The Brooks Review

Month: July 2011

  • Reading on the iPad

    A great article by Shawn on the (still) miserable state of magazine apps on the iPad. I subscribe to a bunch of them, but my favorite app to read in is Instapaper — every time. It’s more than the design, it’s the function and the content.

    I know that what’s in Instapaper is something that I want to read — that I chose to read. I know that everything will look great and the same. I know that it will download stupidly fast over 3G and so I never worry about “updating” it before I leave.

    Print is dead, Instapaper is the new print. Shawn seems to want better magazine apps, I just want better integration with Instapaper, let the magazine layout become a novelty.

    Shawn:

    >And while I appreciate the customization and care surrounding each article found in *Wired* or *The New Yorker*, wouldn’t it be something if the magazine industry took a few cues from Instapaper and Reeder?

    Again I subscribe to a ton of magazines, I’d much prefer to just send a few of those magazine articles to Instapaper, because honesty there aren’t any publications left that I find worth reading from cover to cover. I’d argue a smart publisher might find a way to make Instapaper its iPad app. Admittedly, that probably would be too cutting edge for publishers.

  • Patina and Wear

    A Twitter follower sent me a link to this excellent post and does a better job describing what I meant about patina on your gadgets.

    Tom Armitage:

    >Wear is, of course, both a noun and a verb. It’s the verb that inevitably happens through use, and it’s the noun that the verb leaves behind. Patina is the history of a product written into its skin.

    [via Jonas K.]

  • Patina

    At the end of last week Marco Arment [posted a follow-up review on the Smart Cover](http://www.marco.org/2011/07/15/ipad-2-smart-cover-review) for the iPad 2. In it he states:

    >I can’t think of many situations in which a Smart Cover provides enough protection to be worth carrying and using for people who care about the aesthetic condition of their iPad.

    He freely admits that here that he can’t let go of the fact that it is “only the back” of the device that likely will get banged up. I am quite the opposite of Marco when it comes to the Smart Cover — personally I think it is the best device cover you can get right now.

    Yes, it leaves [lines on the screen](https://brooksreview.net/2011/03/smart-covers/). Sure as Marco comments the leather doesn’t feel great. But, from a usability perspective I have never been happier with a case — this coming from someone who [prefers to *not* use a case on things](https://brooksreview.net/2011/05/iphone-case/).

    For me what makes the Smart Cover so good is three things:

    – Screen protection.
    – Easy on and off.
    – You don’t *have* to take it off.

    The auto-unlock is great, but not a deal breaker. With the original iPad I started by using a sleeve, then another sleeve, then the Apple iPad case. Each of those options sucked. The sleeves are nice, but highly inconvenient when you just want to pick up the iPad to look something up. I also found sleeves to be a pain in meetings and coffee shops — where do you store the sleeve when you are using the device? Your bag? Then you need to carry a bag.

    The Apple case for the original iPad solved my quick access problems, but added an ugly and awkward case to the device. The smart cover though easily pops off and folds into a small triangle that looks kinda neat sitting on a desk when not in use. I also could open and remove the smart cover quicker than I could pull my iPad out of a sleeve. I can even put the cover back on in about the same time as it takes to put the iPad back in a sleeve. ((This largely depending on the sleeve of course.))

    For me it comes down to how I use the iPad: I use it regularly and sporadically. Enough so that I find it incredibly annoying to take a sleeve on and off.

    #### Holding

    One complaint of Marco’s that I agree with is that there is not ideal way to hold the iPad with the Smart Cover on. In short spurts this has never bugged me, but when trying to hold the iPad for long periods of time — yeah the cover needs to come off. The beauty is that the Smart Cover is ridiculously easy to take off, so much so I find this hard to complain about.

    #### Protection

    One last thing that Marco mentioned:

    >And not having the back covered means that the iPad 2 can’t share a bag pocket with anything else without a risk of being scratched.

    I get what Marco means here, but my iPad and MacBook Air share the same pocket in my bag (padded laptop area) — everyday. I simply put the iPad 2 in with the smart cover resting between it and the MacBook Air and I have yet to see any problems on my MacBook Air’s top lid.

    Now, I likely wouldn’t be comfortable letting the iPad share a pocket with keys, but the same goes for anything of mine that is not fully protected — keys are a nightmare to carry.

    ### Patina

    The last bit that I really want to touch on is scratches on your device. I stopped using a case on my iPhone sometime around 2008, so all my iPhones have scratches on them. Every time I get a scratch on my iPhone, iPod, MacBook Air, or iPad I get upset.

    I don’t like my devices to get scratched up, I like my devices to always look brand new.

    But, and this is a big ‘but’, I do like the over all look — the patina — of a well used and scratched up device. When I hand over my old iPhone to my wife I look at it and know that I *used* it, I know that the device was *mine*.

    It’s an odd relationship to have: I like the end result of a well worn device that shows the life it has had, but I don’t like the minor nicks and scratches that it takes to get to that point.

    At the end of my original iPad’s tenure as my tablet it looked nearly perfect, save one scratch in the screen. It was always carried in a case that fully protected it. Right now, my iPad 2 (that has only been used with a Smart Cover), looks brand new. The back of the iPad has seen its share of woes (table grit, cats sliding it across a table, cats spilling a glass of water on it), but it doesn’t show any of those issues.

    I doubt this will be the case long term, but I will say, I have been very impressed with the durability of an iPad 2 + Smart Cover setup.

  • Fixing Soccer

    Paul Kafasis:
    >It seems like every time we start to care about soccer, it spits directly into our collective face, while handing us another devastating loss.

    One of his ways for fixing soccer:

    >Baseball doesn’t switch to a home run derby after the 12th inning. Basketball doesn’t switch to a game of H-O-R-S-E after the second OT. So from now on, we’re not deciding which team is the best in the world through what are effectively coin flips.

    True that.

  • [SPONSOR] Palimpsest for iPad

    Palimpsest for iPad presents a personalized stream of long-form magazine articles. These articles come from the archives of top magazines, including The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and many others. Your votes on previous articles influence which articles are presented to you in the future. Palimpsest is like a radio-station of fascinating articles; with no index and no way to jump ahead, it offers a layer of serendipity while letting you spend more time reading good articles and less time searching. If you love reading long articles on your iPad – get Palimpsest in the [App Store](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/palimpsest/id432502081?mt=8#) today.

  • Google Chrome Speeds up Slow Computers

    This is just a link to the Google Chrome web browser, which I link to because of something that happened this weekend. My Mom has one of those fancy Dell Inspiron Mini notebooks and she was showing it to me asking if I could make it faster. The machine was unbearably slow which was partially caused by a Windows update downloading in the background.

    The other part that was slow was loading the web in general — my iPhone 4 was beating it to webpages with my phone on AT&T’s 3G network. Suspecting that it was in part IE’s fault ((The remainder of the fault goes to Windows 7 Starter and, well, Dell.)) I installed Chrome — what a difference that made.

    If you are saddled with an under-powered computer you might take a look at Chrome, it sure sped up the machine that I was testing it on.

  • Marketcircle

    My thanks to Marketcircle for sponsoring the RSS feed this week, promoting their excellent Billings Pro software. I don’t know any reason why a Mac user needing to bill hourly, or just freelancing, wouldn’t use Billings Pro.

    This software is so cool that I almost wish I was a freelancer just so that I could use it. Not only is the software beautiful and robust, but Billings Pro is loaded with great extras like automatic backups.

    Killer software so be sure to check it out, there’s a free 30-day trial.

  • Mind Your MeTweets

    Apparently I am not the only one who is annoyed when people retweet positive things others say about them.

  • Quote of the Day: Adam Lisagor

    “Worth noting: people who work at Apple think a Teva makes a suitable skateboarding shoe because they see the world just a little bit different from me and you.”

  • Hotmail Bans Common Passwords

    Tom Warren:
    >Microsoft will also roll out a feature to prevent users from choosing a common password. Common passwords include password, 123456, ilovecats and gogiants. “This new feature will be rolling out soon, and will prevent you from choosing a very common password when you sign up for an account or when you change your password,” says Craddock. Hotmail users who currently use a weak and common password may be prompted to change it in the future.

    Two things:

    1. This is a great move and every company should follow suit.
    2. ‘gogiants’ is really a common password?

  • Amazon’s Tablet Is No Threat to Apple, It’s a Huge Threat to Google

    MG Siegler:
    >Thanks to the “openness” of Android, Google has handed Amazon the keys to the Android kingdom. Amazon is going to launch a tablet that runs Android, but it will be fully Amazon’d. It will use Amazon’s Appstore, it will use Amazon movies, it will use Amazon books, it will use Amazon music, etc. Google will have no control over this, even though it will be the seminal Android tablet. That would be terrifying for any brand.

    I have no doubt that this would be bad for Google and a partnership with Microsoft for Bing search to be default would make a lot of sense for both companies. What I think may also be a big threat to Google is this bit from Siegler:

    >Like $299 or less cheap. But can Amazon really make a 9-inch multi-touch screen color tablet for that cheap? Unless it’s an absolute piece of crap, that seems unlikely. There’s a reason why all other tablet manufacturers are having problems getting their tablets down to even the key $499 price point.

    That would worry me if I made Android tablets, because if Amazon comes in an undercuts other tablet price points two things could happen:

    1. Everyone loves it and now expects to get any other tablet at that price. Which, if Android tablet makers have a tough time getting to $499 — well this would be bad news.
    2. Everyone hates it because the hardware is junky, but because it is from Amazon a great many bought it. Now everyone starts to get a very bad taste in their mouth about Android tablet quality.

    It could also flop and not sell, thus none of this matters — being front and center on Amazon’s site though, I don’t see that as a likely outcome.

  • Is the Tablet Computer a New PC or Post-PC?

    Horace Dediu:

    >In Q2 2011 one million more Windows PCs were sold than in Q2 2010. In same time, 903k more OS X PCs and 5.5 million more iPads.

    I read this and the first thought that popped into my head: I wonder if Microsoft knows that they are an ‘underdog’ now? They are so used to being *the* company, I wonder ((Whereby ‘wonder’ I mean assume.)) if part of the problem they are currently having is a result of still maintaining that mentality.

  • xScope on the Mac App Store

    I use this almost daily and it is now on the Mac App Store. A phenomenally useful app.

  • Spotify Has Landed in the U.S.

    I am not a big ‘streaming music’ kind of guy, but a reader (at least I assume) sent me an invite and I have to admit: I am liking it so far.

    Before you ask, no I don’t have any invites.

  • Inside RIM

    Jonathan S. Geller reporting:
    >He continued, “The fact that people are spending their own money to buy the iPhone, when their company is giving them a ‘free BlackBerry’ sends quite a message to RIM,” says one of our sources.”

    I think that says all you need to know about RIM’s future.

    Add to that the fact that most reports Geller got were along the lines: Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis is very smart, but isn’t forward thinking. That paints a pretty nasty picture for RIM.

  • Google’s Patent Problems

    Marco Arment:
    >Google is also run by geeks, and geeks generally find software patents extremely offensive.

    Which is [backed up](http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/13/scott-you-just-dont-get-it-do-ya/) by MG Siegler:

    >Prior to the Nortel deal, Microsoft had something like 17,000 patents, while Google had something like 700.

    Marco is right that if Google gets severely hindered in patent litigation they are likely to wake up and try and do something about it. The question then becomes: is it too late, and can change be made?

    As an American you are likely to say: never and always. I am not as optimistic, it’s going to take more than just Google to “inspire” such change — but if all the other companies that Google needs to join them in the ‘fight’ are profiting off of patents, what motivation do they have to help?

  • Google Employee No. 59 on Google+, Privacy and Why He Left

    Former Google employee Douglas Edwards:
    >So, it’s not like your privacy’s being invaded – in fact I talk in the book about this moment I had with Sergey, where I was handling customer service and I said, we need to talk about the privacy issue around Gmail and he just stood right in front of me and he looked at me and he said, “There is no privacy issue.” Because in his mind, there was no privacy issue. The facts were that Google was not reading email, Google was not targeting email. So the facts said there was no privacy issue. He didn’t understand that people’s perception was reality. Reality was reality.

    Edwards left Google in 2005, yet I am not so sure Google’s mindset is any different today. The question is: is that good or bad?

  • Basecamp versus Google+?

    Yesterday [I complained](https://brooksreview.net/2011/07/goog-pluser/) that I couldn’t see what Google+ is good for, that is why I should use it. Then a follower on Twitter [sent me](https://twitter.com/huuuze/status/90705437258817536) [this link](https://plus.google.com/u/0/103097764320602190090/posts/BThQZaMDvEY) talking about Gmail and Google+ integration, this of course was [first reported by MG Siegler](http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/11/gmail-plus/).

    I was looking at all of this again and a thought occurred: Google+ could potentially be a huge competitor to [Basecamp](http://basecamphq.com/). I’m not saying it could replace it for everyone, but think of the features that could easily be integrated:

    – Gmail
    – Google Docs
    – Google Analytics
    – Google Reader
    – YouTube
    – Google Groups (well likely this will die, hopefully)
    – Google Sites
    – Google Calendar

    You wrap integration with Google+ into every one of those and you have a powerful project management system that goes beyond the walls of a ‘company’. Say you are working on project X, a website redesign with a group of people both internal to your company and external.

    You create one circle for that project, collaborate on documents in Gdocs, email with Gmail, meetings with Gcal, A/B test result sharing with Analytics, and so on… That could be very big.

    I don’t know if it would work, or if it would be any good, but Google certainly has the right products for such a powerful integration.

    And if you look at Basecamp in comparison — well the choice would become a bit tough.

  • Marked: MultiMarkdown Preview, Everywhere

    I haven’t had a ton of time to really dive into this app, but it is pretty nifty. Basically you get a live rendering of any text file that you are working on in Markdown, from any program. This is very cool and the fact that I can dump the TBR CSS into it makes it really neat, not to mention that you can export the HTML or as a PDF.

  • Google+ To Pass 10,000,000 Users Tomorrow

    That’s impressive growth, but not surprising given the widespread initial interest. That’s 5% of the user base Twitter has and 1.4% of Facebook’s — what’ll be more interesting is how long until, and if, they can pass 100 million users. That’s the point when they become a serious ‘player’.

    (Side note: This is not official data from Google, click through to see the calculations.)