TechCrunch:
Former Daily Show correspondent John Oliver returned to host this year’s Crunchies, the tech industry awards show co-hosted by Gigaom, VentureBeat, and TechCrunch. And he didn’t pull any punches.
Absolutely not safe for work but funny nonetheless.
Vice:
Artist Simon Menner was recently granted permission to spend some time with the German Army and its snipers. During the two occasions he visited, he captured the soldiers’ remarkable ability to blend into their environment, producing images that appear to be simple landscape shots until you look close enough to spot the barrel of a gun.
None of these guys would get me. Mostly because I don’t go into the woods.
Peter Cohen has some interesting thoughts on what the Mac will look like in 30 years. I think technology is moving so fast, we won’t even recognize the computer industry in 30 years. Whether it’s a Mac, iPad, or some other combined post-pc device, we’ll be living in a different world with different needs.
Enterprise mobile services vendor Good Technology reported that Apple’s iPad accounted for more than 91 percent of enterprise tablet deployments, while iPhone represented 54 percent of smartphones activated by the more than 2,000 companies using its services in the fourth quarter, giving iOS an overall 73 percent share of mobile devices in the enterprise.
iPhone earned 87.4% of global handset profits:
Despite efforts seeking to portray Apple as having experienced a disappointing winter quarter, the reality is that Apple brutally dominated the slowing global handset market, syphoning off 87.4 percent of the industry’s global profits.
That’s domination.
The Verge:
Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans tell The Verge that the company is seriously considering allowing Android apps to run on both Windows and Windows Phone. While planning is ongoing and it’s still early, we’re told that some inside Microsoft favor the idea of simply enabling Android apps inside its Windows and Windows Phone Stores, while others believe it could lead to the death of the Windows platform altogether. The mixed (and strong) feelings internally highlight that Microsoft will need to be careful with any radical move.
First the report of Nokia releasing an Android phone, then this. Curiouser and curiouser.
Grantland:
Go to any speedskating race and you’ll see them: the happy hordes of fans from the Netherlands who have come to support their athletes in their nation’s most dominant sport. They carry HUP HOLLAND HUP banners and bells; they have their own band, called Kleintje Pils, which means “a little bit of beer.” And at the end of the night, they flock to the Holland Heineken House — in most cases, to celebrate another win.
Much like the Brazilians at soccer events, the Dutch have more fun than anyone at speed skating events around the world. And the words “Heineken House” must bring a tear of joy to the eye of The Loop’s Publisher.
TIME.com:
Today’s Flickr has more than 10 billion photos. It hosts 1.8 million groups, which are being joined by 50,000 new members a day.
I’ve been a member since 2005 but have almost left a couple of times. Good to see it’s having a bit of a resurgence.
Just so spot on and damned funny! Borowitz is genius. [Via MG Siegler]
I have long had the opinion that Google is like Microsoft when it comes to user interface. Steve Jobs famously said, “The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.” I’d say it’s really a question of priorities. To Jobs and to Apple, taste is every bit as important a part of a product’s value as function. Both equal in importance, both critical components in any successful product.
When Google was readying the release of Gmail, they had a long laundry list of features to add and, apparently, a contact manager was low on the list. Here’s a Twitter back-and-forth with Google design lead Kevin Fox:
Ryan Sarver: can someone who used to work at Gmail finally explain to me why Gmail contacts are so bad? Contacts/identity feel so important to G strategy
Kevin Fox: Blame me. While readying for launch, contacts was last on the long to-do list. Though improved, it’s been sidelined ever since.
Ryan Sarver: I have added you to my personal blacklist :) any idea why they don’t see it as key to identity and graph? Such an underutilized asset
Kevin Fox: Honestly I think it’s lost in the chasm between ‘products-not-features’ and a master social strategic plan. A real loss.
The fact that Google released the product this way is one thing. The fact that such an important corporate interface and asset has been allowed to languish is, to me, inexcusable.
If you’ve got some older plugins, you’ll be glad to know there’s a way to bring them into the mix in the 64-bit world of Logic Pro X using the 32 Lives plugin adapter from SoundRadix.
Insightful marketing post from the Harvard Business Review on the difference between sharing as much information as possible versus just sharing the very best, keeping the bar really high. [Via Andrew Ellard]
Lots to chew on here. To me, the most interesting of these charts is the R&D expenditure as a percentage of net sales. Some pretty wild swings there.
The National Portrait Gallery is running an American Cool exhibit. I will definitely go see this.
The portrait depicts a bearded Jobs from 1981, riding a motorbike between meetings at Apple. Portraits and subjects were selected according to four criteria — that the focus must have made an original artistic contribution, with a signature style; that they must have in some way been rebellious or transgressive; that they must have iconic status; and that they must have left a significant cultural legacy.
Certainly that couldn’t be more true for Jobs. Rebellious, iconic, and leaving a significant cultural legacy.
Now you can run 64-bit Windows on your Mac.
Apple issued two versions of its Boot Camp Support Software on Tuesday, both of which contain Windows Support Software (Windows Drivers) needed to run 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows 8 on Intel-based Macs.
Flappy Bird is gone. In its wake, we’re seeing all sorts of loopy things. There were attempts to sell Flappy-laden phones on eBay (you can’t do that – phones on eBay need to be wiped before sale. Those auctions were all taken down).
Failing in that, there’s the emerging Flappy Bird phone rental market. No, really, you can read about it here.
Next up: Android malware. In the wild, wild, west that is the Android marketplace, there are all sorts of unsavory apps out there looking to capitalize on your Flappy Bird addiction. Follow the headline link and security firm Sophos will take you on a guided tour of the Android malware.
New York Times:
Gravity is defeated, for a beat or two, when it all works perfectly, and “it’s a great feeling because you can just float,” says Jessica Jerome of the United States, who will be competing in the first women’s ski jumping competition at an Olympics.
This is interesting not just for the information provided (ski jumping is much more technical than you would imagine) but for the way it is presented too. Make sure you check out the pages on Halfpipe, Luge and Slopestyle.
The Android ecosystem today is superficially similar to the PC ecosystem, but I’d suggest that the clarity and alignment of interests of the PC ecosystem isn’t present in anything like the same way. As an Android OEM you have very little idea what Android will be in 3 years – partly because Google itself may not have a fully-formed idea. There certainly aren’t public roadmaps stretching out years in advance.
Many great points in this article.
Note: This story first appeared in The Loop Magazine Issue 16.
As I write this, my wife is sewing a skirt. Everything is laid out—the skirt itself, the fabric she cut the material from, the thread, the scissors, a measuring tape, some pins, the sewing machine, and the pattern. It’s the first piece of clothing she’s made from scratch, and she’s thoroughly enjoying the process. I find the chatter of the sewing machine very comforting.
I’m a fan of analog tools. I depend on them. I incorporate them into my creative process no matter what I’m doing. When I’m thinking about the architecture of a piece of software, I use a whiteboard (and index cards attached to the board with magnets) long before I launch Xcode. When I’m designing a user interface, I won’t touch Photoshop until I’ve filled several pages of a paper notebook, and I have multiple uncapped pens rolling around on the desk.
And then there’s writing, of course. I mostly do that on an assortment of electronic devices—some new, like my 2013 MacBook Air, and some old, like my gorgeous PowerBook 150 from 1994. But right now I’m using something a bit more vintage: a typewriter.
All these tools are the same to me. I care about their functionality most of all, naturally, but the aesthetics are admittedly also a factor. My notepads are Moleskines (squared paper; pocket sized to carry in my coat, and large softcovers to use at my desk), my pens are Staedtler pigment liner Fineliners (I prefer the 0.3mm tips), and I get my index cards from a little shop here in Edinburgh. The typewriter is a late model Olympia Traveller de Luxe S, with the impossibly modern conveniences of 0 and 1 keys (negating the need to use uppercase ‘O’ or lowercase ‘L’, respectively), shift lock, and even a tabulator function.
There’s a ritualistic quality to these objects, but that’s not why I love them. I use them to slow myself down. To introduce just enough friction that I’m compelled to pause. We don’t pause enough anymore. We don’t give ourselves time to think.
Instead, we try to parallelize the creative process, by thinking and doing at the same time. We think a little, then we start writing—or drawing, or we make a new software project—and then we think a little more, and so on. Our focus ends up being fragmented, and our greatest friend is the Undo command. It didn’t used to be that way.
When I’m scribbling in a notebook, I feel quite a bit of guilt. My sketches are awful. My thoughts aren’t worthy of this beautiful piece of stationery. My used notebooks will never be compared favorably with Da Vinci’s, nor perhaps even with yours. So I slow down. I think for a few moments longer, in the hope of avoiding a crossed-out word and a marred page.
On the typewriter, it’s even worse—or better, depending on how you think about it. Strike a key too gently, and the letter will be faint or invisible. Strike the wrong key, and you’ll have to remove the paper, paint over the error with correction fluid, let it dry, reinsert the paper and roll it to the correct line, position the carriage, and try again. It’s onerous, and even when you get it right, it’s physically difficult. The brakes are always applied.
Analog tools are rich and expressive, but they’re also a leash, or a set of reins. They lock you into low gear, and they carry a penalty for sloppiness. It’s impossible to work in the same way that we do on computers and similar devices. The entire rhythm and structure of the approach is different.
There’s an old saying regarding craftsmanship: measure twice and cut once. It’s a truism, and obvious, and universally acknowledged to be good advice. Like most good advice, we rarely act on it. Our deadlines and impatience don’t allow us to, so instead we charge ahead. We make errors as always, but the main thing we lose is the time taken for forethought. We can’t prevent mistakes, but we can try to address false starts and creative cul-de-sacs.
These older, simpler tools, with all of their baggage and inefficiencies, compel us to front-load the thinking process. They necessitate a certain concentration and cognitive abstraction. They force us to measure twice. Error-correction becomes a vaguely burdensome eventuality, as it should be, rather than an omnipresent part of the creative process. The slower pace of authorship throttles the hands, allowing the mind some extra breathing room and thus more effective oversight.
Analog tools don’t believe in public betas. Instead, they believe in setting out your materials—your scissors and thread and measuring tape and fabric—then planning.
When it comes time to begin assembly, the process is more regimented and deliberate, and less like trial and error. Writing on a typewriter isn’t just slower and noisier and more tiring on the wrists; it’s also more akin to driving a car than just emitting readily-editable thoughts and seeing what sticks. It’s a performance, not a composition.
We’ve all found ourselves stuck on a problem, staring at the screen and feeling our enthusiasm and energy draining away. Perhaps we’re shifting paragraphs around or fruitlessly debugging or toggling back and forth between two designs without being able to decide which looks best. Eventually, we stand up and walk away. Invariably, the solution presents itself moments later, just as soon as we give ourselves a chance to really think.
A spoken interview will rarely produce responses as cogent as those in a written one. The nuance and artistry in a rehearsed musical piece won’t often be matched when sight-reading. We all know this. Yet we throw ourselves into these live situations in our work all the time, unprepared and exposed, hostages to chance inspiration. We’re even suspicious of those who seem to do too much planning and not enough doing.
The humble typewriter laughs at our self-limiting urgency. It reminds us that creativity isn’t the making, but rather the part that comes before: the thinking. The conception and the genesis and the synthesis. The diligence. The part that’s you, not the tool.
I won’t be submitting this article as a typescript, of course. I’ll duly retype it on a computer, send it via email, and sometime later you’ll read it on a touch-screen mobile device that hadn’t been dreamed of when my typewriter rolled off a production line in the now-nonexistent country of Yugoslavia.
I’ll open a new document in my trusty BBEdit, and stare at the blinking insertion point, knowing that the Undo command sits ever-ready in the Edit menu, and that the Backspace key on the keyboard applies some digital correction fluid automatically. I find it ever so slightly frightening. The terror of the blank page is doubled by having no mechanical barrier to expression. What to type, as the cursor sits there flashing, tapping its foot impatiently? I think that the worst possible writing machine would be one that transcribed your thoughts directly, without even requiring a keystroke.
The moment where I’ll have to open the lid of my MacBook will arrive soon, but it’s not quite here yet. For now, it’s just you and I, dear reader—and of course my typewriter, applying a drag force to every letter and punctuation mark. It’s an enforcer of austerity, in a way. You can’t use it without a certain rationing taking place. Economy of expression, and a quickly-acquired urge to really consider the entire paragraph before embarking upon it, becomes your primary concern. Maybe Strunk and White should have said “try writing it longhand, and you’ll see where we’re coming from”.
Am I suggesting you perch an antique next to your Magic Trackpad? No, not necessarily. But I think there’s a lesson here, whether your artistic output is words, code, pixels, music, movies or just about anything else.
We start too quickly. Indeed, we mistakenly believe that starting work means starting to produce. Our machines are too capable and too eager for us to rush headlong into the blank page, knowing we can always double back.
Defer starting. Put it off. Do your thinking first, even if you have to tie a hand behind your back. Allow the idea to ripen, and lay out your work—just a bit of it, at least—in front of you to consider. Perhaps it’ll take longer, and perhaps you’ll end up with the same result, but I don’t think so. I think a period of meditation leads to greater rewards later. Fewer drafts or iterations, and a piece of work that’s more structured, elemental and true.
We have a choice. We can either do our thinking piecemeal, interspersed amongst flashes of inspiration and fumbling in equal measure, or we can re-learn some old wisdom. The teachings of this implacable piece of antiquated technology, replete with gears and levers, ink and steel. A throwback from a time before Undo.
Does my wife find the artillery-barrage of the typewriter as comforting as I find the sewing machine? Admittedly not. It’s an intrusive thing; loud and impossible to ignore. But that’s the point. It’s not easy, and it’s not subtle, and it unapologetically stands on ceremony.
Words have a cost, it says, just in case we’d forgotten. Spend them wisely.
Matt Gemmell is an iOS and Mac OS X developer and user experience/interface designer, based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Last week saw a blog post (and no, that’s not me) intimating that Verizon was throttling Netflix streams.
Now there’s an update from a Netflix analyst, quoting Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.
That update comes to us via a note from J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth, who says he’s been talking to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells, and they told him they don’t think cable and telco companies are hampering the company’s video streams.
Anmuth doesn’t have much to report on the topic, so here are his comments in their entirety: ”Netflix does not seem overly concerned regarding Net Neutrality, and continues to believe that violations would be escalated quickly. Netflix also indicated that it has no evidence or belief that its service is being throttled.”
From Apple:
“We are excited that Denise Young Smith will expand her role to lead Apple’s worldwide human resources organization,” [spokesperson] Huguet wrote in an e-mail. “Apple University is an increasingly important resource within the company as we continue to grow, so Joel Podolny will be focusing full-time on developing and scaling the University he helped establish.”
OK, maybe not everything, but I did find this a helpful intro to the sport. I’m not sure why, but curling has become my second favorite Olympic sport to watch (behind hockey, of course, and just ahead of the strangely exciting biathlon).
“Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed,” says Dong Nguyen, in an exclusive interview, his first since he pulled the plug on the app. “But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.”
Fascinating how much this story has grown beyond the traditional Apple press blogs.
The Mac Pro ship date has slipped to April, first internationally, then domestically.
If I was waiting to order a new Mac Pro, I’d certainly see this as bad news. But this is a supply and demand problem, bad news, but good news too. Difficulty keeping up with demand is certainly an issue, especially if there are supply chain constraints, but how can we not see this as a terrific sign of the health of this segment of the market?
Rather than, “Apple’s Mac Pro troubled by supply chain problems”, let’s celebrate the fact that “Apple’s Mac Pro popularity continues to outpace Apple’s ability to build them”.
The iTunes “empire” of content and services would be ranked as number 130 in the Fortune 500 ranking of companies (slightly below Alcoa and above Eli Lilly).
That’s incredible.
I love Reddit AMAs. To me, they give a chance to really get to know someone, to learn things you’d never learn otherwise. I would love the chance to share a meal with Bill Gates. This is as close as I’m ever going to come.
TicketBlast is an iPhone app that helps you relive the best live events of your life, providing a place to save your shoebox full of ticket stubs and memories and share them with the world on Facebook and Twitter, all while viewing them on your iPhone.
I really wish I had this 20 or 30 years ago. I’d love to look back at all of the concerts and games I’ve been to.
If you’re looking for some more disk space or just want a cleaner Mac, MacPaw has a fresh utility that you should check out; it’s called CleanMyMac 2.
CleanMyMac 2 helps you clean out unwanted apps, data, and gigabytes of junk on your Mac. It’s a powerful cleaning app that’s beautifully designed to make cleaning and organizing your Mac as simple as can be. With CleanMyMac 2, you can manage widgets and extensions, fix broken apps, drastically reduce your iPhoto Library, and clean out old, neglected files that waste disk space.
And, thanks to its Safety Database, you can rest easy knowing that CleanMyMac 2 is 100% safe to use. The Safety Database is a gigantic collection of rules and exceptions for cleaning up and uninstalling nearly anything on your Mac! It has over 5 years of data and is updated regularly. With CleanMyMac 2 and its Safety Database, your Mac is in good hands.
So, why put off getting yourself a faster, cleaner Mac? Download CleanMyMac 2 right now to see how easy cleaning your Mac can be!
Great video from Braden Kowitz. Nobody sets out to fail at design, but it happens.
“I’ll find you and i’ll kill you.”
“I will kill you mother fucker.”
Holy shit people, calm down.
Just a damning article from Paul Thurrott, but he makes so many valid points.