Some sites, including some I’ve been involved with, pop up what are called “divs”, which can simulate popup up windows or other areas of independently scrolling areas within a web page. The problem with this approach is that the iPhone’s Safari doesn’t have scrollbars. How does it know if you want to scroll the whole page or just the “div” that you’re pointing at?

Apple’s solution is simple. It assumes that a single finger swipe is aimed at scrolling the whole page while a two-finger swipe scrolls the div. It looks like this same trick will work on the iPad, allowing for sites such as Google Reader to work without modification.

For developers using the iPhone simulator, a two-finger scroll is mimicked by holding down option and shift while clicking and dragging.

I’m still digesting all the iPad information, but one thing is clear: touch-based apps are the future of computing, especially portable computing. In a few years, devices without the ability to let you directly touch elements on the screen will seem outdated.

There is no shortage of hype surround the impending release of Apple’s “tablet” computer tomorrow. According to rumors, Steve Jobs has said “this will be the most important thing I’ve ever done”, yet tablets have, as a rule, largely been a failure in the marketplace. Bill Gates hailed the Windows tablets that first appeared around a decade ago as a revolution in computing, but they were only revolutionary in that they were computers that no one actually bought. Okay, perhaps that’s a bit harsh, but the bottom line was that tablets have been largely relegated to niche markets. How can Apple’s be different?

Microsoft’s tablet platform failed largely because it wasn’t clear what problem it was solving. The main advantage of tablets is that they easier to hold and position for viewing, and somewhat less socially awkward to use when talking to other people. Pen input is a bit of an advantage for certain tasks, like drawing, but is also a drawback for text input, where a keyboard is usually faster. What Apple has to do is offer a solution to a problem; what Apple is good at is offering a solution to a problem that no one realized they had until the solution became apparent.

Consider the iPhone. It’s not a particularly great phone, but it’s a superb pocket computer. Most people who use it as such probably didn’t realize they needed a pocket computer before it appeared.

What’s the problem Apple could solve with the tablet? I think Apple is planning to redefine what a portable computer is. Consider a few points:

The web has become a prominent way to get news and information, but its free-form nature and fluctuating media standards makes it a difficult platform to deliver a rich experience. How do create a design when your readers might have a wide range of screen sizes, browser technologies, or plug-ins? The difference between the experience of the New York Times iPhone App and their mobile web page highlights this difference.

One thing that Apple can bring to the table is a unified electronic multimedia publication format that has a built-in model for generating revenue, something which has eluded publishers in the digital age.

But one strategy that is pervasive throughout Apple’s product line is the aversion to devices that perform only a single task. Unlike Amazon’s Kindle, the tablet will not be exclusively a reader. Instead, what I think we’ll see is essentially a larger version of the iPhone: a (relatively) full sized, touch-based portable computer.

Bottom-line predictions:

10 inch touchscreen, LCD (not AMOLED)
iPhone OS – ability to run existing apps and new apps designed for the larger screen
Built-in 3G and WiFi
Built-in front-facing camera, capable of video chat
Some sort of stand, either built-in (e.g. a kickstand) or small and portable as an accessory
Screen-based keyboard like iPhone with option for external keyboard
SD card slot (would allow photo viewing and external storage)
Versions of iLife and iWork optimized for tablet
This will be marketed as redefining what the portable computer should be – most people will not need a “full” computer except for limited tasks

The item I’m least confident about is the SD card slot, but it could make a lot of sense for integrating in with existing computers.

One of major weaknesses of Google Wave is that you need to specifically check the site to see if any of your waves have been updated. Google Chrome extensions are available, but don’t yet work on the Mac (besides, as we’ve already established, Google Chrome is slower than Safari on the Mac).

A better solution may be the Unofficial Google Wave Notifier for the Mac. It’s a free download and, in my 2 minutes of use, seems to work pretty well. It basically sticks a little Wave icon in your menu bar and displays the number of unread messages. If you click on the menu, there’s a link to go to Google Wave, as well as a list of the Waves with unread messages.

I still find Wave a bit clunky for most uses, but this is a step in the right direction.

Flash, the media plugin from Adobe, is pseudo-ubiquitous on the web. It’s used on nearly all large websites, but often in form of useless additions such as ads. There are a few uses of Flash for rich applications (e.g. Mint), but often it’s just a distraction. Furthermore, and particularly on the Mac, the plugin can slow down your machine and consume resources.

Enter ClickToFlash, a Safari plugin that gives you control over which Flash objects to load and when to load them. You can “whitelist” certain sites, so Flash you actually want to use gets loaded automatically. For other sites, you can, well, click to Flash, allowing you to selectively load objects.

Check it out, it’s free. So far, it’s worked nicely for me.

With the release of iTunes 9, the ubiquitous media app once known as Sound Jam has made several evolutionary steps. While multi-account computers are now accepted by the general public, application support for the reality of home use is lagging behind. Witness iTunes libraries. I have several accounts on my machine. Let’s say I buy some music in one account. When another family member loads up iTunes in their account, even on the same computer, they can’t access this music unless they somehow obtain a second copy of the files. There are workarounds: I could leave iTunes running with the iTunes sharing option turned on, but look, that’s frankly stupid.

What is needed is some way to have a common iTunes library that multiple users can access simultaneously. You can do this with the music files themselves, but not with the library – there’s no way for two people to simultaneously work on a library (add songs, etc.).

This will likely require a reworking of the way iTunes handles this data, but it’s important.

While we’re at it, the same goes for photos and apps like iPhoto.

Apple just updated Snow Leopard to 10.6.1. Grab it via Software Update (Apple Menu -> System Preferences -> Software Update -> Check Now). As usual, you’ll need to restart after installing.

I am typically one to blindly install any Mac OS update without a second though. Snow Leopard was no exception, although I did do a staggered install across several machines to make sure at least one of them was working. Overall, everything seems to be working fine. Several software packages needed upgrading, so if you haven’t already switched to SL, I recommend combing through your Applications folder and making sure everything is up to date (since many programs now prompt for auto-updating, it may mean just making sure you’ve run everything recently).

A more important item to review prior to updating is hardware. Many hardware manufacturers are tardy in delivering the needed drivers. My CanoScan LIDE 35 scanner has drivers promised “within a few weeks”, but they are not ready yet. Many other devices are “mostly compatible” but still need some tweaking.

Snow Leopard is an interesting update from a user’s perspective. Many of the changes are subtle performance changes and depend on new versions of software. On the other hand, there are significant rewrites to much of the underlying architecture, so there are more compatibility issues than with most updates. It’s sort of the worst of both worlds in that regard, but future updates that take advantage of its features will be nice.

There are enough small improvements, however, that it’s worth upgrading now provided there are no major incompatibilities with software or hardware you depend on.

Apple traditionally updates their iPods around this time of year, and I suspect that Apple’s event scheduled for 9/9 will be no exception. This is what I expect we’ll see:

• New iPod Touch: This will be the most iPhone-like iPod to date, adding a camera and a microphone. I expect we’ll see a video-capable microphone. Essentially, it will be an iPhone without cellular connectivity. This model should also have the faster processor used by the 3GS. I don’t think we’ll see an OLED screen this year. It’s reasonably likely that the high-end model will have 32 GB capacity.
• New iPod Nano: We’ll see a switch to a widescreen format to mimic the display of the iPod Touch/iPhone. I don’t think it will be a touchscreen model – the clickwheel will be retained. Expect to see a camera added, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Nano have still-only capability (no video). I also expect a low-end model that will essentially replace the shuffle, perhaps without a camera.

The future of the Classic is a little less clear. Flash memory is still not cheap enough to allow for the >100 GB capacity of the Classic model, so I think it will probably stick around for another year.

The Shuffle has less of a purpose and I expect to see it disappear.

The rumored iPad/Tablet will not make an appearance.

I don’t think Steve Jobs will be on stage for this one.

One option you can activate in the Security control panel is the ability to lock the screen with a password when the screen saver is activated or the computer goes to sleep.

This is particularly useful for laptop owners, but is overall a quick way to lock up without having to log out. Many (myself included) left this feature turned off in Leopard because it was just too slow to respond after waking from sleep, but it’s much more speedy in Snow Leopard.

One quick way to dim the screen (and secondarily activate this feature) is to press control-shift-eject. Great for when you need to leave your desk in a hurry.