Who here is going to install a mac into their car?

**jpelzer** · 01-19-2005, 05:06 PM

It's good advice to not reinvent the wheel, however cliche that phrase may be. But I'm pretty sure all or nearly all of the PC frontends are actually scripting other media applications: Frodo embeds Windows Media Player for audio and video, visualizations, etc. Some other apps have embedded WinAmp. So being able to use other apps to handle the heavy lifting isn't really a new concept.

It really seems the only thing holding back a good Mac frontend is the lack of navigation software. That's a deal-breaker for me, but I have no special allegience to Windows, so if one comes along, color me a Mac fanboy.

Originally Posted by gork

Seriously, though, to you app writers out there, please consider implementing your apps as extensions of existing and typical mac apps.. Ie if you are going to do a music player, do it through iTunes; if you are doing a photo viewer, do it through iPhoto; if you are doing a movie player do it through quicktime player... All of apple's apps are scriptable for a reason! Please take advantage of it. One of the most ridiculous things about all the various car-frontends for the PC's is how they all have to reinvent the wheel to do simple things like play MP3's. Part of this is because there isn't a consistantly accessible API to control any of the popular windows media *applications* but at any rate the result is the same -- forward progress is slow in these apps and they end up getting very complicated very quickly.

**thecapitalizt** · 01-19-2005, 09:34 PM

I'm loading in a copy of Route 66 this weekend to see if its applescriptable. But yes virginia, there is nav for OS X.

**kandyman676** · 01-20-2005, 10:34 PM

I just got my iBook in the mail today from eBay. I was *really* impressed in the startup/shutdown time it had. Actually, I am posting from it with Firefox (don't like Safari) :-)

It is taking alittle bit to get use to, but everything works as it should. They definitely have cleaned up the interface since I used Mac OS 7 back in 2000 when I use to be a tech/web programmer for a small print/web design firm.

I also just got two out of three OS X development books in the mail...one on Cocoa "recipes", another with objective-C with cocoa, and an intro book still coming in the mail.