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Recent Articles

  • Clear, Games, and Themes

    Stephen Hackett on my ‘[Gamification is for Dicks](https://brooksreview.net/2012/04/gamification-dicks/)’ post: >Ben’s choice of words aside, I don’t think the addition of “secret” UI themes in Clear is a bad thing. The app itself — its gestures, etc. — are playful and light. The “gamification” doesn’t get in the way of using the app, and the “awards”…

    Stephen Hackett on my ‘[Gamification is for Dicks](https://brooksreview.net/2012/04/gamification-dicks/)’ post:
    >Ben’s choice of words aside, I don’t think the addition of “secret” UI themes in Clear is a bad thing. The app itself — its gestures, etc. — are playful and light. The “gamification” doesn’t get in the way of using the app, and the “awards” don’t add any functionality. It simply adds new free themes.
    >What’s so wrong with that?

    This is the main complaint about my argument ((Aside from the very small minority that didn’t like my wording.)) : that Clear was/is a poor example because it is just themes. Stephen does point out that the app, to him, is “playful and light”.

    I disagree with that notion.

    Firstly, just because an app is gesture driven doesn’t mean that it is “playful and light”, it just means it is gesture driven. I think it is wrong to classify gesture driven apps as being playful, because gestures themselves aren’t anymore playful than using a mouse.

    It seems to me that Stephen wants to dismiss the gamification of Clear by trying to make Clear sound like it is already a game-like app — and I don’t think that is true at all. Clear is a productivity tool, with game mechanics to unlock themes.

    Secondly, themes in Clear are a very integral part of the app — in Clear themes are a feature and not an accessory. The themes are how you prioritize items in the list — using the color of the theme to show priority. In most cases themes would just be a nice add-on, but in Clear I would argue that themes are a central part of the user experience.

    And that’s why the gamification of unlocking themes in Clear presents a really bad user experience.

  • Gamification is for Dicks

    It’s that thing where an app developer thinks it would be really neat to make parts of their non-game app into a game. I hate it, and I think it’s bullshit. Actually, I have hated it for a while, but this is the catalyst for my rant today: >So what’s your favourite “secret” theme in…

    It’s that thing where an app developer thinks it would be really neat to make parts of their non-game app into a game. I hate it, and I think it’s bullshit.

    Actually, I have hated it for a while, but this is the catalyst for my rant today:

    >So what’s your favourite “secret” theme in Clear? Let us know in this Facebook Poll! facebook.com/questions/2169… — Clear for iPhone (@UseClear) April 27, 2012

    Now Clear had this all along, [even when I reviewed it](https://brooksreview.net/2012/02/clear/), but at the time I figured this aspect was more of and easter egg than it was a long-term *thing* for the app.

    As it turns out, I figured wrong.

    And gamification bugs me quite a bit, because I think it is disrespectful to users of the app. If I pay for your app, why do I still need to jump through hoops to get all of the features of your app? I can only assume it is because making me jump through hoops amuses the developer in some way.

    Don’t just take my word for it, [here’s Brent Simmons on the issue](http://inessential.com/2011/12/23/gamification_sucks):

    >“Gamification” treats people like children — children who need to be manipulated, who need to be tricked into doing what’s good for them.
    >And it makes bad software.

    And it makes the software developer look like a dick.

    It’s time to put an end to this.

  • House Passes Controversial Cybersecurity Measure CISPA

    David Kravets: >In short, the measure seeks to undo privacy laws that generally forbid ISPs from disclosing customer communications with anybody else unless with a court order. *Fantastic*.

    David Kravets:
    >In short, the measure seeks to undo privacy laws that generally forbid ISPs from disclosing customer communications with anybody else unless with a court order.

    *Fantastic*.

  • Quote of the Day: MG Siegler

    “Google planned to take 33% of the total tablet market in 2011. Yet they barely have 33% of just the Android tablet market.” — MG Siegler

    “Google planned to take 33% of the total tablet market in 2011. Yet they barely have 33% of just the Android tablet market.”

  • Camera Awesome

    Tim Moynihan about Camera Awesome: >Another useful option for capturing short videos of laughing babies and/or game-winning-hit scenarios at baseball games, Camera Awesome’s video options include a “Precord Video” setting that automatically buffers and saves 5 seconds of video *before* you press the record button. That actually is a pretty neat trick — though I…

    Tim Moynihan about Camera Awesome:
    >Another useful option for capturing short videos of laughing babies and/or game-winning-hit scenarios at baseball games, Camera Awesome’s video options include a “Precord Video” setting that automatically buffers and saves 5 seconds of video *before* you press the record button.

    That actually is a pretty neat trick — though I wonder what kind of havoc that wreaks on your battery life.

  • Placeme

    Rachel Metz: >Called Placeme, the free app takes advantage of the smart phone’s sensors and its GPS and Wi-Fi capabilities to figure out where I go and for how long, and stores this data in a private log on my iPhone. >It may sound creepy or unnecessary, but as more people carry smart phones with…

    Rachel Metz:
    >Called Placeme, the free app takes advantage of the smart phone’s sensors and its GPS and Wi-Fi capabilities to figure out where I go and for how long, and stores this data in a private log on my iPhone.

    >It may sound creepy or unnecessary, but as more people carry smart phones with them everywhere, demand for this kind of persistent location tracking may grow—not just from marketers, but also from individuals who want to keep an eye on their own movements or of loved ones with medical conditions such as Alzheimer’s.

    Correction, it *is* creepy and unnecessary. More than just that, potentially very dangerous if you lose your phone.

  • Screenshot Journal

    A nice review of Screenshot Journal by Neven Mrgan, I had never heard of the app — which is a shame because it really is great if you like to dive into the pixels of iOS screenshots, or just organize your screenshots a bit better.

    A nice review of Screenshot Journal by Neven Mrgan, I had never heard of the app — which is a shame because it really is great if you like to dive into the pixels of iOS screenshots, or just organize your screenshots a bit better.

  • Former Sun Chief About Google

    By now you probably heard that former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz did his best to kill Oracle’s case in the spat with Google, but Florian Mueller does a good job in this post showing that Schwartz himself see problems with the way Google fails to license things. It all makes Schwartz come out looking pretty…

    By now you probably heard that former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz did his best to kill Oracle’s case in the spat with Google, but Florian Mueller does a good job in this post showing that Schwartz himself see problems with the way Google fails to license things.

    It all makes Schwartz come out looking pretty petty.

  • T-Mobile Tries to Woo iPhone Users with $200 Bounty

    No, really. Also: what [he said](http://verynicewebsite.net/2012/04/t-mobile-iphone-bounty/).

    No, really. Also: what [he said](http://verynicewebsite.net/2012/04/t-mobile-iphone-bounty/).

  • iPad Usage

    John Paul Titlow: >The iPad and its chief competitors in the tablet space are not poised to replace laptops and desktops just yet, a fact confirmed in IDG’s survey. Only 6% of respondents said their tablet has “completely replaced” their PC and 16% said the iPad had ousted their laptop from their lives. Instead, the…

    John Paul Titlow:
    >The iPad and its chief competitors in the tablet space are not poised to replace laptops and desktops just yet, a fact confirmed in IDG’s survey. Only 6% of respondents said their tablet has “completely replaced” their PC and 16% said the iPad had ousted their laptop from their lives. Instead, the tablet is serving as more of a supplementary device.

    This would make it seem to most (including Titlow) that the iPad is a supplementary device. But I think this survey actually shows just how fast the iPad is taking over, in just two years 16% of iPad users have replaced their laptops. That’s incredible to me. ((Yes I know the survey was for “tablets”, but come on — we all know it’s iPads.))

  • The B&B Podcast #58: Again With the Ys

    Shawn and I talk about BBQ grills, naming products with a Y in place of an `i` and turning tablets into laptops.

    Shawn and I talk about BBQ grills, naming products with a Y in place of an `i` and turning tablets into laptops.

  • ‘More to Discover on Our Latest iPhone, Android Apps’

    From the Twitter blog on the latest iOS/Android app update: >Lastly, we’ve added push notifications for Interactions, so you can know immediately when your Tweets have been retweeted or favorited, or when somebody new follows your account. Who would want this? Worse yet: these new notifications are on by default, even though I only updated…

    From the Twitter blog on the latest iOS/Android app update:
    >Lastly, we’ve added push notifications for Interactions, so you can know immediately when your Tweets have been retweeted or favorited, or when somebody new follows your account.

    Who would want this? Worse yet: these new notifications are on by default, even though I only updated the app. That alone should be a criminal offense.

  • Pop, Soda, Coke

    Samuel Arbesman: >One of the clearest regional differences in the U.S. can found by tracking the words people use to refer to soft drinks, which is in fact the map you saw at the top of this story. Pop or soda, or even Coke, these small linguistic differences are not as small as we might…

    Samuel Arbesman:
    >One of the clearest regional differences in the U.S. can found by tracking the words people use to refer to soft drinks, which is in fact the map you saw at the top of this story. Pop or soda, or even Coke, these small linguistic differences are not as small as we might think. While “soda” commands the Northeast and West Coast (green) and “pop” is in between (black), “Coke” reigns in the south (turquoise).

    Neat map.

  • Tweet of the Day: Dave Pell

    Every page with web comments should be sponsored by antidepressants. — Dave Pell (@davepell) April 26, 2012

    Every page with web comments should be sponsored by antidepressants.
    — Dave Pell (@davepell) April 26, 2012

  • The Privacy Concerns of Google Drive

    Nilay Patel breaking down the privacy implications of cloud storage services: >In the end, though, the actual wording of these documents doesn’t reveal much — they all set out to do the same thing, and they all accomplish their goals. What’s most important is how much trust you’re willing to give companies like Google, Microsoft,…

    Nilay Patel breaking down the privacy implications of cloud storage services:
    >In the end, though, the actual wording of these documents doesn’t reveal much — they all set out to do the same thing, and they all accomplish their goals. What’s most important is how much trust you’re willing to give companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Dropbox as more and more of your data moves to the cloud.

    [via The Loop]

  • ‘The iPad as Gateway Drug’

    For all the talk of the iPad being priced too high, it sure is funny that, as Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports: >Now, according to a new NPD survey, their first Apple (AAPL) product is more likely to be an iPhone or, increasingly, an iPad. The iPad is selling like crazy, but I am not so sure…

    For all the talk of the iPad being priced too high, it sure is funny that, as Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports:

    >Now, according to a new NPD survey, their first Apple (AAPL) product is more likely to be an iPhone or, increasingly, an iPad.

    The iPad is selling like crazy, but I am not so sure it is going to have as large of a halo effect on Macs as the iPhone does — for one, it can do much more than an iPhone and many think of the iPad as a computer and not a complimentary device to a computer.

  • TSA Jacks $300 from a 95 Year Old Man

    Marney Rich Keenan: >”Can you imagine an 85-year-old lady and 95-year-old retired Air Force Major in wheelchairs being treated like terrorists?” Petti asked recently sitting in the kitchen of the Bloomfield Township home he shares with Woodward. I can’t imagine it, but apparently the TSA can. And later, after TSA jacked $300 and a police…

    Marney Rich Keenan:
    >”Can you imagine an 85-year-old lady and 95-year-old retired Air Force Major in wheelchairs being treated like terrorists?” Petti asked recently sitting in the kitchen of the Bloomfield Township home he shares with Woodward.

    I can’t imagine it, but apparently the TSA can.

    And later, after TSA jacked $300 and a police report was filed:

    >Nobody, he says, is giving him a straight answer. “The police said they went and reviewed the videotapes but they were too blurry,” Petti says. Petti’s son Bill, who is helping his father, doubts that. “You can bet if my father were a terrorist, those videos would not be too blurry.”

    Ugh.

    [via reader Stuart R.]

  • Kaspersky: “Fair” and “Balanced” “Analysis”

    Steve Evans reporting: >”I think they [Macs] are ten years behind Microsoft in terms of security,” Kaspersky told CBR. Not quoted were the direct links, prices, and features of the [Mac based security software](http://usa.kaspersky.com/products-services/home-computer-security/anti-virus-for-mac) that Kaspersky sells. [via Cult of Mac]

    Steve Evans reporting:
    >”I think they [Macs] are ten years behind Microsoft in terms of security,” Kaspersky told CBR.

    Not quoted were the direct links, prices, and features of the [Mac based security software](http://usa.kaspersky.com/products-services/home-computer-security/anti-virus-for-mac) that Kaspersky sells.

  • Obama Shuts Down the TSA

    Oh wait, nope that’s him on a late night comedy show, but I’m sure he is all over the TSA incompetence.

    Oh wait, nope that’s him on a late night comedy show, but I’m sure he is all over the TSA incompetence.

  • TSA Agents Accused Of Taking Bribes To Let Drugs Through LAX Checkpoints

    Chris Morran: >Last night and this morning, authorities arrested two current and two former screeners at Los Angeles International Airport for allegedly taking bribes to not notice that travelers were secreting stashes of coke, meth and pot in their suitcases. Imagine what I would find if I even tried to find stories about TSA stupidity…

    Chris Morran:

    >Last night and this morning, authorities arrested two current and two former screeners at Los Angeles International Airport for allegedly taking bribes to not notice that travelers were secreting stashes of coke, meth and pot in their suitcases.

    Imagine what I would find if I even tried to find stories about TSA stupidity…