Thursday 10 August 2006

Postcard from the West Country

See Cornwall? No, actually you can't - not on the weather map, anyway, as it's covered by cloud. It doesn't matter what time of year I come here, it's always clouds and rain interrupted by sunny spells. Not that I'm complaining. Or maybe I am.

It has been a good and bad week or two so far - mostly good. Good because I'm on my hols. Bad(ish) because my other half wrote an article for the Independent last week that was harldy, er, Apple-friendly. That wasn't the bad part. That bad part was that I couldn't resist the urge to flick through some Mac websites I frequent a couple of days afterwards; I wish I hadn't. To see the name of the mother of your children abused in such puerile ways is hideous. It didn't help that the Independent subs butchered her article so that it started with the words, "When I switch on my MacBook, the first thing I see is the happy Mac icon..." (or some such). She didn't write that, they did. As soon as we picked it up, I said, "You are going to be crucified for that. Every Mac user out there is going to read that first line and say, 'No, it isn't.'" And unsurprisingly, such was the case. Many assumed that the writer of the article didn't use a Mac, was an Apple-bashing liar, and so on. But the article made some very valid points about recent Apple QCA issues and their tendency to treat the press with disdain. She tried hard to give Apple the opportunity to respond to everything in the article, but they weren't interested in getting anyone to speak to her personally, other than to send her previously-published press-releases. So it goes, as old Kurt Vonnegut would say. Ho-hum.

Anyway, that's the defence of my better half done; not that she particularly cares - hell, she got paid decently for the article. It's just that I happen to care when I see her name slandered on websites that I, as rather keen Apple user (and actually, she is a Mac-fan herself, she just happens not to worship at the temple), frequent.

As for Scrivener: it really is going well. I just finished writing the Spotlight importer today. It was a pain, but it only took a day to do, so I'm not complaining. Services support is done and dusted, so is the search function, find and replace, and several features that I said would never make it into 1.0. Another month or two, and there should be a beta release... I'm looking forward to it. It's been over two-thirds of a year since the last beta was released, and I seriously think that this version is a downright good program, and holds its own against some very stiff competition.

Anyway, back to scouring the Cocoa forums for a tidbit I need.

4 comments:

  1. Great to see that you're moving along with Scrivener. I'm really looking forward to the next release.

    As for the independent article, I don't think your wife said anything wrong. It was great to see you stand up to explain things on the Macdailynews forum (I posted there after you, as a matter of fact).

    And by the way, I also had to return my spanking new black Macbook. Too many quality issues. Good I didn't sell my old PB G4...

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  2. Hey gaijin, thanks for the comments. After I posted on MacDailyNews I decided to avoid all of those sites for a while... It was just too upsetting. It's perfectly understandable for people to be annoyed by the article, and for people to disagree with it, but the personal comments were just horrible and unnecessary. Actually, I just checked out your reply over there, though - thanks, much appreciated.

    As for the MacBook... I am on my third replacement topcase. At least this one isn't turning yellow though - it's turning a blueish grey, instead, which is a nice change. (The mouse button is turning yellow, though.) I can't be bothered to send it back again; I need to forge ahead with Scrivener. Not _too_ long until the next release, hopefully. :)

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  3. I think I'll wait to buy a MacBook! Too many issues! I haven't read the article, but your wife is not alone. Whenever you put yourself out there in print with opinions, even well measured ones, you are likely to draw the attention of people (many in number, it seems) who don't know what 'dialogue' means and aim for the lowest common denominator, which is usually pretty low! I think it's smart to stay away and avoid letting yourself be exposed to vicious personal attacks on someone you care about!

    Thanks for letting us know about Scr. and your progress! I can't wait, of course, to get my grubby little paws on it and see what it can do! I was especially intrigued by your saying you were able to include features you didn't think would make it to 1.0. What could those be? Hm.....

    Let me know if you need any more help testing full screen!

    Alexandria

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  4. why not try frequenting the more intelligent apple forum? i've always found any debate with those "touchers of the hem of steve's robes" so prevalent on other fora to be hampered slightly by their tendency to declare jihad on anyone with the temerity to suggest that the sun disnae shine out of mr jobs' backside.

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