This will be interesting: these two keynotes are happening almost at the same time.

Apple are about to announce their latest creation.

Oracle are about to announce their roadmap for Sun integrating into Oracle.

Which one will generate more column inches do you suspect?

The problem with computers is that you have to use them through an interface. You, as a user, are stuck on one edge of the system, the user interface (UI). The problem is that until somebody invents a working neural shunt or interconnect like the ones seen in the Wachowski brothers’ film The Matrix, we have to make do with some sort of UI for our computers and gadgets.

There have been some great looking user interfaces invented purely for entertainment on the TV and movie screen. From the slick research screens used in CSI, to the somewhat creepy gloved hand interfaces in Minority Report (which are somewhat reminiscent of modern multi-touch UIs), but it strikes me that all of these would have to be learned just the same.

Recently it has been getting more and more obvious to me that we are stretching current UIs to breaking point. Most folks put up with them at best, some learn them quite well but almost everybody has at some point been frustrated or upset by a computer interface.

Crying and spilt milk

What to do about it? Well there are plenty of people who are frustrated by the status quo. Let me guide you through the grievances I have with current UIs, using the words of greater writers than I.

Apple has won a permanent injunction against the Mac cloner Psystar, preventing it from selling computer hardware running OS X.

Is it just me, or did you also hear the echoing disembodied voice from the Tekken game series saying “You Lose. Game Over.”

Google looks like it is gearing for a tactical assault on the internet telephony market, expanding its arsenal in a way that will allow it to go up against Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Apple’s iChat and the many others in this space. (Via Mr Carmo).

This little article sums it up beautifully:

Frankly, we have to applaud this move from Apple. Insofar as Apple has put itself in a position of gatekeeper, pruning such shady apps from the store only improves it. [But] When even well-made, highly regarded apps have trouble getting approved, it’s clear there is still much more room for improvement.

Thanks to MacUser I found this article from Mr Gruber. This takes the App Store to a new low in my book, and reinforces my instinct not to develop for the iPhone or iPod Touch. No matter how useful the devices, I wouldn’t have the time for this sort of silliness.

Apple requires you to be 17 years or older to purchase a censored dictionary that omits half the words Steve Jobs uses every day.

Update: Mr Gruber has posted an update with portions of an email from Phil Schiller. This is quite a long and thought-provoking post, but I like Mr Gruber’s summary:

That Schiller was willing to respond in such detail and length, on the record, is the first proof I’ve seen that Apple’s leadership is trying to make the course correction that many of us see as necessary for the long-term success of the platform.

Apple have finally released an app for the iPhone that answers the question “How can I carry my files around with me?”. It uses MobileMe and allows sharing of files via emailed weblinks. Big files (>20MB) and zip files are still unsupported, but it is a good start and compares well to other apps of its type.

Apple yesterday announced results that clearly surprised the market:

Profit rose to $1.23 billion, or $1.35 a share, Apple said today in a statement. Sales gained 12 percent to $8.34 billion in the quarter ended June 27. Analysts on average predicted profit of $1.17 and sales of $8.21 billion, according to a Bloomberg survey.

I don’t doubt that Mr Gruber is going to have a field day with all sorts of people’s incorrect predictions leading up to this quarter, so I’ll leave you to have a watch for his signature ‘Claim Chowder’ posts.

One interesting fact that came out of the results and the conference call is that although sales of the iPhone, Mac and iPod touch are all up, sales of the regular iPods must therefore be a long way down. Sales seem to be indicating that the iPod is dying and is therefore coming to the end of its sales life in its non-touch guise.

I therefore predict that September will see the introduction of both a tablet and nano touch-style iPod players that both run OSX. However, I don’t think that there will be any new non OSX iPods, other than perhaps a new variant on the shuffle. If we see a new shuffle, I also expect to see some sort of evolution on the ‘music player that talks to you’ theme, as I think this concept has room for more innovation.

Now with Snow Leopard, the Mac has out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, something even Windows PCs don’t have. […] You set it up and, like so much else on the Mac, it just works.

Technology Nirvana? We’ll find out in September. One family pack of Snow Leopard on pre-order.

* especially if you already own a copy of Leopard (OSX 10.5)

Laugh out loud funny, thanks to the Macalope for the link.