I'll iPhone You.

Andro-what-now?

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:05:00 -0400

On top of what sounds like a dreadfully executed Android device, the aggressive ad campaign from Motorola and AT&T seems to treat it as The Device With an OS That Shall Not Be Named. I haven’t seen Android mentioned at all. If this becomes a trend, it will be detrimental to Android’s future.

Shitty Tech Journalism and Multitasking

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:38:00 -0400

chartier:

Gizmodo thinks WP7’s lack of multitasking, copy-and-paste means that Microsoft is screwing up

The fact that previous generations of Windows Mobile had features like multitasking and copy-and-paste doesn’t have much bearing on Windows Phone 7 Series. As I understand it, WP7 is an entirely new platform written with entirely new code. That Microsoft axed some features for the 1.0 is a breath of fresh air.

It finally made the tough decision that Apple is famous for making with its products. The decision to focus, to line up features on a to-do list and stick to it. Apple sold around, what, 50-60 million iPhones (and a growing number to business customers) before copy-and-paste arrived in 3.0?

The problem with most tech journalism is that it’s really shitty. Gizmodo is ready to write off a device that doesn’t even exist yet over features it probably doesn’t need. Worse still, they seem to have totally missed the fact that Apple managed to sell a shit ton of iPhones without copy and paste, and without letting 3rd party applications run in the background. And really, that’s what they are talking about when they foolishly use the term multitasking. I mean, how exactly do you ‘multitask’ on a device that can only fit one application on its screen?

If a mobile OS gets multitasking right it’s not going to look anything like what we’re used to on a proper computer. I suspect what most people want is a better way to switch between applications. What the Pre does with its card metaphor is quite nice. Combine this with the super-fast application launching on the iPhone 3GS and you are probably pretty close to what most users expect or want.

There are definitely a class of applications that do need to run in the background to work properly. These are usually applications that users don’t need to constantly interact with directly, for example chat clients and music players. More often than not, you don’t even need an entire chat client or music player running in the background to service a user’s needs. People run chat clients in the background because they want to be notified of incoming messages; they run music players in the background because they want to listen to music while doing something else. These sorts of tasks could be supported if Apple let developers run small headless programs (daemons) that their real programs would manage. A simple example: an application like Pandora could start a UI-less music player that would continue to run after the application was closed; It would start the application when the user starts playing a stream, and stop it when the user stops listening. This way all the memory and processing requirements of keeping the full application running could be avoided. The key is to make all of this seamless to the user. In my Pandora example the user never really needs to think about wether anything is running in the background or not. For other applications this isn’t so obvious. The key to getting ‘mutlitasking’ right on the iPhone is to make it as seamless as everything else the iPhone does.

"The ads on the iPad are not going to be annoying interruptions, like they are online and on TV;..."

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:33:37 -0400

“The ads on the iPad are not going to be annoying interruptions, like they are online and on TV; instead, they’re going to be attractive reasons to buy the app in the first place, just as people love to flick through the glossy ads in other Condé publications, or love to stand in front of the huge animated American Eagle billboard in Times Square. From a brand-advertising perspective, the iPad could bring serious high-end ad dollars into the digital realm for the first time.”

- Magazines on the iPad

Felix Salmon discusses the future of magazines on the iPad, with a focus on Wired’s recent announcements about their iPad application. I haven’t subscribed to Wired in a long time, but their iPad application certainly looks tempting. I wonder if they will earn a lot of new readers.

Salmon also discusses the split between Wired.com and Wired magazine. He thinks the split is only going to grow with time, as the website plays second fiddle to the magazine and it’s new digital form.

The Nexus One is now available in Canada.

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:54:00 -0400

The Nexus One is now available in Canada.:

There is now a 3G model that works on networks like AT&T and Rogers.

Articles - The Wikipedia App

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:46:08 -0400

Articles - The Wikipedia App:

Damn this lady knows how to make an iPhone app. I’m grabbing it now. Expect a review in the near future.

Usability Nightmare: The My.SXSW iPhone App

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:22:22 -0400

Usability Nightmare: The My.SXSW iPhone App:

Even if you don’t care about UI design AT ALL you need to read this, because this is hilarious.

1FPS: Questions about an iPad future

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:13:00 -0400

1FPS: Questions about an iPad future:

But how will we get our photos onto the iPad in the first place? How will we create our iPod playlists? How will we print a Pages document? How will we create a backup of all our important photos, media, and documents? How will we wipe our iPad and start with a clean (*snicker*) slate?

This was written several weeks ago, and it’s surprising that basically none of these questions have been answered yet. Although a lot of people see the iPad as the future of computing for their parents or grandparents, as far as I can tell you still need a computer to use it to its full potential. This is definitely true of the iPhone. One thing I find impressive about Android phones is that they are perfectly happy operating all by themselves, without a computer to sync to. Though, I suppose that’s what Google is all about.

"Now, JavaScript is no Cocoa, and CSS is no Core Animation. I’m not saying web apps are peers of..."

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:10:42 -0400

“Now, JavaScript is no Cocoa, and CSS is no Core Animation. I’m not saying web apps are peers of native apps, on any current system. But you know who is saying that? Google.”

- Neven Mrgan’s — Can you write “open” apps for the iPhone?

Oh Snap?! A follow up to the Tim Bray article I linked to earlier.

"The truth is that people don’t buy consumer electronics for the quantity of features. They buy it..."

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:49:19 -0400

“

The truth is that people don’t buy consumer electronics for the quantity of features. They buy it for the quality of experience.

For technical users, having more features means a better experience. So-called power users are harassed and annoyed by limitations, by the inability to do something they want to do. They feel a thrill when they’re empowered to do some useful new thing.

But for most users, having more features degrades experience. People suffer information overload and its ugly cousin, runaway gadget complexity. They’re harassed and annoyed, not by limitations, but by features they can’t find or figure out, and by problems they don’t understand. They feel a thrill when gadgets perform basic tasks without fail or hassle.

”

- Opinion: ‘Less is more,’ the iPad paradox

I think this quote perfectly articulates the divide between differing opinions of the iPad.

One thing to keep in mind: it’s not like the iPad isn’t going to evolve over the new few years. The copy and paste functionality on the iPhone works really well, especially when you compare it to its competitors. The thing is, it didn’t exist when the phone launched. Apple generally doesn’t half-ass things. They have no qualms about leaving a feature behind till it’s ready.

Bant is a Diabetes Monitoring App for the iPhone and iPod Touch

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:02:50 -0400

Bant is a Diabetes Monitoring App for the iPhone and iPod Touch:

Toronto’s University Health Network FTW! It looks to be really well done.

New Phones Still Sold With Old Versions of Android

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:58:49 -0400

New Phones Still Sold With Old Versions of Android

"The iPhone vision of the mobile Internet’s future omits controversy, sex, and freedom, but includes..."

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:40:31 -0400

“

The iPhone vision of the mobile Internet’s future omits controversy, sex, and freedom, but includes strict limits on who can know what and who can say what. It’s a sterile Disney-fied walled garden surrounded by sharp-toothed lawyers. The people who create the apps serve at the landlord’s pleasure and fear his anger.

I hate it.

I hate it even though the iPhone hardware and software are great, because freedom’s not just another word for anything, nor is it an optional ingredient.

The big thing about the Web isn’t the technology, it’s that it’s the first-ever platform without a vendor (credit for first pointing this out goes to Dave Winer). From that follows almost everything that matters, and it matters a lot now, to a huge number of people. It’s the only kind of platform I want to help build.

Apple apparently thinks you can have the benefits of the Internet while at the same time controlling what programs can be run and what parts of the stack can be accessed and what developers can say to each other.

I think they’re wrong and see this job as a chance to help prove it.

”

- Tim Bray is now working at Google on Android.

"The equation is simple. Adobe wants to make money selling tools, so it needs our customers’..."

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:28:01 -0400

“The equation is simple. Adobe wants to make money selling tools, so it needs our customers’ clients to pay for work done with the tools. Clients won’t pay if their customers can’t see the work made with the tools. Therefore customers, clients, and by extension Adobe need a way to see the work, be that videos, interactive pieces, or anything else. Flash has stepped in to fill some gaps heretofore left by other technologies. It is, however, just one possible means to an end—always has been. Adobe will of course continue to invest in making Flash better, and it’ll keep investing in other ways to help creative people reach customer eyeballs. It’s not a zero-sum game.”

- John Nack — Adobe isn’t in the Flash business

Well said. I wonder if the rest of the company is as clued in as he is, though?

Apple’s Spat With Google Is Getting Personal

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:06:34 -0400

Apple’s Spat With Google Is Getting Personal:

It’s strange how much things have changed between the two companies in just 3 years.

Fastest iPhone Typist Damn son. That dude types fast. I’m...

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:13:52 -0400

Fastest iPhone Typist

Damn son. That dude types fast. I’m pretty quick with my iPhone, but this is something else. Maybe I need to turn the key click noises back on?

Andy Ihnatko's Morning Purchases

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:57:10 -0500

Andy Ihnatko's Morning Purchases:

Some advice on which iPad to get, assuming you want to get one.I was planning on grabbing the the 32gig Wi-Fi model. I think the 3G could be handy, but the premium you pay seems high, and I already have an iPhone with an (expensive) data plan.

On needing approval for what we create, and losing control over how it’s distributed

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:54:08 -0500

On needing approval for what we create, and losing control over how it’s distributed:

Ben Fry, the man behind Processing, writes about his disappointment in Apple’s new locked down approach to personal computing. There are lots of obvious and valid critiques of Apple, very well articulated.

The iPad and Mac Development

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:21:53 -0500

The iPad and Mac Development:

This is long, but well worth the read. The developer behind Scriviner articulates some of the disappointment he feels with the release of the iPad. There is too much good stuff to quote, so you should just read it.

Screen Rotation

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:45:30 -0500

The way the iPhone rotates the screen as you change its orientation is pretty neat. The phone doesn’t actually know how you are oriented, only how it is oriented with respect to the ground. Most of the time this doesn’t matter since we are usually sitting or standing when using the device. The whole experience is pretty seamless. However, when you’re lying in bed on your side things get all out of whack, and more than a little annoying: trying to read an email or a web page while the text is rotated 90 degrees gets tiring. Most 3rd party applications I use let you turn screen rotation off, but the fact there is no global way to toggle this on or off seems like an oversight. SBSettings, which you can install if you jailbreak your phone, addresses this problem. Screen Rotation is just another setting you can turn on or off. It’s probably the thing I miss most about my jailbroken phone. The thing is, who wants to jailbreak their phone for a feature Apple should have implemented themselves.

Today reports seem to suggest that Apple is replacing the mute key on the iPad with a screen rotation lock. Hopefully this is a good indication that Apple thinks the device is something people will want to use all sprawled out in bed. If that’s the case, i’m looking forward to getting one even more.

Apple dishes new iPad details on 3G, iBooks, more.

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:55:56 -0500

Apple dishes new iPad details on 3G, iBooks, more.:

MacWorld has a good round up of a lot of the new information to come out today about the iPad. What I’m really excited about is the screen rotation lock.