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I’ve been on the lookout for the perfect keystroke controller for iTunes. Name it and I’ve tried it; probably twice, actually. I think I’ve finally settled on Sizzling Keys from Yellow Mug. Here’s why …
I have a simple set of needs for an iTunes controller:
- Quick and efficient to setup and use
- Free or cheap (under $10)
- Nice-looking (Apple-esque)
- Virtually transparent to user (no buttons, extra controller, doesn’t take up screen real estate, etc.) – what do I need extra buttons for if I’ve got iTunes?
- Ability to rate songs
While many of the shareware options out there do meet these needs, they do so either with a (relatively) high price tag, or at the cost of performance. I’ve tried Synergy, iMote, Barquee, ByteController, and others. Each fell short in one area or another and caused me to continue my search.
I remember trying Sizzling Keys a long time ago when it was first released … I wasn’t impressed. Now, however, it’s at version 1.6.2, and I think it’s got just enough polish and punch to warrant a Sean-Sperte-stamp-of-approval.
Truth be told, Sizzling Keys could still use some help in the interface design department. The floater fonts and graphics have a horrible shadow, and the preference pane icon and controls are ugly as sin.
What I like best about it, though, is the ability to set so many different keystrokes to so many different iTunes options. There’s an option to hide/show iTunes, one to bring up a search floater, and another to “almost mute” the audio.
If you’re in the market for a good iTunes controller, I recommend Sizzling Keys. There’s a lot of bang for your buck … oh, yeah: I forgot to mention it’s FREE!
Despite what the media are reporting I assure you, iPod nano sales are going well. I know this because I was unable to get one until a full 10 days after they were announced and made available. I had been actively (read: “multiple times per day”) calling every Apple Store and electronics store in the area asking if they had the 4GB model in stock. I was on several “call lists” and also noticed the ship delay go from 2-3 days to 5-7 days on the Apple website.
I actually noticed this discrepancy in the news last week; some reported sales as going well, some as not-so-good. I even commented to a friend about it. The bottom line (to consumers) is that the nano is selling, and selling fast. If you want one (and who doesn’t?), then you’ve got to be fast and furious.
After a day of nano ownership, here’s (the first of) my inevitable review(s).
The pluses:
- Amazing screen – it literally looks like paper, and works well in direct sunlight
- USB 2.0 is super-fast; noticeable faster than FireWire, for some reason
- Menu access is faster than previous models
- Sound-quality is great
The minuses (mostly with iTunes):
- Can’t leave the nano in the source list (as you can with the shuffle)
- When using the Manually Update option, you must manually update songs you’ve changed (e.g. by adding album art), which means you can easily create duplicates
- Similarly, “Show duplicate songs” isn’t supported within the iPod songlist
- It’s a magnet for fingerprints and scratches (com’on Apple, get those cases shipping!)
Ladies and gentlemen, I have bought myself an iPod nano. Meet Lama Su, named after the skinny, tall and white Kaminoan from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones:
(My apologies for the low quality photo. More to come, of course.)
I can’t decide between a brand new iPod nano, or a (since discountinued) 30GB iPod photo. You all know why I’d spring for the nano, but I’m sure you’ve raised an eyebrow about the 30GB photo. Here are my reasons to go with the older, larger model:
- I can fit ALL my music and ALL my photos (which results in a reliable backup solution)
- More accessory options
The nano is capable of storing and viewing photos, but I have over 5GB of photos. I don’t know how I got that many, but I do.
I’ve already tried to get a nano twice … both times I’ve showed up at the store (different vendors, mind you) and been told they had literally just sold out. This after I called and confirmed its availablity at both places. Oh, the humanity! Now, I’m starting to wonder if God is trying to tell me something. Maybe I should just give up and go with the more innocuus, 30GB model.
Hence, my iPod dilemma.
Why I switched to FireFox, by a former IE developer. (via)
There was this one Sanyo phone that a buddy of mine owned way back in the day; it was super-thin and super sexy. Maybe it was a Panasonic … I don’t remember. Anyway, from then on I knew that thin is in. It took a while, but Apple realized it too, and did the 17” PowerBook G4 thing with their less-than-one-inch claim. Motorola finally jumped on the trend, too, with the RAZR mobile phone. Now, Apple’s really taking it to the next level with the nano. Of course, my own design reflects this trend-setting motif as well.
It’s interesting that we desire thin over fat. Besides increased mobility (a trait we could easily overcome if we put our minds to it) there’s really no logical reason to choose a thin or smaller device over a larger one. Nevertheless, we do.
I spent part of my weekend trying to track down an iPod nano here locally (we have 4 Apple Stores in the area). I found a store that still had a few 4GB models in stock, so I decided to try and make it; even though I was told the line at the registers was out the door. Long story short, I didn’t make it. Let’s just say, Husky traffic sucks.
Why do I want the nano so bad, though? Feature-wise the thing falls short in many areas:
- Storage
- FM (broadcast and receive)
- Microphone
- FireWire
- Battery life
How does it fall short, you ask? Just ask Creative. Their Zen MicroPhoto device beats out the nano in every one of those categories (with the exception of FireWire suppoort). But the Creative player is ugly and sports ugly colors … and is big. Got that? Big.
So for an extra 2GB, a FM receiver, microphone, removable battery, and a savings of $20, I could get myself a (not-so) fancy Zen MicroPhoto. There’s no way in [edit] I’m going to, though. Apple’s quality, design and interface is just too sexy. It’s clean. It’s thin. It’s in.
What makes the freakin’ thing so in?
It doesn’t matter, really. The thing is what it is, and I want one. We all want one.
A brief collection of misrepresented story headlines, and why Apple has a PR mess on their hands.
Apple has some work to do after announcing Motorola’s new ROKR phone on Wednesday. The media is getting it all wrong, calling the ROKR the “iPhone,” “iPod phone,” or “iTunes phone.” I’m not saying I blame, them, it’s been hyped for over a year now as such. But it just goes to show you the extent of the branding mess Apple’s put themselves into by partnering with Motorola on this thing.
As mentioned in my previous post, to clean this up Apple should get to work immediately on more iTunes clients for alternate mobile devices – or, of course, release their own.
Lame. No Firewire for nano.
Thanks for the little walk down memory lane, Mr. Motorola-exec-who-spoke-at-the-music-event, but I still don’t think Motorola has the gusto to match Apple’s wicked design style. The rest of the world is agreeing, and I’m not sure you’ll get those great “ARPU” stories you’re expecting. Goodbye, Moto.
It’s the day after, and the word on the street is: nano = good, ROKR = lame. My initial reaction is basically the same. The long-awaited phone is falling below everyone’s expectations – even Steve’s own Keynote slide, which stated it was a quad-band GSM phone! (It’s actually a tri-band, North America GSM phone – with no 3G/EDGE capabilities.)
Motorola executive Ed Zander Ron Garriques was welcomed up on stage yesterday by Steve Jobs to make a few statements about the phone (the video stream of the event is now online). He gave a nice little history about how Motorola first came up with the “mobile radio” (and the crowd yawned), and bragged about how the ROKR is the coolest phone on the planet. Right. He also did a little bump-n-grind (which he says was cut short) to Gwen Stafani’s “Holla Back, Girl” playing on the phone’s stereo speakers. Thank you, Apple, for giving him an allotted time.
The ROKR is an embarrassment to Apple. Not only is it a step backwards in terms of Apple’s industrial design, the phone doesn’t even keep up with the emerging market of new 3G devices – the Sony Ericsson K750, Nokia N90 and even Motorola’s own RAZR. After handling an iPod nano today (of course I got my hands on one this soon!) I’m in embarrassed for Apple; that they’re partnered with Motorola. The nano is truly a step foward on the road of innovation, while the ROKR remains an ugly ketchup stain on Apple’s otherwise clean and tidy shirt. As a PC advocate and former Microsoft employee friend of mine suggested to me today, “it’d been better for Apple to not announce anything than this sub-standard phone.” He admitted to catching the Apple-fever as of late but was immediately disillusioned after checking out the ROKR’s specs yesterday after the announcement. What a shame.
I honestly hope Mr. Zander Garriques is correct, and they move millions of these units – but that’s not going to happen. The phone will sell its initial batch of luxury-buying and then, when those that bought tell their friends it sucks, and those friends tell their friends … well, let’s just say people listen to people, not advertising. Based on what I’ve heard of reaction so far, the outlooks seems dismal for Zander’s Garriques’ ARPU stories.
What Apple needs to do, in order to break free from this sinking sand of Motorola muck, is start developing the iTunes client for numerous manufacturer’s now. Samsung, Palm, Symbian, Sony Ericsson even. Get the client out there (like Real and Opera have done) and show the world they’re not “in bed” with Motorola, but rather, in the business of mobile technology innovation.
… that, and they need their own stinkin’ iPhone!
UPDATE: I forgot to mention how incredibly dull the unveiling of the phone actually was during the event. Does this look like excitement on Steve’s face?
Today Apple introduced a brand new iPod line (simultaneously discontinuing the minis), an update (not worthy of “upgrade,” but we’ll get to that) to their iTunes software, and Motorola’s new music-camera-phone called ROKR.
There’s lots to talk about, but not a lot to get excited about. It’d be a different story if we still had a keynote to look forward to in the next few weeks – but we don’t. This is it. That’s all. Let’s get started …
The ROKR
I guess the only surprise with this [official] announcement is that there were no surprises. Everything from specs to look to carrier availablity had already been known and discussed (not just speculated) in previous weeks leading up to this event. We’ve been waiting for the so-called iPhone for nearly a year now – longer, actually. It’s a bit of a disappointment (embarrassment?) for most Apple-loyalists. The only good thing that may come of this is more people using iTunes. (Though, it’s been speculated that this may be an Apple “test” phase to deploy their own phone model or carrier. But when have we ever seen Apple do “tests”?)
The only consolation I took from this announcement was that the phone is available from Cingular (my provider), which further solidifies that relationship with Apple. If you remember, years ago when iSync was first introduced, Steve Jobs demoed it using a Sony Ericsson T68 on “Cingular Wireless, a great provider here in California.” Still, am I the only one who finds this a bit tweaked:
Yeah, that’s a little odd.
(The other non-surprise is that the ability to download songs directly to the phone through Cingular’s network has not yet been announced.)
iTunes 5
It’s gotta slick new window, but the same interface. It feels faster, but is missing some punch (how come it lists podcasts in the Library now, and why can’t I turn off that function?). It’s hardly worth a full version upgrade. I expected to see at least one of the following:
- Album art view (view, sort and play using album art, like Library)
- Skins
- Create and maintain your own podcasts
- Support for multiple users (within iTunes, not the OS)
- An entirely new interface
But, no, we get folders for our playlists (I guess that’s cool) and a new, “handy” search bar. Oh, and they threw in the ability to do album reviews … was this a requested feature?
To be fair, the software is still FREE and does include a lot more “under the hood” improvements. Windows users can now sync their calendars and contacts from Outlook to their iPods, parents can regulate permissions for explicit material and the “shuffle” feature got an overhaul.
I just don’t think it’s worth the “5”.
iPod nano
The beef of today’s event was the introduction of nano, the new iPod – thinner than the shuffle and narrower, smaller and lighter then the iPod mini. It’s cool, to be sure, and I want one (of course). They come in two variants – white and black – and are available (supposedly) today. The coolest thing, I think, is the new dock port connector / lanyard / headphone accessory. I still haven’t figured out if its included with the nano (I doubt it), but I’ll likely get one anyway.
- 2GB and 4GB models (capable of holding up to 1000 songs)
- White and black variants
- 14 hour battery life
- Color display
- Stores/displays photos
- Standard click-wheel
- and more
We saw this coming, of course, but didn’t know it would be nano, or that it would be an entirely new form factor. Sort of.
If only Motorola could keep their employees and partners as quiet as Apple does, this event would actually have been worth while.
Madonna, iPhone and more
It’s also nice to see Apple finally added Madonna’s entire catalogue to the Music Store. My friend Tom will be ecstatic about that. Now all we’re missing Dave Matthews and Radiohead and we’ll be set!
The unfortunate thing about today’s event is that the media (and therefore rest of the world) thinks this is the iPhone, and it’s from Apple. It’s not either. Apple’s going to have a hard time overcoming this PR hurdle and breaking the perception that the crummy Motorola interface wasn’t designed by them.
There are some other notable mentions about today’s news, but I’d like some more time to evaluate every aspect (and actually get my hands on a nano).
As a creative professional (it sounds more glamorous than it is) I’m in constant need of inspiration. Normally I don’t lack in this area, as admiring the design of others usually produces just the flicker I need to get the creative flame burnin’. Such was the case with the redesign I just did for my wife and my site, CommentSense. But what happens when the juices just don’t flow, and the creative well has run dry?
I suppose it could be as a result of the recent happenings in our country, or maybe the type of project I’ve been given; whatever it is, I’m finding myself in a completely foreign place, devoid of motivation and inspiration. Which really sucks because the project is due (yes, due) this weekend. Of course there’s no way I’m going to make the deadline, but I’ve got to “give them something.”
Without going into details, the project is simply a redesign of a website. So far I think I’m at 7 or 8 homepage mockups – none of which I love. As far as IA I’m about as far behind as you can get (is there a negative?). I’ve been given a lot of creative liberty so you’d think I’d be a blitzing tornado of ideas and design. Hardly. This is even a project I’m actually passionate about. Still, no matter what I do, I cannot nail even a design style.
So, what do you do when you need inspiration? I’m open to ideas – really. I’ve already tried my repertoire:
- Peruse the designs of others
- Start with color
- Start with type
- Start with photos
- Start with grid layout
- Take time off/away from the computer (or project)
- Do another project
- Music
- Sex (I’m married, it usually works)
… and I’m still coming up empty.
I’ve been saying it for years: Death to all spammers.
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