The Brooks Review

Year: 2011

  • An Instapaper 4.0 Review with Some Insight from Marco Arment

    Instapaper has now gone [version 4](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/instapaper/id288545208?mt=8) and Marco Arment has been kind enough to let me test out this new version. I can say that this new version is, without a doubt, fantastic.

    Arment is fond of saying that Instapaper has the most generous update policy (every update has been free) and I would argue that the only software company more generous is Apple with iOS. But, why — why wouldn’t Arment charge for these fantastic updates? Let’s let him explain:

    >There’s no good way to charge for updates in the App Store. Maybe Apple will add this functionality in the future, but they don’t seem to care so far. Maybe they’ll add it when they want upgrade pricing for the next version of Aperture or Final Cut Studio.

    >But I’m not sure I’d charge regardless. I get a lot of goodwill from my customers by continually improving the product that they bought months or years ago, and that goodwill helps spread the word and drive new sales. I know I charge a “premium” compared to many other apps, but I want people to feel like Instapaper is a ridiculously good deal.

    In my book Instapaper is certainly a “ridiculously good deal” and that may sum up Instapaper 4 perfectly.

    ### New Icon

    Marco changed his now iconic icon for Instapaper and I risk being a hypocrite in saying this, but I *love* the new Instapaper icon.

    I say I risk being a hypocrite because I have previously criticized apps that use page curls in their bottom corners, but with the overall design of Instapaper’s new icon — I think it works very well and truly doesn’t feel like a gimmick. What’s important about this new icon is that it represents what’s new about Instapaper.

    The icon looks like a newspaper in the background, thanks to the large headlines and grid layout, but surprise… that’s actually how the new Instapaper looks — at least on the iPad.

    ### The iPad Grid

    Instapaper for the iPad has gone all grid on the home screen. Gone is the big list that looks like a blown up iPhone interface. It’s grid time, and then some.

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

    The grid not only looks beautiful, but is a more functional layout on the iPad. There is also a clever bit that tries to figure out who the author of the article is and print that below the headline, something which I find helpful when I see that a *certain* tech blog made it in my queue.

    Among those nice touches is the still frame previews that the app will now grab for supported video sites — something infinitely helpful when you are trying to remember what the video is about.

    I don’t save a ton of videos to Instapaper, but when I do, I need help in remembering what the video is about (beyond the headline) and these little still frames are perfect for this.

    I also love the expanded text view that you get with the grid — something I find invaluable when you save links from Twitter (because the headlines get messed up).

    Overall the Grid makes the statement that Instapaper on the iPad is more than just a larger version of Instapaper for the iPhone.

    ### Social

    A while back Instapaper added a social element to the app that allowed you to ‘follow’ users to see their liked items. It was a very neat feature, but the implementation on iOS was never done in a way that I found useful.

    In version 4, this changes.

    There is now a friends tab along the left edge that when selected will pull up a ‘shared links’ view. This view shows all the links that are being shared on a social network of your choice (Twitter, Facebook).

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

    You get the same grid view of the main screen, but this time you get to see all the links that are currently being shared. There is an option to switch to the ‘Liked by Friends’ view which gives you a portal into what the people you follow on Instapaper are ‘liking’. This is by far one of the best ways to discover new, great, reads.

    I save this section of Instapaper for my dessert course, I love diving into it after I go through all the posts I added — just to peep on what other people I respect are reading. This is the digital equivalent of peeking into someone’s personal library. ((Even more so than seeing their Kindle library, because I am guessing this will give you a better insight into their interests.))

    These features alone would be killer and really ups the sometimes challenging aspect on your iPad/iPhone of getting good content into Instapaper.

    You almost don’t need to leave Instapaper anymore with these nice little additions.

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

    Additionally the revamped ‘Editors’ tab pulls in the current articles on the Instapaper “Give me Something To Read” curation of articles. A very nice touch for loading up on long-form reads before you hit the plane — also getting a better variety of articles that you may not otherwise discover.

    Instapaper is the best cross-country-flight entertainment I have.

    ### Smaller Changes

    There are a few smaller changes that, when added up, make the app massively better.

    #### Footnotes Baby

    Instapaper 4 adds support for copious Footnoters ((Like me.)) where the app will show a glyph with an `…` in it anytime a footnote appears. Tapping the icon results in a nice pop-up that shows the footnote.

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

    This is perhaps the biggest change to the overall reading experience that version 4 introduces. Inline footnotes help keep you moving in the app instead of scrolling around to find the referenced footnote. It’s a great addition that was done seamlessly to the reading experience.

    #### Wikipedia Support

    It’s not often that I come across words that I need a definition of, but it is often that I come across things that I want to know more about — as in more reference information. For people like me, Instapaper has added a Wikipedia option to its dictionary.

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

    Now if you highlight some words and ask the app to define them you will get a popup that has an option to view the Wikipedia information on the selected text.

    This is a very cool option.

    I find in-app Wikipedia information especially useful for finding out more information about companies while I am reading the article, or information on particular people that I don’t know much about.

    Come to think of it, this should actually be listed as a major feature.

    ### Search

    You might notice that the search bar at the top of your queue has disappeared ((On the iPhone.)) , replaced now by a dedicated search section of the app. The reason being: this new search function doesn’t just search the articles on your device — it searches the full text of every article you have saved to Instapaper, including those in your archive.

    It’s incredibly helpful, if like me, you often start telling someone about an article you read — only for them to ask that you send them the link. Instapaper saves me from having to spend hours on Google looking for the article because now I can just search the things that I have read all inside the place I read all my articles: Instapaper.

    The search is very fast (given the thousands of articles that it has to search for me) even over 3G.

    Most importantly search adds another revenue stream for Instapaper as it is only available via in-app purchase for the bargain price of $2.99 every three months. If you are already an Instapaper subscriber on the site then you will be granted access to this feature without needing to do the in-app-purchase.

    Either way, it’s the same deal and it really is a deal.

    ### Raising the Bar

    I am a huge Instapaper fanboy, and I don’t think I am incorrect in saying that with version 4.0 Marco Arment has significantly raised the bar in the ‘read later’ marketplace.

    The app is faster, better looking, more comprehensive, and helps you get more content to read. This is a free upgrade, but I would have gladly paid for it.

    ### Miscellany

    I had a chance to ask Arment about a few other Instapaper items, here’s that very short Q&A:

    TBR: You didn’t add feature X to Instapaper 4, why not? When’s it coming?

    MA: *There’s still lots of features I want to add, but I need to ship sometime.*

    TBR: It seems like the iPad version received more attention this time around than the iPhone version, is the eye deceiving?

    MA: *That’s correct. The iPad version had more room for improvement. Before 4.0, Instapaper on iPad felt like a scaled-up iPhone app. With 4.0, I’ve made the iPad app the premier way to use Instapaper, giving it an all-new navigation interface. Even in development, my priorities shifted: I’m now optimizing all new features for the iPad first and then figuring out how to port them to the iPhone.*

    TBR: What new feature are you most proud of?

    MA: *The iPad grid screen, by far. It was a lot of work, but completely worth every minute. I absolutely love using it.*

    Same here, the grid is killer.

    [Go get Instapaper 4](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/instapaper/id288545208?mt=8) right now — you won’t regret it.

  • How RIM Compensates Fortune 500 Companies

    RIM via press release:
    >Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) announced today that a selection of premium apps worth a total value of more than US $100 will be offered free of charge to subscribers as an expression of appreciation for their patience during the recent service disruptions.

    I can only imagine how excited all those stodgy BlackBerry users are at the idea they can get SIMS 3 and Bubble Bash 2 for free — *finally*.

  • iPhone 4S / Canon 5d MKII Side by Side Comparison

    Pretty impressive.

    [via Viticci]

  • iPhone 4S First Weekend Sales Top Four Million

    Apple through press release:
    > Apple® today announced it has sold over four million of its new iPhone® 4S, just three days after its launch on October 14. In addition, more than 25 million customers are already using iOS 5, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, in the first five days of its release, and more than 20 million customers have signed up for iCloud®, a breakthrough set of free cloud services that automatically and wirelessly store your content in iCloud and push it to all your devices.

    Wow.

  • Dr. Drang on iMessage

    Dr. Drang:

    >If iMessage offered significant extra features, I might see some value in it. Allowing a conversation to jump between an iPhone and an iPad, is a nice feature, but since I don’t have an iPad, it means nothing to me.

    I have to disagree with him on iMessage, because I think it is actually a very interesting feature. Texting is much bigger among the younger crowd and guess what, it is expensive — so are iPhones. An iPod touch, or an old iPhone with iMessage becomes a great, inexpensive, option for the younger crowd. Sure it would need wifi, but that’s not overly hard anymore.

    And why turn it off, it’s not like there is anything detrimental to keeping iMessage turned on.

    Overall iMessage isn’t a feature that is going to change the world, but if you family and friends are all iPhone users (increasingly more likely), it’s a very nice tool to have.

  • A Profile of Jeff Bezos

    Richard L. Brandt profiling Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos:

    >He wanted a decentralized, even disorganized company where independent ideas would prevail over groupthink. He instituted, as a company-wide rule, the concept of the “two-pizza team”—that is, any team should be small enough that it could be fed with two pizzas.

    Overall a pretty interesting look at the man behind Amazon.

  • Location-Based Reminders Are the Best Thing Ever

    Dave Caolo on how great location based reminders are:
    >If you had asked me to describe what I want in a perfect reminder app, I’d list simple task creation, dependability, multi-device sync and so on. That’s exactly what Guy describes: I listed my desires in terms of what I’m already using. I never would have said, “Place a geofence around a given location and prompt me to act upon arriving at leaving that spot,” but it turns out that’s precisely what the perfect reminder app should do

    This works really well with OmniFocus — I only wish they could also make OmniFocus work with Siri.

  • AT&T iPhone 4S Activation Woes

    Like many other AT&T customers, I am having great trouble getting my new iPhone 4S activated. It is stuck on the screen that reads:

    >Could Not Activate iPhone
    >Your activation is still pending. You will receive an email notification once your activation is complete.
    >We’re sorry. There was a problem connecting to the server. Please try again later.

    ### Here’s what I know from the horses mouth (AT&T) ###

    I was able to get through to AT&T customer care and the first representative could not get the phone activated even though the system showed it was activated. Now it is important to note that he was operating without any iPhone 4S and (likely) iOS 5 manuals. After ~15 minutes of trying he sent me on to a technical support person.

    The technical support lady could not get the phone working either and was not familiar with the error message. She called down to their specialized Apple staff and reported back to me: “The servers are really busy I am told, and your phone *will* activate in an hour.”

    I clarified that she was saying that it would for sure be active in an hour, and again she said “yes”. She said to just leave it as it is and wait. We hung up, but I arranged for her to call back in an hour to see if it worked. Its been about 25 minutes and still no activation.

    Check back as I will update this post with information as I get it.

    *(Side note: I am hearing Apple expected to sell 5 times as many AT&T models as other carriers. This problem also seems to have arisen once the West Coast of the U.S. started getting their phones. AT&T was also very helpful and nice — I still just want the phone working.)*

    **UPDATED** (on Oct 14, 2011): AT&T just called me back and the phone was still not activated even though they say everything looks fine on their end. The call was disconnected while I was on hold with them and they have yet to call back. This seems like a load issue on their network and best to just wait it out if you can.

    **UPDATED** (on Oct 14, 2011): AT&T was no help, but my internet went down (Comcast blows) and so I tried activating over 3G — that worked. And [I am not alone](http://www.ipatrix.com/3812/att-woes/).

  • Grandview

    A big thanks to this weeks sponsor: Grandview. I think what I [first wrote](https://brooksreview.net/2011/05/grandview/) about Grandview still rings true:

    >It’s not something that will make you focus better, or write better — it is a very unique app that is loads of fun to use. I have been testing the app for quite sometime now and have to say that I really do enjoy it — not for every writing moment — there are times though when it feels like the right tool for the job.

    It’s a clever little app and I really enjoy using it. Go get your copy and see for yourself, you can snag it in the [Mac App Store here](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grandview/id432436025?mt=12).

  • Phoenix Jones Stops Assault

    Camera guy to 911: “There’s a huge group of people fighting, pepper spray, super heroes…”

    God, I love Seattle.

  • Idiots Pay More

    The Technology Review on the valuation of Facebook:
    >More likely, however, is that the value of Facebook and other social media companies is being driven by the kind of group think that has characterised so many bubbles in the past. In these, it doesn’t matter to a trader what Facebook is really worth as long as he or she thinks some other idiot will pay more.

    Good article that breaks down why Facebook is likely overvalued.

  • ‘A Staggering Commitment’

    Horace Dediu:
    >What this level of spending implies is that iCloud (and Siri and iTunes) are expensive. They may seem ephemeral and even trivial as services, but they require a staggering commitment few can make. Apple made that commitment and they made it early on, before the first quarter billion users were even on the horizon.

    If accurate, this data shows just how much effort that Apple put into its cloud services this time around.

  • Asus’ Ultrabooks

    One look at the picture of that notebook and you have to think there will be a forthcoming lawsuit from Apple.

  • Quote of the Day: John Gruber

    “The key to iOS’s success is that you can figure almost everything out just by looking at it.”

  • Groupon’s Business Model?

    Rita McGrath:

    >So, not only are we still left asking whether Groupon is beneficial to merchants, now it’s uncertain as to whether or not its business actually benefits the customer.

    Interesting that now it seems Groupon’s deals aren’t always “deals” — I wonder how many people really thought Groupon was around for the long haul?

  • Apple’s Continued Growth

    Dan Frommer:
    >In an informal flip through the Fortune 500 companies, the only industry that seems to come close to Apple’s current growth — at its size or larger — is the oil business. Chevron, for instance, is twice Apple’s size and is growing at the same rate.

    There will be a point when growing at the rate Apple current is will be very difficult — if not impossible — to achieve. Luckily, Apple seems to not be close to such a point.

  • The Air Force Says

    W.J. Hennigan reporting on [last weeks Predator Drone virus](https://brooksreview.net/2011/10/safety-first/):
    >The Air Force shot down those claims, saying the virus “in question is a credential stealer, not a keylogger, found routinely on computer networks and is considered more of a nuisance than an operational threat. It is not designed to transmit data or video, nor is it designed to corrupt data, files or programs on the infected computer.”

    *Guys, guys, calm down. They aren’t logging anything — they’re just stealing our top secret credentials. No big deal.*

    And later:

    >[…] Cook said the Air Force continues to strengthen cyber defenses, “using the latest anti-virus software and other methods to protect Air Force resources and assure our ability to execute Air Force missions.

    *Before we didn’t see the need to pay for this years version of Norton, but we now see why we need that. The update should be done in 3 mins and 37 seconds.*

  • Stanford Course Yields Touchscreen Braille Writer

    A very cool little video that shows off a piece of software meant to allow the blind to use tablets. I love stuff like this.

  • Verizon Is Now Monitoring Your Mobile Web Habits

    JR Raphael reporting on a new change to the Verizon privacy policy that all users are opted-in to by default:
    >This info includes the URLs of websites you visit over Verizon’s network and also your device’s location data. Some of those details may be shared with outside companies as well. Verizon says none of it will personally identify you.

    You should read the report and then opt-out.

  • Patent Enables Apple to Shut Down Any New Android Product in Australia

    Florian Mueller:

    >After today’s decision, I believe no company in the industry be able to launch any new Android-based touchscreen product in Australia anytime soon without incurring a high risk of another interim injunction. The two patents on which today’s ruling is based aren’t Galaxy Tab 10.1-specific at all. They will affect all Android-based smartphones and tablet computers, across all vendors.

    Oh, that can’t be a comfortable spot for Android handset makers.