Apple-ecosystem and PC-ecosystem

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Stephen Elop talks about Apple’s ecosystem in a message that was supposed to be internal, but somehow reached outside media like Engadget:

Apple disrupted the market by redefining the smartphone and attracting developers to a closed, but very powerful ecosystem.

He defines it:

The battle of devices has now become a war of ecosystems, where ecosystems include not only the hardware and software of the device, but developers, applications, ecommerce, advertising, search, social applications, location-based services, unified communications and many other things. Our competitors aren’t taking our market share with devices; they are taking our market share with an entire ecosystem. This means we’re going to have to decide how we either build, catalyse or join an ecosystem.

It might seem a bit unfair that Apple has indeed created a brilliant ecosystem, but let’s not forget that PC created their own ecosystem as well and that is why it has been so hard to make people change from second best, lower quality pc:s to first class Apple computers, mac. No, I don’t mean the way Microsoft managed to get windows to become the most used OS even though it was only a poor copy of MacOS.

I mean the system with computers with faults that makes the user dependent of a pc-expert, often a local salesman or a friend. Since the computer will break down now and then, it is very important to have your own pc-expert. Every time something breaks down the pc-expert will feel that he/she is needed. Virus is a central part of this ecosystem. They are the built in insurance of the need for pc-experts. They can show off with their knowledge and get a bigger ego every time someone has got the needed help.

But at some point this pc-owner might think that it could be better to buy a mac. It seems like macs don’t have this virus problem? And mac-people seems to love their computers – that’s strange? Maybe it’s because they are really good? And then he/she asks the pc-expert. Do you think I should buy a mac?

The answer is of course NO. Every person that buys a mac means less status for the pc-expert. He/she will lose the power. Mac is a serious threat to the pc-expert’s existence and therefor he/she will never advice anyone to buy a mac.

There you have it, the real pc ecosystem, built on low quality and faults.

Apple’s ecosystem is built on high performance, the best quality, easy solutions for buying music, apps, books and videos, excellent design and happy people. I know what I prefer. We bought our first mac in april 1989. We have had no need to change to the second best computer.

The Hare longs for spring!

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I wish the first picture of this hare could have been when he laid down and rubbed his back in the snow. He looked happy. But when I was back with my camera, all he did was eating rotten apples.

You really have to stay alert when you are taking pictures of a hare. Swish there was a noice and of goes the hare.

Then he sat down for a while before he took cover under our car. We have snowstorm today. I think he longs for spring!

A magic stroll…

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This is my nephew Fredrik Stenström who is taking a magic stroll in Linköping. If you want to know more about him or engage him to do some magic for you, check out his website JNF Magic Entertainment for contact information.

And yes, I know, everything is in Swedish, but I think you manage!

How to become an iTunes Partner as a Content Provider, Part 1…

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We are considering becoming a iTunes content provider for iBooks. As much as I love Apple products I have to say that the information about how to do this i rather poor. I found my way to this webpage: Partner as a Content Provider and followed the link to their on-line-application. I go further to Requirements and then I am stuck!

I click on the link to IRS to get my U.S. tax ID and by now I think I know that what I’m looking for is EIN – Employer ID numbers. That was a big step to understand that. So, but now when I seem to have find the right number to get, how do I do it? Online-application sounds good. Eh, but it’s not open? An online that is an offline? What I really can’t understand is why IRS doesn’t have an email so that I can mail my questions? To have a website should always mean that you offer an email address as well.

And it would be good to get a checklist for what information they will need for my application.

Another question from Apples requirements:

Apple does not pay partners until they meet payment requirements and earning thresholds in each territory. You should consider this before applying to work directly with Apple as you may receive payments faster by working with an Apple-approved aggregator.

Oh? Where will I find out the earning thresholds? The only answer I have found on that questions is this post from mobileread.com:

Plus, their minimum payment thresholds are quite high, for the average midlist author; I think it’s $500 in any given month, although they’ll break down and send it to you if you don’t reach $500 after a year. My clients’ heads would absolutely pop off their wee necks and do the Exorcist Dance to wait that long for their ducats.

If that is true, it seems like you have to wait a very long time for your payment if you don’t become an immediate success.

Why can’t this be as simple as starting a new bought MacBook or buying music from iTunes? I think you have to work on the UI for this Apple! (Hey, Apple if you want to consult a business woman from Sweden who knows what it’s like to trying to understand your information from abroad – don’t hesitate to contact me!) (Well, that goes for IRS too, of course…)

Update, two years later, read part 2!

How Apple, Painter and Wacom changed everything

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Today I received the book Secrets of Corel Painter Experts and in the beginning they wrote about Painters history, how it all started with Mark Zimmer‘s entrance by the new Wacom Tablet and how he put a microscope to pencil sketches and measured the color of felt pen combinations. I could follow the steps in Painters development, because ”I was there”. No, I wasn’t in California – I haven’t yet visited that part of the world, but I followed everything from Sweden, so when I read about it, I have my own memories from that time and it made me think about how I get really hooked on the digital world.

My first encounters with computers were confusing. Strange machines with MS/DOS? Once a teacher talked about programming when I was about 16 – was I interested? No. Later, a really boring course for teachers – write, erase, write, copy, paste, I understood everything in a blink and then I had to wait for the rest of the group… 1988 I moved to Växjö to study market communication and we learned to work with statistics in MS/DOS. I didn’t like it at all.

Fortunately I met Roine and we started to talk about Apple Macintosh and believe it or not, in april 1989 our first Apple Mac Plus with an external disk drive was delivered to our apartment. We were so excited and surprised, because it was so easy to install the system and everything worked out fine. Wasn’t computers supposed to bring trouble? Maybe we had done something wrong? Because it should be harder, shouldn’t it?

We loved our Mac Plus and we became big Apple-fans. With my background as a pedagogue I was fascinated by the user interface, so welcoming, friendly and easy. I am not sure when I bought my first version of Fractal Design Painter, but I know that I started with Fractal Design Sketcher because I couldn’t afford Painter and by then we had bought new macs a couple of times.

I think I first got my hands on a Wacom tablet and Painter 3, which was about 1993–94. That totally changed my comprehension of what computers could mean to me. From that moment computers wasn’t about techno-guys and pointless, boring use – it was about creating. Okay, I had got a glimpse of the creative possibilities when using our Mac for writing. But to draw and paint naturally like in Painter – that was magic!

With Painter and a Wacom tablet I could hold a pen in my hand and work with chalk, oil, ink or watercolor in my computer. I could chose between different textures for my digital canvas. I was so amazed. And I think I still am. I have never stopped talking about this sensational feeling because I want others to get this experience too. If you like to draw and paint Corel Painter is like a candy store.
Oh, did you notice the name change? Mark Zimmer sold Painter to Corel in 2000. The program has kept on developing since and there is still no other art-software that can compete with Painter. Some people use PhotoShop, but as you can tell by the name PhotoShop is originally developed for photo. That is not the same.
Now I will read my book Secrets of Corel Painter Experts and enjoy the 17 artists showing their ways to work with Painter.