Jonny Evans

Apple Holic

WWDC 2011: Apple focus turns to OS X 10.7

TAGS:AAPL, Apple, IOS, iPhone, Mac, Mac OS, Mac OS X, Mac OS X 10.7, OS X, wwdc
IT TOPICS:Applications, Cloud Computing, Emerging Technology, Internet, Macintosh, Macs & PCs, Mobile, Operating Systems

If you are a regular reader, you'll know I've been going on about user interfaces, the fact that the Mac is far from dead and Apple's gradual move to bring touch to the desktop (which it has with its Magic Trackpad, released this week).

Apple is involved in complex competition with so many other firms in tech today that it is focusing on its central DNA -- the capacity to innovate into futures others haven't seen yet. The company has some very, very clever people working at it -- which isn't to say its competitors don't...

[This story is from the new Apple Holic blog at Computerworld. Subscribe via RSS to make sure you don't miss a beat.]

This morning I note a fascinating job description posted on the Apple website which calls out for a skilled senior software engineer to join the team that is secretly crafting the very future of Mac OS X.

More than this, the job applicant will be part of a team destined to "build a new and revolutionary feature for Mac OS X".

Here's Apple's ad (in full), followed by a quick deconstruction:

Are you looking to help create something totally new? Something that has never been done before and will truly amaze everyone? Are you excited by the prospect that what you helped create would be used every day by millions of Apple customers? Then come and work on with the Mac OS X software engineering team to help build a new and revolutionary feature for Mac OS X.

We are looking for a senior software engineer to help us create a revolutionary new feature in the very foundations of Mac OS X. We have something truly revolutionary and really exciting in progress and it is going to require your most creative and focused efforts ever.

An ideal candidate will have a degree in Computer Science (or equivalent), five years of professional experience developing C / C++ / Objective-C libraries or frameworks for use on end user systems, experience with developing for Internet technologies and services, and a passion for doing "really hard" things that have never been done before.

An exceptional candidate will also have up close and personal experience with the HTTP protocol as well as other protocols layered atop it, have participated in or lead the architecture of large web scale systems, have shipped multiple "platforms" for use by millions of users.

Deconstruction:

The first paragraph confirms:

That the new feature will be system-wide
That the new feature will be within the user interface itself -- how else can Apple be so certain it will be used every day by millions of users?

The second paragraph confirms:

Revolutionary is Apple's buzzword for its most advanced and important products. At present, touch and iOS are the most revolutionary of these. This is not to say the revolution will not be mobilized -- there could be another circulation waiting in the wings -- but its a fairly good bet we're looking at the mythical iOS integration (do it as a dashboard widget and work from there).
Whatever it is, it isn't finished yet. It could fly in all manner of directions. Nothing is (yet) set in stone.
Apple needing more staff for this also suggests the budget has been freed-up for 10.7 development, suggesting too that the company is on a deadline for this. I'd advance WWDC 2011 as a very big upcoming deal as a result.

The third paragraph confirms:

Apple wants a genius with extensive technical skills. Whoever fits this bill will have a chance to create something utterly new. Very exciting. Not sure what else to say.

The fourth paragraph confirms:

Google Chrome is not going to be the only HTTP/Internet-compliant platform.

I'd advance the suggestion that Apple is prepared right now to invest every ounce of company muscle, intellect, invention and clout in order to ensure that ally-now-rival Google can never claim to innovate ahead of industry trends again.

This battle will get bloody, but will see new paradigms in technology advance at a rate that will make all previous fast advances seem sedentary in comparison.

Will we be able to keep up?

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What People Are Saying

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Revolutionary?

Submitted by Rabid Howler Monkey on July 30, 2010 - 10:48 A.M.

Maybe for Mac OS X.

Both HP, with their TouchSmart, and Panasonic, with their Toughbook, lines of PCs are already supporting touch. Maybe Apple just needs to have a headhunter make cold calls to HP and Panasonic staffers involved with touch.

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Wrong

Submitted by Anonymous on July 31, 2010 - 2:54 A.M.

HP touchsmart is just a shell with point and push no depth and no multi touch.

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That's really very funny. If

Submitted by melgross on July 30, 2010 - 11:25 P.M.

That's really very funny. If Hp and Panasonic had people at the high position that this requires, with the knowledge and skills, along with some imagination at top management positions, they would already have come up with something "revolutionary". But they are both staid companies, who have not innovated in quite a few years, and aren't likely to do much now, esp. Panasonic. Hp has a slight chance with WebOS, if they can figure out how to fix it.

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"... in the very foundations

Submitted by The Cappy on July 30, 2010 - 9:01 A.M.

"... in the very foundations of Mac OS X..." would suggest that it's NOT in the user interface. It's probably in NSFoundation. Get it?

And I agree with the earlier poster that the HTTP remark plus that big data center are related. What that means is still up for grabs, though. Cloud maybe. But there's too many ways the mind can go with that. Don't get too married to any one of them.

The other poster's remark that it's not for 10.7 is very interesting and hadn't occurred to me. May be right. But they mention the project is already underway. They need more bodies (or they're hitting snags). With that in mind, it might get pushed to 10.8 even if it's intended for 10.7.

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This isn't for 10.7, the

Submitted by Anonymous on July 30, 2010 - 7:39 A.M.

This isn't for 10.7, the development for 10.7 is well underway by now. I reckon that a major change like this will be for OSXI

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Cloud

Submitted by Alexandre Strube on July 30, 2010 - 7:03 A.M.

Are people blind?

Fact: they are building a billion-dollar data center somewhere

Fact: everything seems to be moving to the cloud.

Now read this again in this view:

"An exceptional candidate will also have up close and personal experience with the HTTP protocol as well as other protocols layered atop it, have participated in or lead the architecture of large web scale systems, have shipped multiple "platforms" for use by millions of users."

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And Html5

Submitted by jjrio on July 30, 2010 - 10:18 A.M.

I think HTML5 will have a major role in this new UI.

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Hmm...

Submitted by THE Anonymous on July 30, 2010 - 9:39 A.M.

I wonder whether there might be some way to use touch-based gestures directly in the cloud, instead of just on the local machine? Now *that* would be something.

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