Month: November 2011

5 Problems with Gmail’s New Design ⇥

Joe Brockmeier:

Reasonable people can disagree on what makes for an improvement in a user interface, but adding more steps to typical user actions is rarely seen as an improvement.

But that’s exactly what the new theme for Gmail does.

Some guy named Steve Jobs, eight years ago:

Design is how it works.

This is an extremely difficult concept to understand, and even more challenging to successfully implement. Apple doesn’t have a perfect track record (no company does, or can), but Google seems to have the opposite idea of what design should do. It’s fine to disagree with certain philosophies and try something new, but at the end of the day, the new UI has to function better than the old one. Google’s recent rollout of similar redesigns fails at this basic principle.

I’m Still Not Convinced ⇥

The Galaxy Tab 8.9 exists in a gadget niche so small we weren’t convinced it needed to exist. Despite that, the thing fills it admirably well. Given the choice between taking along this guy or its bigger sibling we’d almost universally take the 8.9.

The difference between a smartphone and a 7-inch tablet is class-defining. There is also a massive chasm between a 7″ and 10″ tablet — the former is roughly the size of an A5 notebook, and the latter is closer to A4. But the difference between either 7 or 10 inches and 8.9 is marginal. Why bother?

Logitech CEO: Google TV ‘Cost Us Dearly’ ⇥

Dieter Bohn writing for The Verge:

[Logitech CEO Guerrino] De Luca did throw Google a bone by saying that he believes Google TV will have a chance sometime in the future, but it would be a “grandchild of Google TV” that would do it. Logitech clearly has no plans to help make that happen, opting instead to sit “on the bench” (as De Luca had put it in an earlier call) until Google can find success.

That big fuss over Google TV was for nought. Logitech estimated a $100M loss by betting on it. It’s worth noting that Apple hasn’t released sales figures for the Apple TV, but they ostensibly consider it a worthwhile investment, at least enough that they continue to manufacture new models. At any rate, I doubt Apple has lost $100M on their hobby.

Swearing ⇥

Zach Holman:

I’m content with losing a handful of people if that means I connect much stronger with everyone else.

This piece reminds me of one of my favourite quotes of unknown origin:

Profanity is the inevitable linguistic crutch of the inarticulate motherfucker.

The Problem with Siri Downtime ⇥

Ben Brooks:

Siri should tell me from the moment I activate it whether, or not, what I am about to do is going to work. How hard is that?

Apple already has the infrastructure to notify users that Siri is down, in the form of push notifications. Though, to be fair, Apple also (theoretically) has the infrastructure to have no Siri downtime at all, in the form of a big-ass data centre in North Carolina. A keen observer would note that reality rarely matches expectations.

A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design ⇥

Bret Victor:

Is that so bad, to dump the tactile for the visual? Try this: close your eyes and tie your shoelaces. No problem at all, right? Now, how well do you think you could tie your shoes if your arm was asleep? Or even if your fingers were numb? When working with our hands, touch does the driving, and vision helps out from the back seat.

It’s a disconnect between the presentation of expectation, and the reality of the represented objects.

We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Bandwagon ⇥

New releases of Silverlight, Redmond’s big competitor to Flash Player, are reportedly going to be abandoned after the launch of Silverlight 5, expected later this month.

The big difference between Silverlight and Flash is that the former was never really adopted by the mainstream.

Google+ Lost its Chance to Compete With Facebook ⇥

Farhad Manjoo, writing for Slate Magazine:

I know this sounds unfair: Facebook had years to add all the features it has now, so why should we demand that Google create a perfect substitute at launch time? But that’s just the thing—taking on a behemoth like Facebook is an unfair fight.

Precisely. Google can’t expect an incomplete work-in-progress is a competitor to a fully-built worldwide phenomenon. Failing to accommodate major brands and pseudonymous individuals from day one was a mistake. Deleting those profiles and turning them into enemies of their objective was an even bigger mistake.

It’s kind of a shame, since Google executives and project leaders have repeatedly claimed that Google+ is an extension of the company. They claim it augments every feature and service they offer. But it’s as successful as Buzz and Wave, which were just a couple of side projects.

A Flash in the Pan ⇥

Adobe is stopping development on Flash Player for browsers on mobile.

Another Android advantage down the toilet allows me to exercise my knack for horrible puns.

Siri’s Mysterious Blue Underline ⇥

Great article by Corey Woodcox, trying to figure out why Siri thought he was looking for a “gay bar” instead of “Graybar”. Cue rimshot.

[W]hen I touch the blue underline in a text, I get options on a word Siri wasn’t sure about.

I did not realise that Siri commands were editable. This seems like it defeats the point of Siri, but it makes sense as a way to teach Siri your unique inflection.

Color ⇥

Color was launched in March as a sort of Instagram for people around you. It was a laughable idea from the beginning because it never answered the question “why?”. Why would you want to share photos of a party with people at the same party?

At some point recently, Color.com (archived version) changed to the current version, which teases a soon-to-be-released live streaming app that would integrate with Facebook, a la Qik circa 2009.

Color is now video, instead of photos. It now uses Facebook instead of trying to start its own social network. And it now broadcasts worldwide instead of sharing with people next to you. Apparently, this version was previewed a couple of months ago, according to Fast Company:

In late September, around the time of Facebook’s f8 developers conference, [Color founder Bill] Nguyen revealed the all-new Color, an app integrated 100% into the Facebook platform, which also features Peek (now officially called Visit).

Color still hasn’t answered the question “why?”.

Simple ⇥

From their introduction post:

Using Simple, you can make purchases with a Simple Visa card, pay bills, earn interest, set up and track savings goals, and much more. Simple replaces your bank, but we are not a bank. […] We partner with chartered banks that hold your deposits in FDIC-insured products.

This sounds (and looks) very smart, but there is something inherently suspicious about handing over your financial information to a startup. I am rooting for these guys, because they seem to have a great perspective on how banking should work, but there is that slight trepidation that can’t be shook.

Georgia Pro and Verdana Pro ⇥

A version of Verdana I might consider using, and they made Georgia even better, to boot. I think these are fantastic updates, albeit very expensive ones. The base license for a family is $560, plus $560+ per year to use them on the web. Still, if you’re IKEA, this might be a good investment.

What’s the Holdup on iTunes Match? ⇥

John Mello Jr., writing for MacNewsWorld:

What could be a major snag for the service is ironing out the licensing agreements with rights holders to the content in the iTunes store.

Correct. That, and perhaps some identification and bandwidth snags.

“Apple is still struggling with the loss of Steve Jobs,” Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group in San Jose, Calif., told MacNewsWorld.

Oh Rob, you old fool. Do continue (emphasis mine).

“Steve was the guy who forced everybody to hit their dates,” he continued, “so when you remove someone like that, surprise, surprise, they’re missing dates.”

Jackass.

New iOS Code Signing Flaw ⇥

Jake Smith of 9 to 5 Mac:

Security expert Charlie Miller has found a flaw in code signing on iOS devices (via Forbes) that allows developers to sneak malware apps onto the App Store without Apple’s detection. The malware can then be used to read user’s contacts, make the phone vibrate or sound a ringtone, steal user’s photos, and more whenever the developer chooses.

In theory, this shouldn’t happen in a closed ecosystem such as that of the App Store. There have certainly been fewer incidences of malware as compared to a completely unregulated store (virtually none, as a matter of fact), but this is an enormous oversight on Apple’s part.

Enqueue ⇥

Enqueue is a really nice alternative to iTunes if all you’re interested in is a music jukebox. It can import your iTunes library, though it doesn’t appear to truly sync additions, and has integrated Last.fm support. Pleasant little details include fading out music on pause, and fading it back in.

The UI is a little wonky, but all told, it’s an application to keep an eye on.

Comparison of iPhone Low-Light Photography ⇥

Check out the massive improvement simply by adding autofocus in the 3GS, and the surprisingly enormous quality change from the 4 to the 4S. The 4S isn’t quite a point-and-shoot replacement, but in most conditions most of the time, it’s close enough.

The Knife Maker ⇥

You owe it to yourself to watch this short film about a man who makes knives by hand in Brooklyn. The previous film entitled “The Distiller” is also excellent. Both showcase people who are passionate about the things they make by hand, locally and with superlative quality.

(via Minimal Mac)

Mozilla Developers Testing Mobile OS ⇥

Mozilla has been experimenting with an interesting idea called Boot 2 Gecko. Essentially, B2G (as it’s called) is a mobile operating system based on the Web, as opposed to what the project’s wiki calls “proprietary, single-vendor stacks”.

This is an interesting development, but one that I think will be a mistake, and probably won’t achieve mass-adoption. It’s also going to be much slower and much less engaging as a Gecko-based operating system than a native OS would be. Seems weak.