There you have it.
Jim always knows best.
Gorgon Loop
By Eric Breese
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2012-07-30 0 notes
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2012-07-29 0 notes
It’s starting to look like this is it.
Don’t fix it if it isn’t broken, I suppose.
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2012-07-28 0 notes
Apple Inc. and Google Inc. are taking their battle over smartphones to a new venue: Kodak’s bankruptcy proceedings.
— The Wall Street Journal (paywall)
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This is a huge improvement.
I was going to post or link to an image of the old screen saver pane, but I don’t want to hurt anyone’s eyes.
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We’ve all had those days where we’re so tired when we get home from work, we don’t change; We just go to bed in our uniform.
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2012-07-27 0 notes
*insert big cat pun*
Over the next week or so, I’ll be tweeting and posting thoughts on Mountain Lion. Expect short posts that highlights little improvements (or problems).
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We know nothing.
Didn’t even get the next iPhone’s number correct.
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Gay Hare!
The rabbit logo used to change cursor acceleration speed in the original Macintosh was redesigned multiple times, and according to Walter Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs”, one of the redesigns was due to Jobs finding the icon “too gay”.
(original link via Shawn Blanc)
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Thoughts on the MacBook Air…
…are pending until I get my hands on Mountain Lion. I don’t see a reason to post something on a brand new computer but an old operating system.
Now I’m just waiting to get my redemption code from Apple’s Up-To-Date program. Which may take some time.
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Some of these look very similar to the rumored iPhone redesign due this fall.
Also noteworthy:
Many of the iPad prototypes also feature “iPod” on the back, perhaps giving insight into Apple’s early naming considerations.
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2012-07-26 0 notes
John Siracusa's Monster Mountain Masterpiece
The set-up:
For most people, the problems Apple tried to address in Lion were real. The solutions, however, had some rough edges.
Also: I apologize for the pun. Kind of.
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Check out that network signal indicator.
More notable, though, is the fact that the icons on SpringBoard are icons from OS X widgets. Which are actually still included, along with the Dashboard, in Mountain Lion. Incidentially, Ars Technica just published a piece on said inclusion.
iOS apps largely took over the purpose of many Dashboard widgets when they started becoming popular several years ago by offering a quick look at information in a visually pleasing—and extremely mobile—manner.
Huh.
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But now, I’ve lost all confidence that the apps I buy in the App Store today will still be there next month or next year.
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2012-07-25 0 notes
Healthy and growing.
Apple is still doing very, very well. But the overexcitement of pundits is starting to come to head with reality, if you ask me.
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2012-07-24 1 note
Speed, Comfort and Safety
On Wednesday, July 18th, I was supposed to take off in a plane at 6:05p from Baltimore and land in Detroit about an hour and a half later. But that time kept getting pushed back. And back. And back. Until it was pushed back more than twelve hours, to the next morning.
Delays are nothing new. Everyone knows they happen. At this point, it’s really just a joke. Taking a plane somewhere? Yeah, you won’t be there on time. That’s just what it is. Travel — air travel especially — is in beta. Weather is unpredictable. Gas is expensive. Planes are complicated. Pilots need to sleep. These are just a handful of things that can cause an issue.
The same goes for basic technology. Even sending a tweet relies on a huge number of things going just right. The phone has to work. The app has to work. The signal has to be sent to a cell tower correctly (and get through any obstacles in the way). A tweet is sent magically through the air to reach the internet. That’s pretty amazing.
Being it’s 2012, the modern internet is really only two decades old. Smartphones have been the devices we know them as today for only the last five years or so.
Air travel? Well, it may have been around for longer, but that doesn’t mean it’s easier to defy gravity and make a tube of human beings fly from one city to another with no deadly incidents.
But, why are all these things marketed as complete products? Errors are mentioned as possible only in the fine print. Only as possibilities. Your Verizon LTE phone will deliver amazing speeds. iCloud will work seamlessly. Your flight will take off at 6:05p.
But chances are, things will go wrong. Your phone won’t reach the network properly. There will be a bug in the software. iCloud will probably sync your contacts incorrectly. Your flight will, most likely, be delayed. Maybe until the following morning.
And when these things happen, all I can ever think is something like this:
“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST”
Why? Because Delta said 6:05p. Because Verizon said it would work. Because Apple said it would work. When it doesn’t, my recourse is limited. Very limited.
Flight delayed? Sorry.
No signal? Try again later.
Bad sync? It happens.
For a business to advertise their services as reliable is not in some way wrong or strange — it only makes sense. Verizon can’t say that my data connection will work most of the time. Delta can’t say that I’ll probably be delayed. That wouldn’t help share prices one bit. Businesses are businesses.
But, what these companies can do is make sure that product reliability will be the only issue. Customer service should never be a problem. Ever.
The title of this post is the original Delta slogan from 1929. When it comes down to it, air travel is still about those three things. Being on time is new. But that’s not what I’m thinking when I get delayed. Which is why communication is key. It’s not that my expectations need to be lowered; it’s that when they aren’t met, I need to be treated correctly.
I’m not going to detail bad experiences that I’ve had with companies. That isn’t going to help anyone. I’m not looking to gain attention because people like to hear negative stories.
What I’m trying to do is communicate with the common consumer something that I’m trying to communicate to myself: the 21st century life is in beta, roll with the punches.
Those in charge of the beta products just need to find a better way to help me roll.
