated anyone’s Jabber, MSN, and ICQ fields… hint: it’s less than 10!)

  

  Address Book’s Services menu exposed

  Why can’t I add Skype, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LiveJournal, etc. to the list? Why no “Custom” field for this list of services, the way there is with nearly all the other fields in an Address Book card? It’s a bit ironic, too, considering that the Web’s list of services grow at a far, far faster pace than, say, humanity’s definition of places like “work” and “home” or the 8 categories for a phone number.

• List My Groups

  What’s more embarrassing than trying to introduce your friend to someone whose name you don’t quite remember? Address Book seems to deal with this issue on a daily basis. Contacts can be added to multiple groups, a very useful feature. Problem is, once you’ve added a contact to several groups, how can you find out to which groups he/she has been added? Turns out, there’s an answer: while a contact card is selected, hold down the Option key. Once depressed, the associated group(s) on the left will highlight. Pretty cool.

  Only thing is, how did you know that? I sure didn’t. Took an accident of me wondering, “Why is one of the Groups highlighting when I accidentally pressed the Option key?” Neat discovery once I figured it out, but sadly, I’ve been trying to find how to determine what groups a contact belongs to for more than 2 years.

  This may sound crazy, but why not list the names of the associated Groups on the contact’s card? No one has to kill the fun Option key highlighting; but there could be a more intuitive way to lead to such a discovery.

• Big Boy Search

  This one’s simple. Know all those little modifiers you prepend to searches in Yahoo! and Google to get granular, advanced search results? Apple does; they use such operators for their OS-wide Spotlight search.

  Unfortunately, that power doesn’t translate to Address Book. Searching for “state:OH” doesn’t return folks who live in Ohio. Rather (and rather bizarrely), it returns anyone who had “United States” listed for their address’ country field and an “oh” in their name. I would propose, instead, that Address Book handle operator searches in the same fashion as OS X and major search engines. I know its not a regular feature most folks need, but it would give your power users and 3rd-party developers some great slices on the rich data contained inside.

• Fix Edit Mode

  Pierre Igot has actually done a fantastic job detailing issues with Address Book’s Edit mode problems, so I won’t try to compete with his thorough assessment. I’ll just say “+1″ and leave it at that. (Sad side note: his comments are 2+ years old.)

• Connections

  Address Book has a great feature: Related Names. I can enter in the name of a friend’s spouse or kid, as well as professional colleagues. Trouble is, though, these names are disconnected from… (drumroll) Address Book contacts! In other words, if under “Alex Meyer” I entered “Micah Laaker” in the “Friend” field, “Micah Laaker” wouldn’t in any way be connected with the “Micah Laaker” contact card in Address Book.

  Reduce the barriers between information. The Web has got me and millions of others used to hyperlinking to see more about an object… why not people in Address Book?

  Better yet, if the person on the contact card (let’s say my dad) has another person listed as “spouse” (i.e. my mom), and that spouse is listed in my Address Book, too, why not ask if I’d like to update her address after I update his? It would keep my Address Book data in much better shape, and show that Apple’s incorporating some of the best of Web functionality and smarts into its apps.

• Date autocomplete

  Address Book’s dates field used to be smart. No matter what input I gave it, it could turn it into a data. “11 Jun 75″ became “June 11, 1975.” “10/11/2007″ became “October 11, 2007.” This makes things easy. No matter what format folks typed their birthdate, anniversary data, whatever,

  And then Leopard came along.

  Somehow, someone at Apple decided it would be better if we all manually entered data

  The real kicker? Try entering a date the way you might say it (after being trained by so many Web forms): 6/11/75.

  

  Address Book’s “improved” date input field

  The result? You won’t guess this: “6/11/0075.”

  Wow.

  That is easily one of the last things I expected, considering the day before I upgraded to Leopard, it did the right thing. (Hint: 6/11/1975.)

  Honestly, I’ve never been this disappointed in software. (There’s lots of frustrating software out there, but few that went from “Ahh, that was really helpful!” to “Are you $%*# kidding me?!” And very few Apple software releases that made me angry.) I don’t think I even need to spell out a recommended course of action for this overall (and specific) issue. Please just fix this. Fast.

Apple took an embarrassing step backwards with the Leopard release of Address Book. No one sued Apple for infringing on some “make software smart” patents (at least that I’m aware of), so there was no need to cripple the product this late in the game. It should fix the date auto-complete issue immediately, and then get on to some other much-needed improvements. Why let Address Book sit with so little attention, when it is a backbone service for the entire operating system (and numerous 3rd-party applications)?

And, remember: I only ask for this because I care. Address Book, and all the other apps/issues I mentioned, are products and services I use daily and evangelize to others. I just want to love them a little bit more… or, at the very least, be made so that it was easy for other developers to extend them to do just that.

(Ed. note: This was the last of a several part series. See previous posts re: .Mac, Customer Lifecycle, Apple.com User Profiles, and iPhone/iPod/iTunes.)

iPhone/iPod

Apple must be inundated with idea after idea on how to improve or really make the iPhone a better product. But, I won’t lie; the iPhone is an awesome device. I had a series of disappointing Verizon phones (preceeded by an equally disappointing SprintPCS phone) over 3 years. No matter what glitches I’ve experienced with the iPhone (and there have been a couple doozies), I actually feel empowered with my phone now… rather than crippled or limited. Anywhere I go, I have access (even if occasionally slow via the EDGE network) to my email, maps for directions, and my full address book. Not to mention some great games and my Google Reader newsfeeds.

That said, there’s room for improvement. Particularly around syncing, which I mentioned earlier as a .Mac feature. I can understand .Mac-like sync not being a feature available to every user, as someone has to pay for server storage of all that information. The following suggestions, though, would apply for any iPhone and/or iPod user straight out of the box.

• Shortcut creation (iPhone)

  I can’t say I’m a giant fan of the touchscreen’s keyboard on the iPhone. While some know me for my sissy-soft hands, my iPhone knows me for a different digited issue: fat fingers. And fat fingers make it hard to type (particularly quickly) on a small keyboard. To make matters worse, Apple’s auto-correction software somehow manages to bungle both my regular English words and my old SMS shorthand. “MTG” (“meeting”) becomes “MTV,” “WFH” (“working from home”) becomes “WTH,” etc.

  Worse, the software doesn’t learn. No matter how many times I type “MTG,” it keeps on thinking I mean MTV. The “S” in SMS stands for “Short.” Why can’t I send short, shorthand MSGs (not MAGS) to others? I can appreciate Apple’s efforts to make the world a more formal, English-literate place. Most of us, though, aren’t sending TXTs to the CEO. Let us use our efficient little lingua franca, please. And, show us a little love by learning it over time… make that auto-correction start suggesting the words I use. Particularly, my email address. (And, please, please stop auto-capitalizing my email address as soon as I add the “@” symbol.)

  As it stands, I somewhat dread SMSing on the iPhone, as I know I’ll have to think just to send my note. That sounds like a Windows experience to me; I prefer the Mac-way of doing things, thank you.

• CoverFlow browsing (iPod… and should be an iPhone issue, too!)

  iTunes 7.x and Mac OS X Leopard recently incorporated CoverFlow into their browsing experience, which provides a visual, flip-book-like approach to perusing music and data libraries. It rocks. I was sold the minute I first played with it. (After all, who doesn’t remember their LP/CD covers when thinking about their favorite albums?) It is so, so, so much more engaging than scrolling through a 12-point text list.

  

  iTunes display for music on Mac (left) and iPod (right).

  Sadly, though, when I browse the music on my iPod in iTunes, I’m presented with an old-school 12-point text list of all my tracks. What happened? I was just flipping through this beautiful presentation of the limited selection of music on my Mac, and when I switch to the pimped-out, 80GB iPod, I get the limited, pre-iTunes 7.x experience. Any reason I can’t have the big boys’ experience while viewing my iPod’s content, too?

• Don’t cripple iPod functionality on the iPhone (iPhone)

  Manual music management on my iPods rock. The reason I use an iPod in the first place (these days, at least) is that I don’t have to keep my entire music library on my limited-space laptop drive. By manually copying and managing tracks to my iPod, I can keep them there, and keep my hard drive free for data and work.

  Unfortunately, the iPhone allows no such similar functionality. The only way to get music on the device is to sync playlists from my Mac to my iPhone. Delete the track off my Mac? Next sync, its getting wiped off my iPhone.

  To make annoying matters worse, the iPhone also doesn’t let me play my music stored on it when plugged into my Mac. Why? This totally baffles me. The iPhone says “iPod” right on the package, as well as on its Home screen button. It shows up in iTunes like an iPod.

  So why can’t I stash and play my music? This has effectively killed the “iPod” component of the iPhone for me… the only time I use my iPods for music is when I plug them into my many different Macs.

• Do not disconnect! (iPod)

  Really?! From the company that brought hot-swapping drives mainstream? To this day, I need to manually “eject” my iPod from my Mac, waiting tens of seconds (usually 6 tens, to be precise) for my iPod to tidy up and close shop. Usually, the reason I need to remove the iPod is that I’m dashing off to a meeting, and don’t want to lug the iPod, its cable, and its charger along.

  Call me naive, but I believe that Apple can provide a simple, elegant, and little-chance-of-harm means of disconnecting iPods by simply unplugging the device. What can I say? I dare to dream.

Like I said, the iPhone (and the iPod) rocks. Apple could totally ignore these issues, and I’ll keep using them just the same. Only thing, though, is that a little piece of me will die each time I do, knowing they could have done just a little bit better.

(Ed. note: This is one of a several part series, already including .Mac, Customer Lifecycle and Apple.com User Profiles coverage. Stay tuned tomorrow for my final post re: Address Book.)

Apple.com User Profiles

Before anyone goes and says there are currently user profiles on Apple.com, I’d ask you to find them within 5 clicks, or at any point in any of your online Apple.com experiences. One does exist… if you dive deep into the message board system. (Here’s my hidden Apple.com profile, for example.)

Why do I care? Last I checked, Apple fans are rabid; they love to argue about how superior OS X is to Vista, and how Mac users are smarter than Windows users. Apple runs commercials, in fact, about how much hipper, smarter, and creative Mac users are. Why not give them a means to show off their smarts and Apple’s wares? “Show and prove,” as we kids here say on the streets.

Particularly, I’m thinking of an Apple.com profile page… not a .Mac profile page. (We want more evangelistas, not less.) Tied to any Apple ID, the profile would let users add a tad more info than their name and homepage. I’d even recommend, at the very least, the following:

• My own avatar
  Some folks like to be known by their face, some a Spider-man logo, some an old ‘missing startup drive’ icon, rather than just a fixed palette of Apple-approved and Apple-supplied Mac icons. If you don’t want to be in the business of storing icons/photos/avatars, might I recommend Gravatars?

  

  This is the avatar I use on virtually every site except Apple’s.

• Visual representation of my current setup
  Macs are sexy computers. I’ve never been less excited about a Mac than looking at the current “Computer Model” info laid out in 11-point text on the current profile. At the least, provide the thumbnail images for the spectrum of machines and software I could have. (Hate to tell you, but I’ve still got an old Mac SE that I’d like to show off.) At best, let me upload/link to my photos of my setup.
• My Apps
  New Macs are great out of the box, particularly when including iLife. (You know what would make them better? A new version of HyperCard.) However, it seems unlikely that all us Mac users don’t add other software to the machine. And this software setup is invaluable to other users, particularly if the profile is of that of a well-known content creator (whether an artist, movie director, Simpsons writer, etc.). If a user could flag the software they use, a simple list could spur sales in the Apple Store and/or downloads in the Downloads section. Again, if you don’t mind me further suggesting, check out I Use This to see folks dedicated to helping people find what software other folks are using.
• Support Activity
  You currently have it… thanks! Might be nice to visually separate Questions from Posts, although this is already a somewhat confusing distinction.
• Community Ranking
  Mac users love to show off how much they know about their Macs. Currently, highly active users on Apple’s support site are shown with a “Status level” listed in text with tiny blue boxes. What’s the highest level? Is Level 5 good or bad? (I didn’t see a key/legend.) And might there be a clearer, more visually attractive means of representing achievement?
• Non-database presentation
  The current profile page looks like a dump… a database dump. Do users really need an “Avatar” and “Name” labels in front of rather obvious content? Consider treating user profiles with a similar design caliber as software profiles. Yes, all the data may sit in a database, but as a user, I don’t need to be reminded of that fact. There are countless other profiles available for reference to see what’s working everywhere else on the Web.
• Inherent affiliate linking
  I currently make a bit of money from iTunes affiliate links, and I’m pretty sure that 95-plus percent of iTunes users do not. For those who do (and rabidly work to promote our sites/pages as we’ll earn money), why not allow the ability to insert my affiliate code once (during profile setup) to apply across my entire profile? Again, it’s a small but vocal and viral audience; help those that will then want to help you.
• iTunes integration
  The iPod has transfixed the world’s population. You own the digital music space. Why not make it a bit more social a space? First, integrate Apple.com profiles within iTunes. Currently, contributing users (providing ratings, reviews, and iMixes) are treated tangentially by iTunes. Instead, display these new rich user profiles, which can then in turn feature:
  1. Recent Listening

     Last.fm and iLike have made their businesses on the back of iTunes’ Recently Played data feed. Seems pretty simple for y’all to easily include it here… with links to sample/buy the appropriate in tracks in iTunes.

     While you’re at it, can you open up the Apple TV to allow a similar feed for Recently Watched? I’ve wanted this from my TiVo for years. I like knowing how I spend/waste my time, and how my memory of what my favorite shows are match against what I really spend my time watching.

  2. Widget integration
     Your current My iTunes widgets offer a taste of a user’s iTunes activity beyond listening. Why not get more of your widgets auto-installed by including them on profile pages as soon as a user enables the functionality (with due notification, of course)?
  3. Lists
     iTunes’ iMixes functionality appears to still be popular… no surprise. People love to compile Top 10 lists, and particularly for music. By including the iMixes a user creates, a viewer has a better sense of each user’s personality.
• My First Mac
  I would be surprised if any Apple user can’t remember their first experience with their own Mac. Again, we’re a vocal bunch, and we like to share their experiences and knowledge. Why not facilitate a means for users to enter their first experience? Could make for some interesting case studies (should you ever be running short), and it also would allow long-time users to show off their history in the Mac/Apple field.

Don’t get me wrong. I know that few folks run around spelunking for user profiles to read. But when they do encounter them (as they’re spawned in different places around your site and products… and could be in many more places), Apple has an opportunity to show the diversity and excitement their products embody. A resource like that can reduce customer support costs (as I can now find a real person with a similar setup as my own), aid in content discovery (find out what your friends are listening to and/or what software they’re using), and drive sales (if I can get paid to promote Apple products, I will be driving folks to “my” Apple Store).

(Ed. note: This is one of a several part series, already including .Mac and Customer Lifecycle coverage. Stay tuned tomorrow for iPhone/iPod/iTunes and January 2nd for Address Book.)

Or maybe just me.

Customer Lifecycle

I mentioned earlier that 3 folks in my family purchased a MacBook this year. In each case, Apple got some demographic information and an Apple ID set up. The great interest in detail shown in the registration and setup process, though, seems to have fallen by the wayside once anyone moves beyond the setup screens.

To improve this, I’d recommend (at the very least) a lightweight recommendations engine.

When I/they/any customer returns to the Apple online store, I am not recognized and greeted by name. My past purchase (likely the machine I’m using right now) or the machine I’ve listed in my profile isn’t shown with recommendations for what I might like to buy next. And when I go to look at Notebook Cases for that new MacBook laptop, the 110 results aren’t already filtered (though they can be if I look around the page a bit) to show me cases for just this laptop. Software targeted to the demographic info I supplied (and Mac I purchased) isn’t recommended or featured, either in the store or Downloads section. On the flip side, software that wouldn’t perform well on my machine isn’t flagged as such (with a potential upsell for more RAM or a new machine). Worse, though, when I come to the Support site to troubleshoot an issue I’m having with my machine/software package, I’m back to square one; I have to tell Apple (again) what machine and software setup I have. At the point when I’m least happy with Apple (due to whatever issue is plaguing me at the time), Apple pretends as if this was our first encounter.

In a way, it makes me picture Steve Jobs cocking his head to the side and saying, “I’m sorry… I don’t think we’ve met before. Have you heard about the exciting world of Mac?”

In a different and more accurate way, though, it makes me feel like Apple wanted all my information not to help me out, but rather for marketing (and/or maybe nefarious?) purposes. I’m under no illusions; I’m sure that’s exactly why its being collected. I’ve usually been OK with that with other companies, in fact. But Apple keeps inundating me with ads about the joys and ease of the Mac experience. About how they’re different from Microsoft and the Windows world. So much so that I start to expect it. I now expect them to Think Different. And then they go and forget my name (figuratively and, in some cases, literally)… even when I’m signed in.

In essence, Apple appears to rock at acquiring customers, but, to-date, has yet to capitalize on the rest of the lifecycle. And, they could do this with simple acts of remembrance… something computers are exceptionally good at doing. I willingly gave you my data. Now please, please use it.

For me.

(Ed. note: This is one of a several part series, already including .Mac coverage. Stay tuned for posts re: Address Book, Apple.com User Profiles, and iPhone/iPod/iTunes.)

a computer’s software should break down the obstacles and bureaucracy that prevent efficiency in the real world and disguise how onerous the task may actually be.

As such, I end 2007 with my hopes for Apple in 2008; I write this not only as a fan, but also as a shareholder. (Steve, now that you’re an avid reader, here’s to hoping we see even some of this next year.)

.Mac

Many of my friends remember me hyping up the .Mac service for the past several years. The promise has always been great. Among other things, sync your files seamlessly (nee, Mac-like) between multiple Macs to have the same Address Book, Safari Bookmarks, Mail settings, application preferences, etc., everywhere you go… and always available “in the cloud” (up on the .Mac site). And indeed, it’s worked relatively well that way for years.

Unfortunately, the Web has grown at a clip that has far outpaced Apple in terms of updating the service. Matter of fact, Leopard and other Apple products are releasing base features that cannibalize the service’s utility: see the awesome Yahoo! Address Book sync between your iPhone, your OS X Address Book, and Yahoo! Mail/Messenger for but one example. .Mac users are getting upset, and it seems like high time to make some significant upgrades to the service.

I see a couple areas I’d particularly recommend for growth in the .Mac area:

• iPhone Sync
  Why did I invest .Mac’s promise of keeping my data “in the cloud” if their first truly portable, always-connected device can’t take advantage of the features? To get my iPhone in sync with very light data (Address Book updates, such as 10-digit phone numbers and 10k avatar images, and iCal events, such as 100-character meeting invites), I must plug my iPhone into my Mac and sync the two. I’ve never been in the habit of tethering my phone to my laptop or desktop, and have thus come to not rely on the iPhone for its Calendar and Address Book applications (both of which have data, believe it or not, which are updated multiple times each day). It would rock to have the iPhone syncing this data on-the-go, just as it does with my IMAP Mail account. (And, no, I shouldn’t have to shell out $400 for an updated iPhone just for this capability when the 3G version of the phone supports this feature.)
• Backup of iTunes purchases
  Apple clearly wants me to back up my iTunes purchases. I am solicited every so often in iTunes to use its internal backup feature (or the .Mac-supplied Backup application) to keep additional copies of my purchases. Why not automatically stockpile these tracks/videos/whatever in a Purchases folder on my iDisk? Storage is cheap; ask Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, and all the other players offering ridiculously large amounts of storage for free to their users. You have them one-upped in a different area… your users already paid for the privilege of this particular content. Why not archive it for them automatically (and preferably not count this storage against their meager 10GB limit)?

  If not for altruistic, value-added, help-the-user reasons, then consider it for reducing customer support costs.

• Storage
  I began to cover this already, but it needs clarification. Everyone gripes about this. So maybe there’s a ring of truth to the fact that its a tad bit shameful to so excitedly hype 10GB of storage, when that’s freely offered from so many other services. Man up; we’re paying $100/year… try not to make us feel like chumps.

  20GB sound reasonable? I’d, of course, prefer 50GB, but I don’t want to sound greedy.

• Instant Gratification
  Apple has product marketing down like a science. Walk into an Apple store, and you want to touch and grab all the products displayed around you. The tiny software boxes beckon, and suggest the beauty of the objects inside. Interestingly, though, .Mac software boxes contain not much more than a generic manual and a unique product code. (AppleCare boxes share a similar issue; their boxes contain one additional item: a TechTool Deluxe DVD that can also be downloaded for easy burning later.)

  This isn’t too big a deal (although it seems strange that there isn’t a disc in the box, even if its just filled with demo versions of 3rd-party software) for the physical store… people came in to pick up a ‘thing.’ What’s odd, though, is that the online store sells the same physical product. This means if a user buys the product tonight from the online store, they will need to pay for shipping, wait several days, and then get a couple sheets of paper when it arrives. Aside from the environmental impact of packaging and delivery, it strikes me as odd that Apple (who pioneered digital downloads with iTunes) has to send a box.

  But wait… if a user simply clicks ‘Join Now’ on the .Mac homepage, they can get started using the service this minute. So it isn’t a requirement that a box be shipped; you just might think so, as the digital, far more convenient download option isn’t presented.

  I have two recommendations:

  1. At the online Apple Store, only sell the digital delivery of .Mac (or at least make the packaged version something the user has to take an additional step to select)
  2. At physical Apple Store locations, deliver the .Mac activation code as a print-out on a user’s receipt… kind of like the way gas stations do for carwashes

  Both solutions reduce the waste, and get the user directly to the goods. And aside that, there’s a little less disappointment this way than in opening a box (that holds discs and packaging for other Apple products, like iWork and iLife) to find a lonely sheet of paper.

.Mac still has considerable value to me for the data synchronization alone, but it would be great to see some of these issues resolved soon. Open-source alternatives to .Mac are appearing, and others are suggesting replicating most of .Mac’s offering with free alternatives. Time to stave off the antsy masses.

(Ed. note: This is the first of a several part series. Stay tuned for posts re: Address Book, Customer Lifecycle, Apple.com User Profiles, and iPhone/iPod/iTunes.)

Luckily, Yahoo! Developer Network co-worker JR Conlin stepped up and helped me fill in a couple blanks. As such, I present my revision to the O’Reilly Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) for JavaScript Developers Pocket Guide (by Mike Chambers, Daniel Dura, & Kevin Hoyt)… particularly pages 27 and 28, Setting Up the AIR SDK and Command-LineTools:

There are a number of ways to add the path to the AIR SDK to your system path, depending on which shell you are using, and how you specify user environment variables.

The instructions below show how to modify your path environment variable if you are using the bash shell.

1. Open the Terminal program (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal)
2. Make sure you’re in your home directory by typing

   cd

   and pressing enter.

3. We need to check to see if one of two files are present. Run the following command

   ls -la

4. Look for a file named either.profile or.bashrc.
5. If you have neither the .profile or .bashrc file, then create the .profile file with the following command:
   touch .profile
6. Open the .profile or .bashrc file with a text editor.
7. Look for a line that looks similar to this:

   export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin

8. Add the path to the /bindirectory to the end of this line. For example, if /bin is at /airsdk/bin, the export path should look something like this:

   export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin;/airsdk/bin

   making sure to separate the entries with a colon.

9. If the file is empty, add the following line:

   export PATH=$PATH:/airsdk/bin

10. Save and close the file.

Insert: Quit Terminal (and other applications), and restart your Mac. (If you don’t restart your Mac, your Terminal application won’t recognize the changes.)

11. Run the following command to load the new settings source,

    .profile

    (or

    .bashrc

    , if that is the file you edited).

Revise item #11: Run the following command to load the new settings source,

. .profile

(or

. .bashrc

, if that is the file you edited).

12. You can confirm that the new settings have taken effect by typing

    echo $PATH

    and pressing Enter. Make sure that the

    /bin

    path is included in the output.

13. In order to test the installation, open a Terminal window and type

    adt

    .
    
    You should see output similar this:

    Too few arguments.
    Usage: adt -package air_file app_xml [ file_or_dir | -C dir file_or_dir ... ] ... 

    meaning that the tools are configured correctly.

If you get an error that the file cannot be found, then check the following things:

• Make sure the bin and runtime directories are included in the

  directory.

• Make sure you included the path to

  /bin

  correctly in the PATH environment variable.

• Make sure you either opened a new Terminal window, or ran source on your configuration file.

If this works for you, too (or, if it does not), drop me a line in the Comments section. I will try to keep this updated as I hear from folks. Having recently spoke at the Atlanta stop of the OnAir tour, I can attest that developers are building exciting things with AIR… hopefully this will help a few others join those legions.

In this here “Year of the Golden Pig,” its all about health, wealth, and knowledge of self at Laaker.com, and a smattering of self-help. As such, I am sharing said wealth and knoweldge (and no health) concerning all things Mac-software… and eliminating the need to write multiple emails this year.

Further, if you’re just generally curious as to what software I use, check out my software profile at iusethis. It’s a social repository for software usage of which I’ve become a fan. If you’d rather spend your time online here, though, feel free to peruse my choice picks below:

Utilities

Onyx
Unlock Debug menus for Safari, Disk Utility and other applications; perform system maintenance and optimization tasks; and configure the Finder and other system tools to behave as you wish.

Inquisitor
Totally pimp your Safari search box: add autocomplete, your favorite search engines (MyWeb, Wikipedia, Amazon, etc.), and see similar popular queries.

Stuffit Standard
StuffIt has been the industry standard for file decompression for years. There’s a new competitor out, the open-source The UnArchiver, which I’ve just begun to try… jury’s still out on whether it takes the cake.

Pastor
Simple-purposed application for storing passwords, logins, serial numbers, preferences, etc.

CDFinder
Great app for archiving your data, music, and video discs; it costs $30 after 30 days, but has served me very well over the years.

Delicious Library
One use of this media catalog program will have you gathering up anything with a UPC code on it. If you have a digital web cam, you can use DL to scan bar codes on your CDs, DVDs, books, etc., automatically grab info from Amazon, and catalog all the info on your machine. Perfect for insurance tracking, as well the ability to publish elsewhere if you want. ($40)
For those without Macs or $40 lying around, there’s also Library Thing, which fills a similar role without fulfilling the UI delight… nor the easy-entry barcode scanning.

Burn
Kind of like Toast/EZCDCreator, but free. For most needs, Apple’s built-in CD/DVD burning will suffice; however, Burn is faster, uses less disk space on your computer (as Apple makes a disc image first), and gives you more options (like VCDs and more).

Design

Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
OmniGraffle Professional

Internet

Cyberduck
Free FTP program that can sync your bookmarks with your .Mac account

Plaxo

Proteus
Instant Messenger application that handles AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, GoogleTalk, Jabber, and more, while still using your OS X Address Book.

Smultron
What was hands-down the best (and free) code/text editor available on the Mac is now one of the ugliest. Featuring code snippets (think of it as a quick library of commonly-used text/code), .Mac preferences syncing (for multiple machines), and tabbed environments, Smultron is fast and often-updated. Repair the icons by applying a patch created by the original icon artist on the project.

Cocoalicious
Very useful for quickly managing your del.icio.us bookmarks.

delImport
If you use del.icio.us bookmarks, you need this application, too. Anytime you search in Apple’s Spotlight, your del.icio.us bookmarks will be included, too.

Adobe Reader
PDFs are everywhere, and the latest version of the Reader application is much, much speedier.

Macromedia Flash Player
Macs rarely come with the latest edition, and a large chunk of the Web requires the latest and greatest.

Macromedia Shockwave Player
Macs rarely come with the latest edition anymore. While seldom used anymore, you can save some pain later by downloading now.

Adobe SVG Viewer
This plugin lets you view the XML version of Flash on your Mac.

Firefox
(you know why)

Music

iLike Sidebar

PodWorks
This is what I use to copy music from iPod back to my Mac… it’s $8 well spent.

Video
Perian
This plugin allows DivX and other generally-PC-only formats to play just fine via QuickTime.

Flip4Mac WMV
Windows Media Player support comes to OS X in the guise of this plugin. It will let you play .wmv files directly in the QuickTime player.

VLC video player
This application plays a lot of movies Quicktime, WMP, and Real can’t play.

Niche

Tivo Decode Manager
$100 is too, too much to pay for what is already free; bypass TiVo’s overpriced TiVoToGo software and use this constantly-updated

XBox Browser
Have an old XBox (i.e. not an XBox 360)? Got it modded with XBox Media Center? If so, XB allows you to rip your games and save them on the XBox hard drive so that you won’t have to switch discs for games again.

.Mac

.Mac 1-year subscription
If they ask, tell them “mlaaker@mac.com” sent ya… beyond well worth the $99 a year… lets you sync your files between multiple computers, cell phone, iPod, palm pilot, etc.

Attending “March of the Penguins” (a sordid tale of flightless birds and their miserable lives) at the neighborhood CineArts theater palace this past Saturday with wife and kids in tow, Mr. Jobs spotted Laaker from across the lobby. Laaker, who was at the time purchasing a drink and some popped corns for his (and his wife’s) enjoyment, caught Jobs’ glance from the ticket purchasing line. (Ed. Note – Mr. Jobs was, as to be expected, wearing his trademark black turtleneck, although his standard pair of blue jeans was replaced by a “business casual” pair of shorts. This choice proved wise, considering the theater’s unwise decision to leave off the air conditioning on a summer afternoon.)

Longtime Macintosh user and proselytizer though he was, Laaker was in a rush to catch a prime viewing seat at the movie house’s showing of Murderball (a film notable for being much “harder” than “March of the Penguins”). With a slight “‘sup, dude?!” head guesture, he nodded back at Mr. Jobs and his family before entering to find his seat. As the walls were sound-proofed and he was comfortably seated in the warm cinema den’s trademark Relax-o-back chairs, Mr. Laaker was unsure if he heard Jobs’ furtive pleas for a Yahoo! 360 invite. (Ed. Note – Yahoo! 360 is now open to the public.)