[Now that’s what I call usability][link].
[link]: https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/17/16161758/ios-11-touch-id-disable-emergency-services-lock “iOS 11 has a ‘cop button’ to temporarily disable Touch ID – The Verge”
Tag: apple
[Straight from the Apple’s mouth.][link] It’s already in the Safari betas! This is great news. I’ve been using DuckDuckGo as my search provider for awhile now, and their new design is the bees knees.
Unlike some other search engines they aren’t in the business of selling your personal data.
[link]: https://duck.co/blog/safari “DuckDuckGo in Safari”
Kevin,
You recently declared “[consumers want rectangles][con].” and I’m glad you finally figured out that [Round Rects Are Everywhere][folk], only 31 years after Apple did.
It’s good that your knockoff hardware designs are based on more recent stuff, like the iPhone. Maybe if you browse [Folklore.org][lore] a little, you’ll find some more insights that you can shamelessly pretend are your own.
xo,
Phil
[con]: http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/30/3204611/samsung-apple-patent-trial-rectangle-design-kevin-packingham “Samsung product development chief on Apple patent trial: ‘consumers want rectangles'”
[folk]: http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Round_Rects_Are_Everywhere.txt “Round Rects are Everywhere”
[lore]: http://folklore.org “Folklore”
[The image-set() function][link], which was submitted to the css4-images public mailing list earlier this year.
[link]: http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2012Feb/1103.html “[css4-images] The image-set() function (for responsive images) from Edward O'Connor on 2012-02-22 (www-style@w3.org from February 2012)”
Categories
OS X Mountain Lion
[Apple announces the next major version of Mac Oh Es Ten, code-named Mountain Lion][link]. Among the features interesting to me:
* Messages, which I assume is the replacement for iChat, and integrates with iMessage on iOS.
* Flickr sharing inside the OS via the new “Share Sheets” feature.
* Notification Center, which is the Growl-killer we’ve all been expecting for some years now.
Full list of stuff at the [Mac OS X Lion Features page][feat].
[link]: http://www.apple.com/macosx/mountain-lion/ “Apple – OS X Mountain Lion. Innovation comes back to the Mac.”
[feat]: http://www.apple.com/macosx/mountain-lion/features.html “Mac OS X Lion Features”
[Comedian Louis C.K.][link]:
>The next Steve Jobs will totally be a chick, because girls are No. 2–and No. 2 always wins in America. Apple was a No. 2 company for years, and Apple embodies a lot of what have been defined as feminine traits: an emphasis on intuitive design, intellect, a strong sense of creativity, and that striving to always make the greatest version of something. Traditionally, men are more like Microsoft, where they’ll just make a fake version of what that chick made, then beat the shit out of her and try to intimidate everybody into using their product.
I agree, except she won’t be the next Steve Jobs. She’ll be the first and only whoever she is. via [Daring Fireball][df].
[link]: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/161/louis-ck-on-female-culture “Louis C.K.: The Next Steve Jobs Will Be A Chick | Fast Company”
[df]: http://daringfireball.net “Daring Fireball”
Categories
How to bring good design to a platform
[Marco Arment is, once again, on point][link]. One of the largest problems with Android is the same problem Windows has had since its launch: The lack of attention to detail, nuance, and usability focus in the built-in applications and OS make developers feel like they can be lazy.
Based on my experience with the Android market 90% of all Android apps would absolutely not make the App Store, much less sell many copies.
[link]: http://www.marco.org/2011/10/20/how-to-bring-good-design-to-a-platform “How to bring good design to a platform – Marco.org”
[The resignation of Steve Jobs from his post as CEO of Apple, Inc.][link] today was not surprising, but to me it was still shocking. The writing had been on the wall, but as [John Gruber said][john]: “I saw that headline and my nervous system took a jolt.”
[link]: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/08/24Letter-from-Steve-Jobs.html “Letter from Steve Jobs”
[john]: http://daringfireball.net/2011/08/resigned “John Gruber”
Yeah.
There is no one person whose hands have taken to the work of shaping the 21st century in the Western world more than Steven Paul Jobs. [The son of a Syrian Muslim, born in San Francisco while his father was in the U.S. on a student visa][anil]. The adopted son of an immigrant, a 60s radical, and finally, the king of Silicon Valley. The American Dream in action. He is without question the most *successful* CEO of his time. Loved for his work, and hated for the devotion it inspired in the people that bought it. There will never be another CEO like Steve Jobs.
[anil]: http://dashes.com/anil/2011/08/what-theyre-protecting-us-from.html “Anil Dash: What They’re Protecting Us From”
He isn’t leaving Apple, he’ll undoubtedly be taken on as the Chairman of the Board, but the landscape has unquestionably changed in a way that is difficult to describe. Many will try. Few will do it well. For my part I will say this: Steve Jobs believed in his work, and had a sense for just what makes a product great that we will likely never see again. There will, inevitably, be men whose accomplishments in this space eclipse his own. But they will not be Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple at the beginning of the 21st Century. I was here, and I know better.
Good luck, Steve.
Categories
Thank You, Steve.
[A tumblr dedicated to showing thanks to Steve Jobs for his work as Apple CEO][link]. Now accepting submissions.
[link]: http://thankyousteve.tumblr.com/ “Thank You, Steve.”
[Serenity Caldwell for Macworld][link]:
>The cat’s out of the bag: During Apple’s third-quarter financial earnings call Tuesday, chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer announced that Lion would debut Wednesday on the Mac App Store. The OS update will cost $30.
Really looking forward to this. [See what is coming on Apple’s Lion info page][lion].
[link]: http://www.macworld.com/article/161215/2011/07/lion_ships_wednesday.html “Lion will ship Wednesday on the Mac App Store | Operating Systems | Macworld”
[lion]: http://www.apple.com/macosx/ “Apple | Mac OS X”
Categories
Original iPod vs iPhone 4
[Steven Frank compares the granddaddy of them all to the new kid][link]. Aside from the fact that the original iPod is about 2.5 times thicker than the iPhone 4, what stands out to me is that the faces are exactly the same size. Very Apple.
[link]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenf/5710076529/in/photostream/ “Original iPod vs iPhone 4 | Flickr – Photo Sharing!”
Categories
Nintendo To Hobbyist Developers: No Thanks
[Reggie Fils-Aime:][link]
>”I would separate out the true independent developer vs. the hobbyist,” says Fils Aime. “We are absolutely reaching out to the independent developer.”
>
>”Where we’ve drawn the line is we are not looking to do business today with the garage developer. In our view, that’s not a business we want to pursue.”
Small developer shops are only ever going to be able to do more and better things. Tiny Wings would make a lovely 3DS game, but we’ll probably never see it. Nintendo’s dogged insistence on sticking with their old ways of dealing with developer licenses is only helping iOS.
The way Nintendo interacts with licensees hasn’t changed in 20 years. It’s going to have to, and sooner than they think.
[link]: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/33595/Interview_Reggie_FilsAime_On_Garage_Devs_And_The_Value_Of_Software.php “Gamasutra – News – Interview: Reggie Fils-Aime On Garage Devs And The Value Of Software”
[Too many good points to quote, just do yourself a favor and read it.][link]
[link]: http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2010/10/24/lion/ “ignore the code: Lion”
Categories
Spinner Rage
Panic, purveyors of fine Macintosh softwares, [provide a free fix to the nightmare that is Ajaxload.info’s OSX-type spinner][link].
[link]: http://www.panic.com/blog/2010/10/spinner-rage/ “Panic Blog » Spinner Rage”
Categories
Fighting The Wrong Fight
[Excellent piece by Elia Freedman][link]:
>We have been distracted by ridiculous arguments and fabricated “wars” for too long. We have been distracted by thinking that Google is Microsoft and Apple is Apple in a doomed fight already fought 20 years ago.
>
>But that is not the fight we should be caring about at all. The fight we should be talking about, but aren’t, is the fight between mobile device makers and the carriers. This is the only real fight that matters.
[link]: http://eliainsider.com/2010/09/14/fighting-the-wrong-fight/ “Fighting The Wrong Fight « Elia Insider”
Categories
Amateur Hour
[Jesper of Waffle Software on the new, published, App Store rules][link]:
>[…] I don’t think it’s unfair for Apple to have a list of the applications produced for its platform that it believes is decent and upstanding, and which it is proud to be associated with. *I just don’t think that that list should be the same as the list of all applications that can run, ever.* I honestly think that even my detractors will concede this as a fair point.
I’m constantly surprised, myself, how many people still don’t see this as a *problem*. Is Apple totally within their rights to arbitrarily block apps? Yep. Nobody I know is arguing they shouldn’t be allowed to. However, **it is troubling to me that they would want to**. A dick move is a dick move is a dick move.
[link]: http://waffle.wootest.net/2010/09/09/amateur-hour/ “waffle → Amateur Hour”
### iPod Touch
[Wrong on the capacity, it tops out at 64gb. Right about FaceTime cameras and everything else][touch]. This one was a gimme. If you look at [the Apple Store][classic] you will see that, despite it’s absence from the Keynote, they still sell iPod Classics with 160gb hard drives. It’s just a matter of time, though. I don’t think Apple is THAT sentimental. Apparently the Classic does serves a market big enough to keep it around for now. My guess? They won’t bury it on stage [like they did Mac OS9][os9].
[classic]: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/ipod_classic “iPod Classic”
[touch]: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/ipod_touch “iPod Touch”
[os9]: http://www.macworld.com/article/1445/2002/05/06wwdc.html “OS 9 is dead, long live OS X”
### iPod Shuffle & Nano
Wrong and extra wrong. Not only is the shuffle still around, but they added the buttons back. It’s a fine gateway drug into the world of Apple/iTunes at the $49 price point. The Nano sticks at $149, loses it’s hardware buttons, loses the camera, and gains a multitouch display. It looks like it lost the ability to play video, too. The Nano replacing the shuffle was by far the wackiest of my predictions. No surprises.
### AppleTV
Wrong about switching the name of iTV, and glad to be wrong. Wrong about announcing a developer program. It does run iOS, though. Right about $0.99 TV show rentals (streaming, no less!).
### Other
Right about streaming content to iOS devices to AppleTV.
Predictions are a lot less fun once you know the truth.
I agree with almost everything [Jesper of Waffle Software][link] has said on his blog in the past. This is no different.
* Huge capacity iPod Touch (128gb?) with FaceTime-enabled cameras, iPhone 4 guts, and Retina.
* Goodbye iPod Classic.
* The Shuffle goes away, and in it’s place there is now an iPod Nano at the $99 price point, right in between the old Shuffle ($49) and the current Nano ($149). I doubt Steve will actually kill the Shuffle on stage, but it will quietly be taken off the store, lead to a remote field and abandoned to rot with its ancestors.
* Newly-christened iTV Developer Program
* TV Show Rentals for $0.99
* Wifi Syncing for iOS devices
* Streaming content from the iTunes Store (like, say, the aforementioned TV rentals.)
I’m not super sure about the Shuffle. The $49 price point is part of why the Shuffle exists in the first place, but I don’t know a single person who owns one. The primary market seems to be children whose parents wish to reward for less than $100, or people who work out and are afraid of breaking their iPod Touch or Nano. The price point is hard to argue with , though, as a gateway to the larger (more expensive) Apple ecosystem.
Wouldn’t it be something if the Nano got Facetime?
[link]: http://waffle.wootest.net/2010/08/29/forecasting-the-first/ “Waffle: Forecasting The First”
Categories
Netflix App now available For iOS
[For the price of an $8.99/month Netflix account, you can now carry the service in your pocket.][link] If you’re in the US, that is.
[link]: http://blog.netflix.com/2010/08/netflix-now-available-on-your-iphone.html “The Official Netflix Blog: Netflix now available on your iPhone and iPod touch”
**Google**: Makes money by selling ads. Has a [smartphone OS][android] that helps them sell ads on search results, apps, etc. Upset with Apple’s foray into advertising. Starting to feel the pinch of a possible iPhone for Verizon, their most visible Android partner.
[android]: http://www.android.com/ “Android”
**Verizon**: Makes money by selling bits. Sells dozens of phones with dozens of different operating systems from dozens of different manufacturers. Has [sunk some money into Droid][droid], but isn’t married to the platform. Will go with whichever benefits their bottom line most.
[droid]: http://www.droiddoes.com/ “Droid Does”
**Apple**: Makes money [selling software][ios], and [some bits][bits]. Just got into the ad space with [iAds][iads]. Their iPhone sells its own bits and sells its own ads. Doesn’t like making concessions to wireless carriers, and will call them out in public. If they launch a version of their iPhone for Verizon, Verizon isn’t likely to get a cut of their App, Music, Video, or Ad market. Those are all bits that Verizon wants to charge extra for.
[iads]: http://advertising.apple.com/ “iAds”
[ios]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_(Apple) “iOS”
[bits]: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/07/20results.html “Apple 3rd quarter Results”
**[iTunes Cloud][cloud]**: Live streaming of a user’s purchased iTunes tracks to any supported device. Only likely supported phone platform? iOS, the iPhone’s operating system. No phone carrier is going to get a cut of tracks purchased for this service.
[cloud]: http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/07/01/exclusive-apple-itunes-in-the-cloud-definitely-happening-soon-wireless-syncing/ “iTunes Cloud rumor”
**[Net Neutrality][netneut]**: Means that carriers aren’t allowed to slow down certain kinds of internet traffic to help their business goals. Means that iTunes Cloud can stream as many tracks as the user is willing to buy bandwidth for. Means Verizon doesn’t get a cut aside from their 3G bandwidth spectrum pricing, which is getting cheaper all the time despite their (recent) complaining about capacity problems.
[netneut]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_neutrality “Network Neutrality on Wikipedia”
**Dots**: [Partially connected][goog].
[goog]: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/08/joint-policy-proposal-for-open-internet.html “A joint policy proposal for an open Internet”