iPad Jailbreaking Update ...

I may have been a bit hasty in my criticism of iPad jailbreaking yesterday as I received some comments that others had not experienced the instability that I had noticed. I can only call it as I find it, your mileage may vary.

My solution to the situation (as some of you may have already noted from my tweets yesterday) was to invest in a second iPad, one I can jailbreak and use purely for creating video tutorials. Having a second iPad may seem excessive but its a good way to keep my personal stuff and demo software separate for the show.

On a Mac it's not too difficult as you can setup multiple users to demonstrate software, even multiple drives which is the way I've approached it.

I have two drives in my MacBook Pro, an SSD drive for normal usage, and a 500GB hard drive with a separate OSX Installation. Whenever I need to record for a show, I boot off the second drive and I have a completely separate environment, email system, 1password setup, etc. So now with a "demo" iPad, I can configure that to sync with my ScreenCastsOnline demo Mac and all is well.

I ended up deciding to go for a UK 32GB WiFi and 3G model, although to be honest, I don't really need the 3G as I have my MiFi unit for internet on the go! I just figured that it would be best to have both a WiFi model and a 3G model for future proofing.

So now I have a second iPad, I can safely jailbreak that and not worry too much about the instability. As long as it doesn't crash out on me when demoing a single product, I can live with that, but even if it does require a restart now and again, no hardship!

Now the problem is, if I can get a VGA signal out of the iPad at 1024x768, how do I actually capture that into the Mac to create a high res movie?

I have a Matrox MXO2 capture box but that won't support such a low resolution - in fact, most of the modern capture cards only support SD or HD resolutions.

The only option I've found is a USB device called the VGA2USB LR from Ephihan Systems. They do a cheaper version called the VGA2USB but the LR captures at a much higher frame rate. It's not cheap at £555 plus VAT, but as luck would have it, I found someone in Australia selling one on eBay for half the price! It's now arrived in the UK but still stuck in customs.

So a fairly (very!) expensive solution to create high res iPad tutorials, but it's my living and the kit is tax deductible.

I'll let you know how it all works out!

iPad Jailbreaking Woes...

As you probably know, I managed to snag a 64GB WiFi iPad from my recent trip to the US.

I've been delighted with the iPad and itching to do more shows or mini iPad segments over on ScreenCastsOnline, but I've always been conscious of the fact that it wasn't available everywhere. Even where it was available, it's still seen by many as a luxury item, and some people can't quite understand exactly where it fits into the Mac ecosystem.

I'm sure this will change and the iPad will become more widely adopted as it starts to be seen and used by more people. Bottom line is that I will be doing more (but not too much) iPad related stuff on the show. The core of the show will always be Mac but the iPhone and iPad have a definite role to play in the future direction of the show.

So I need a way to do high quality screencasts of the iPad, but how?

When the iPad was announced, Apple also announced that the iPad would have video out in the form of an VGA adapter.

Excellent!

But, this video out is only limited to applications that have been coded to support video out, relatively few and far between. Even when the apps have been coded, the video out is usually restricted to just one aspect of the app e.g. in Keynote you can only push out the presentation screen in VGA out. No good for me.

I have used a video camera for capturing the screen, but although it works, it's not really the optimum solution.

I have also used the iPad simulator. This allows you to run iPad apps on the Mac and then use my standard Mac screencapture software (ScreenFlow) to grab the screen. This works well but it's dependant on acquiring special builds of the app from the developer. Not always possible.

No, the only option for me was to go down the iPad jailbreaking route to use an application called DisplayOut. This is a third party app only available on jailbroken iPads

So with some trepidation, I set about jailbreaking my 64GB WiFi iPad.

It was a cinch!

Downloaded and installed DisplayOut. connected a VGA monitor to the iPad and.....

It works!

Fantastic....

Once that was solved, I disconnected the monitor and went about my usual business. Later that night I picked up the iPad to couch surf and catch up on my emails and RSS feeds.

Oh dear?

Within a few minutes of using the iPad, one of the apps crashed out on me. This was very unusual as in the six weeks or so I'd had the iPad, I'd been impressed at just how stable it had been and had only had one or two instances of apps crashing in the full six weeks. In the first night of using the jailbroken iPad, I think it crashed three or four times - not good.

I used it for a couple of days but the crashing completely ruined the whole experience. It seemed to be a memory problem and a hard restart would usually sort things out for an hour or two, but really, there's no way I could use it as my main machine in it's current state.

Just to prove it was the jailbreak, I restored the iPad back using the iTunes restore feature, and I'm glad to say, it's back to normal - phew!

So what to do....to be continued!

Keeping it current...

One of the reasons I don't (can't?) create my ScreenCastsOnline shows well in advance, is the rate of change in the Mac space.

Case in point this week...

I usually publish my show on a Friday, so that usually entails starting the production cycle on the Wednesday. If all goes to plan, I'm usually ready to publish the show by Friday lunchtime following a couple of long days production. If all doesn't go to plan, then I'm under a bit of pressure to try and get it out on the Friday. This usually means three days solid effort, culminating in the release of the show.

This week, I started on the Tuesday and even though it's a fairly complex show, I managed to get the show edited by close of play Wednesday and all the post production tasks finished today, ready to push the button to release tomorrow.

It's a really strange feeling having a show "in the can" as the process is normally completed in one long action.

This week's show is a Mac Montage in three parts:

• Using the OSX Proxy Icon
• Creating workflow to extract Email attachments into DropBox
• Using the DropBox iPad app and iWork

The second part is quite a complex workflow involving Google mail, Automator, AppleScript and Mail Rules.

The third part includes some live video of my iPad where I demonstrate using the Dropbox app to import files into Pages on the iPad and then send via email to Dropbox from the iPad.

So what happens today...

Apple announce a new Mobile Me beta mail service with server side rules
Apple announce new updated versions of the iWork suite on the iPad

D'oh!

In fairness, the new announcements don't really impact on the show as all the components and processes remain unchanged, although it would have been nice to have shown the server side mail rules. There's also one point where I had to rotate the iPad to get access to the toolbar in Pages and I would not have needed to do that after todays update.

Still, it goes to show just how quickly things move and how it makes it so difficult to build up any sort of buffer of pre-recorded shows.

For info - tomorrows show (14th May - SCO0249 - Mac Montage 14) will be published round about 10 am UK time. It is a members only show but more info on becoming a member here.

The MacTech 25 - 2010

Well knock me down with a feather!

It's a pretty weird feeling to be browsing the latest MacTech 25 list (The 25 most influential Rock Stars, MVPs, Prophets, and Pundits in the Apple Technical Community) and suddenly to see your own name in the list.

Wow!

I'm truly honoured.

Made even more so by the fact that it's a Mac community vote - amazing.

Thanks so much to all who voted for me, I'm really knocked out.

Pondering a purchase...

My first Mac notebook was one of the first Intel based 17" core duo machines.

A lovely machine but just too big!

Don't forget, this was before the iPhone or iPad, and at that time, a notebook was the answer to your mobile computing. Wherever you went, you had to take the notebook with you.

The original thought process in selecting the 17" beast was that I needed the large screen for creating and editing my video ScreenCastsOnline whilst on the road. In truth, I can't remember ever actually using it for that. In the end, it was used as a general purpose notebook, basic email, surfing, the usual stuff.

Once I came to the realisation that my mobile computing needs were for something portable and lightweight, the obvious choice was the MacBook Air. So I replaced the 17" with the MacBook Air and it did sterling service for a good 14 months or so.

The MacBook Air was a delight to use - light, cool running, just perfect for portable general computing. Great for catching up in front of the TV too.

The only problem was that when I tried to use the macBook Air for the occasional serious task, performance was OK but the lack of screen real estate was a serious hinderance.

So twelve months ago, I replaced the MacBook Air with a 15" Unibody MacBook Pro.

I've been supremely happy with the 15" MacBook Pro, especially since installing an SSD drive. A great combination of portability, performance and a decent amount of screen real estate. Of course, whilst traveling, the MBP can be quite a load, especially if at a trade show or expo where you need to keep your notebook with you throughout the day. I've also changed my workflow slightly to turn the MacBook Pro into my publishing machine. It's this machine I use to update and publish the ScreenCastsOnline website (using Rapidweaver), update and publish my RSS feeds (using Feeder) and some other post production tasks I need to keep the weekly show going. I could try and share these tasks between the desktop and the notebook but it's problematic and just a lot easier to use the notebook for these tasks. Makes it really easy to publish from anywhere.

However, the whole area of mobile computing has been turned on its head with the introduction of the iPhone and iPod touch. On recent trips, I've found that the notebook has remained back at the hotel, and my true mobile requirements (access to email, surfing and twitter) is provided pretty well by the iPhone. Not perfectly, but enough to get by. The only exclusion to that is if I'm speaking or presenting, in which case, the MacBook Pro has to be carried with me throughout the day - a major PITA!

With the introduction of the iPad, it's now my belief that the iPad will fulfill probably well over 95% of my needs whilst out and about (including delivering presentations), although I'll still need a notebook back at base for video duties. Whereas I didn't use my original 17" MacBook Pro for video editing, I've started to do more YouTube and other video production when travelling, resulting in the need for a fairly powerful notebook back at my mobile base, as well as the publishing tasks mentioned earlier.

This change in working practices has brought about the realisation that the choice of notebook no longer needs to be restricted due to considerations of portability. When traveling, the notebook will remain in my carry on luggage, wheeled on and off the plane and decamped to the hotel on my arrival. There it will stay, acting as my temporary "desktop" to use for the processor intensive tasks required to edit and encode video.

The iPad and iPhone will suffice for my day to day computing whilst away from the hotel. Even though the current version of Keynote on the iPad is considerably "hobbled" compared to the desktop version, it's still good enough to do basic presentations and I'm sure that revisions to the app will come in time, making it just as powerful as the desktop version (or at least comparable).

With the introduction of the new MacBook Pro range (and some changes I'd like to make to my setup at the studio), I've been considering if it's time for an upgrade. My existing 15" MacBook Pro is still great workhorse, but the extra horsepower of the i5 and i7 processors are very tempting. Add in the faster graphics and the mind boggling screen resolution of that beautiful 1920x1200 screen, and it just might be time for an upgrade.

Besides which, I have my final Apple Developers discount to use before November which should give me significant discount.

Before making the final decision, I thought it wise to checkout the new machines at my local Apple store at Liverpool One. So off I popped, and was delighted to discover they had both the new i5 and i7 MacBook Pro machines on display, including the latest 17" models.

In fairness, it's impossible to tell them apart performance wise, especially just by trying them in the shop. The i5 and i7 processors are the mobile versions and whereas the latest iMacs have 4 core versions, the MacBook Pro processors only have two cores. Information on the difference between the i5 and the i7 is difficult to find, but it looks like as well as being faster, the i7 Includes some additional features such as Turbo Boost. Still, Apple are promising a 25% speed increase over the Core 2 Duo machines.

One big difference between both machines on display was the screen itself. One had the standard "glossy" screen, but the other one had the "anti glare" screen.

I'd not really considered the "anti glare" as an option as I've been using the standard "glossy" screen for a while now on the 15" MBP and it's not really caused me any issues. However, seeing both displays side by side, really shows the huge difference the "anti glare" makes. I'd seen an "anti glare" screen on the last generation of the MBP and have to admit, I thought the extra silver bezel around the screen was pretty ugly. I'm not sure if they've redesigned the bezel on the new model, but it now looks fine.

The "glossy" option provides a richer display which enhances movie viewing but the "anti glare" certainly looked a tempting option. I've still not decided, but I may go with the "anti glare" option.

So call me impressed with the new machines and based on my specific requirements, along with how I envisage the iPad will be the mainstay of my true mobile computing, I think I may just go with the 17" i7 MacBook Pro. As well as disregarding the need for portability, the 17" MacBook Pro is the only notebook in the range with the ExpressCard32 slot.

As far as configuration is concerned, I'll get the cheapest hard disk option and transplant my existing SSD drive into the new machine. The machine comes as standard with 4GB RAM which I think will be adequate. The faster processor and the SSD will make it fly anyway and I'm not sure I could justify the extra £320 for another 4GB RAM.

So that's the current plan.

I'll probably sit on it for a day or so before taking the plunge, so feel free to comment!

As regards the other changes to the studio I eluded to, I'll leave them for another post!

Update on Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 8:07AM by Don McAllister

Decided to put this on hold until after WWDC. It's quite an expense and now I've decided to go to EEDC, smething had to give. 

I still stand by my decision to go with the 17" although it will be interesting to see the 15" with the high res screen before making the final jump.

The upgrade is not just for the sake of upgrading!

I have some plans on rejigging the studio around and I have an need to free up the current laptop for Mrs Don. Hence my need to get a replacement laptop. More on the studio re-jigg another time.