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John C. Dvorak asking if he is wrong about the notion that the iPad is an old persons computer, and no one under 30 wants to own one: Am I wrong about this? Yes, yes you are. You said so yourself earlier in your article: I’m sure every department store Santa Claus has heard an…
John C. Dvorak asking if he is wrong about the notion that the iPad is an old persons computer, and no one under 30 wants to own one:
Am I wrong about this?
Yes, yes you are. You said so yourself earlier in your article:
I’m sure every department store Santa Claus has heard an earful of requests for an iPad.
Now unless I am wrong going to sit on Santa’s lap is an overwhelmingly “under the age of 30” thing to do.
I had a swamped morning. When I saw, on Twitter, that CNN had launched a free iPad app I was pretty excited to give a whirl. To date there have been very few news apps for the iPad that have been worth a damn. I am sad to say that the CNN app is among…
I had a swamped morning. When I saw, on Twitter, that CNN had launched a free iPad app I was pretty excited to give a whirl. To date there have been very few news apps for the iPad that have been worth a damn.
I am sad to say that the CNN app is among the worst news apps released for the iPad.
When you fire up the app the first page you see a grid of images with article titles. A lone ad sits at the side and everything looks and works in a decent fashion. ((Scroll sucks, but that is the case in most apps with this type of view. Look at Reuters for example.)) You can switch between three main view modes to disseminate your news: Grid/Mosaic, List, and ridiculously large images with tiny headlines. I don’t know why anyone would want the latter. The list view may win the award for the most boring view state available on the iPad; it should be said that there are other apps with equally ugly list views, this just so happens to really look bad.
So you are stuck with the grid view if you want to keep your sanity.
Upon checking out all these view modes I was willing to forgive the app since reading the news is the most important aspect. I moved directly into the articles view and what I saw was more than disappointing: it is a blatant disregard for the reader. The article is held to the left edge of the screen (both orientations) and in landscape view it only takes up half of the screen. Half. What the hell is that about?
The other half of the screen is a lovely advertisement; you are also given the option to view comments and add yours in this space. So what CNN is essentially saying is that the content they write is of equal importance as the content their readers and advertisers write. Hmmm.
You get between 8-10 words a line with this layout. That is not abysmal, but it is pathetic. For the most part the column size remains the same when you flip to portrait view. The app sucks in either orientation.
I am glad I am done writing this post so I can delete the CNN app from my iPad.
There is so much false stuff and stupid things Joshua Kors says I had a hard time choosing: I knew that, unlike a PC, I wouldn’t be able to connect one computer to another and transfer over my documents. Yes, Joshua Kors thinks that Macs cannot network. Idiot. If you want a good laugh read…
There is so much false stuff and stupid things Joshua Kors says I had a hard time choosing:
I knew that, unlike a PC, I wouldn’t be able to connect one computer to another and transfer over my documents.
Yes, Joshua Kors thinks that Macs cannot network. Idiot. If you want a good laugh read the entire thing.
A while back Ian Hines asked me if I would like to participate in an interview for his new site ‘Intrvws’ I was honored to do so and it was a lot of fun too. Don’t just click through to read my interview, click through and read the ones that interest you, then subscribe to…
A while back Ian Hines asked me if I would like to participate in an interview for his new site ‘Intrvws’ I was honored to do so and it was a lot of fun too. Don’t just click through to read my interview, click through and read the ones that interest you, then subscribe to the site.
Patrick Rhone speaking about his 11″ 64GB MacBook Air: So far, my experience has been a great one. I’m using it as close to “out of the box” as I can and being very picky about the apps I install. As of this writing I still have over 30GB available. That is pretty incredible restraint.…
Patrick Rhone speaking about his 11″ 64GB MacBook Air:
So far, my experience has been a great one. I’m using it as close to “out of the box” as I can and being very picky about the apps I install. As of this writing I still have over 30GB available.
That is pretty incredible restraint. He lists a few apps that he decided not to install, and indeed I deleted a bunch of apps that I was not using the other day just for the hell of it. When I was reading Rhone’s initial thoughts I couldn’t help but wondering what apps he is keeping web only. For instance is Simplenote web only, or is he still using Notational Velocity or other Simplenote clients. It will be interesting to hear how he fairs after a longer period of time passes.
James Kendrick This year was definitely the year of the tablet, even with only a few models reaching consumers’ hands. I disagree, 2011 will be the year of the tablet. Tablets no doubt took off in 2010 and the market was transformed by Apple’s iPad. But sales were far to slow, next year with more…
James Kendrick
This year was definitely the year of the tablet, even with only a few models reaching consumers’ hands.
I disagree, 2011 will be the year of the tablet. Tablets no doubt took off in 2010 and the market was transformed by Apple’s iPad. But sales were far to slow, next year with more models on the market will make 2010 seem like only a few dozen were sold. Next year is the year that you come home and your grandparents are sitting around playing with their iPads.
What I would really like to see that is missing from this list: top Twitter clients.
What I would really like to see that is missing from this list: top Twitter clients.
A very in-depth look at the Cr-48. Mg Siegler does a great job going over the machine and the OS as a whole, one of the better product reviews I have seen in a while.
A very in-depth look at the Cr-48. Mg Siegler does a great job going over the machine and the OS as a whole, one of the better product reviews I have seen in a while.
It was late ((For me, which means it was about 11pm.)) and I was at my computer trying to figure some annoying coding problem on my wife’s website. I was tired and I stared blankly at the keyboard on my MacBook Air. I was praying that some how that keyboard would type the answers for…
It was late ((For me, which means it was about 11pm.)) and I was at my computer trying to figure some annoying coding problem on my wife’s website. I was tired and I stared blankly at the keyboard on my MacBook Air. I was praying that some how that keyboard would type the answers for me. Then I saw that damned power button in the corner of the keyboard and it just stuck with me, I thought: why the hell is that there.
Ok: I know the power button is there to turn on the computer (and in some case to turn it off). In over a month of owning the MacBook Air, do you know how many times I have pressed that button? Neither do I, but if I had to guess I would reckon that I have pressed it no more than 4 times, likely just twice.
Now anybody who computed in the 90s can probably tell you that the power button was used almost daily, and the clever little ‘reset’ buttons twice daily. ((Nice job Microsoft.)) Today though most Mac users probably very rarely push the power button on their computer. Maybe only when they fly. ((Though I don’t even do that – I know that makes me bad.))
If you really think about it, how long would you give power buttons before they go the way of the floppy disk? I bet in the next year we will start to see more and more devices that just have sleep buttons, completely lacking a dedicated button to turn the device on and off. Why would you? ((Yes, yes, planes I know.))
Think about your iPad/iPhone, you probably press the power button at the top all the time. What you probably rarely ever do is press and hold that button to turn the device on and off, instead you just use that button to sleep the device. Same with the power button on your Mac, sure you restart it now and then, but shut it down? Nah, that is soo Clinton era. Instead you just close the laptop screen and open the screen. Simple.
Battery life is simply too good to worry about turning things on and off any longer. Power management while our devices are in ‘standby’ modes has been perfected to the point where we no longer worry about our devices while they sleep.
In fact the main reason we used to turn gadgets on and off was to conserve battery life, but my MacBook Air will sleep for 30 days. I can’t remember the last time I went 4 days without using my computer, let alone 30. Advances in power management are truly making off and on irrelevant in today’s electronics.
Most office workers remember having to turn their machines off at the end of the day and back on the next morning. I doubt many do that any longer, either they are using a laptop, or on a desktop simply locking the machine when they leave is sufficient for their employer.
I used to turn off my cell phone daily. Now I get anxiety about what I might miss when I need to reboot it. There rarely is ever a reason to turn my phone completely off.
I am not trying to be nostalgic about things, I am trying to prove a point: more and more power buttons are becoming completely obsolete.
In fact the only power buttons I push any more are for my TV, the Receiver attached to the TV and my dSLR. How long do you think it will be until our TVs are just always on and ready to be used, perhaps just showing a picture slideshow until we start watching a video? How long until our cameras sense being picked up and having the shutter depressed?
I hope it is not long, because I am beginning to forget what the power button is for.
The oddest cases of power buttons are with bluetooth peripherals, things like mice, keyboards, headsets. Why do these need power buttons? I have two bluetooth headsets in my car, both are on 24/7 and when the battery runs low I recharge them in the car. It is all rather painless and I never have to think about turning them on and off.
Same with my Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad: both on all the time. I never turn them off and why would I? It would be just one extra step I would need to take before using them. I am sure some of you are saying: ah, but when you thorw peripherals like mice and keyboards in a bag with your laptop they could potentially wake up that device. True, but honestly that seems like a problem that could easily be solved with the next software update. Most modern Mac users will tell you that even if you allow a bluetooth device to ‘wake’ your Mac, that it will not do so unless the lid is open, or a display is attached to it. So really if your Macbook [whatever] is in your computer bag with a mouse that is “on” – you have nothing to worry about.
I think we could save a lot of space on these devices if we all just agree that power buttons are irrelevant.
What if my Magic Trackpad was always off until it sensed my fingers near the device, then at that moment it sprung to life and started working. Perhaps it isn’t really off, just sleeping. Same with bluetooth headsets, they wake up when I put one on, and are sleeping the rest of the time.
Don’t even get me started on external HD enclosures that have on and off switches on the back of them. Can you think of any more ways to annoy consumers: “before you want to use this external HD that is ugly and you have hidden away, be sure to turn in on using that small hidden black switch on the back.” Thanks for that manufacturers.
I have for a while now owned the URL ‘tbr.co’ but due to how long it took me to get that URL I had already purchased ‘tbr.mx’ to use as a URL shortener. Well tonight Ian Hines helped me out and showed me how to get everything pointed at ‘tbr.co’ to redirect to the same…
I have for a while now owned the URL ‘tbr.co’ but due to how long it took me to get that URL I had already purchased ‘tbr.mx’ to use as a URL shortener. Well tonight Ian Hines helped me out and showed me how to get everything pointed at ‘tbr.co’ to redirect to the same page at ‘brooksreview.net’.
So if you want to go to the TBR archives you have two options:
or
http://tbr.co/archive
The latter will just redirect you to the former. So why the two? Easy, you save typing 10 characters and when you are doing that on your phone it counts. This should work with every page BTW.
Andy Ihnatko: But without a connection to the Internet, this cutting-edge machine had become little more than a Notebook-Shaped Object. The six or seven open browser tabs in front of me were just ghosts of webapps that joined the choir invisible as soon as they lost contact with their servers. I still want to play…
Andy Ihnatko:
But without a connection to the Internet, this cutting-edge machine had become little more than a Notebook-Shaped Object. The six or seven open browser tabs in front of me were just ghosts of webapps that joined the choir invisible as soon as they lost contact with their servers.
I still want to play with one. Hope Google sends me one, though it is not looking hopeful.
Leon Kaufman & Joseph W. Carlson: It is very likely that a large (15-20 cm in diameter), irregularly-shaped, cm-thick pancake with beveled edges, taped to the abdomen, would be invisible to this technology, ironically, because of its large volume, since it is easily confused with normal anatomy. Thus, a third of a kilo of PETN,…
Leon Kaufman & Joseph W. Carlson:
It is very likely that a large (15-20 cm in diameter), irregularly-shaped, cm-thick pancake with beveled edges, taped to the abdomen, would be invisible to this technology, ironically, because of its large volume, since it is easily confused with normal anatomy. Thus, a third of a kilo of PETN, easily picked up in a competent pat down, would be missed by backscatter “high technology”. Forty grams of PETN, a purportedly dangerous amount, would fit in a 1.25 mm-thick pancake of the dimensions simulated here and be virtually invisible. Packed in a compact mode, say, a 1 cm×4 cm×5 cm brick, it would be detected.
Yay they give us cancer and don’t catch things that metal detectors can’t catch.
[via Boing Boing]
There has been a lot of brouhaha about the lack of a caps lock key on Google’s development Chrome OS device the Cr-48. I find it very interesting that of all the companies out there it is Google of all companies that is the first to realize just how silly the caps lock key is.…
There has been a lot of brouhaha about the lack of a caps lock key on Google’s development Chrome OS device the Cr-48. I find it very interesting that of all the companies out there it is Google of all companies that is the first to realize just how silly the caps lock key is. How often do you actually use that key? It only ever gets in my way, probably the same with you.
Did you know though that as a Mac user you can actually rid yourself of the caps lock key right now, no tools needed?
Just pop open ‘System Preferences’, go to ‘Keyboard’, click on the button that says ‘Modifiers’ and select what you want caps lock to become. As you can see in the above screenshot I have my caps lock set to ‘no action’ so no matter how many times I hit the key it doesn’t do a thing.
It is all rather great.
I agree with Google, there is no need for the caps lock key, I don’t know why there ever was (though I suspect someone will email me a reason). All I can say is that most computers users today do not need the key and are probably only hindered by it.
Go forth and rid yourself of the caps lock key, Google says it’s OK.
Ossi Carp: According to the internal documents shared with DN.se, Openleaks intends to establish itself as a neutral intermediary ”without a political agenda except from the dissemination of information to the media, the public, non-profit organizations, trade- and union organizations and other participating groups.” “All editorial control and responsibility rests with the publishing organization. We…
Ossi Carp:
According to the internal documents shared with DN.se, Openleaks intends to establish itself as a neutral intermediary ”without a political agenda except from the dissemination of information to the media, the public, non-profit organizations, trade- and union organizations and other participating groups.”
“All editorial control and responsibility rests with the publishing organization. We will, as far as possible, take the role of the messenger between the whistleblower and the organization the whistleblower is trying to cooperate with,” says one anonymous informant.
That has been the thing that bugs me most about WikiLeaks, they too have an agenda, yet get mad at those that also have an agenda. Hopefully these guys will be able to live up to their lofty goal.
I had previously linked to a build of Notational Velocity that allowed for a better widescreen and full screen views. This version of NV from Brett Terpstra is even better, it has a widescreen layout and preview mode for people who write in Markdown. Go get it.
I had previously linked to a build of Notational Velocity that allowed for a better widescreen and full screen views. This version of NV from Brett Terpstra is even better, it has a widescreen layout and preview mode for people who write in Markdown. Go get it.
Kellett on Windows Phone 7: Excitement, followed by disappointment. The more I think about it the more I think I will try to get my hands on one for a week or two so that I can check out the OS more thoroughly.
Kellett on Windows Phone 7:
Excitement, followed by disappointment.
The more I think about it the more I think I will try to get my hands on one for a week or two so that I can check out the OS more thoroughly.
If you are interested the MacSparky blog did and interview with my about how I am using my iPhone, with a current screenshot of my home screen.
If you are interested the MacSparky blog did and interview with my about how I am using my iPhone, with a current screenshot of my home screen.
Wait, this wasn’t already the policy? Christ they deserved these leaks then.
Wait, this wasn’t already the policy? Christ they deserved these leaks then.
First let’s define what I mean by “little”. Little means often overlooked, something that may not get a ton of press, but that is massively useful. Little does not mean: cheap, limited, useless. Now that I have that out of the way here are some great ‘little’ apps that I love. The Apps Hazel: I…
First let’s define what I mean by “little”. Little means often overlooked, something that may not get a ton of press, but that is massively useful. Little does not mean: cheap, limited, useless. Now that I have that out of the way here are some great ‘little’ apps that I love.
I just got an email from Brad Gies who has setup a site called “No Crappy Apps” that analyzes the Android Market and allows users to comment and rate Apps on the site, as well as allowing developers to respond. Gies on what makes this system better: Well.. first of all we analyze not only…
I just got an email from Brad Gies who has setup a site called “No Crappy Apps” that analyzes the Android Market and allows users to comment and rate Apps on the site, as well as allowing developers to respond.
Gies on what makes this system better:
Well.. first of all we analyze not only the ratings for the apps, but the comments as well.. You might notice that we don’t allow anonymous comments on our website, only registered users can leave comments. We track the comments and analyze them to find out if a commenter has only been rating apps from certain developers highly (and sometimes they rate competing apps very lowly). When our software determines that a commenter is a spammer all of their comments are disregarded for our ratings.
I am not sure of how this actually pans out given that I don’t have an Android device any longer to browse and download apps he is marking as spam, but look at these numbers from the site:
Gies emailed me to say that he expects that the number of spam apps will reach 20,000 in the next 2 months, given that his system needs 10 weeks worth of data. That is pretty amazing and pretty sad for the Android Market. Now who is up for doing this for iOS?