Author: Rene Ritchie

Though it may slowly be changing, Google has enjoyed incredibly good public and market sentiment for the last few years while Apple has seen itself beset by doomsayers. Horace Dediu has taken a crack at explaining just why that is, and why it might not be entirely bad for Apple. Asymco:

I suspect the absence of scrutiny comes from Google being seen as an analogy of the Internet itself. We don’t question the survival of the Internet so we don’t question the survival of Google — its backbone, its index, and its pervasive ads which, somehow, keep the lights on. We believe Google is infrastructure. We don’t dwell on whether electric grids are vulnerable, or supplies of fuel, or the weather(!)

Apple is treated like a movie studio, where blockbusters are expected and perception holds they’re only ever one flop away from oblivion. Google is treated like entertainment, where no matter the fortunes of any specific element, the thing itself has and always will endure. Until it doesn’t.

Is perception really reality, however, or at a certain point does the string of successes Apple has put together, and the value they’ve created have to transcend the base fears of media and market? In other words, at what point is Apple itself successful enough that Wall Street and its journals start treating it the same as Amazon, Google, and other, less historically profitable businesses?

Vizzywig was one of the sponsors of our #CESlive coverage, but I have nothing to do with the sponsorships around here, and I hadn’t spent much time with the app before walking onto the stage. Now, having seen it in actions for several hours a day over the course of the week, both watching Geek Beat‘s John P. handling it, and handling it myself, I was blown away. With it, we shot all the close ups for all the interviews — almost 80 in total — over the course of just 4 days. Here’s how!

i4software’s Vizzywig does a few things very well. More importantly, it does them all in the same app. First, it shoots video. Point. Capture. Done. Second, it lets you edit that video. Take your shots, move and manipulate them until they’re just exactly where and what you want, add transitions and titles, and you’re good to share. If that sounds a lot like a combination of Apple’s built-in Camara app and downloadable iMovie app, it’s because that’s pretty much exactly what it is, just with the convenience of an all-in-one. But it’s only the beginning. The real magic of Vyzziwig is remote cameras. You can take up to 10 iOS — or Android! — devices, send them out, and the switch between them in real-time. It’s not something we were able to use this time, but it’s absolutely something we’re looking at for the future.

The Vizzywig interface is big, and bold, and usable, but it’d be nice to see it get some iOS 7-style pixel love (especially that old-school disk save icon!). Also, at $30, Vizzywig may not be for everyone. However, it’s certainly some of the best money any aspiring videographer can spend on mobile. As someone wants more incredibly powerful, incredibly sophisticated software on mobile, I love that it exists. And that it allowed us to do something we likely couldn’t have done, and certainly not as easily, without it.

What was of most interest to most of us here at iMore and Mobile Nations was the speed of workflow Vizzywig enabled. I’ve long been envious of my MacBreak Weekly co-host, Alex Lindsay‘s ability to work as a one-man video crew at shows like CES and MacWorld. He captures, edits, and uploads video straight from his iPhone, straight from the show floor, with incredible turn-around time. Vizzywig is the first tool we’ve tested that might just be easy enough for us to do likewise. (Stay tuned for more on that.)

Our #CESlive setup also included an iPad mini — Vizzywig works on both iPhone and iPad — which ran straight into the live broadcast thanks to an HDMI-out cable. The iPad itself was in an iOgrapher case. While iPhoneography is far more common, and strangely accepted, than iPadography, it’s not uncommon to see pro cameras and displays as big, if not bigger, than iPads in production. Sometimes you really need to see what you’re shooting! However, those cameras typically also enjoy things like one or multiple shoe mounts for flashes, lights. boom mics, Wi-Fi mic receivers, and other components, and tripod mounts for the rig. That’s where iOgrapher comes in. It not only gives you 3 shoes right on top and a mount below, it gives you big, easy to use handles on both sides, and a lens attachment so you can go wide-angle, telephoto, or fisheye and really up the iPad’s shooting game.

Taken together, the setup feels like an example of what Apple’s promoting with their what will your verse be? and I think a good one. If you’re into video, let me know — how important are the iPhone or iPad to your workflow, and how important would you want them to be?

• $29.99 – Vizzywig – Download now
• $65.00 – iOgrapher – Buy now

iBooks Textbooks and iTunes U Course Manager, Apple’s attempts to revolutionize education and bring curriculum fully into the digital age, are expanding into even more countries in Asia, Latin America, Europe. Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, Apple:

The incredible content and tools available for iPad provide teachers with new ways to customize learning unlike ever before. We can’t wait to see how teachers in even more countries will create their new lesson plans with interactive textbooks, apps and rich digital content.

Great news for educational institutions willing and able to go paperless. Now if we could also get an iTunes Author update that adds iPhone support, the revolution would be complete(r). Have you, or anyone in your family made the switch to e-textbooks? If so, have you found it as convenient and cost-effective as you’d hoped?

Companies are predators, like wolves or wildcats or snakes; it’s their nature to bite, and we know that when we pick up their products and services. I don’t mean that to sound overly dramatic. Just like when I riff on “any company sufficiently large is indistinguishable from evil”, it’s meant as a reminder to myself and hopefully others. Whether it’s about Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook or any such company, while we can love the products and services they provide for us, we have to respect what they truly are, and balance our love and trust with a healthy amount of skepticism… and fear. It’s human nature. It’s what’s kept us alive for thousands of generations. We are, still, those tribal creatures, wary of what’s different, and new, and what shakes the world outside. It’s why we get antsy in the dark, and why the internet projects collective angst when Google buys Nest.

That Nest has enjoyed a lot of goodwill, that it happened seemingly out of the blue, that there have been a string of some of our favorite upstarts going to, and often disappearing into, giant companies explains some of the initial reactions. When you look at Android @Home‘s failure to catch on, Google TV, Nexus Q, and even Motorola from a profitability stand-point, the combination of a great home automation brand like Nest and a fantastic end-to-end product guy like Tony Fadell make a lot of sense.

Apple, by contrast, already understands product, isn’t moving into thermostats or smoke detectors any time soon — even if I’d love an iOS in the House project — and doesn’t really have a place for Tony Fadell any more. Google, not Apple, needs a great product company. (Apple needs an equally great services company.)

Google wants to build the Star Trek computer, and to get to that, they’re going to need to be able to access all data, everywhere. They’re already getting weather, traffic, and other metrics outside the home. Now they’re going inside. That’s Google’s dream. That’s what they want to be. And to be it, they need to get all up into our stuff. Into our comfort zone. Into us. We know that when we pick up their products and services.

There are a lot of clichés that can be trotted out. “When they came for my location, I said nothing. When they came for my email, I said nothing. When they came for me, there was nothing left to fear.” “I sent you the Terminator. I sent you the Matrix. I sent you Tron. What in the hell are you doing here?” “And AC said, ‘LET THERE BE LIGHT!’ ” There’s nothing wrong with that. Cautionary tales are cautionary for a reason.

It’s good to be wary. It’s good to be afraid. (Just a little.) That’s what keeps us aware and keeps us safe. The scrutiny under which Google operates, however, is preferable to that of some small, relatively unknown company that could just start pulling our data without our permission — something that’s already happened countless times in the app space.

I value my privacy. I’m deeply concerned about who collects my data and how they use it. But I’m no more concerned about Google owning Nest than I am Nest existing in the first place. If I don’t want a data collector in my home, its not coming in regardless of who’s name is on the box. And if I do want one, I want the best one possible.

It seems like the Nest acquisition was a great deal for all involved. And so were the many conversations and concerns it raised. Companies are predators. They see always and only to their own best interests. Whether we ultimately decide our fears are justified or misplaced, having those fears is what makes us human and, hopefully, keeps them in check.

Apple has commented on the DROPOUTJEEP program, which a security researcher claimed let the NSA and similar government agencies compromise iOS devices, enable cameras and mics, and track data with a “100{813a954d5e225a1509f22204ece89c855080ce25555f20805f61bed63cbfde3b} success” rate. Matthew Panzarino from TechCrunch got the statement:

Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone. Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products. We care deeply about our customers’ privacy and security. Our team is continuously working to make our products even more secure, and we make it easy for customers to keep their software up to date with the latest advancements. Whenever we hear about attempts to undermine Apple’s industry-leading security, we thoroughly investigate and take appropriate steps to protect our customers. We will continue to use our resources to stay ahead of malicious hackers and defend our customers from security attacks, regardless of who’s behind them.

That’s as direct and no-nonsense a comment from a company as I’ve seen on this stuff, which means either it’s genuine, or if it ever comes to light that someone in power did know about or facilitate any of these programs, they’re done.

I do know people at Apple who care very deeply about this stuff, who feel just as violated, and want to be protected from any all all such attacks every bit as much as we do. They all use their own products, iPhones and iPads and Macs, and have a vested interest in maintaining their privacy as much as ours.

The best case scenario, sadly, is that we’ll see another arms-race, with companies who genuinely do value privacy working on better ways to protect data while those who seek to compromise them work on yet more ways to circumvent whatever they come up with.

Hell of a way to end a year.