The Brooks Review

Category: Links

  • ‘Scrolling vs. Pagination’

    I rarely disagree with Lukas Mathis, but in this case he is incorrect:

    >Scrolling affords a completely empty kind control. The user is doing more, she’s controlling more, but she’s not actually achieving more.

    and:

    >Pagination gets out of the way. Read a page. Push a button. Read the next page. Repeat. No needless interference with the actual text being read, no unnecessary interactions that could pull the reader out of the book’s world.

    In an ideal world, he is correct, but on the web he isn’t correct. Let’s use Instapaper as an example since it pulls all pages of an article and allows scrolling or pagination. The pagination is a great touch, but it leads to a broken reading experience in my usage.

    Why? Because an algorithm not a human chose the pagination points. A well designed and devised pagination system — from the author — works well because the author can choose a natural break point.

    So in Instapaper I scroll, because the reading experience is more fluid and less broken. I like pagination in reading apps, but I much prefer a fluid reading experience. So scrolling is still the best in my mind.

  • Atwood’s Surface

    Jeff Atwood on his Microsoft Surface RT:

    > Surface is just like the first iPad in that it has all the flaws and rough edges you’d expect in a version one device. But it is also like the first iPad in that there is undeniably the core of something revelatory and transformative here – a vision of the future of computing that doesn’t sacrifice either keyboard or touch.

    A great and very much positive take on the Surface RT by a guy who just wants cool computers. He makes some fantastic points, including the above quote.

    Last night I saw an ad for Best Buy that features a convertible Microsoft laptop of some sort and I have to say, I can see the appeal of that for people. For example I am tapping this out in my iPad, sitting in a vacant office space waiting for a service technician — this is something I do often. I have my iPad 3 with LTE, my iPhone 5 with LTE, and my retina MacBook Pro all here. Yet I’m only using the iPad, because at a moments notice I will need to get up and meet a technician. With my laptop that means I’d have to close it up and stuff it carefully back in my bag. The iPhone is too small for typing like this, so I go with my iPad, but I would be done with this post already if I had a keyboard for the iPad, then again that’d be silly because my retina MacBook Pro is right here.

    All that to say that I often find myself in situations where such a hybrid computer would not only be useful, it’d be *better*. Now, I am wondering how that would translate for the rest of my life, could I dump my iPad and retina MacBook Pro for just one device? It doesn’t seem possible, especially if it means switching to Windows, but then again I thought the same thing when I switched to the Mac in 2004. I don’t want to switch to Windows, but I also live to find a better, easier, way to live.

    Maybe it is worth giving it a try… Really.

  • Mac mini Pro

    Rob-ART Morgan:
    >Some readers are asking if the ‘late 2012’ Mac mini with a Quad-Core i7 processor can match the power of a Quad-Core Mac Pro. Many Mac Pro owners have a keyboard, mouse, and display they like. Shouldn’t they save a pile of money and replace their old Mac Pro with a new Mac mini?

    The conclusion is not quite a full yes, but it’s amazing to think that this question isn’t that laughable any longer.

    I hate to spoil Morgan’s conclusion, but the GPU speed is the limiting factor of the mini. The mini though has Thunderbolt, so I wonder how long before you can buy high-zoot external graphics card for the Mac mini that connects via Thunderbolt and thus makes the Mac mini perform on par with a Mac Pro? A year? More?

    [I didn’t like the Mac mini I tried](https://brooksreview.net/2012/06/mac-mini/), but then again it didn’t have an SSD or nearly this kind of speed.

  • Amazon Item of the Week: Simplehuman Wall Mount Paper Towel Holder

    [After ranting about hating my paper towel holder](https://brooksreview.net/2012/10/gray/), I spent countless minutes on Amazon trying to find a better paper towel holder. After reviewing the options for free-standing units I decided to go with a wall/cabinet mounted holder. I didn’t want one of those crappy plastic ones we had when I was a kid, so I bought this.

    It’s fantastic. Easy and fast to change rolls. Enough friction to allow easy tearing of the sheets, but still allow a smooth roll when you want to pull off several sheets. Looks nice, and feels solid.

    I actually like using it, so that says it all right there.

    $22.47 with Prime shipping? No brainer.

  • ‘Gizmodo Has Its Slashdot Halloween Moment 11 Years Later With iPad Mini’

    A great comparison by Daniel Eran Dilger of Gizmodo and Slashdot and the irrelevance that Gizmodo is bringing on itself. Culminating in this conclusion:
    >But these are the issues that a tech blog like Gizmodo is supposed to draw attention to. Instead, Jesus Diaz simply compared some spec numbers and gave his readers misleading generalizations and false information they could get from Amazon itself.

    I don’t read Gizmodo, but the times I do see some of their writing quoted it reads like a less witty and less humorous post from *The Onion*. I don’t think that’s their goal.

    Any reader of this site knows by now that I make a lot of snap judgments and I am wrong a lot. Typically if I find that I am wrong I correct myself, own that I am wrong, explain, and move on. I didn’t have this blog when the first iPad was announced, but I distinctly remember thinking it was dull — I didn’t want one. Maybe a week or two went buy and I was sold on the idea and pre-ordered mine.

    I’m glad I didn’t have a blog to memorialize that thought.

    One of the things that I have been working hard to do lately is to explain my judgments. To put thought to them. So that when I am wrong I can point specifically to where and *how* I was wrong. That’s important to me.

    Where Gizmodo is wrong is that they have fallen into a trap of sensationalistic journalism focusing exclusively on Apple bashing. They turned that corner when they purchase a known-to-be-stolen iPhone 4 and subsequently were black-balled by Apple. Their animosity towards Apple has transcended bias and moved on to spite. This benefits no one. If they are unwilling to admit when Apple make something that is great, how can any reader respect their conclusions on any other device? They can’t and shouldn’t.

    Coincidentally, I am seeing similar crap happening at *The Verge*, but that’s another story for another day.

  • Apple Delays iTunes 11

    [Om Malik, yesterday, on the Apple shakeup](http://gigaom.com/2012/10/29/from-inside-apple-the-scott-forstall-fallout/):

    >In conversations, I learned about something that is troubling from a long-term point of view. Unlike in the Jobs era, when the company would ship features when they were ready for primetime, a culture of schedule-driven releases has become commonplace.

    Jim Dalrymple, today, quoting Tom Neumayr from Apple:

    >The new iTunes is taking longer than expected and we wanted to take a little extra time to get it right.

    So the way I see it one of three things has happened:

    1. iTunes 11 is in such poor shape there is simply no way they could release it.
    2. Apple has quickly learned from the Maps debacle (and Siri) and decided to revert back to the waiting until its ready deployment schedule.
    3. Malik’s anecdote is full of shit and Apple never switched to a schedule driven company.

    I know where my money is and it’s not with anything associated to bodily functions.

  • Apple Shakes Up Executive Team

    Writing was on the wall with this one. Forstall was MIA at the last Apple Press Event, Schiller is the new presentation guy. I’ve read stories that Forstall didn’t get along with others and blah, blah, blah, frankly I don’t really care about any of that. For one reason or another Forstall is leaving and Apple will be fine.

    The shifts in who does what is far more interesting, and telling:

    – Jony Ive is now not only in charge of the hardware designs, but it sounds like he is taking on all design at Apple. God willing we will no longer have to put up with leather, felt, and linen textures everywhere. (Side note: I always wondered what Ive thought of the designs of things like iCal, or Game Cetner.)
    – Eddy Cue gets Siri and Maps. Who has Game Center? That thing is a dog. I don’t know much about Cue, but iCloud is solid — more so than MobileMe — so here’s hoping Maps and Siri start iterating faster.
    – Craig Federighi now runs OS X and iOS. Makes sense right? Yep.
    – Bob Mansfield is all about wireless and semiconductors. Probably the two most important hardware areas for Apple right now.
    – John Browett is out and Cook himself is taking over Retail for the time being. There’s been a lot written about this, but Browett needed to go and I for one am glad Cook is grabbing those reigns for the time being.

    Smart shifts that subtly reorganize the company allowing the people that are best at running particular division to have control over all aspects of those devisions. Ive is design, Cue is cloud, Federighi is OS, Mansfield is hardware internals. Hard to argue with that logic.

  • Groklaw, Totally Unbaised

    PJ, in a post titled: “Apple’s ‘We’re Not A Bit Sorry’ Bratty and Not Cool Notice That Samsung Didn’t Copy” writes:
    >What has happened to Apple? This, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when you see yourself as being in a Holy War and listen only to your lawyers, who probably keep telling you that this will work out well in the end for you. (Cf. SCO Group.)
    >But lawyers are not skilled in brands, in PR, and nobody with enough clout is telling Apple, I gather, with sufficient authority that it’s behaving like a brat. Talk about “not as cool”. What has happened to Apple? Do you still feel like buying their products when you read something like this? I don’t. I’d be ashamed to take it out of my bag in public. And I’ll tell you exactly why: it’s not all right with me for a corporation to publicly show disrespect to a court of law, and that’s how I view this event.

    Totally fair and balanced coverage, I mean I think I speak for everyone when I say that we don’t go to Groklaw for legal analysis, we go there for branding help. Oh, wait.

    [Was Apple’s statement dick-headed?](http://www.apple.com/uk/legal-judgement/) Hell yes, but so too was the U.K. court decision forcing Apple to post something congratulatory about their fiercest competitor online. Apple, Samsung, and the Court acted pretty bratty on this one — but PJ is only damning Apple.

    (It’s an evil stroke of genius that Apple posted the notice on a page with no Apple logos and no executive signing the notice. It’s just a “here it is” thing stuck on a blank page — love that.)

    I think Apple handled the situation pretty well given that even having to post that notice made Apple’s blood boil. PJ, and Groklaw, on the other hand are the ones that seem bratty to me.

    So to answer PJ’s question, I love Apple because it does things like this, not in spite of them doing this. Is it disrespectful to the court? Perhaps, but so too is the court calling a Samsung device “uncool” — since when do courts decide “cool” — that’s not a matter of law. In this one instance, I’d have to point to the courts and say: they got what they deserved on this one.

  • The B&B Podcast #82: Interview With David Smith

    >Shawn and Ben are joined by David Smith, an indie iOS developer. We talk about some of the things David has learned in his years developing software, and we talk about his most recent app, Check the Weather, including all that went in to building it, preparing for launch, and then handling customer feedback afterwards.

    Fun interview, Shawn is getting good at doing these — I just try not to derail them too much. Bonus fact: we learn all about inverted iPhone colors.

  • ‘Defining Quality’

    Allison Gibson:
    >The nature of quality is that it’s hard to pin down. I can look into it forever and never find two matching definitions. Because, ultimately, it’s about intuition. I do know that sometimes quality is a thing so desirable it’ll lead you to chase the rising sun across a barren desert just to grab a heap of furniture that another person might call junk.

    This is a fantastic essay, well worth a read a couple of times a year. It really made me think about what I mean when I use the word ‘quality’ and personally I think I have two definitions — both relevant to everything I ever post on this site:

    1. That to say something is simply ‘quality’ with no further description is to say that this thing was ‘well-crafted’.
    2. To use quality as a scale is to pit two definitions of quality at either end and find where the current thing lies between those ends. At the highest-end of quality you have a thing that I simply could not imagine having been crafted any other way. At the lowest-end of quality you have a thing that I simply cannot imagine why it was crafted the way that it was.

    That is what quality means when I write here — as best as I can express.

  • Atebits’ Letterpress

    It’s fucking good. I’ve been playing it all day and have 20+ games going right now. Retro theme is my current choice, FYI.

    It’s massively simple, yet very strategic and mostly highly addictive. The UI is better than most are giving it credit for — almost feels like the UI formerly called Metro, with a splash of iOS. I want more apps designed like this.

  • What is Microsoft’s Strength?

    David Pogue in his Surface review hits hard on Microsoft with these two statements:

    >So that’s the amazing, amazing hardware. Now the heartbreak: software.
    And:
    >And how ironic that what lets the Surface down is supposedly Microsoft’s specialty: software.

    Is that Microsoft’s specialty? Has Windows, Office, or IE really ever been amazing software? I’d argue that Microsoft’s specialty is market dominance, business savvy, relentlessness. In other words, the same things that Samsung is good at.

    That’s not to be mean to Microsoft, it’s the truth. Microsoft has been impressively good at creating a dominating business, but they’ve never actually made great software in my opinion. I think that’s why the hardware is so good on the Surface — they haven’t done PC hardware before (outside of Xbox, Zune, etc) so they essentially hired fresh meat to do this — and voila, good hardware.

  • Which iPad?

    Whenever a new device comes out, I often wait until a certain person analyzes it before I form a full opinion. For screen and build quality I look to [John Gruber](http://daringfireball.net), for reading and font rendering I look to [Marco Arment](http://www.marco.org), for speed [Bare Feats](http://www.barefeats.com), and so on.

    We all have *the* “guy” that we look to for an opinion on a specific aspect of something. For tablet usage, and usability, and overall guidance I look no further than Fraser Speirs. Speirs just weighed in on the tablet size debate with the most astute point I have seen, saying:

    >I’ve said before and I still think I’m right on this: a sub-10″ device makes a wonderful adjunct to a computer. A 10″ device can replace it.

    So very smart and well said. The iPad mini will compliment the typical laptop/smartphone setup whereas the iPad can, and at times will, replace your laptop. I really want the iPad mini, but I know I won’t be happy until it has a retina screen on it — at that point I probably will switch from a full sized iPad to an iPad mini.

    Why? Because an iPad is only useful if you have it with you, and you want to use it. Right now I don’t always have the iPad with me because of the size, but I always want to use it. With the iPad mini as it currently is I would likely always have it with me, but not want to read on it. A retina screen iPad mini would change that.

  • The Verge Nerve

    Harry Marks detailing the four articles that *The Verge* posted which amount to less said than one Macworld article, summarizes succinctly with:
    >Of course, you won’t find one backlink in the Macworld article, but many of those Verge pieces are chock full of SEO-masturbatory goodness.

    As I was busy flooding App.net with my stream of conscious during the event, more than a couple of people pinged me to make sure I was still alive after Apple quoted *The Verge* at the event. That’s great for them, and makes perfect sense for Apple to quote: *The Verge* writes their articles to be quoted by other companies. Blogs like *Daring Fireball* and Marco.org write their content to be understood by, and helpful to, their readers.

    The differences are miles apart.

  • The iPad Mini Screen

    John Gruber:
    >Screen resolution-wise, it’s exactly what I expected for a 163 PPI display in 2012: noticeably nicer than the 133 PPI iPad 1/2, noticeably worse than the 266 PPI iPad 3/4. The iPad Mini display seems brighter and to have better contrast than the iPhone 3GS display, but unsurprisingly, rendered text looks exactly like it does on the 3GS.

    Yuck. No really, I am so tainted by having my three primary computing devices using retina quality displays that I really don’t think I would be OK with such a screen. So, though it is against every inkling in my bones, I think I am going to pass on the iPad mini this time around. Instead I will probably upgrade my iPad, or wait to see the iPad mini in the store.

    I didn’t expect the retina display in the iPad mini, but I also expected the screen to look a touch better than the 3GS. I use a 3GS everyday for my daughter’s noise machine at night and I can’t imagine buying a new device with such a fuzzy looking screen. I’m not trying to be down on Apple or the iPad mini — I want one — but I am the guy that got rid of his mint 24″ LED Cinema display because it looked too fuzzy compared to my retina displays.

  • ‘Assorted thoughts on the Apple event’

    Great thoughts from Marco on Apple’s recent product announcements.

    I agree with him that the 13″ retina MacBook Pro is now the best Apple laptop to recommend to people. It’s so close to the Air, but so much more powerful that I think it is silly to go with the Air right now unless you have a niche use for a 13″ Air.

    What’s more interesting is Marco’s analysis of the two iPad models. I am personally torn between them. I want the shiny new iPad mini, but the iPad 4 is likely the device I would use more. After thinking about it all afternoon I think I will get the 32GB 4G iPad mini in white, and wait until the next cycle on the iPad 4. This will give me a lot of data on which size is better for *me* and then moving forward I will likely pick one of the two sizes and just stick with it.

    If the iPad 4 update had been a bigger update I would have been swayed to get that instead of the iPad mini, but a very nice speed bump just isn’t convincing enough for me when compared to an entirely new device size.

    What is compelling to me about the iPad mini is strictly the size. I still find it tough to leave behind my MacBook Pro when I travel and so it always seems silly to me to have an iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro. With an iPad mini, the separation becomes greater between the devices and the three devices seem more complimentary than they do overlapping while traveling. That’s what I think right now without ever having touched an iPad mini — I could be totally wrong.

  • ‘Apple Sued Over Deal Locking iPhone to AT&T Network’

    Interesting lawsuit filed against Apple by two iPhone users that claim Apple is in violation of anti-trust laws by locking iPhones to AT&T. I don’t care about the legality of the matter, but think about the implications. Should Apple lose, what happens? iPhones sold by Apple will be carrier unlocked and Apple will have to supply unlock codes to current iPhone users.

    What about that would Apple be against?

    Remember, Apple doesn’t care what carrier you use, they only care what device you use. Essentially what I am saying is that this is a lawsuit Apple might not mind losing. A loss would allow Apple to look at AT&T, shrug their shoulders, say “we tried”, and unlock millions of iPhones much to the delight of iPhone users. Win-win for Apple as far as I see it.

    I think this is the first lawsuit against Apple we should all be hoping Apple loses.

  • Poor Google

    Edward Wyatt and Nick Wingfield reporting on changes to the Microsoft privacy policy:

    > Almost no one noticed, however, even though Microsoft’s policy changes are much the same as those that Google made to its privacy rules this year.

    Man, poor Google, they always get the short end of the stick.

    > The difference in the two events illustrates the confusion surrounding Internet consumer privacy.

    I mean I just wish consumers would be consistent over what they got pissed about, right? Poor Google.

    > Microsoft has promised, however, that it will not use the personal information and content it collects to sell targeted advertising. It will not, for example, scan a consumer’s e-mails to generate ads that might interest the user. Google does that, and expanding its ability to draw on that content was part of the reason Google changed its privacy policy this year.

    Oh, so there is a difference, and a legitimate reason why consumers are pissed about one change but not the other? So really, what we have illustrated here is not confusion by the public over consumer privacy, but confusion by the writers?

    Because either the writers were confused, or they just needed to put some words on a page so they tried to make a poor Google controversy.

    > But it is easy to see how Microsoft customers might be confused, because the different divisions of Microsoft that draft and oversee its user agreements and privacy policies did not anticipate that the changes in the services agreement would raise privacy questions.

    Ugh, still? Even though you just laid it out pretty clearly for people with this officially statement:

    > “However,” he added, “one thing we don’t do is use the content of our customers’ private communications and documents to create targeted advertising. If that ever changes, we’ll be the first to let our customers know.”

    That’s a pretty clear and unwavering statement from Microsoft.

    In the end though, poor Google and thank goodness the gray-haired-needs-to-retire-lady reported in this.

  • Space Box

    A great new payment gateway that seeks to replace Paypal for you. If you are accepting Paypal donations, switch to this. It uses Stripe, which is excellent, and is very simple to setup. It’s better for you *and* for those that pay you.

    The only bad part is that it won’t do recurring charges, I hope they add that next.

    *(Great name too.)*

  • Shouting

    Kontra on advertising models:

    >Why? Because shouting creates page views and clicks, and…well, there’s nothing more to say: shouting sells.

    And:

    >Nobody *likes* advertising, and yet we seem to be stuck with its corrupting effects on public discourse online.

    Lastly:

    >Advertising online has been corruptive of user privacy and editorial integrity.

    As I have mentioned before, I hate advertise — so too have I mentioned that I subscribe to over 500 RSS feeds. That’s a lot of feeds, a lot of shouting, and a lot of advertising. These past two weeks I have been very busy and I have grown incredibly annoyed with all of the noise on the web — all of which is simply shouting for the sake of getting attention, page views, and ultimately money. It’s actually pretty sad if you think about it.

    If I look at the hot view in Fever° for the past week, the hottest story was a bunch of bullshit speculation about a 13″ retina MacBook Pro. Yay. I didn’t read a single one.

    Here’s the thing though, it’s not just advertising that causes the problem, it’s also lack of advertising. That is if people run a blog with no advertising, they shout loudly to get heard, to get page views, and eventually to get advertising. They aren’t alone, I am just as guilty from time to time.

    The benefit that I have are that the people paying for this site give me some leeway when I pen something stupid, tell me about it, and I can change. When I was on the advertising model and I penned something stupid they just went elsewhere. I’m not sure which *is* better, but I know what *I* like better.