Leave It Behind > Brian Bailey

Ringtones for your iPhone, on the cheap

Fun, fun, and more fun! Apple released an update to GarageBand today that allows you to create custom ringtones for your iPhone. Now, you can have the exact ringtone you want, from any song you want, for free.

Apple's instructions try very hard to leave the impression that this is designed for music you've created yourself, but the fact is you can drop any MP3 into Garageband, pick the excerpt you want, and then click a single menu item - Send Ringtone to iTunes. It couldn't be any easier (note: songs you've purchased from iTunes won't work). Now you know what I'll be doing late into the night - deciding which song best matches which friend!

Here's lifehacker's step-by-step instructions.

The ups and downs of Apple stock

Apple (AAPL) closed on November 6 at $191.79. Today, it closed at $153.67, a drop of $38 per share in four days. The market has certainly turned this week. I don't own Apple now, but I'd seriously consider getting back in if this bloodbath showed any signs of ending.

Update, November 13: Apple closed up $16.20 today, a nearly 12% increase. Maybe next time I'll go with my instincts. Or maybe next time I'll ignore them. I can't tell which.

Ihnatko on Leopard

What's Leopard really worth? by Andy Ihnatko. Easily the most entertaining column on Mac OS 10.5.

Okay, I was wrong. You see, I’m not Felix Unger. (If you’re ten years younger than me, “I’m not Carlton from ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.’” If you’re ten years younger than that, you don’t watch television so I’ll say that I’m not an uptight anal-retentive who obsessively organizes his stuff into folders.)

John Siracusa on Leopard

As always, the best review you will read about a new Mac OS release. If it was cold enough, I'd print it out to read in front of the fire with a vanilla chai.

Top 10 reasons I'm still using Firefox instead of Safari

With Apple's recent release of the Safari 3 beta, I decided to spend a week with Safari and see if I could make the switch. As much as I love Firefox, there some great, elegant touches in Safari that I miss from time to time. Plus, you can easily sync your Safari bookmarks with the iPhone, another nice incentive.

The result? Safari 3 is a really good browser. It is super-fast in my experience and a pleasure to use. There are definitely some bugs that cause a few sites to crash the browser, but I assume the final version released in October with Leopard will address those. Nevertheless, after a week, I'm back to Firefox. Here's why:

10. After all these years, simple web features such as the TypePad HTML toolbar still don't work in Safari due to JavaScript issues.

9. Safari only allows you to pick software on your hard drive to manage RSS feeds, whereas Firefox allows you to choose Google Reader and other web-based tools.

8. Google Docs doesn't officially support Safari and it shows.

7. In Firefox's preferences, you can turn on the ability to start searching the page as soon as you start typing (and you're not in a form field). It not only saves a keystroke, but it's really fast and gets you want you want immediately. Safari's new Find is a big improvement, but still not as dead simple.

6. Firefox offers easy bookmark syncing between different computers through Foxmarks or Google Browser Sync. Apple wants you to subscribe to .Mac for the same ability.

5. You can block nearly every ad in the world with Adblock and the Filterset.G Update (thanks, Brad!). By default, Safari blocks no ads on pages and doesn't even consistently block all pop-ups. Sites that were usable in Firefox are nothing more than living, moving billboards in Safari.

4. The del.icio.us Firefox extension that allows you to add bookmarks directly to del.icio.us from the browser is sweet.

3. The outstanding Google chat option in Gmail isn't available in Safari. It would nice if Google would make that clear as it can take a long time to figure out why you don't have the "Standard with Chat" option in Gmail on Safari.

2. Firefox has great session restore, so if the browser does crash or get closed suddenly, you can often get right back to where you were.

1. If you work with the web for a living, there are many Firefox extensions that are essential, especially Web Developer and Firebug. Other favorites include MeasureIt, ColorZilla and QuickProxy.

There are hundreds more terrific extensions that can make Firefox do just about anything you want and nearly all work on both Macs and PC's. If your primary browser is still Safari or IE7, Firefox is worth a try.

Apple bought me an iPhone

I had no plans to get an iPhone. Really.

Not for at least a year. I was determined to wait for the 2.0 version, but our family had a small dilemma. Lori's cell phone network was being turned off by AT&T and she was literally being forced to get a new phone. Not that it wasn't time - she often referred to her sturdy, nearly 4-year old Nokia as her Fisher Price phone. The perfect phone for her was the one I had, the Blackberry Pearl. If we were going to buy a new phone, along with the dreaded 2-year contract, we didn't want to spend the money on a temporary replacement.

As further proof that I have a wonderful wife, Lori repeatedly told me to go ahead and get the iPhone, especially since I have spent the last 3 years almost getting an iPod. The phone was so expensive, though, I just couldn't justify it. Then I had an idea.

Why not let Apple help me buy an iPhone? I have carefully watched Apple's stock over the past year. My money sat on the sidelines while the stock doubled. Right before the iPhone was released, I was convinced that stock already reflected the incredible hype and anticipation and could only go down. Despite the overwhelming evidence that the product actually met and even exceeded expectations and that the launch had been widely successful, I ignored the temptation to invest. The stock shot up after the release.

When AT&T announced its earnings last week, including information about iPhone activations, and Apple's stock dropped nearly 7% in one day, I knew this was an overreaction and the perfect opportunity. Apple was announcing its own quarterly numbers the next day and there was no doubt in my mind it was going to report an incredible quarter. I bought the stock minutes before the markets closed and waited for the announcement the next day.

The earnings report was fantastic and the stock made up the previous day's losses and continued to rise. I held it until early the next morning, sold it just below its peak, and picked up an iPhone later that day. In those 36 hours, AAPL rose $13 per share, almost paying for the phone in full. Since then, the stock has fallen over 5%.

I can't say I recommend this strategy, as there is obvious risk and little inconveniences like taxes and commissions. In fact, my story is probably one more sign of a market peak, since I have previously shown no talent for timing the market. Nevertheless, I really like the idea of profiting from Apple's success. It makes our relationship seem more mutually beneficial.

More on the iPhone later, but it is truly amazing. I have never smiled and laughed so much while using a device. It's beautiful, simple, and dramatically different than anything else.

Help goes visual

Another observation on the iPhone launch. I find it fascinating that everything you want to know about how to use the iPhone is online and in video form. Conventional wisdom says that most people are visual learners, yet most product instructions are heavy on text, with a few simple graphics or screenshots added for good measure. Apple's use of short and long videos (called, brilliantly, Finger Tips) to explain features and common tasks is perfectly executed and brings visual help into the mainstream. Want to know how to activate your iPhone? Watch a video. Want to know how to unlock your phone? Watch a video. Remarkably simple, friendly and helpful.

Friday double-feature

In the hundreds of thousands words written about today's launch of the iPhone, I've seen very few about a fascinating twist - today is also the debut of the Pixar/Disney film Ratatouoille. Though the iPhone is clearly dominating the news, both the phone and the movie have received terrific reviews. The New York Times calls Ratatouille "one of the most persuasive portraits of an artist ever committed to film." and the Wall Street Journal writes, "The film sustains a level of joyous invention that hasn't been seen in family entertainment since The Incredibles."

When have we seen such an amazing run of success in two wildly different fields? iMac, Mac OS X, iTunes, iPod, Powerbook/MacBook and iPhone. Toy Story, Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Cars.

It's a good day to be Steve Jobs.

Postscript: By the way, thanks, Scoble, for making me and every other dad in America seem completely lame! Scoble and his son Patrick are first in line at the Apple Store in Palo Alto after camping out for the last 24 hours.

Link love from MacSurfer

MacSurfer, the best site to stay on top of Apple news, was kind enough to link to today's post on The power of consistent interfaces. I've relied on MacSurfer for years and the consistent quality is truly impressive. I greatly appreciate the link - it's amazing what a high flow site it is, even on a Saturday.

For the latest Mac news, visit MacSurfer daily.

The power of consistent interfaces

Apple has released a 20-minute guided tour of the iPhone. It's a remarkably thorough and low-key overview of the features, some of which have not been highlighted before. I love the small touches like the ".com" button on the keyword which is accessible when you're entering a web address.

As I was watching the video, though, I was struck by the true power of what Apple is trying to accomplish - a consistent user interface across all of its products. The new Finder in Leopard is inspired by iTunes, including cover flow for your applications. The same view is now part of the iPhone music experience and will surely be added to the iPod shortly. The stock and weather apps on the iPhone are visually identical to the Dashboard widgets on the Mac. Apple TV is familiar to anyone who has used Front Row on an Mac. Apple's numerous applications are becoming more consistent all the time. And Safari and iTunes are increasingly at the foundation of it all.

Hardware, of course, benefits from this same consistency. The remote for Front Row is identical to the one used by Apple TV. Both function in much the same way as the iPod's click wheel. The base of the iPhone is the iPod dock connector. And you'll find no more than a single button anywhere. The button-free iPhone, in fact, has achieved the ultimate Jobsian state.

By providing a consistent interface, as well as a consistent experience, the user knows what to expect as they move from device to device and app to app. The experience is familiar and comfortable. No matter how they are first introduced to the Apple ecosystem, they are soon curious to explore the rest of this world. Instead of it feeling foreign, it feels like home.

A brief aside: The one element that seems out of place in this world is .mac, Apple's online service. In fact, the recent redesign of Apple.com has made .mac largely invisible. Though Apple would never discontinue a service that adds $69 to many new Mac purchases, what it offers is largely out of step with competitors. The design and features are due for a significant upgrade, one that will hopefully come with Leopard's release this fall, along with the new version of iLife. With the debut of the iPhone, I can imagine .mac being re-introduced as a way to keep your Safari bookmarks, address book, and more in sync across your Macs and your iPhone, and perhaps a convenient way to upload your photos.