Cool Stuff I Found at MacWorld SF 2009
Sitting on the airplane heading home is always a good time to reflect on a fun Macworld Expo. And I figured I’d take the time to share some of my experiences with y’all, in case you’re a curious Mac OS user.
Thoughts on Apple
First of all, I need to vent my spleen a bit… This whole craziness about how if Apple doesn’t come to Macworld, then the conference is dead. For the record, I’d like to say that as much as I like Apple being involved and as much as I love Apple’s products, I didn’t set foot in the Apple booth even once, I didn’t attend or watch the keynote, and whether or not Apple was at the show made hardly any difference to me.
To me, Macworld is about the ecosystem, not about the products. It’s about the people, the connections, the utilities and peripherals. Adobe not being on the show floor was sad, though I certainly saw a number of Adobe employees walking around, including Russell Brown and Terry White. I heard that Michael Ninness was there looking dapper, but I missed him.
So, I’m optimistic that Macworld will continue just fine, thank you, even if it gets smaller. In fact, I’d welcome “smaller.” I mean, jeez, some of these booths are just way too big and expensive. I vote for just a table, a chair, a sign, some literature, and your product to demo.
Backup and Tracking Software
In fact, many of the coolest products I saw were in the smallest, least assuming booths. For example, CrashPlan (which you’ve heard me talk about before) was tucked way over on the side of the South Hall with one really great message: The basic version of CrashPlan is now FREE.
What? How can they give it away? Apparently they’re aiming to get as many people as they can on the product, many of whom will want to upgrade to the Plus version (which does realtime backups instead of once a day, and stuff like that) or who will talk their companies into using the super-powered enterprise version of CrashPlan. I don’t doubt that it’ll work for them; the product is great, getting better, and now that it’s free I don’t think there’s any reason everyone reading this shouldn’t use it.
I also kept my eye out for computer-tracking software, still smarting from the loss of my laptop a couple of months ago. The folks at LoJack were there, but although their product looks good, I have to say that I’m wary of it for several reasons. I don’t like the idea that it’s a subscriber model; I don’t like the fact that I have to rely on their data center knowing me, my computer, and potentially all my data; and finally, the people at the booth all seemed too smug in the knowledge that they’re the market leader. I hate that.
That said, since I’m on this tangent, I do want to point out that I talked with my the police detective on my laptop case yesterday. The case came to a dead end because the IP address that had been recorded was an open wireless router in a large apartment building. Drat. I asked him about products like LoJack and he said, “One of the other detectives here has found 10 out of the last 12 stolen laptops that had LoJack on them.” Wow.
Fortunately, I found another, similar product that looks great and I will soon be using: MacTrak from GadgetTrak. The owner and developer was sitting in a tiny booth, knows his stuff inside and out, was very willing to share his knoweldge. I love that MacTrak can take pictures using the built-in iSight camera in the laptop and email them to me or load them on Flickr, not back to some unknown company. I love that it has awesome tracking technology that, again, goes back to me, not The Company.
Cool Products
Here’s a list of other products that I liked enough to pick up literature on, in no particular order.
Jing from TechSmith. Very cool screen recording software from the folks who make probably the best recording software for Windows (Camtasia). Simple, to the point, easy to use. I love this product. Plus, it’s cheap ($15 per year) which comes with a generous account at screencast.com.
GraphicAuthority has a wide variety of Photoshop files, mostly suitable for photographers or people who want to make their stuff look like pro photographers. Basically, these are layered PSD files with all the layers intact. Easy to add your own images in, then turn layers on/off, move them around, adjust them, and so on. Because all the layers are there, it’ll be easy to adjust the images from inside InDesign, too. These will be fun to play with.
1Password. I’ve been using the opensource KeePassX to manage my passwords, but after Terri Stone (editor in chief of InDesignMagazine and CreativePro.com) told me she had started using 1Password, I decided to track them down. I’m sold. Done. This is really great software, and will even import my keepass data. Plus, there’s an iphone version. I can’t wait to start using this.
Linotype Explorer Pro. I’ve been using the free version of Linotype Explorer for a while and I’ve been pretty pleased with it. Now there’s a pro version. I haven’t used it yet, but I’m sure I’m going to like it. It appears that Linotype’s goal is (there’s a theme here): Get people to upgrade to the enterprise Server version, which comes with their whole font library. Interesting. The font mgmt space is mighty full, including Extensis Fusion, FontAgent Pro, and others, but I think Linotype will give them a run for their money.
FluidMask. Although it’s always dangerous to review software that I haven’t played with, this at first look appears to be the best image masking software I’ve seen yet. It’s like Photoshop’s Extract feature, but seems to work far better. The sales guy was arrogant, obnoxious, and kept insisting that Photoshop couldn’t do things that I know it can, but I’ll forgive that because a) the product really looks helpful, and b) the guy actually driving the demo on the computer was cool and was very helpful when Mr. Sales wasn’t flapping his lips. You can buy it here.
PDF Enahncer. I’m very curious about this one. Apago has a long history of doing good stuff with PDFs. I should have been using this a long time ago (especially with InDesign Mag), but, well, all things in time.
InYourFace. This is simple and has nothing to do with InDesign: It holds your iphone or ipod up with a short arm that can clip to a tray or pretty much anything. I’m really tired of holding my ipod up while sitting on an airplane, so I’m buying one of these. [Later: A quick search of the web finds this even smaller, cheaper device that might be better for an airplane trip, though less good in a car... and they weren't at macworld...]
BusyMac. I really like what John Chaffee and the folks at BusyMac have done with ical syncing. They have a new product coming out that replaces iCal (it looks just like iCal, but with more features), and which may actually be useful and fun enough to use that I’ll be able to talk my wife into using it instead of a paper calendar that we scribble on and schlep from one room to another.
Bunny Ears. Okay, this was not a product, but it was dang surprising: Peachpit Press gave away bunny ears, with the promise that if you wore them around the show floor, you might win an iPhone or iTunes gift certificates. I couldn’t believe how many people were wearing them all over the place! The bunny theme has to do with “Moxie,” the rabbit logo on Peachpit’s VQS books. Here I am with friend and colleague Agen Schmitz who freelance writes for Amazon.com and others:
Other Show Highlights
There were so many other highlights for me at the show, though they primarily come down to meeting up with folks who I rarely get a chance to see in person:
- Many of the creators of TidBits and Take Controls eBooks were there, of course, including Adam and Tonya Engst, Glenn Fleishman, and Jeff Carlson. (If you’re a Mac user, you need to subscribe to TidBits and you probably need one or more of the Take Control eBooks.)
- At the Peachpit Press and Lynda.com parties, I saw longtime friends and colleagues Mordy Golding (author of Real World Illustrator), Jay Nelson and Jeff Gamet (of the excellent Design-Tools Monthly newsletter and podcast), Colin Smith (photoshopcafe), Mark Christiansen (super visual effects guy), and others.
- It was delightful to hang out with Lynda Weinman, Bruce Heavin, Max Smith, Megan Anderson, and other friends from Lynda.com. They continue to do great videos and have some very creative new titles.
I’m sure I’m leaving out many others, but I’m exhausted, the plane is descending into Seattle-Tacoma airport, and it’s time to fold up the tray tables and get on home.
Hey, David, this was interesting reading even for us Windows folks — thanks! I gave Jing a quick try — and then signed up! At $15 a year it’s a great little demo & assistance tool for teachers and techies alike, I encourage all of you other folks here to check it out, too. TechSmith makes great screen recording & sharing tools, I actually have an oldish version of their Camtasia screen recorder.
Fontexplorer X has cheesed me off bigtime.
Without warning they’re going to a pay version. Insert eye roll.
They must have gone to the drug dealer’s school of business whereby you get people to like your product and then nail them when they’re hooked.
Besides, I’m not sure the features available in the pay version differ all that greatly from the free one.
I’ll take my dollars to an innovative (at first glance) product when the time comes.
http://www.typeDNA.com
Until then I’m sticking with my free version. *Harumph*
re: Font Explorer
I’m sad to see it go to commercial license model, but I think I will start gradually buying copies as people move to 10.5 in here. I like the flexibility it has (similar to Suitcase) and the ability to manage your own font duplicates that FAP lacks.
As for the reason they’re going to a pay model, I suspect that they were hoping their “Font Store” business would support it and that turned out not be the case?
David,
I think it’s great that you make comments like “The sales guy was arrogant…”
It is important to me that the people selling/demoing products are friendly, helpful and give an air of trust to potential customers. Arrogance in these situations always makes me walk away.
Of course it’s nice that you also mention when the reps are good. (too bad some of them work for the same companies)
later,
steph
Is Undercover there also? Saw their product in Macupdate that is similar to lojack also.
check my flickr for more photos of the event also. I’m checking out crash plan, I dont know if its really free, because of the free for 30 days part.
Jing is free, I’ve been using it on and off for quite some time now. Looking at the info on their site, you only need the Pro (paid) version if you’re going to use the video capabilities and want to remove branding, otherwise the free version should suffice.
As for Fluidmask: I bought it a year ago (give or take) after reading a review in Photoshop Magazine and soon wished I’d never spent my money on it. It’s nowhere near as good as they make it sound/look.
Perhaps I didn’t quite ‘get’ how to use it, but for software that’s meant to be very easy to use, it didn’t give anywhere near the expected results. The old Corel KnockOut works better, and even then, for most projects the Photoshop tools can’t be beat.
Also: small typo “PDF Enahncer” … happens to the best of us
I’m not sold on the whole font management thing. Perhaps it’s the thought of having to mess with the fonts when I’m not using supported programs, or just the hassle of setting it up.
Looks like Linotype dropped Windows support though, as there’s not a single word about it anymore, so I don’t have to worry about this.
Any news on that software that keeps track of you files and where/how they’re used so you can’t just delete a file without warning when it’s used in another file?
Great review of the show, I will check out some useful sounding products. It is written in such a way I felt I was walking round with you David. And I highly rate your opinion. Are you sure you know about Photoshop too?? (just joking – Real World Photoshop 7 – going back a bit now – is my best book on Photoshop and so indepth. Beats the others hands down.)
I absolutely agree with Steph (Boudreau) – the public face of the company is important. Arrogance would make me walk away too. Doesn’t cost anything to be friendly and helpful. Where do these people come from – it’s so easy to be nice.
@Wallace: I did not see Orbicule’s Undercover at the show, though it does look very good. Going to have to decide between that and MacTrak.
@Roland: Thank you for the clarification; yes, Jing is free unless you want to remove branding. It’s a no-brainer at free, but even at $15, it’s totally worth it.
@Mike: Thanks for the kind comments on RW Photoshop. The CS4 version is out now, thanks to Conrad Chavez, and it’s been focused on photographers.
@Wallace: I’ve written a bit about Orbicule Undercover, and visited their small booth. The news from Macworld is that, like MacTrak, they’ve added Skyhook Wireless Wi-FI positioning to their 3.0 product (due Jan. 20). So if your laptop were stolen, they can provide the police iSight photos, a map with coordinates, and other data!
David, this was an awesome summary. I spent three days at the show, and have nothing this coherent to report!!
@Glenn: Thanks! Didn’t realize they were at Macworld. Should have tracked them down (no pun intended… okay, maybe intended a little bit).
Thanks for the info on FontExplorerPro – it’s on sale until the end of February, so I got it for what I think is a very reasonable $40. We cannot expect people to write code for free; we like to get paid and so do they. I’ve been using Extensis Fusion, but I have mixed feelings about it.
Yup, CrashPlan is really free now. The old basic version didn’t have versioning (ability to go back in time). The new free version “CrashPlan” has this too!
It’s free for your own destinations – be that a local disk, any of your computers, or a friends.
CrashPlan+ isn’t free. It has realtime backup and no personal usage restrictions.
If you want to back up to us, as always, we’ll charge you a monthly fee for that. It’s $5 for 50GB/month. or $49.99 for a while year. Additional storage is cheaper with greater discounts.
Another fun thing we added for you data pack-rats is to have your backup “seeded” in our data center. We ship you a disk, you back up to it, then we pick it up from your home and put it in our data center.
Backups continue automatically. This way, you can back up 1TB in just a few days!
~Matthew
My pick for the most exciting product at Macworld is the Pulse smartpen from LiveScribe that now has Mac software.
See you in Dubai!
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I personally find the “huge” conferences to be less intimate and I enjoy the networking side of “smaller” conferences. I wasn’t at MacWorld as I was at Adobe Max which had over 4000 attendees. I do think that Adobe does an excellent job supporting its users – but some of the presenters are merely presenting to get their conference tickets paid for – and the keynotes are very hyped up looks into the future predictions of the future which you know will always take longer to materialize than they predict. Might try MacWorld next year.
@Glenn Fleishman
I checked out Orbicule and MacTrak at the show. MacTrak was actually recommended by Zack Smith during the laptop theft presentation. The key differences I found are first of all MacTrak has the wi-fi positioning right now. They are the first to implement it and looks like Orbicule is playing catch up and won’t have it until next month anyway. Another HUGE difference is that the MacTrak product goes to YOUR email and YOUR Flickr account. The Orbicule product sends photos and your location to their server in Belgium or wherever. This is not cool. They can activate your camera and take photos of you and get your location from their monitoring center. The MacTrak folks were pretty clear about their privacy safe component at their booth as this is a core part of their design, that they do not have access to your location, images or network data and your computer sends it to both your email and Flickr account. I guess LoJack works the same way where they can track your location and even have access to your files.
I liked Crashplan as well, another cool thing is that you have the choice of where you want to have your data backed up, either to a remote server, a friends server, another system on your network etc.
For the super security conscious there was Checkpoint, they have really cool whole disk encryption which is probably the easiest to deploy on large networks I have seen for the Mac, really cool and knowledgeable guys at their booth as well.
I will never install Orbicule on my system, as they have a bad reputation for security issues:
http://blogs.23.nu/c0re/2006/01/antville-11058/
Some of these issues have been fixed I am sure, but for a company to launch a product like that is irresponsible. I don’t like that they can activate my camera and images go to them. I think the Mac Track product addresses this issue, but I wish they had a trial version so I could test it first. Anyone had experience with it?
I had Adeona installed on my MBA for a while, but then discovered it did not work as there are issues with the Open DHT servers etc.
Right now I just use File Vault and keep my MBA close to me at all times.
Thank you so much for including the Peachpit bunny ears in your Macworld highlights. We had a great time giving them out to the attendees.
Great set of Macworld Articles now up at TidBits, starting with this good overview of the show.
You can sign up for a free pass to Macworld 2010 now at http://www.macworldexpo.com/2010registration ! Show your support for Macworld and the Mac “ecosystem” (with or without Apple being there) by signing up soon!
This should clear up the Crashplan free-ness questions. From e-mail:
Free Trial ending soon!
Your “CrashPlan Central” free trial will end in 7 days, on Saturday, February 7.
To cancel your trial and immediately delete any files backed up to our data center-”Crashplan Central”, click here.
If you’d like to continue backing up to CrashPlan Central after the trial, you’ll need to buy a subscription. The monthly fee for this service is 10 cents per GB, with a $5.00 minimum. Please note that without a subscription, you will not be able to use CrashPlan Central as a backup destination, and all files stored at CrashPlan Central, will be deleted 3 days after your trial ends.
We recommend backing up to your own off-site destinations for a few reasons:
1. you avoid the monthly storage fees,
2. you can get your data back faster if you have a lot to restore
@Zack: Right, the CrashPlan software is now free (the personal version). However, their service for backing up on their protected servers in a bank vault (called “CrashPlan Central”) still costs money after the free trial. But you can keep using CrashPlan (the software) to backup to other computers at home or at a friend’s house or something like that. That’s the cool part.
A little late in replying, but
@Eric: Orbicule now has Wi-Fi tracking as of a few days ago.
For all that discussion, some folks prefer to have stuff shipped to their own accounts (like David); others (like me) don’t mind a centralized resource handling the collection.
The report on Orbicule’s security flaw dates from Jan. 2006 in one commenter’s note. I hope that commenter doesn’t work for a rival firm and is trying to cast aspersions on a firm. Three years is a long time to learn lessons!
@David:
“@Glenn: Thanks! Didn’t realize they were at Macworld. Should have tracked them down (no pun intended… okay, maybe intended a little bit).”
They were in a very tiny booth! 1/4 of one south of the Apple booth in a pavilion.