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Embedded Mac OS X for Apple Consumer Electronics?

Macos embedded != Macos X UI.

dernhelm said:
Apple's success with the iPod had largely to do with the fact that it has a custom OS for a particular device. Cramming OS/X into some device to turn it into some general-purpose solution to a problem that doesn't exist only means you turn out junk. Every "smart phone", PDA, etc that has tried to run some version of windows on it feels clunky and never does what you want it to do.

To paraphrase Alan Cooper: What do you get when you cross a computer with a phone? Answer: A computer! And from a human interface perspective, it will suck.

I don't want a phone that can double as a computer. I have a portable computer, I don't need that. Putting some stripped down version of OS/X on a phone won't just make the phone more functional, it will also invariably make it more difficult to use. Apple has succeeded in making great devices because their strategy was to "delight the user". Microsoft's smart phones are consistently irritating to use, because Microsoft's strategy was "windows everywhere, the user be damned."

Here's hoping Apple doesn't go down the wrong road in the future.
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I feel the iPhone (whatever its called) will have a derivation of the ipod or frontrow ui's. In fact this what i think Apple have been experimenting with frontrow. The concept of multiple UI's on top of a standard core of code. It will in no way resemble the complexity of windows CE.
 
A first step to great things.

"Keep in mind that an embedded operating system is designed to be very compact and efficient, forsaking many functionalities that non-embedded computer operating systems provide and which may not be used by the specialized applications they run.

Examples include embedded Linux, eCos, embOS (Segger), Net BSD, Open BSD, Windows CE and SymbianOS.

An embedded system is a special-purpose system in which the computer is completely encapsulated by the device it controls. Unlike a general-purpose computer, such as a personal computer, an embedded system performs one or a few pre-defined tasks, usually with very specific requirements. Since the system is dedicated to specific tasks, design engineers can optimize it, reducing the size and cost of the product. Embedded systems are often mass-produced, so the cost savings may be multiplied by millions of items.

Handheld computers or PDAs are generally considered embedded devices because of the nature of their hardware design, even though they are more expandable in software terms. This line of definition continues to blur as devices expand.

Physically, embedded systems range from portable devices such as MP3 players, to large stationary installations like traffic lights or factory controllers."

The preceding was from Wikipedia

So this is a tool not an end product. Apple would use this to build great devices. I could run the iTV or the iPhone. It could be used in a PDA or tablet. It could power the next router or a game console. But more importantly it will allow Apple to develop great products quickly with more time spent on features and usability rather than the core components.
 
I would still like to see integration with Office so that you can edit and store word, excel, and power point docs. Or at least text files, pages docs, and keynote presentations, as well as any excel like software which comes with the latest IWork suite.
 
steve_hill4 said:
Return of another familiar classic. I for one would love to see the Newton name return, but it would feel too much like Apple clinging to the past, and a past product that was a relative failure compared to what it could have been. Not to mention Jobs pretty much killed the Newton upon arrival back at Cupertino.

Newton-like, but not Newton.
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Gravity - From Apple Computer. Watch it become the center of your digital life.

Gravity - From Apple Computer. The unshakable law of nature.

:)

That would be a nice tribute to the Newton cult with a fairly slick name. Though it really doesn't flow in a sentence. "Let me grab my gravity." Then again, I thought iPod was a pretty dorky name at first, too.
 
kneeslasher said:
If I could speak for myself only:

I think they're losing (certain) potential customers already. Not to mention the damage to the share price with the speculation causing volatility.

Because Apple often takes too long to release the perfect product/service, other are sometimes able to pip them to the post. This is starting to happen in all non-iPod related areas by Google.

.mac is a perfect example. Whilst Apple is pissing around offering a sub-standard service at an inflated price, Google has stepped in (for me) and I don't think I'll ever use .mac and some other Apple products ever again:

- I absolutely hate web-only non-IMAP email solutions. Yet GMail has me hooked. Switched from: Apple Mail, .mac, Apple's address book.
- Google toolbar / browser sync are "it just works" syncing solutions to favourites. Switched from: .mac bookmarks syncing.
- Google's online web applications are more than fancy enough for quick documents where LaTeX would be overkill. Switched from: Pages, .mac.
- Google page creator can be used by any idiot. Switched from: .mac.
- Google Calendar. Switched from: Apple's calendar and .mac.
- Google Talk. Switched from: iChat.
- Picasa (and Picasa Web Albums). Switched from: .mac, iPhoto.

To top it all off, all of these services are starting to talk to each other and work seamlessly. GMail now has integration with Google Calendar and Google Talk. Apart from my phone being a crap MP3 player and not working with my iTunes library, Apple has, sadly, more or less been eliminated from everyday life.

The final icing on the cake is the phone product: I've been waiting for years for an Apple phone so I could finally use Apple's calendar, address book, Mail, etc.. Rumours are now circulating that Google is going to produce either its own phone or customised software for existing (WM5) phones. Well since all the above Google services are already in place, have become indespensible to me and probably won't be supported by an Apple phone, I'd now prefer a Google phone to an Apple phone.

The only plus for an Apple phone left for me would be:

- Ease of use as an MP3 player since it would have undoubted iPod lineage.
- Syncing with iTunes.

Whilst for a Google phone:

- Google Talk.
- Google Calendar.
- Googl Maps.
- GMail.
- Google address book.
- Picasa.

Etc., etc. as Google continue to roll out indispensable services which are "always on" by being hosted on Google's infinite bandwidth servers. And therefore continuously available to a Google phone. Whilst all of Apple's solutions are offline except for what can be tied into .mac.

These days, I try and win over people to Google rather than Apple. It's the route I'm headed down myself. Google are doing in the virtual/connected sphere what Apple has traditionally been famous for in hardware and off-line software: producing "it just works" products.
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Really brilliant post. I could talk at length about the implications of things you posted, but i defer.

Infact, I use a similar array of Google products and I am very excited to hear Google's talk with Orange on a pre-loaded Google phone. Almost everything that I do online is on Google's network. And if I square away on a good mobile, I am all set :)
 
perhaps in OS x/2 there will be plug-ins for dashcode. ooohhh or phone widgets, sold thru iTMS of course ;) . we don't need it to do everything, just to be a great organizer with a polished apple feel :D iNote would be great along with a voice recorder for memo taking. and a camera if and only if it is useful as a reference device, not just for photo-booth, or what our stupid friend is doing. 2.0 or nothing. many times i have wanted to take pictures of things so i don't forget to look it up at home, but my phone takes such crappy pics i don't even try anymore. It would be wonderful if apple based their "image capture device" around their screen capture tech. I like to make quick notes and capture them via shift+apple+4 and have a reminder icon on my desktop. also not to add to the already long list of wants for the apple phone, but a motion capture, or some kind of way to record text on the go would be cool. like video or O.C.R. scanning, for news articles or magazines or textbooks. I guess a good camera would do this though. hope the first round goes well for the Mac pod (if it has os x/2 it may be called mac_____) :D three weeks till we get our teaser :eek:
 
My impression from the last keynote, and I hope this is correct, was that the new target for Apple is the living room. I would think that ipods have won over new Mac users and that more non-computer devices would do the same. I am hoping for a more full featured itv myself, but even better would be a 37 or 42 inch stripped down imac. 1080p resolution, wireless connection to the primary Mac in the house, dvd drive, and a more robust remote.

In the world of windows we already see smart tvs coming out, with access to music, movie and photo libraries on the main computer. Media servers based on Windows media center are everywhere. For a company that advertises itself as a leader in the realm of fun stuff, Apple will soon be falling behind providing an integrated solution in the front room, IMO.
 
I think everybody is hyping things up too much. Plus, what about us? The Mac addicts that love Apple for what it is? a company that provides an operating system superior to windows?

I believe that Apple is going down the road to destruction, and by destruction I mean financial enlightenment. But is this a good thing? In the past couple of years, Apple has become more and more a provide of cool, hip gadgets like that iPod, and more recently, the macbook. I think if Apple keeps expanding and catering to literally everybody in the world, they will lose what is essentially "Apple". It will become just like microsoft is right now, a huge corporation that is disconnected from the very people who love its products. So maybe we should focus on keeping Apple a close-knit family, instead of it growing into a mob of individuals.
 
allpar said:
Newton MessagePad 160 is coming!
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That's 3000 to you, bub.

The 2100 already shipped.

For what it's worth, MacOSRumors is calling it Mac OS D (Device) and is saying it evolved from the iPod OS, converging to Mac OS X in a later generation.
 
mkrishnan said:
You kind of lost me... you were saying something about using screen captures as a memo / reminder system and then this link... you want Apple to create a portable scanning device that records print information for later integration on the computer?
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Have you ever read something, or seen a recipe while shopping and needed to write it down for later? well if you had the ability to capture the image or text in a "pass over view" you could have a faster way to make notes for recording information. Maybe this could work for business cards too. Basically a digital solution to the note pad. the "scanner" just happens to be a magnifier in the article, what i am talking about is a way to capture "useful" images as memos. A video scroll of a flyer would be good too for gathering all the information without having to take six different pics. I think this was the initial idea behind cellphone cameras but their low res and lack of image applications limited this to a silly gimmick that is only useful if you have friends that do stupid things on an hourly basis. :rolleyes:
 
Loks promising. Hopelly to get the ultimate wireless computerless presentation device.

WE NEED TONS FOR OUR UNIVERSITY!!!

1. Make Keynote or PowerPoint presentations on Mac or PC-Windows.

2. Save them to the wireless handheld device which has built-in Mac OS X.

3. Carry only the handheld device to the meeting room and use it as a remote control for your presentation. No wires. No computers involved.

Imagine the huge halo effect on corporate, education and domestic markets.
 
dernhelm said:
Apple's success with the iPod had largely to do with the fact that it has a custom OS for a particular device. Cramming OS/X into some device to turn it into some general-purpose solution to a problem that doesn't exist only means you turn out junk.
Click to expand...
What makes you think that OS X needs to be crammed into such a device?

This operating system was originally developed to run on hardware with a Motorola 68030 processor at 25 MHz, 8 MB of memory and about 100 MB of storage space. In every conceivable way the iPhone dwarfs those specifications.

From what I've heard, Apple paired the OS back down to the size of Mac OS X v10.0. And by not trying to give it a computer like GUI, much of the overhead that we require of desktops is removed.

Basically what we are being given is the core OS, Cocoa foundations and something akin to dashboard for a GUI. Even after many applications become available for the iPhone, don't be expecting this to be the same experience you have with your Mac.

:rolleyes:

Actually it would be a lot more like if you couldn't exit dashboard mode in 10.4. :D
 
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