The Brooks Review

Year: 2011

  • Fliers Still Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why

    Nick Bilton on the antiquated rules for fliers:
    >Surely if electronic gadgets could bring down an airplane, you can be sure that the Department of Homeland Securityand the Transportation Security Administration, which has a consuming fear of 3.5 ounces of hand lotion and gel shoe inserts, wouldn’t allow passengers to board a plane with aniPad or Kindle, for fear that they would be used by terrorists.

    I don’t disagree with him, but I feel like trying to change this rule is akin to banging your head against a concrete wall with steel reinforcements.

  • Dave Winer: Why I Use the Kindle Fire

    Winer has liked the Fire since the day he got it. Taking a look through his points I get the sense that there are two main things that he likes:

    1. The smaller size. That’s a real plus of the device because it *is* easier to have at the ready and to use when trying to hold the device from extended periods without support (reading, movies).
    2. That the little issues the device has will go away in updates.

    While I disagree with the first reason, I can completely see how it is appealing for many people — just not me. I prefer a bigger screen over the smaller screen.

    Lastly the second reason is kinda crazy. You are banking on liking the device *if and when* Amazon does something to make it better. I am just not sure the jerky animations will every be a software fix and I think that goes for a lot of the issues that I have with the Fire — including the lack of a volume hardware button.

    I think it is more likely that the Fire 2.0 looks way better.

    One last note: Winer said that he still uses the iPad for Words with Friends, Email, and web browsing but doesn’t know why. I do, well for two of them:

    1. The keyboard on the Fire sucks for writing, also the email client sucks.
    2. The web browser on the Fire is terrible, not so on the iPad.

    What he still uses the iPad for are things that the iPad is simply better for.

  • Reading Magazines on the iPad

    Justin Williams:
    >I’m convinced that the people who actually write for magazines, edit them and publish them have never actually tried using their iPad versions for more than a few moments. If they actually did try to use their publication’s app as the actual means to read each issue, things would have to improve. Right? RIGHT?!

    I agree with most of his complaints because the only thing worse than Magazines on the iPad is Magazines on the Kindle Fire. I also mostly agree with his suggested fixes.

    The best way to bring a magazine to an iPad is to not try and replicate the paper magazine reading experience.

  • Justin Blanton on Dark Sky

    He gets it:
    >Just before both of these trips it struck me that the information Dark Sky provides—precise weather predictions for the immediate future—is exactly what I’d need before setting out on these (and similar) outings in the future.

    I think it takes a bit to understand just why this weather app *is* different, but one you do understand it you really want it.

  • The Jawbone UP Fails, but Teaches 3 Golden Rules for Experience Design

    Cliff Kuang on the Jawbone UP:
    >As is, the UP introduces just enough friction into the process that it never quite melds into your routines. Simply having to take the wristband off, uncap the end piece, plug it into your phone, load up the UP app, and then have it synch means that it becomes another chore–rather than a new feature of your constant dialogue with your smartphone.

    This is a really great take. I am currently testing out the Fitbit (which he also mentions) and find that he hits on a lot of problems that I see in both devices — mostly that it has certain friction points that make it less interactive than it needs to be.

  • The Demise of Quality Content on the Web

    Rian van der Merwe on the lack of quality content on the web:

    >I don’t know where we go from here. I just know that I’ve stopped reading sites that cater more for advertisers than for me as a reader.

    That’s a noble thing to say, but I have found it really hard to do in practice — mainly because there are some great writers on terrible ad-centric sites.

  • Ulysses on Sale

    Fifty percent off [one of my favorite](https://brooksreview.net/2010/11/writing-tools/) long form writing apps ($9.99) in the Mac App Store until the 28th of November.

  • MacStoriesDeals: Black Friday 2011 Edition

    Huge round up of discounted software for iOS and Mac.

  • +PACK

    Two new accessories for the [Glif](https://brooksreview.net/2010/12/glif-review/), a ring to attach it to you keychain, and a little bit of extra security when you are shooting on a tripod. *Ordered*.

  • Daedalus Touch for iPad 66% Off

    Daedalus Touch is a pretty neat little writing app for the iPad. You can get it today for 66% off (only $1.99). This might appeal to those that find iA Writer too simple, and those that are writing a project. Best to watch the demo video [here](http://www.the-soulmen.com/daedalus/).

    It’s a nice app.

  • AgileBits Thanks-to-You Sale

    Fifty percent off 1Password this weekend. This is a must have app for me.

  • AT&T Withdraws FCC Application for T-Mobile Merger

    Todd Haselton:
    >AT&T said Thursday that it has withdrawn its application from the Federal Communications Commission to acquire T-Mobile USA.

    And there was a collective sigh of relief heard throughout Bellevue, WA today.

    On another note: AT&T is preparing to pay a $4 billion break-up fee.

  • Black Friday Deals

    Some nice links from Bare Feats, including one to get $100 off of Adobe’s Lightroom 3 — an excellent application.

  • Quote of the Day: John Gruber

    “PC manufacturers are utterly failing in the tablet market.”

  • ‘The Problem With Stamped’

    Steve Lyb on what he perceives to be the “problem” with Stamped:

    >The problem with this approach is that you will make the conscious effort to stamp only things that you think others might give you credit for.

    I completely see what he means here because that was my initial assessment: what happens when I run out of stamps? I am addicted to Stamped, and as of right now I have 603 stamps available to me. I started with 100. I have stamped 28 things.

    Now you may say: well that’s easy because you have more followers. But think about the way the service works. If you stamp something and another person stamps that thing, giving you credit, then you get 2 stamps.

    Even if you only have a dozen followers you likely will never run out of stamps so long as you stamp one thing that someone else wants to stamp — that’s not very hard.

    I stamp obscure things because I love seeing people adding those things as a “to-do” — what a great way to share something with people that they otherwise didn’t know about.

    I am guilty of stamping things that we all love, but I am also trying to balance that with things I think you may have never heard of (my favorite Seattle locales and favorite whiskeys). Lyb’s concern isn’t unfounded, but come back in a month and I bet all the common things in your timeline (Instapaper FTW!) will not be the things you see in your Stamped list.

    As the service matures so will the stamps, and as the stamps mature they will get more specific and obscure — if for no other reason than the popular things will have all been stamped.

    No, the *real* problem with Stamped is the business model — or lack there of.

  • What Should You Do if Someone Puts a Gun to Your Head?

    Good question, luckily Justin Freeman has a detailed and comprehensive answer, including:
    >No two gunpoint situations are alike, and they will all be very dynamic situations. My advice is to remain calm, be as compliant as you can, be aware of your surroundings, and do what you need to in order to survive. But the obvious best case scenario is keeping yourself out of the situation that put you on the business end of a firearm[…]

    Great stuff.

  • I Hate Stacked Area Charts

    Count me in with Dr. Drang on stacked area charts:
    >But I find them often misleading, even when their creator doesn’t intend them to be.

    More than just that, I find them downright hard to read — that is if you are actually trying to understand what is happening.

  • Dell’s Misleading Graphics Card Buying Advice

    Just look at the picture, it is absurd.

    **UPDATED** (on Nov 26, 2011): Dell has now [released a statement](http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/371425/dell-apologises-for-misleading-graphics-card-advice) on the matter and claims to be removing the image.

  • Amazon Will Take Over Android App Distribution

    Marco Arment brings up some great points on how Amazon is set to take over as the king of Android App distribution. I hadn’t thought about this before now, but I think Arment is right here.

    Not only does Amazon stand to win this fight against Google, but they do so with a more hostile and less open approach towards developers. Very interesting.

  • Instacast HD, Your Podcast Dashboard

    I am a huge fan of Instacast, it is one of those apps that at first blush you think: “yeah but I can just do that with the built in iOS tools.” Then you use the app and you think: “pretty nice, well done.”

    Then a month later you are still using it.

    Then you go to another device (your iPad) that doesn’t have Instacast and you immediately think: “well this sucks.”

    Today that last bit stops, today we get [Instacast HD a $4.99](http://vemedio.com/products/instacast-hd/buy) version of Instacast for your iPad. And it looks fantastic.

    If you already use Instacast on your iPhone/iPod then you know what this app is. What you may not know is that on the iPad it is about ten times better. Instacast now has iCloud sync — meaning it’s seamless to run and use Instacast on two devices an important addition now that you will likely want it on both your iPad and iPhone.

    Instacast HD is more than just a pretty iPad version of Instacast — it actually feels like what Instacast should have been all along: your podcast dashboard.

    I love the iPhone, but when the iPad came out and I got a hold of it my consensus was: “oh, this is what iOS was really made for.” The iPad didn’t feel like a scaled up iPhone as much as the iPhone felt like a scaled down iPad.

    The same is true with Instacast HD.

    I never look at show notes for podcasts, it’s a step I never take. But with the way that Instacast HD presents them, it seems silly not to look at them. Making the podcasts I listen to that much more rich.

    There’s one other thing about Instacast HD that makes is so very good: the developer clearly uses the app. I was a bit annoyed with the order of the podcasts on the scrolling list of icons, and I thought: “can I change this?” The most natural way would be to tap and hold, then drag them around. Sure enough, that works. These are the details that people implement when they make an app that they themselves use — these are the details that make apps go from good to great.

    I don’t have much else to say, so instead let’s look at the beauty.

    [](https://f3a98a5aca88d28ed629-2f664c0697d743fb9a738111ab4002bd.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/instacasthd-1.jpg)

    You can also send show notes right to services like Instapaper:

    [](https://f3a98a5aca88d28ed629-2f664c0697d743fb9a738111ab4002bd.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/instacasthd-2.jpg)

    Instacast HD brings over its own ranking system, a nice way to find great shows:

    [](https://f3a98a5aca88d28ed629-2f664c0697d743fb9a738111ab4002bd.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/instacasthd-3.jpg)

    This little volume slider is one of my favorite parts of the app, it just looks perfect:

    [](https://f3a98a5aca88d28ed629-2f664c0697d743fb9a738111ab4002bd.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/instacasthd-4.jpg)

    Once you select a podcast you can switch between episodes by swiping or with this nice drop down:

    [](https://f3a98a5aca88d28ed629-2f664c0697d743fb9a738111ab4002bd.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/instacasthd-5.jpg)

    This is a must have for any podcast listener with an iPad. It may even be the reason you need to buy an iPad if you love podcasts and still don’t have an iPad.