Hey Apple, Where's My Peach Cobbler?

I happen to like peach cobbler - a lot.I’m not sure how this love affair began, but it started with a perfect peach cobbler on one occasion many years ago and I’ve been chasing the high ever since.Unfortunately, it’s much easier to find bad, overly-sweetened, careless cobbler than it is the delicious pinnacle of desserts I recall and crave.So the other day, out of the blue, my wife announces she’s making me peach cobbler - “tomorrow."She says.She even had the peaches to prove it.But tomorrow arrived, and as the day wore on, I sensed a change in the winds - plans were shifting as they so often do in the harsh light of reality.Unfortunately, she had timed her cobbler announcement with our nephew’s birthday party, for which she was already baking cupcakes and brownies.I knew there was going to be no cobbler before the official announcement came.I was told to eat cupcakes and that was it.I also knew that with each passing minute, the likelihood of the cobbler happening at all was more and more likely a fleeting fantasy.After all, it was a busy weekend with kids and there’s only so much time for dessert baking splurges.I didn’t say a word.The weekend was over - cobbler-less.On Monday, upon arriving home from work, she shocked me - “I’m making you your cobbler tonight.” she announced.After dinner she set about the making and baking of my succulent surprise as I played with the kids in the other room.And then I heard it.A baker’s groan from the kitchen.And another one - louder, in case I hadn’t heard the first.“These peaches are bad.”And that was it.The end.In response to this abrupt dashing of dreams, I said to my wife “The only thing worse than no peach cobbler at all, is someone promising you peach cobbler and not delivering.”

And that’s kind of how I feel about Apple and my iPad.I mean, Apple definitely got further with the iPad than my wife did with the cobbler.The iPad is a wonderfully intuitive and sexy device - most of the time.But what I expected (and what I feel Apple led me to believe I was getting), and what I got, are two different things.IOS 4.2 is rumored to launch tomorrow and that should resolve some of the clunkiness, enabling basic functions like multitasking and printing.And I’m not going to get started on Flash because it’s not going to happen - and I knew that when I purchased (but I’d still rather have the option to run Flash or not, instead of stumbling upon gaping content potholes when browsing the web).But Flash aside, I find web browsing and emailing, and most other basic tasks (even navigating the App store) are just not as easy as they they are on my two-year-old, big, heavy, unsexy MacBook.The iPad seems, well, really good at apps, if that’s your thing.And there’s no question it’s a fantastic tool for kids with endless possibilities for education and entertainment.It’s not bad.But I expect better from Apple.I expected the iPad would be a MacBook killer for me.And I welcomed it.I wanted it.The iPad is the perfect size to cozy up with in bed - like a good book.The MacBook in bed? Please. Only if I’ve had too much to drink.But lately, I find me and my wife are reaching for the MacBook and not the iPad - even in bed.When it comes down to getting content and getting things done, it’s just easier to do it on the MacBook.

I love Apple.I just want my peach cobbler.

Artgig Concert Report: The Dead Weather - Prospect Park, BK

We shut up shop early Tuesday to brave the BQE, landing in Prospect Park only moments before The Dead Weather hit the stage for a Celebrate Brooklyn benefit concert.
And when Jack White appeared, blow torch in hand, on a perfect summer's eve, we snatched our frosty beverages from the Watering Hole and melded into the buzzing crowd.
From that moment on, we were transported in an experience described afterward by our honorary Artgigger, Nick, as "soul cleansing."
Yeah, soul cleansing with a blow torch - that about sums up the good old-fashioned rock concert The Dead Weather threw down - hustling, cussing and stomping through the night.
When it was over and the dust settled, I was left literally stunned.
That was The Dead Weather.

Read more at Brooklyn Vegan (and look who's at the top of the quotes).
 

iPads and iPhones and Apps - Oh My!

A very good longtime friend of mine, an Art Director for a big healthcare advertising agency, stopped by a few weeks ago with his shiny new iPad. I only had a few minutes with it, mostly playing a motion-sensing snowboarding game with my son, but I was left with a clear and distinct desire to own one as soon as possible.

It should be noted, that when I met this friend almost 20 years ago, he was the only person I knew who had a Mac.

A week later, I found myself on my patio drinking a nice bottle of Prisoner red with the same friend, when he voiced his surprise/shock/disappointment that I still didn't have my own iPad - especially since my business is rooted in technology and the web. He went on to tell me how his boss had just come back from some trade show and declared the iPad to be the future of computing.

I explained to him that Apple blindsided us, and our plans for Flash app development, when they pulled the rug out from Adobe with their new developer terms.

He was unimpressed.He went on to explain that app development is the place to be.And how he doesn't even miss Flash since he got his iPad.And how even the porn industry is embracing HTML5.

I explained to him that HTML5 is a nice thought and a good Flash alternative for video in some browsers, but it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the mature interactive application authoring ability, not to mention penetration (while we're talking porn) that Flash provides.

Again, the HTML5 and Flash argument is really apples and oranges.

Well, how do they make games for apps then? He asked.

Well, Apple has their own developer environment for apps called Xcode and you can get up and running with some basic functionality pretty quickly, but if you want to do something fancier and more graphics driven, like a snowboarding game, you'll need to know Objective-C programming language and OpenGL for the graphics interface.

My friend stopped looking at me like I was some kind of caveman and we finished the bottle.

The conversation shifted to a new project he was working on with a hot, happening shop, and as he was talking them up, with iPhone in hand, he naturally made a move to call up their website to show me -  but stopped himself.

"I'd show you their website...but it's in Flash."

To be continued...