04.21.12 |
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I appreciate what Alexis Mardigral has to say about startups and lack of originality, especially those without a revenue stream:
But more than the bandwidth or the stagnant hardware, I think the blame should fall squarely on the shoulders of the business model. The dominant idea has been to gather users and get them to pour their friends, photos, writing, information, clicks, and locations into your app. Then you sell them stuff (Amazon.com, One King’s Lane) or you take that data and sell it in one way or another to someone who will sell them stuff (everyone). I return to Jeff Hammerbacher’s awesome line about developers these days: “The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads.”
Worse yet, all this stuff is dependent on machine learning algorithms that are crude and incredibly difficult to improve. You pour more vast amounts of data in to eke out a bit more efficiency. That’s great and all, but let’s not look at that kind of behavior and call it “disruptive.” That is the opposite of disruptive.
Yet many other arguments offered fall flat. Elsewhere Alexis argues the iPad is basically a large iPhone (judging from the increasingly desktop-like, full featured software jumping on the platform, he’s missing the point) and that “we’re working with the exact same toolset that we had on a 2007 iPhone”. That’s totally false; he’s nuts if he thinks the mobile sector isn’t booming in innovation.
04.20.12 |
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This extended piece by Atlantic writer Stephen Marche is really interesting. However I find it more revelatory as a conversation piece than a convincing argument against Facebook.
The article is at its best arguing for Facebook as a “grind” over a fun, interconnected experience:
What’s truly staggering about Facebook usage is not its volume—750 million photographs uploaded over a single weekend—but the constancy of the performance it demands. More than half its users—and one of every 13 people on Earth is a Facebook user—log on every day. Among 18-to-34-year-olds, nearly half check Facebook minutes after waking up, and 28 percent do so before getting out of bed. The relentlessness is what is so new, so potentially transformative. Facebook never takes a break. We never take a break.
04.20.12 |
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Kill Screen writers Jamin Warren and Michael Thomsen debate the game review process and the importance of finishing games. I found both sides of their argument strong, especially this point by Mike on why finishing games prior to writing a review is so important:
I compare it to taking an assignment to climb Mount Everest. Nobody wants to read about me getting to the base camp. There’s Into Thin Air; there’s a long history of people writing very well about failure. But if you take the game as Everest, the review should be an account of getting to the top of Everest. What did it cost you; was it an easy hike not in terms of difficulty, but in terms of your own creative endurance? How quickly were you bored with it; how quickly did it become rote and repetitive; how much of a surprise was there in the ending; how much meaning came out of the boredom?
04.20.12 |
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Two hundred plus comments on what you should watch from Netflix’s streaming library. It’s territory covered heavily elsewhere online, but especially if you’re new to Netflix and bewildered where to start, there’s some good options here.
04.19.12 |
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I’m not a huge iOS gamer, but when I do I gravitate toward word games. One of the best in the genre is David Gage’s SpellTower. It’s fun, simple, and has four game variations to keep things interesting. Works well on both iPhone and iPad, and there’s Bluetooth connectivity included for competitive multiplayer.
It’s on sale right now for a buck only for the next 24 hours, so go get it (Cool web site as well.)
04.19.12 |
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If you haven’t stopped by Dustin Curtis’s network of tech bloggers, do so asap. Dustin is rounding up a great set of talent (e.g. Federico Viticci, Christina Warren.) The minimal design is optimized for reading and casual browsing. In addition, the clean visuals and lack of ads give it an upscale feel; it’s almost like browsing a minimalist Monocle online.
04.19.12 |
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The A.V. Club’s Mike D’Angelo on that car chase from The French Connection:
Early in the scene, it’s mostly Hackman (who later became a mildly successful amateur race-car driver) behind the wheel, clearly visible either in profile or in the rear-view mirror. But the second half features footage shot from the front bumper, and that’s Hickman (“Hickman, Hackman. Hackman, Hickman”) barreling down actual, non-staged Brooklyn traffic at what Friedkin, who was operating from the back seat, claims was upward of 90 miles per hour. Some sources—notably cinematographer Owen Roizman—claim this is exaggerated slightly…you can still tell that what you’re seeing was in no way safe, and the idea that most of those other cars are just ordinary folks going about their day is mind-boggling. Do they even know they’re in the movie, or do they just think they narrowly avoided being hit by some random asshole?
I had no idea. Crazy stuff.
04.19.12 |
Technology |
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What qualifies as a ‘great’ iOS app over the long run? For me it’s simple: It saves me time. It doesn’t have to have a great icon, a great design, sexy graphics or get lots of praise from tech bloggers. If any of those traits add to saving time (and they often do) great, but time and efficiency outweigh everything else.
I use Drafts because its simplicity and raw speed saves me a few seconds every time I have to capture an idea or reminder. IA Writer’s clean typography and lack of customization focuses my mind for longer form writing. Marsedit’s quick WordPress and browser integration saves me a few minutes for every linked list post I make. Omnifocus syncs effortlessly and reliably between my Macs and mobile devices; I spend little time worried about lost contacts or todos. With Reeder I can scroll through and consume a day’s worth of tech, design and film news on my subway commute home.
Paring down your app set to mostly those that increase efficiency or save time isn’t a groundbreaking idea, but it is easier said than done. Like many in the tech industry, I get a regular share of recommendations via Twitter and RSS. I use to always download what had buzz with the tech bloggers, what was ‘innovative’ and what just looked cool. Yet after playing with a hot new app for a few days, 95 percent of the time I’d delete it or move it to some back folder, never to be touched again.
Don’t let this be you. Make hard decisions on the apps and tools you use. Granted there’s always edge cases: Gaming apps by their very nature should be arguably something that takes more, not less of your time if it’s a fun experience. There’s also something powerful with occasional experimentation: I downloaded Clear knowing full well it wasn’t a tool for me. Yet just playing with the app for a buck and hour of my time gave me design inspirations for my day job. Not everyone has the same priorities either. With my mobile workflow, saving time is paramount; I want to get in, get my work done and get out as efficiently as possible. You might instead favor aesthetic beauty, or great icons, or other traits.
Whatever that app goal is, stay focused. Is that new app that’s new and noteworthy on the App Store really going to integrate well with your workflow? Is it really better than what you already have? Ask those questions before you download.
04.19.12 |
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Excellent primer on floating elements from the Design Shack team. Floats can be a hard concept to visualize, yet author Joshua Jonson does a good job of laying the basic rules out. The experienced should file this as reference material; it’s an article best suited for CSS newbies.
04.18.12 |
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This isn’t a perfect design brief; the Frameographer team skips over a few major wireframes along with a few big jumps in logic. Yet one fact is made clear: simple sketches lead to big ideas. You don’t have to make a masterpiece. Just by putting pen to paper (or stylus to tablet) you can rapidly work through UI ideas pretty rapidly.