sandblade.net

So I’ve waited for over two years to get a new Mac laptop so I could get Leopard for free, and now I think I might not want it. The new interface with it’s super transparency seems to fly in the face of usability and is just showing off to show off a la Vista. (Remember Apple, Redmond’s supposed to copy you not vice versa). Multiple desktops ooohh… I think Enlightenment had that back in 1999 (go ahead linux weenies and correct me). Plus being almost over a year delayed can only mean they’ll be squashing bugs up until release date with probably a big service update to download immediately. Time machine is a nice idea, but not really well thought out. Yes we have oodles of high capacity external HD’s at home to make infinite backups of all our stuff at home. Right, if people took backup that seriously, they wouldn’t need time machine in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an Apple hater by any means. I faithfully apply the white sticker to my car and have three iPods. You’ll tear my OSX laptop from my cold dead hands, and that’s exactly my problem. OSX is great, don’t start messing it up now. Sure Finder stinks, but that’s why we have Quicksilver. Don’t ruin a good thing.

If I were to isolate the precise jump the shark moment, it would be coverflow. It’s not that coverflow is so egregious, but it was right around the time when Apple started really stretching to innovate, not because it was better, but because they couldn’t think of anything new to do. Coverflow is useless for most people and it’s not even good eye candy (especially when you’re missing most of your album art). The Fat Nano, Apple TV, Numbers, Pages, new iMovie, and especially the iPhone just keeps the dismal wave of ho-hum Apple junk coming our way.

I blame the iPhone for all of this. Can you imagine how bad the press would have been if Samsung or Nokia released the exact same product? Everyone would say, “It doesn’t support 3rd party apps” or “You can’t even dial by touch” and “This thing is way overpriced for not being a very good PDA.” It seems to get more and more dismal all the time, and it’s hard to get excited about a product that you’re not allowed to develop for, can’t use with your carrier (unless you’re with AT&T), and at the end of the day is yet another crappy camera+phone+contact list+music player.

So Apple get back to what you used to do well and start doing it again. Or at least start leaving well enough alone.

For whatever reason there are those of you out there that insist on not owning one practical bike that can mount fenders and racks, and have enough clearance for wide tires. I will never understand you people, but at least there is aftermarket hope for you. For those of you who do not own a bike with eyelets for mounting racks or are not fortunate enough to ride a brooks saddle with saddlebag loops, here is the commuter bag for you. (more…)

If there is such a thing as bike couture, than Brooks and Gilles Berthoud are the vanguards. Brooks had an impressive line of new stuff at Interbike. The two things that stand out for me are the messenger bag and their rollup panniers. (more…)

I’m liking the trend of virtual trade show reporting. I think Dvorak said he was never going to go to another CES show, and just blog about it from home based on what other people wrote. In that spirit I’m going to blog about what I think was cool at Interbike this year. For those of you who don’t know, Interbike is a massive bicycle trade show and if you are in the bike biz you better show up or you don’t exist next year.

Like autoshows, the industry displays their new models and concept models. So lots of cool prototypes and ideas abound. The first thing that caught my attention was the new Cervelo RS. I know most of you are thinking, “but sandblade only loves and rides lugged steel bikes” and that’s true. I don’t know why but I have a weakness for Cervelos, maybe it’s the marketing, maybe it’s the fact that Jens Voigt continues to demonstrate his awesomeness riding one. The RS is really tempting because it’s the cheapest carbon fibre bike Cervelo makes ( and by cheap I mean $2200 for just the frame ). It’s based on the very successful R3 frame which Cancellara and O’Grady both used to win Paris-Roubaix. The only difference is a slightly higher weight, longer chainstays and longer headtube for a more upright position. I’m a huge fan of high handlebars and longer chainstays. If you ever see me on an RS you know my midlife crisis is complete.