May 31st Me Looks Like an Asshole ⇥ nickheer.com

Yours truly:

As the Brownlee article notes, it simply isn’t necessary for such a vast number of pixels to give the illusion of solid curves at the typical viewing distance of desktop or laptop displays. Furthermore, such an increase in pixels will have a significant effect on battery life. An increase in pixel density represents a decrease in the amount of light that will pass through any given physical area, which means a corresponding increase in the amount of backlighting is necessary. This is why the new iPad has a battery with a capacity nearly 70% greater than that of its predecessors’.

A 2,880 by 1,800 pixel MacBook would be incredible, though, wouldn’t it?

Indeed it is incredible. I take comfort knowing that what I said was technically true: the battery did have to be massively increased, and the doubled resolution wasn’t exactly necessary for a Retina display, mathematically speaking. I’m rarely this happy to be wrong.

The December 5th, 2011 me, on the other hand, looks smart and observant:

Apple has a really great grip on what makes for a superb user interface. It’s rare for them to mess up, especially in a way that mars usability. I feel that the “Store” button in iOS 5′s Music application is an egregious example of one of these rare screw-ups. […]

It has a high potential to be accidentally activated, it momentarily confuses the user in the event of an accidental selection and generally impairs usability.

I can happily report that this problem has been addressed in iOS 6. Tapping the Store button after navigating back through the screens of the Music app (for instance, returning to the list of artists from the Now Playing screen) does not send the user to the iTunes Store due to the inclusion of a delay. It takes a deliberate, longer tap.