My One Apple Wish for 2011 - Kill iTunes

No one should need to plug their device into their computer anymore, ever. I shouldn't have to download my iTunes music purchases (unless I want to listen to them offline). My device shouldn't be locked to a single computer once I sync it. I should be able to push photos, music, video, and files from anywhere to my device and back again. Apple can not let another year slip past while using a syncing system from 2001.

Please Apple, kill iTunes and replace it with a cloud-based service. A subscription service would be cool, Though better yet is a Kindle-like library where I can not only see a list of all of my iTunes purchasess, but I can choose to either download them or stream them directly from you. At the very least let me stream my own music/video from my desktop like ZumoCast (which you should have bought and rolled into iTunes last year).

Actually let me get in another quick semi-related wish...make MobileMe awesome. It could be the fully integrated cloud-based file system that makes the iPad awesome. I'd pay $100 a year if it was more than a poorly-implemented Dropbox knockoff.

iPad no savior for magazine publishers; sales plummeting

Every big name magazine title available on the iPad has seen its purchase rate decline since introduction, and most didn’t find much success to begin with.
via bgr.com

I just got off the phone with the scientists at NASA about this. Turns out, no one buys iPad magazines because...get this...they're too expensive.

1 year's worth of content-

GQ: $12 print, $36 iPad.
Wired: $10 print, $48 iPad.
Time: $40 print, $280 iPad.

The sad thing is that 2 of the 3 mags above are little more than PDF scans for iPad.

It Shouldn't Be This Hard, Steve

Steve_jobs

On a spare MacBook at home, I have the following running:
  • An Audiogalaxy service to stream my music library.*
  • An Air Video service to stream my video library.*
  • A WebDav server publishing to a Dropbox-synced folder so I can push iPad docs to/from the cloud.

Each of these addresses a shortcoming in iOS, each works better than MobileMe, and each is free. It's only a matter of time before Google adds an integrated cloud layer to Android. Hopefully Apple is building out an answer in iOS 5. 

* ZumoCast doesn't support video out on iPhone 3GS, and I prefer Audiogalaxy's audio quality.

Motorola Buys ZumoCast

As part of the transition, the distribution of Zecter's ZumoCast software will be suspended while enhancements are made. Existing ZumoCast users may continue to enjoy the service without interruption. Motorola Mobility will provide regular updates for ZumoCast users as well as exciting future plans for this service
via prnewswire.com

ZumoCast is one of the best audio/video streaming apps in the App Store. It's functionality that should be native to iTunes. Hopefully Motorola doesn't blow it.

Let's See What Took Them a Year to Make

The people familiar with this device said it would run the Windows 7 operating system
via bits.blogs.nytimes.com

...and right there you lost me. Look Microsoft, no one wants a desktop OS crammed into a tablet. I use Windows 7 on my iPad every night. It's called LogMeIn (or Jump Desktop, or Wyse Pocket Cloud, or whatever). It's workable, but I'd shoot myself if I couldn't run back to the usability of the iPad.

Desktop apps were designed for a keyboard + mouse. You can't just slap a touch interface on them, you have to design them from the start as multi-touch apps. Pages for iPad has many flaws, but usability isn't one of them.