tip 1: make a great product that does something needed, innovative or both. extensis used to be a good example in the graphics software world.
tip 2: never think of journalists as an extension of your p.r. department. microsoft certainly does (calling after you write a story to "thank you for helping get [their] story out." though it may help to treat them nice (which is a sub-tip, one apple has forogtten), it is _so_ not their job to rewrite your press releases. though many crappy news outlets do just that.
tip 3: learn what journalists do and why they do it. there was a big email thread on jim romanesko's media news (thread: http://www.poynter.org/medianews/prpeople.htm) that showed how uninformed both sides were about the other's business.
um, answer their questions? honestly, too. there's more, but those are a good start.
first of all, _twice_ on that page it notes that the story is from zdnet, which has a content-sharing agreement with msnbc. dunno how that came about, but i can guaran-damn-tee you that we have never been told what to write or what angle to take on it. certain companies, especially fruit-named ones, have been agressive in attempts and others out of washington have been sugary sweet towards the same goal, but we really serve the readers and are proud of it.
actually, the maccentral article had only one of the issues -- lack of dvd support -- and we had that info days before, but we held onto it in order to triple-source, contact apple for confirmation or denail, research the other issues. also, one editor who shall not be named (who did not write the article) insisted on getting quotes from "power users" and analysts instead of just presenting the info and letting users decide how it would affect them.
though i will agree with you that the os can ultimately only be judged by the users. to that point, we had hoped to provide basic info potential users might appreciate before making their decision whether to migrate or not.
according to the most recent info, there should be much better usb, firewire and printing support in the release version of mac os x. but yes, you point out the real thorny issue, that of drivers. nailing down the 1.0 version should give developers a lot more reliable target for driver building.
A: no, actually, you're probably thinking of being able to open non-carbonized applications in mac os x's "classic" environment. if you dual-boot back into mac os 9.1, you have no access to mac os x at all; it's as if you never installed the new os. agreed, being able to run old (actually, existing, at least at this point) apps in classic is a brilliant move, and it does work well despite various performance hits.
B: i'm glad you can get your powerbook to sleep and wake. what build are you running? as any programmer knows, newer builds might introduce regressions. and in any case, we never said "all powerbooks won't be able to sleep or wake" -- we said there will still be issues with some makes and situations. mazel tov that yours works.
C: DVD playing was indeed a key feature, esp in imacs, which were often pitched for that very features. in fact, i think most came with "a bug's life" dvds, at least until the latest models, which have instead cd-rw drives. it's esp a feature for powerbook users.
D: this comment makes no sense. first of all, we triple-sourced our information; of course i can't reveal those sources, but be assured they were first-hand. aside from ken bereskin admitting no dvd capabilities, care to refer to those "employees" and where they've gone on record? and why do you say we have "crappy information"? do you have info that contradicts ours? and what the hell are you talking about when you mention the pr department? we contacted apple to see if they wanted to expand or explain the information we possesed, and they said they couldn't comment on it. this is standard procedure in journalism.
E: this article _is_ the article that was on zdnet and cnet last week. welcome to the wonderful world of corporate synergy.
as one of the authors of the article (though not in on the final edit), i can tell you that you have got quite a few things wrong.
first of all, the article was written for zdnet, not msnbc. if you checked either the byline at the top of the copyright at the bottom, you'd have noticed that. not that i know how it happened, but msnbc has a content agreement with zdnet that allows redistibuting content.
This release of Mac OS X does not support using AirPort to connect to the network
not sure what else you'd use the wireless network card for.
and i have the same notes for the multiple monitor thing. though ambiguously written, what it implies to me is that you can't install it with multiple monitors attached. not sure why it makes the point of saying you can't install (rather than you can't run) the beta with multiple monitors, but there you go.
what most puzzles me is why you're so frothing at the mouth to "catch" me in errors -- especially when i don't think you have. to me, it seems we're saying basically the same thing.
and i wrote the story, so your beef is with me, mr. kai (love your trippy photoshop filters, by the way).
i don't think we're in disagreement. apple may be supporting various key technologies, but these may not be solid enough to recommend using in this beta version. please check your beta documentation when you get it.
as for the poster who replied to you (the one who used "crap"): simply because something is in a developer preview does not mean it won't be dropped in a public beta, esp if the developer isn't confident enough that said feature is solid enough not to cause serious problems for the average joe or jane. yes, there were features in dp4 that aren't in the beta. as i said in an earlier post, we've seen this in other operating systems, where features in early builds weren't included in public versions (which this is, despite its beta status).
it's not a question of apple breaking stuff for no reason, it's that they don't want to impose on the general public things that are less ready for prime time.
it's only a day or so until we'll both have the actual thing in our sweaty little hands. and i bet we'll agree on most things then.
according to our rather solid (and that's all i'll say on that) information, the installation instructions say that the beta will not install on systems with multiple monitors. it doesn't say why, or if it'll run on systems that have a second montior added after installation, or whatever.
yes, there was support in dp4, but it's not uncommon for features that the developer isn't solid sure of to be dropped between versions. in a similar way, a new version of open transport was dropped between beta and final versions of mac os 9.0.4.
Slashdot Mirror
tip 1: make a great product that does something needed, innovative or both. extensis used to be a good example in the graphics software world.
tip 2: never think of journalists as an extension of your p.r. department. microsoft certainly does (calling after you write a story to "thank you for helping get [their] story out." though it may help to treat them nice (which is a sub-tip, one apple has forogtten), it is _so_ not their job to rewrite your press releases. though many crappy news outlets do just that.
tip 3: learn what journalists do and why they do it. there was a big email thread on jim romanesko's media news (thread: http://www.poynter.org/medianews/prpeople.htm) that showed how uninformed both sides were about the other's business.
um, answer their questions? honestly, too. there's more, but those are a good start.
one of the authors of the article here.
first of all, _twice_ on that page it notes that the story is from zdnet, which has a content-sharing agreement with msnbc. dunno how that came about, but i can guaran-damn-tee you that we have never been told what to write or what angle to take on it. certain companies, especially fruit-named ones, have been agressive in attempts and others out of washington have been sugary sweet towards the same goal, but we really serve the readers and are proud of it.
actually, the maccentral article had only one of the issues -- lack of dvd support -- and we had that info days before, but we held onto it in order to triple-source, contact apple for confirmation or denail, research the other issues. also, one editor who shall not be named (who did not write the article) insisted on getting quotes from "power users" and analysts instead of just presenting the info and letting users decide how it would affect them.
though i will agree with you that the os can ultimately only be judged by the users. to that point, we had hoped to provide basic info potential users might appreciate before making their decision whether to migrate or not.
according to the most recent info, there should be much better usb, firewire and printing support in the release version of mac os x. but yes, you point out the real thorny issue, that of drivers. nailing down the 1.0 version should give developers a lot more reliable target for driver building.
A: no, actually, you're probably thinking of being able to open non-carbonized applications in mac os x's "classic" environment. if you dual-boot back into mac os 9.1, you have no access to mac os x at all; it's as if you never installed the new os. agreed, being able to run old (actually, existing, at least at this point) apps in classic is a brilliant move, and it does work well despite various performance hits.
B: i'm glad you can get your powerbook to sleep and wake. what build are you running? as any programmer knows, newer builds might introduce regressions. and in any case, we never said "all powerbooks won't be able to sleep or wake" -- we said there will still be issues with some makes and situations. mazel tov that yours works.
C: DVD playing was indeed a key feature, esp in imacs, which were often pitched for that very features. in fact, i think most came with "a bug's life" dvds, at least until the latest models, which have instead cd-rw drives. it's esp a feature for powerbook users.
D: this comment makes no sense. first of all, we triple-sourced our information; of course i can't reveal those sources, but be assured they were first-hand. aside from ken bereskin admitting no dvd capabilities, care to refer to those "employees" and where they've gone on record? and why do you say we have "crappy information"? do you have info that contradicts ours? and what the hell are you talking about when you mention the pr department? we contacted apple to see if they wanted to expand or explain the information we possesed, and they said they couldn't comment on it. this is standard procedure in journalism.
E: this article _is_ the article that was on zdnet and cnet last week. welcome to the wonderful world of corporate synergy.
as one of the authors of the article (though not in on the final edit), i can tell you that you have got quite a few things wrong.
first of all, the article was written for zdnet, not msnbc. if you checked either the byline at the top of the copyright at the bottom, you'd have noticed that. not that i know how it happened, but msnbc has a content agreement with zdnet that allows redistibuting content.
the "read before you install" docs say:
AirPort not supported
This release of Mac OS X does not support using AirPort to connect to the network
not sure what else you'd use the wireless network card for.
and i have the same notes for the multiple monitor thing. though ambiguously written, what it implies to me is that you can't install it with multiple monitors attached. not sure why it makes the point of saying you can't install (rather than you can't run) the beta with multiple monitors, but there you go.
what most puzzles me is why you're so frothing at the mouth to "catch" me in errors -- especially when i don't think you have. to me, it seems we're saying basically the same thing.
ddt
(who wrote the article)
and i wrote the story, so your beef is with me, mr. kai (love your trippy photoshop filters, by the way).
i don't think we're in disagreement. apple may be supporting various key technologies, but these may not be solid enough to recommend using in this beta version. please check your beta documentation when you get it.
as for the poster who replied to you (the one who used "crap"): simply because something is in a developer preview does not mean it won't be dropped in a public beta, esp if the developer isn't confident enough that said feature is solid enough not to cause serious problems for the average joe or jane. yes, there were features in dp4 that aren't in the beta. as i said in an earlier post, we've seen this in other operating systems, where features in early builds weren't included in public versions (which this is, despite its beta status).
it's not a question of apple breaking stuff for no reason, it's that they don't want to impose on the general public things that are less ready for prime time.
it's only a day or so until we'll both have the actual thing in our sweaty little hands. and i bet we'll agree on most things then.
ddt
hello, author of the story here...
according to our rather solid (and that's all i'll say on that) information, the installation instructions say that the beta will not install on systems with multiple monitors. it doesn't say why, or if it'll run on systems that have a second montior added after installation, or whatever.
yes, there was support in dp4, but it's not uncommon for features that the developer isn't solid sure of to be dropped between versions. in a similar way, a new version of open transport was dropped between beta and final versions of mac os 9.0.4.
ddt
we covered this story at MacWEEK pretty well, i thought.
see for yourself