» Use what works
Tom Harrington:
Users hear about how great iCloud is and how apps can use it to sync their own data. They quite reasonably wonder why your app isn’t using it. Syncing data is a great idea, Apple gives you iCloud, why aren’t you using it, dammit? But if you did use it, the app would be so unreliable that users would (again, quite reasonably) complain that it was a steaming pile of shit.
(Via Brent Simmons.) Harrington would certainly know much better than I would, but I’m surprised that users would ask for a particular underlying technology for syncing. Personally, I just want it work. So, currently, I’d prefer developers not use iCloud.
ADDED: Chris Pepper points out it’s the credentialing that people like. Everyone’s already going to have an iCloud account as opposed to Dropbox or something else. That makes sense. If only it worked.
» How Far is it to Mars?
Filed under fun and educational uses of CSS and JavaScript.
(Via Kevin Nguyen.)
» Short answer: No. Long answer: Nooooo.
Writing for PC Magazine, Tim Bajarin looks at the question of our time: Is Apple doomed?
Considering these facts, it should be clear to those on Wall Street that Apple’s strategy is to look at a product, identify its flaws and potential, and then reinvent it by making it smarter, sleeker, and more user-friendly.
There are some smart people on Wall Street. There are also the people who helped plunge this country into the worst financial crisis in a generation. So, you know…
The iPad reckoning
It’s the iPad’s third anniversary and IT’S TIME FOR SOME PAYBACK! TUAW looks back at those who were oh, so very wrong about the iPad.
Truth be told, I thought the iPad would sell like the proverbial breakfast cakes that are also flat but didn’t expect it to be the hit it turned out to be. I should have known better, though, because I hardly ever saw our first iPad. My son, naturally, took to it like a kid to an electronic device that you can download games to. My wife was recovering from a surgery that following week and lay on the couch with it for hours watching documentaries. Six months later I gave in to the realization that “my” iPad was the family iPad and bought myself another. I have a feeling that wasn’t an uncommon experience.
We still have that unit, it still works and it still doesn’t run Flash. It does seem a little long in the tooth now since it won’t run iOS 6, but I don’t think I’ve ever gotten as much use out of a $500 computer.
» Physically big, not market-share big
Flurry says phablets don’t make up a significant portion of the installed base of smartphones yet.
Phablets appear to make up an insignificant part of the device installed base, and do not show disproportionally high enough app usage to justify support.
Appropriate caveat: Flurry can only check devices running apps that use their analytics service. So maybe phablet users are huge into apps that don’t use Flurry’s analytics. And you should know that I am linking to this because it backs up my preconceived notions, by which I mean my back-of-the-envelope estimates of Galaxy Note sales.
Also, as long as we’re doing full disclosure, I hate the name “phablet” with a fiery passion.
» Only Apple
Brian S. Hall at Techpinions asks Apple to fix texting while driving:
Yes, it’s easy to claim that people’s foolish behavior is in no way Apple’s fault. Probably, you are right. I don’t care. I hold Apple to a higher standard.
I’m all for expecting more from Apple and texting while driving is one of my big pet peeves, but I don’t understand why we can’t expect more from Google and Microsoft at the same time. We’re constantly told how Android is “winning”, but it’s apparently not winning enough to have any responsibility.
» Sponsor: Shopster
My thanks to Shopster for sponsoring the Very Nice Web Site RSS feed this week.
Shopster is a new kind of groceries list app that learns what you purchase and where, so it can remind you later on.
Whenever you check an item as purchased, Shopster learns the location where you got it. The next time you look for the same thing, a geofenced alarm will be triggered when you are near the location.
Features:
– Autolearning of locations when checking items as purchased.
– Geofenced reminders for your products, based on your prior buying history.
– In-place editing table, for quick corrections and editions.
– Unique ruler to quickly enter the number of items you need to buy.
– Smart autocomplete, to assist you entering frequently purchased products, based on your previous history.
– Reorder items with a simple tap and hold.
Check out Shopster on the AppStore, it’s only $0.99
» Why, indeed
Julian Lepinski is right. This copy on Apple’s “Why iPad?” page is terrible.
iPad comes in two sizes. Each with a display that’s beautiful in its own right. The iPad with Retina display packs 3.1 million pixels into a mere 9.7 inches of screen. Which means your eye can’t distinguish individual pixels, and everything you see looks incredibly crisp and lifelike. While the iPad mini display is bright and vivid, and a perfect canvas for all the apps made for iPad.
It’s not easy to say “One has an amazing screen, the other has a pretty good screen”, but this reads like a Google translation.
» The ‘open door’ analogies just write themselves
The Verge’s Tim Carmody lays Apple’s security problem bare and no one but Apple is responsible for the “open door” analogies:
There’s nothing sexy about securing these systems. None of them contribute directly to Apple’s bottom line. And when it came to securing a business netting it an estimated $2 billion each year, Apple locked the screen door and left the front door open, without asking anyone else to check that the house was safe.
The amount of stuff that’s connected to your Apple ID is amazing and I’m surprised that a major intrusion hasn’t happened already. Apple’s made a lot of progress in securing OS X, but it still fumbles these issues badly.
(On an unrelated note, I’m baffled by the number of over-used security-related stock photos The Verge uses in this piece. It truthfully makes it harder to read, provides absolutely nothing and actually detracts from the seriousness of the story because I’ve seen the same damn stock photos on a dozen other security stories of late.)
» Kirk versus the Gorn, the rematch
I would watch a Kirk and Gorn buddy comedy. I’m not proud of that, but I would.
(Via Dan Moren)