Author: Weldon Dodd

Reader response to the introduction of Quicken Essentials for Mac here on TheAppleBlog ranged from resigned acceptance of the reduction in features to outright anger and dismay at the new version that dropped so many of the capabilities of Quicken 2007 for Mac. In response to these criticisms, Intuit has publicly announced plans to enhance Quicken Essentials for Mac during the course of the year and has also lowered the price, offering a rebate to existing customers.

“Quicken Essentials is our first Mac-native Quicken product, and demonstrates our new commitment to the Mac platform,” said Aaron Patzer, vice president and general manager of Intuit’s Personal Finance Group. “We’re glad customers took it seriously when we asked for their feedback. These are the first in a series of changes we’re planning to ensure Quicken Essentials users have the tools they need to manage their money easily and affordably.”

New Features

The first set of enhancements to Quicken Essentials for Mac will be available by the end of the month and will let customers:

• Protect files with passwords.
• Export transaction data to spreadsheets for further analysis.
• Additional enhancements are expected throughout the year, enabling customers to:
• Obtain a complete picture of current net worth by entering investment holdings from brokerages that do not download to Quicken.
• Compare spending between time periods to better understand expenses.
• Export tax-deductible expenses to tax filing programs, such as TurboTax.
• Track budgets across several months

Existing Quicken Essentials for Mac users will get these updates automatically as they become available.

Lower Price: Customer Refund Available

In addition, Quicken lowered the retail price for Essentials from $69.99 to $49.99. Customers who purchased the product before April 19, 2010 can obtain a $20 refund.  The offer is good through May 31, and further details are available at www.quicken.com/macrefund.

Intuit Should Have Done More From the Beginning

These measures will be welcome news to many users. The features slated for free updates are a good start, although some will be upset that their favorite feature is still missing (check printing, investment analysis, etc.). I think it is a good move for Intuit to go public with its plan to release these new features as free updates this year. It is tough for software publishers to pre-announce new features, but Intuit is in a bind here and needs to communicate to users that they will not be stuck with an inferior product.

The rebate is also a good idea, but perhaps too little too late. In my original review, one of my first reactions was that the price was too high to begin with for such an anemic first release. Quicken Essentials should have launched at $29. Then the v2 release could be $49 with a $20 upgrade for v1.0 customers.

What Do You Think?

Is this enough to assuage your anger or lessen your disappointment in buying Quicken Essentials for Mac? Will the lower price and promised features convince you to go out and get it now if you haven’t already?

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPad several weeks ago, one of the key announcements was that the new tablet device would feature an e-reader that would compete directly with the Amazon Kindle and would also have a built-in electronic bookstore. I have spent the last week with a new iPad using the iBooks app and shopping in the iBookstore to see how it works. In my short experience with the iPad, I can say that I like iBooks but I am not sure if this app will be the revolution in publishing that iTunes was for the music industry.

iBooks

The Library

iBooks is an e-reader app for the iPad that you use to manage and read electronic books. You are first greeted by a wood-grained bookshelf where thumbnail images of the covers of your e-books reside. You can also use a list view where you can sort the books by title, author, category or the sorting used on the bookshelf.

These sorting options are the source of my first complaint. Sorting is not available in the bookshelf view. Instead, books are arranged by the order in which they were added to your library. The lack of sorting and search options makes the bookshelf view very limited, even though it is visually appealing.

Reading

Tapping a cover opens up the book to either the first page or the previous spot where you were reading. Pages appear side by side in landscape view or a single page at a time in portrait view. You switch pages by swiping left or right, or simply tapping on the edge of the page. The controls will fade after a moment to let you concentrate on the material, but reappear quickly with a tap to the middle of the page. You can adjust the font size and the font face as well as the brightness of the screen by using the controls at the top right of the screen.

Turning pages by grabbing the corner and pulling your finger across reveals a pleasant attention to detail. You can just make out the faint impression of the reverse side of the page as it flips over. However, this is really just eye candy because tapping at the edge of the screen with your thumbs is much easier when holding the iPad as a book. The little animation that flips the page over with the tap is nice and fast and improves the experience

Searching & Bookmarking

While I have some emotional attachment to books (I love the smell of new bindings and leather covers), there are some real advantages to electronic books that just cannot be matched with paper. You can search the e-book by word or phrase by tapping and holding over a word to select it and then choosing from the options in the pop-up dialog, which includes an option to look up the word in the built-in dictionary.

Full-text search is a little slow in longer books, but fast enough that the few seconds wait is not unbearable. The search dialog provides additional options to look for the word or phrase with Google or Wikipedia.

Selections can be saved to Bookmarks that are saved and then made accessible from the Table of Contents view. They appear on the page with yellow highlighting as if you had used a pen to mark the word of passage.

Eyestrain

One concern about the iPad as a reading device is that the bright, LED-backlit, IPS LCD screen may induce more eyestrain than the reflective e-ink display used in the Kindle, Nook, and other e-readers. While there are no clinical studies yet that have measured increased eyestrain with LCD displays compared to e-ink screens, anecdotal evidence suggests that many people prefer e-ink. One reason suggested by ophthalmologists interviewed in the LA Times, NY Times, and the Wall Street Journal may be that screen brightness is the primary cause of discomfort on LCD screens. Having a brightness control available in the app, in addition to the auto-adjusting feature that responds to changes in ambient light, is a nice step towards providing comfort for extended reading.

Once you move outside, the glare on the glossy iPad screen makes reading difficult and I suspect that glare causes additional eyestrain just from trying to focus your eyes past the distracting mirror images on the glass.

In my own reading, I found that stretches of up to an hour were perfectly comfortable, including time this last weekend driving through twisty mountain roads, as long as I positioned the iPad out of direct sunlight. I read a lot of books in my (precious little) spare time and I think I still prefer the heft, feel, and look of paper books for many uses. I imagine that different people will have a different reaction, but you should not be scared of the iPad for reading.

iBookstore

The iBookstore is reached by clicking on the “Store” button inside the iBooks app. The five major publishers announced at the iPad debut in January are selling titles alongside thousands of free books from the Gutenberg Project. Prices vary widely for the paid content. I saw everything from $6.99 to $14.99 in a quick scan.

Searching for titles or authors will helpfully suggest possible matches as you type, but browsing is a bit frustrating due to the limited options. You can browse the featured, new and bestselling books, the top 25 New York Times Bestsellers, and the top 50 paid and free books in the iBookstore. You can also browse the categories to see the top sellers in that section.

Browsing by category is frustrating. There are only 21 categories and no sub-categories to drill down and explore. The iBookstore will only display the top 50 paid and free books. Some categories do not list free books and then show the top 60 paid books as a small concession.

As the number of titles grows in the store, I really want Apple to add some additional options for discovering content. In addition, I found that the selection is a bit limited at this time. Several titles that I have been wanting to read, which are available in the Kindle store, were not listed in the iBookstore.

Revolutionary?

I do not think that iBooks will revolutionize the book publishing industry, at least not in its current form. Printed books are still great for reading at the beach (sun and sand are not iPad friendly) and can be lent out, shared or donated after you are done with them.

The advantages of e-books (searching, bookmarking) are really apparent with reference books like software programming titles. Some technical publishers like O’Reilly have made at least part of their catalog available in ePub, but through their own online store, not the iBookstore. Textbooks are the other area where e-books would be fantastic. Kids today routinely carry 30-40 pound backpacks and the iPad would probably put a few chiropractors out of business if that load could be replaced by a 1.5 pound device with all the required texts loaded on it.

iBooks will be a decent success partly for novelty and partly for the fact that the demographic that is buying the iPad is more likely to look past the limitations of e-books and appreciate the convenience.

The real revolution will come when textbooks with visually complex layouts like sidebars, graphs, charts, footnotes, are made available. I suspect that it will not happen in the current ePub format though.

Before Steve Jobs moved into the details of iPhone OS 4.0 today, he paused to share some of the positive news about the iPad release from last weekend. Apple sold quite a few iPads on launch day and customers have responded to the device by downloading lots of apps and e-books.

iPad By the Numbers

300,000 iPads were sold on the Saturday and as of today, 450,000 have been sold. For comparison the original iPhone sold 250,000 units on opening weekend in June of 2007. About 1 million units of the iPhone 3G were sold in July 2008 when that revision launched.

The iPad launch compares very well to the original iPhone. The two devices are also close in that they had US-only launches and really mapped out a new category for Apple. The comparison to the 3G launch will only be interesting when the next revision of the iPad is launched simultaneously in several countries.

iPad Apps

Customers were also quick to embrace iPad specific apps and books. About 1 million iPad apps were downloaded on the first day. 3.5 million have been downloaded through today (about 7.8 apps per iPad). This number is a bit higher than I expected. Every iPad is prompted to download iBooks, so that bumps the number a bit.

I wonder if Apple is including Universal Apps (contains both iPhone and iPad binaries) that iPhone users have downloaded but have not installed on an iPad. Technically, I am not sure there is a way for Apple to distinguish when a user downloads an app with iTunes so I suspect these numbers are artificially inflated by iBooks and Universal apps.

iBooks

Books have also been a big success. 250,000 books were downloaded on the first day, and 600,000 books (1.3 books per iPad) have been downloaded through today. If the bundled Winnie the Pooh book is included in those numbers, it is less impressive. Since Winnie the Pooh is not actually downloaded, I would guess that these numbers represent additional books downloaded through the store, but the other caveat would be the free samples for paid books. Those might bump the numbers slightly. With all the free books available through the Gutenberg Project I would have expected a higher number per iPad.

I know I have downloaded 6 books myself (2 paid). It would be really interesting to see the usage patterns here. I suspect that there is a small number of people that have downloaded 5-10 books and a large number that has not downloaded any.

While some of the usage numbers for downloads are a bit of a mixed bag, the number of iPads sold is impressive, especially for a new device category. I suspect that the iBooks downloaded will increase even further as iPhone users pick up the app in iPhone OS 4.0.

Well, unfortunately Apple got my shipping address mixed up with David Pogue’s again and I did not get an iPad to review early. Fortunately, Pogue, Andy Ihnatko, Walt Mossberg and a lucky few others were able to talk about their experiences with the iPad starting today and there are several reviews across the web to whet your appetite for all things iPad. Here is an overview of all the lucky bums that were on Uncle Steve’s “good list” this year.

New York Times

David Pogue of the New York Times wrote his review from two angles: one for the Techie crowd, one for everyone else. Even if you feel you belong firmly in one camp or the other, it will be worth your time to read both parts of the article.

“For most people, manipulating these digital materials directly by touching them is a completely new experience — and a deeply satisfying one.”

Dislikes: The onscreen keyboard is a “horrible experience” and “barely usable” (Note: not everyone hates the onscreen keyboard).

Chicago Sun-Times

Andy Ihnatko covers technology for the Chicago Sun-Times. One interesting bit from the end of his article is that he chose to cover tech instead of movies almost exactly 10 years ago. He says the iPad proves he chose the more interesting topic. Andy also revealed his iPad live on TWiT and has also posted an unboxing video to YouTube.

“In fact, after a week with the iPad, I’m suddenly wondering if any other company is as committed to invention as Apple.”

Dislikes: The iPad is “not a replacement” for a computer.

Wall Street Journal

Walt Mossberg wrote his review for the Wall Street Journal and focused a bit of time discussing if the iPad could replace a laptop.

“It’s qualitatively different, a whole new type of computer that, through a simple interface, can run more-sophisticated, PC-like software than a phone does, and whose large screen allows much more functionality when compared with a phone’s.”

Dislikes: Limited email and web browser apps.

Houston Chronicle

Bob ” Dr. Mac” LeVitus writes for the Houston Chronicle and generally gushes over how great the iPad is.

“Speaking of my wife, prior to our iPad’s arrival she said she didn’t understand why anyone would want or need an iPad. Now she just keeps saying, ‘No, you can’t have it back.’”

Dislikes: Not much negative in the article, but he dislikes how he can’t get it back from his wife.

Time Magazine

Stephen Fry wrote the cover feature for Time Magazine, an interview with Steve Jobs about the iPad and Apple. While the article holds back from criticizing anything Apple, I did find the quotes from Jobs and designer Jonathan Ives worth the read.

“When I switch [the iPad] on, a little sigh escapes me as the screen lights up. Ten minutes later I am rolling on the floor, snarling and biting, trying to wrestle it from the hands of an Apple press representative”

Dislikes: Hard to find anything, but here’s a stretch — “…with the release of the iPad, Apple is an overdog for the first time. The smell of backlash is in the air.”

BoingBoing

Xeni Jardin wrote a “first look” piece for BoingBoing that gives us some details on “The Elements” app that was pre-installed on all the review units. There is some good advice about JQuery performance on the iPad too.

“The Elements on iPad is not a game, not an app, not a TV show. It’s a book. But it’s Harry Potter’s book. This is the version you check out from the Hogwarts library. Everything in it is alive in some way.”

Dislikes: Can’t imagine doing lots of heavy text input on the iPad

PC Mag

Tim Gideon wrote a lengthy review for PC Mag. There’s lot of good details in here and some light testing with Exchange and other features that some will be interested to read.

“The built-in speaker surprised me—not with its excellent quality, but with its ability to get fairly loud and not sound horrifyingly awful.”

Dislikes: The iPad is an extra device that is not a full-fledged laptop.

USA Today

Edward C. Baig got a chance to write down his impressions for USA Today. His view is mostly favorable and the article covers the basics.

“Apple expects more than 1,000 iPad-specific apps to be available at launch.”

Dislikes: The video controls are buried in settings.

More From Around the Web

• Apple has put up a page of iPad ready web sites
• ABCNews posted a video sneak peek of the iPad.
• AppAdvice has a preview of the iPad App Store
• Our own coverage at GigaOM Pro (sub req’d)

Know of any others that we may have missed?

Just days before the iPad lands in our hands, Apple has updated iTunes to version 9.1 so that we can sync content onto the new device just as soon as we post our unboxing photos to Twitter. iTunes 9.1 provides the ability to sync books from the iBooks app and adds some improvements for managing Genius Mixes. The update is available in Software Update, but details have not been posted online at this time.

Genius Mixes can now be rearranged, renamed or removed. You can rearrange Mixes with click-and-drag.

And Mixes can be removed by right-clicking and choosing “Remove Mix” or using the “delete” key. If you accidentally remove a Mix, you can “Restore All Mixes” by right-clicking on Genius Mixes in the lefthand source list or on the background.

To rename a Genius Mix, click directly on the title. As seen below, use the Esc key to cancel editing and revert to the original title.

The iBookstore is not yet available in the iTunes Store, but Audiobooks are now found under “Books” in your library and we have to assume that this is where you will manage iBooks content as well. It might be of interest to some that the iBooks app appears to be the first app in the App Store (as opposed to the apps that are built-in to the firmware releases) that will sync content with iTunes directly. I know a number of developers that would love to have USB-syncing of content for their own apps, but I suspect that this feature is restricted to Apple’s iBooks at the moment.

It is possible, but pure speculation on my part, that the filesharing settings that have been spied in the iPad might open up a standard method of syncing content between computer and iPad. If so, we can only hope that this feature will be brought to the iPhone in a 4.0 release.

Some cosmetic changes were made to the Advanced tab of the iTunes Preferences window to include iPad among its more diminutive counterparts. Of course, seeing “iPad Remote” immediately makes me dream of a new Universal App release that utilizes the bigger display for an even better iTunes/Apple TV remote.