By Jason Snell

February 25, 2015 12:24 PM PT

The Apple Car: Destination unknown

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

Did you hear the one about Apple getting into the car business? Pretty funny, right?

I thought it was a joke. People link Apple to all sorts of crazy things. Bad reporting on Apple is a cottage industry.

But then the reports piled on. The Financial Times. The Wall Street Journal. 9to5’s quite reliable Mark Gurman tweeted “the car is happening” while linking to a Jordan Kahn story about Apple’s many auto-industry hires.

Revealed: Apple’s crack team building an electric car (the car is happening) w/ @jordankahn http://t.co/134tvyNEfz pic.twitter.com/yiALaszTTi

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) February 19, 2015

Could the joke actually be true?

What’s next?

Apple, like Google, has massive resources and a keen awareness that the graveyard of the tech industry is full of companies that were utterly dominant in an area that became irrelevant. IBM used to be the go-to example here, but now it’s probably Microsoft, a company whose dominance in operating systems is unstoppable and increasingly irrelevant¹.

A smart, self-aware tech company that understands its current sources of revenue may fade away someday would be wise—especially if it’s rolling in dough—to spend some time investigating future areas of opportunity and threat. Better to be your own replacement than resist the inevitability of change and become irrelevant.

I believe this is what Google is doing with all of its wacky secret and not-so-secret programs, from self-driving cars to mysterious robotics endeavors. Google’s got all the money right now, but it has to know that its current revenue streams won’t last forever. So while part of Google focuses on squeezing as much money out of the market as possible, the other part is placing bets on possible future directions where Google could dominate.

Apple does this sort of thing, too, but it doesn’t do it in public like Google. The company prefers to do it all behind the scenes, with nobody knowing anything until the product is unveiled—though with the amount of scrutiny that Apple gets, that’s basically impossible.

Investigation phase

So if you’re an Apple executive, and you know that the only constant is change, you’re probably constantly asking yourself and your colleagues what areas of future technology are worth investigating. The Apple Watch has been on the drawing boards for years and is now finally on the verge of being released. But what’s next? Apple’s assets are visible in its current products: hardware design, including all the components that go into building computers and mobile devices; design; tight integration of hardware and software. In which areas could those skills be applied in a way that would allow Apple to create a product that stands out from the crowd?

Already the auto industry is increasingly reliant on software, sensors, batteries, and user-interface design. It’s entirely reasonable that an Apple executive would try to imagine the auto industry of 20 or 30 years from now and see those trends lead to a logical conclusion: A fleet of vehicles with electric engines that feature deep integration of hardware and software, possibly up to the point of being self-driving or at least with optional auto-drive capabilities in some circumstances.

It’s not a big jump to assume that hypothetical Apple executive would then look at the competition in that industry—a bunch of legacy car companies that are struggling to transform to this new reality, and Tesla—and think that there’s really an opportunity for Apple to do something.

The next step in this process isn’t hiring a thousand people and planning a release date. It’s probably setting up a team to investigate all the issues involved in entering this field. Is there something here? What are the issues with entering a new industry? What do we need to create ourselves and what do we buy from suppliers? Do we do this ourselves or with partners? Should we buy someone or invest in someone? Are we really building a car, or just subsystems for a car? And is this all a bad idea that we should forget ever happened?

Now, the reports we’re seeing about Apple hiring loads of people could be an indication that this investigation phase is happening, or it could mean that the investigation is over and they’re gearing up a much larger team to make things happen.

What’s the need?

If I perform that same visualization exercise and try to imagine the auto industry in 20 years, I have concerns. It seems to me that cars are going to need to become much smarter, much faster, and that the auto industry doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to a lot of this stuff. I’ve never seen a car whose interior control interfaces felt integrated. Car entertainment systems are usually afterthoughts from a separate vendor. My mother’s late-model sedan has several different power buttons on the dash, all turning off totally separate systems.

Then there’s the future of sensors and intelligence that affects how our cars drive. We’ve already got self-parking cars, and smart cruise control, and more powerful autodrive features are inevitable. Will the automakers be able to evolve and innovate as quickly as a new entrant into the field? It’s not impossible, but I’m skeptical. As someone who worked for a print media company that struggled for decades to transition to digital, let me tell you—you can have incredibly talented people and an organization-wide understanding of which way the wind is blowing and still not make it. That’s the gravitational pull felt by most companies with long histories.

But the automotive industry isn’t alone. There are probably very few categories of consumer product that couldn’t be improved by a company entering with an Apple-like focus on usability and design². Apple can’t solve everything or be everywhere. It needs to pick its spots.

And that’s my biggest concern about these rumors: Even a company such as Apple only has so many bets that it can place. A hundred billion dollars in cash buys a lot, but the attention span and focus of Apple’s executives are still a limited resource. Does Apple really think it can revolutionize cars? Are Apple’s skills well matched for the auto industry of 2020 or 2035, or a mismatch?

I suspect there are whole groups at Apple working on figuring out the answer to that question. And the answer may well end up being “no.” The iPhone emerged after a team inside Apple tried to make a touchscreen tablet, and discovered it was just too early to make it happen. The lessons Apple learns in investigating the car market might lead to a strategic partnership, or an unintended product, or an investment, or an outright purchase. Or they might lead to a quiet disbanding of the team after a realization that it’s just not the right move.

If that happens, the information will inevitably leak out and it’ll undoubtedly be spun as a failure on Apple’s part. But looking hard at a potential product category and deciding it’s not for you isn’t failure—it’s success. Releasing a product that doesn’t make any sense, that’s failure.

By Jason Snell

February 24, 2015 9:16 AM PT

How TiVo Roamio reached its potential

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

In 2013 I reviewed the TiVo Roamio and liked it so much that I switched from satellite to cable and bought one. Not only am I still happy with the purchase, but I’ve actually become more enthusiastic about it as time has gone along.

The TiVo Roamio Plus DVR is itself a box with a giant hard drive and the ability to record up to six programs at one time¹. I find the TiVo interface superior to any other DVRs I’ve tried, and I’ve tried many of them². It probably helps that I was an owner of the original TiVo model, so the menus and sound effects feel like home to me. I missed them for the years I was using DirecTV’s own proprietary DVR.

I managed to skip entirely over the generation of TiVo models that frustrated John Siracusa with their sluggish interfaces—the Roamio is fast and responsive. So the core DVR experience has been great, but what’s really propelled it over the top has been a whole bunch of ancillary features.

Streaming support. TiVo’s not just a DVR for recording shows off of cable, it’s also a box that supports streaming services, including Hulu Plus, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, YouTube, MLB.tv, and more. My family and I watch many YouTube videos on the TiVo, and all of my Netflix viewing these days is via the TiVo. The only thing it doesn’t do—at least so far as I can tell—is connect with my Mac Mini server to stream videos from its hard drive.

Integrated streaming interface. TiVo’s streaming-service support comes in the form of HTML 5 apps, which you launch from TiVo’s menus. They work fine, but they’re not what you’d call integrated. Fortunately, TiVo has worked to improve integration of some of these services into the proper TiVo interface. If I browse a show’s past episodes, I can see if an episode is available on Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu, and one click will launch the appropriate app and begin playing that episode.

With a recent software update, TiVo also relaunched its Season Pass feature, which automatically records every episode of a given show, as OnePass, which is basically a Season Pass that also integrates streaming. It’s a bit of a weird feature, but it allows me to take a show I’m currently binge watching—in this case, it’s “Arrow”—and place it directly in my main list of TiVo shows. OnePass knows what season I’m watching, and what episode. And it’s also recording new episodes of “Arrow,” so that when I finish my prowl through the back catalog I’m ready to watch the new stuff that’s being shown on TV.

OnePass is a bit of a work in progress, but I like the integration a lot. My TiVo has become the place I go to find and watch stuff, whether it’s on standard television or one of the streaming services I subscribe to. (I’ve also rented movies from Vudu and Amazon via the TiVo.) I appreciate the simplicity of it all.

TiVo Mini remote boxes. I’ve got two other televisions in my house, not attached to the TiVo Roamio. But they’re not left out because of the TiVo Mini—a remote box that uses my home Ethernet network to connect back to the Roamio. The TiVo Mini behaves almost identically to the Roamio. I have access to the entire DVR’s catalog of shows, to streaming services, and to live TV. There’s no lag. I never feel like I’m waiting for a video stream to arrive from a DVR in another room.

TiVo iOS app. The TiVo iOS app is good and keeps getting better. Yes, I can do things like use it to tell my DVR to record a show that I just heard about, even when I’m away from home. But it also lets me use my iPhone or iPad as a TV—I can stream a soccer match from one of my DVR’s tuners to my iPad when I’m making breakfast in the kitchen on a Saturday morning. I can download shows stored on the DVR for offline viewing, so I can fill up my iPad with entertainment before I get on an airplane. I just watched the opening musical number of the Oscars on my iPhone while I was writing this paragraph.

Is TiVo for everyone? Of course not. You’ve basically got to be in the U.S. and have cable TV to use it. (Though there’s also a clever lower-cost over-the-air model for cord cutters who can get TV signals via antenna.) You’ve got to buy hardware and then pay a monthly service fee. But as someone who bought the TiVo Roamio in 2013 because I liked what was there and love its potential, I have to say: It’s grown into its potential. I love it.

By Jason Snell

February 23, 2015 8:43 PM PT

Autoping keeps an eye on my network

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

Two weeks ago I was having some frustrating problems with my Internet connection. I ended up pulling up a Terminal window and keeping ping running in the corner of my screen so I could see if the connection was up, down, or just insanely delayed.

A couple of days into this frustration I had the realization that there’s probably an app that solves this problem with a little more elegance than my Terminal window, and of course there is, and it’s called autoping, and it’s free, and it does exactly what I want—put my network status in my menu bar and alert me when the connection drops.

This is hardly a mainstream need, but if you’re someone who is constantly checking to see if your connection to the Internet is up or down or incredibly slow, autoping does the job without getting in the way.

By Jason Snell

February 20, 2015 5:14 PM PT

Go Play: Alto’s Adventure

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

Dan Moren told you about it earlier this week and I just want to join the chorus: Alto’s Adventure is worth your $1.99.

It’s an endless downhill ski/snowboard game with gorgeous backgrounds and textures, a nice soundtrack, and even a growing scarf that’s got to be a nod to Journey.

Still not convinced? Watch the video.

By Dan Moren

February 20, 2015 6:00 AM PT

The Fire TV is now my go-to set-top box

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

Honestly, I didn’t think it would happen, but it has: the Amazon Fire TV has taken over my living room.

And I don’t mean in a creepy, mind control, conspiracy-theorish way—much to my own surprise. But over the last month or two, it’s proved itself useful in ways that my previous set-top box of choice, the Apple TV, has not.

I like the Apple TV, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just been sitting there stagnating for a while now. Its last remaining advantages—AirPlay and the iTunes Store—have lost some of their luster, thanks to the breadth of content available on the Fire TV.

But the kicker here is that the Fire TV actually works. My Apple TV has been plagued by poor performance and repeated crashes—sometimes right in the middle of a show. Every time that’s happened, it’s been faster to switch inputs to my Fire TV and resume the video there than it has been to wait for the Apple TV to finish its glacial restarting process.

The other major advantage of the Fire TV remains its access to Plex. I have a Mac mini that acts as a server and a media center, but in the latter capacity it’s become less and less useful as content options in other places, like Hulu, have expanded. There are still a few things I use Plex for, but it’s proven to be a pain to navigate my Mac mini with either my Harmony remote or my iPhone.

I long wanted there to be a Plex app for the Apple TV, and while a workaround does exist, the Fire TV makes it a lot easier, with a very nice Plex app that works smashingly. Which means that the Fire TV has, in essence, replaced two of the devices connected to my TV.¹

The Fire TV isn’t perfect. It won’t work with my Harmony universal remote, because its remote relies on Bluetooth instead of infrared, I often don’t love the user interface choices (the Hulu app seems particularly ugly, but that may not be Amazon’s fault), and I wish content from other services was integrated a little better. But it’s hard to argue with something that works, and most of the time the Fire TV works quite well.

Either way, though, there’s still a lot of room for improvement in the set-top box market, and Apple’s hopefully had the time to devote to turning out something truly great. In other words, the ball is in Apple’s court.

[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors, as well as an author, podcaster, and two-time Jeopardy! champion. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His next novel, the sci-fi adventure Eternity's Tomb, will be released in November 2026.]

By Jason Snell

February 19, 2015 10:50 AM PT

Apple Watch: What We Know

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

This time next year, we’ll probably all be wondering how we got by without our Apple Watches, but here and now there’s still plenty that we don’t know about the device Cupertino wants to put on your wrist. The crack Six Colors team (Jason Snell and Dan Moren) has assembled the sum total of human knowledge about Apple’s wearable device, or at least a reasonable facsimile. We’ve updated this document a few times, most recently after Apple’s March 9 event.

Continue reading “Apple Watch: What We Know”…

By Dan Moren

February 19, 2015 7:44 AM PT

Wish List: Reduce Notification pane pain

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

Ah, Notification Center. I was among those who heralded the feature when it debuted in iOS 5. How great to have a place where all of your notifications reside together, so you don’t lose them when they disappear off your screen. It was a simpler time, in some ways.

For the purposes of this piece, let’s set aside the Today view, which has its own challenges and issues–I’m concerned mainly with the second Notifications pane, which, to me is a wasteland. The idea is good, and it’s even occasionally useful. But what it lacks is any sort of intelligence.

I’ve got pages upon pages of old notifications in here. In fact, I scrolled back to the bottom of my Notifications pane and found a 121-day-old notification. Who is that useful for? Why is it still there?

So why not give the ability to set an expiration date for notifications? Something akin to “keep this notification for an hour, a day, a week.” There are very few notifications–if any–that are still relevant to me a week later. And none, than I can think of, that should still be there after a month or two.

Moreover, triaging the Notifications screen is also kind of a pain. You can delete individual notifications, but it requires two taps–one swipe, and then a tap on the ‘x’ icon that appears. (Seriously? Why no long-swipe to delete, à la Mail.) Alternatively, you can remove all the notifications from a single app by tapping the ‘x’ button and then tapping “Clear.” But there’s no Clear All button to nuke all the notifications, which would definitely be handy at times.

I’d also like to see an option to organize the Notifications pane in simple reverse chronological order. The “Sort By Time” option in the Notifications section of Settings sort of provides this, but it still groups the notifications by app. So, if the App Store has the most recent notification but also two older notifications I have to see all of those before seeing the most recent notification from, say, Mail.

But the truth overlaying all of this is that the Notification pane just isn’t as necessary as it was in the early days of iOS, when all alerts were still modal dialog boxes. Since the advent of the Banner alert, I rarely miss notifications.¹ I’ve finally trained myself to use the pull-down-to-interact feature to quickly respond to text messages (I rarely use it for other notifications), which means that I deal with the most pressing notifications as they arise; the rest can wait until I go find them. The notification system has improved by leaps and bounds since it was first introduced; it’s time that the Notifications pane live up to its valuable real estate.²

[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors, as well as an author, podcaster, and two-time Jeopardy! champion. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His next novel, the sci-fi adventure Eternity's Tomb, will be released in November 2026.]

By Jason Snell

February 18, 2015 3:20 PM PT

Roaming without my iMac, without stress

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

This weekend my family went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, where they saw a curious sight: A cheetah with his own companion animal—a dog.

Cheetahs are skittish, you see, and when they bond with dogs they can use the dogs as emotional lifelines. In moments of potential stress, the cheetah can look at the dog and be reassured that the dog feels that there’s nothing wrong. It relaxes the cheetah.

My children were really taken with the idea that a cheetah could have a companion animal of its own.

As is my wont, I immediately translated this into a technological context: The 11-inch MacBook Air, my primary work system for several years, has transformed into a support creature for my 5K iMac¹.

I’ve traveled since I got the new iMac, but that was much closer to the date that I migrated my files from the laptop to the iMac, so the two devices hadn’t had very much time to diverge. Two months later, the devices are rapidly diverging. I can’t count on the same stuff to be on my MacBook as is on my iMac.

I realize this isn’t news to anyone who has always had a main Mac sitting on a desk somewhere and another Mac they use when traveling, but the change has made me notice just how much I relied on some tools to do my job during our recent family trip to southern California. Working on Six Colors means I can’t just take days off from work and know that other people will cover for me. So I was posting items from a hotel lobby packed with people dressed in Doctor Who costumes, and from my in-laws’ dining room table.

The tool I’m most grateful for when I’m traveling is Dropbox. Most of the files I use are filed away in Dropbox, and therefore available on both computers without any extra work on my part. Most of these files aren’t ones I use all the time—but I expect them to be available when I need them, and thanks to Dropbox, they were all sitting on my MacBook Air’s drive just where I expected them to be.

The only exception is podcasts—I generally don’t bother syncing them with Dropbox, because they’re enormous and I usually don’t need them to sync to another computer. But this means that when I left our house last week, I had to remember to copy a very large podcast project onto the MacBook Air to take with me. (It only took a couple of minutes to copy that very large project via a Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter.)

I would also have been at a loss without 1Password. At several points during the weekend, I needed to log into web services that I use to do my job—and every time, 1Password was there to autofill all of my credentials. I have 1Password set up to sync via Dropbox, so my passwords and other personal information are always with me.

Most of the collaborative work I do is done via Google Docs and Sheets, which of course live in the cloud, so they’re accessible no matter what computer I’m on. I also have the Google Drive app installed on my Mac, which automatically generates little reference files for every document I have in Google Docs. These files are, in turn, indexed by LaunchBar, so I can open them in moments just by typing a few letters.

And as I’ve written about before, if I do forget something on my iMac at home, I can use my online backup service to retrieve it out of my backup store. I’ve done that on more than one occasion, and it’s wonderful to have it as a safety net. (I suppose I could have left my iMac on all week while we were gone, but that seems insanely wasteful—and I knew that all the files I might need were already backed up when I left.)

Thanks to all of this stuff, relocating from a 5K iMac to an 11-inch MacBook Air didn’t feel like I was giving up much of anything. Except, of course, the obvious: screen space. Now that I’m using the 5K iMac every day, my space-saving habits to be used with an 11-inch display have atrophied. I had to remind myself how to lay out windows for maximum efficiency on the small screen, when it used to be second nature.

But still, small complaints. There was a time—the last time I had a dual-computer setup—when packing all the right files for my laptop was just as stressful as remembering to pack the right stuff in my suitcase. This time, there was no stress at all².

By Jason Snell

February 16, 2015 2:48 PM PT

Drinking with the presidents

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

It’s Presidents’ Day here in the United States, a holiday created to honor the birthdays of George Washington and later retconned into celebrating Abraham Lincoln and possibly various other American presidents too. Federally it’s still Washington’s birthday, but various states have different dates and names for it. (That apostrophe jumps around a lot.)

In any event, let’s raise a glass to the presidents courtesy of Philip Michaels’ annual countdown of presidents on Twitter…