Aaron Adams’s Blowhard Blog

I like the new iTunes UI. Wavy, bubbly, blue Aqua UI elements had their day, but it’s over. Time to move along. Sure, there are some inconsistencies to the interface and some things that seem out of place or don’t fit in with some of the (many) other UI elements Apple has developed lately, but overall I think the flatter but-not-too-square look is more polished and professional, and easier on the eyes.

There are, of course, different opinions.

Another iTunes release, another widget kit: the iTunes 7 UI dissected.

iTunes 7 sounds death knell for Aqua

What.

Showtime

I sincerely hope this is indicative of where Apple is going with Leopard’s interface.

I’m so damn sick of the predictability of the news and the predictable people who react to it. Here’s a sampling of two news stories I found in about 90 seconds this afternoon:

Predictably, every shuttle mission is now about what kind of condition the thermal tiles are in. Until the next catastrophic shuttle event, the thermal tiles will always be the focus of the painfully predictable media. And NASA will have to play along to prevent the predictable media from attempting to whip up the public into a predictable frenzy about allegedly neglected thermal tiles.

And it’s also time for the predictable semi-annual “OMG!!1! TEH I-POD IS DYING111!!!” article by a major news outlet, or perhaps several, if they decide to predictably echo each other. And the predictable responses.
“People hate DRM!”
“It’s just a fashion accessory.”
“It only sells because of marketing.”
“The batteries suck.”
“blah blah the iPod bubble blah blah” (everything’s a bubble now)
“blah blah [some personal comment about Steve Jobs] blah blah”

Predictable. Tired. Annoying.

Is there anyone reading this article who can’t predict, with some degree of accuracy, what the usual politicians will say tomorrow? How about Al Qaeda? News pundits? Talkshow hosts? All predictable. How about the vapid man-on-the-street interviews your local television station will predictably conduct, where they seem to find the stupidest possible people to say the stupidest and most factually bereft possible things? Will you be surprised tomorrow when it happens? Are you looking forward to it?

From Mac Mini update round out two-for-one Wednesday at ArsTechnica:

While the addition of the Core Duo to the low end is a welcome addition, we still long for the days of yore when there was a sub-$500 Mac Mini. When one adds in the price of keyboard and mouse and the impeding Leopard tax, the low end Mini can quickly grow in cost to something approaching the low-end iMac.

That’s a point that I’ve been making about Mac minis since they day they were introduced - that by the time you’re done properly equipping the thing, you’ve practically spent as much as an already-properly-equipped machine at the low end of the next model up. I’ve been scoffed at, but it seems like at least some people are coming around publicly.

What I really wanted to point out in this post, however, is the phrase “Leopard tax”. What an incredibly stupid thing to say, and considering that Leopard won’t be released until next spring, it irritates me that the crybabies are already out, whining that they’ll have to pay for a completely optional operating system upgrade.

All that’s required for stupidity to propagate is for more intelligent people to say nothing. So, as I often do, I’ll repeat myself: An optional operating system upgrade is not a “tax”. Taxes are something you are forced to pay involuntarily, via threat of adverse consequences. Nobody will force you to upgrade to Leopard. Stop being a whiny little bitch.

Tiger was released in April of 2005. That’s 17 months ago. Assuming Leopard really does ship in the spring (let’s be optimistic and say March 21), that’ll be roughly 23 months from one optional OS upgrade to another. I think it’s also safe to assume that Apple will keep their usual price of $129 for major yet optional OS upgrades.

$129 / 23 months = $5.60/month, assuming you purchase Leopard immediately..

For all the people who cry about paying for a new optional OS, is $129 in 23 months really hurting you that much? Are you really that freakin’ broke and unable to manage your money that you can’t put together $5.60 a month to make this optional purchase? I’ve made less-than-stellar incomes during many years of my life as a single adult, and I’ve always been able to prioritize things well enough that $5.60/month wasn’t going to make me or break me.

Have one less beer. Skip a pack of cigarettes. Don’t go to McDonald’s for lunch one day. Turn of electric things you’re not actively using. Give up call waiting. Walk somewhere instead of driving. Clip some coupons. Buy the store brand mustard. Set aside $129 of your tax refund and put it in a savings account at Emigrant Direct and get 5.15% for it. Coming up with $129 in 23 months isn’t hard if you’re employed.

So please, whiners, give us a break and quit your complaining about an OS “tax” that is no such thing.

This weekend at a Labor Day event, my friend Tim Miller hauled out our telescope to attempt to show the crowd the sun (through the appropriate filters, of course!) and I hung around. The clouds got in the way mostly, so instead of looking at the sun, most people asked me about Pluto’s recent and controversial declassification as a planet. Here’s my take:

It makes no difference to me whether Pluto is a planet, or a dwarf planet, or a planetoid, or a pluton, or anything else. It’s still a very real object that’s very much out there and very much deserves to be studied, whatever its classification. Frankly, the whole debate strikes me as academics arguing about academic things. Whatever the outcome, the politics of astronomy may be changed, but the science of Pluto will not.

Besides, there are more important things that deserve astronomers’ attention, such as Adams’s First Law, which I understand is becoming popular among people who don’t have a board up their ass.

This hit way too close to home.

Created by my friend Paul Shaner. Check out his site.