H.P.’s New Tablet Enters Market Late, but Looks Marvelous, article.
A lot of limitations, but some big promises too.
You know how people “jailbreak,” or hack, the iPhone to run unauthorized apps? Apple fights jailbreakers incessantly with software warfare. But H.P. welcomes such shenanigans. You agree not to bother H.P. with whatever trouble results, and you can restore the factory settings by resetting your tablet.
Now that's a healthy attitude. I honestly don't know what's up Apple's ass that they have to fight this all-out war with people who want to install non-approved software on their iPhone or iPad. Just give them a warning that they will void their warranty, and let them play their game, for pete's sake.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
A dream iPad
Goodness gracious me, a detail in a dream I had was that Apple surprised everybody and released a 20-inch super-iPad! I'd love for that to come true.
iFart
I saw a "fart app" mentioned on Big Bang, and I checked if those really existed. And lo, there are about 80 of them! Doesn't that make you proud of humanity?
Download speeds again
I hate to bitch about this, but I'm just so disappointed with download speeds on my iPad and such devices. Often, video is just not practical, even on wifi! Do you have the same experiences?
Contrast this with my Mac Pro, on the same connection: I just downloaded a 350MB Apple System update file... in under two minutes! That's half a CD's capacity! Holy frig. If I could get even a tenth of that speed reliably on the iPad, I'd be happy.
Contrast this with my Mac Pro, on the same connection: I just downloaded a 350MB Apple System update file... in under two minutes! That's half a CD's capacity! Holy frig. If I could get even a tenth of that speed reliably on the iPad, I'd be happy.
Keep It Simple, Sweetheart
In Search of New Web Site Tools to Replace iWeb, Part I, article.
I love Apple's products, but sometimes the company can be cold bastards. They are discontinuing the iWeb service without so much as an apology to people who may have put hundreds of hours into it.
And replacing it is not easy:
Apple has done some proprietary things inside iWeb, and decoding that process has so far proved intractable. As a result, if one is going to select a new, modern web site builder app to replace iWeb, it’ll be necessary to rebuild the site from scratch.
This is why I am a fan of KISS, Keep It Simple, Sweetheart. (OK, I changed it a little, the original seemed potentially insulting...) It is very typical that a fancy app which makes fancy results and does it easily, will do so in a complex and proprietary way, making it difficult to make it work with other tools. Something which you may need to update and change, should be made simple and transparent, with standard tools.
I love Apple's products, but sometimes the company can be cold bastards. They are discontinuing the iWeb service without so much as an apology to people who may have put hundreds of hours into it.
And replacing it is not easy:
Apple has done some proprietary things inside iWeb, and decoding that process has so far proved intractable. As a result, if one is going to select a new, modern web site builder app to replace iWeb, it’ll be necessary to rebuild the site from scratch.
This is why I am a fan of KISS, Keep It Simple, Sweetheart. (OK, I changed it a little, the original seemed potentially insulting...) It is very typical that a fancy app which makes fancy results and does it easily, will do so in a complex and proprietary way, making it difficult to make it work with other tools. Something which you may need to update and change, should be made simple and transparent, with standard tools.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Nora Barnacle and the Birth of the Ebook
Nora Barnacle and the Birth of the Ebook, article.
How e-books started, very ambitiously, 20 years ago, and actually were successful. Quite interesting.
How e-books started, very ambitiously, 20 years ago, and actually were successful. Quite interesting.
Monday, June 27, 2011
The seven-inch dilemma
I think Steve Jobs is right from his perspective: a 7-inch tablet does not make much sense. It's sat between two chairs.
That's as a tablet, though! As an e-reader, it would be perfect.
So I'm hoping that while Apple probably won't ever the "small" ereader market, somebody else will (Amazon) and make the perfect ereader. Small enough to put in a large pocket, 250+ pixels per inch, power and features to juggle all kinds of text easily, emails, web articles, etc. And of course color multi-touch screen.
The Nook Color is close, when it's hacked. But I'm still hoping for the high-rez screen, it makes a surprising difference. And I'm hoping lighter and thinner and great ergonomics (no pressing buttons by mistake all the time.)
That's as a tablet, though! As an e-reader, it would be perfect.
So I'm hoping that while Apple probably won't ever the "small" ereader market, somebody else will (Amazon) and make the perfect ereader. Small enough to put in a large pocket, 250+ pixels per inch, power and features to juggle all kinds of text easily, emails, web articles, etc. And of course color multi-touch screen.
The Nook Color is close, when it's hacked. But I'm still hoping for the high-rez screen, it makes a surprising difference. And I'm hoping lighter and thinner and great ergonomics (no pressing buttons by mistake all the time.)
iPad publishing: time to switch to v2.0
iPad publishing: time to switch to v2.0, article.
The first generation of iPad magazines are not making any money. At all.
As I see it, then we can either: 1) work harder at making it work in the brand new medium. or 2) go down with the ship.
I think that the first guys who succeed with iPad magazines will succeed wildly. Because unlike with paper and trucks, there's no enertia to expansion.
The first generation of iPad magazines are not making any money. At all.
As I see it, then we can either: 1) work harder at making it work in the brand new medium. or 2) go down with the ship.
I think that the first guys who succeed with iPad magazines will succeed wildly. Because unlike with paper and trucks, there's no enertia to expansion.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Line breaks in e-text
Ampersand Makes E-Poetry Possible, article.
I find it typical that while computers can do the most mind-boggling thing, something as simple as line breaks in text continues to be a problem decade after decade after decade...
I find it typical that while computers can do the most mind-boggling thing, something as simple as line breaks in text continues to be a problem decade after decade after decade...
Saturday, June 25, 2011
"Screenplay"
"Screenplay" seems like a good solution for mobile working with new or imported screenplays. It even has that feature where it guesses what is the next style you need. And it's less than 1/30th of the price of the market leader Final Draft!
It's too bad though that they so far only has it in iPhone version. It's screaming for an iPad version.
There's a video and a PDF manual (with screenshots) on this page. The video in particular shows it to be surprisingly full-featured for an iPhone app. (Granted, my experience with screenplays is very limited.)
Update: My goodness, it does exist for iPad! How strange that their site does not hint at this. This version is a bit more, ten bucks, but that's still 1/17 of the price of Final Draft, so I'll say that even if it turns out to have crippling shortcomings, that's a very economical way of entering the screenwriter market and not have to format everything manually (screenplays have very specific formatting).
It's too bad though that they so far only has it in iPhone version. It's screaming for an iPad version.
There's a video and a PDF manual (with screenshots) on this page. The video in particular shows it to be surprisingly full-featured for an iPhone app. (Granted, my experience with screenplays is very limited.)
Update: My goodness, it does exist for iPad! How strange that their site does not hint at this. This version is a bit more, ten bucks, but that's still 1/17 of the price of Final Draft, so I'll say that even if it turns out to have crippling shortcomings, that's a very economical way of entering the screenwriter market and not have to format everything manually (screenplays have very specific formatting).
iPad web statistics
comScore: iPad Claims 89% of Worldwide Tablet Traffic, article.
... Heck, we knew it is a one-horse race so far, but this graph really hits it home!
... Heck, we knew it is a one-horse race so far, but this graph really hits it home!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Charge your gadget over the fire
In the wilderness, but still needs a couple of days more charge on the Kindle and the iPhone? Charge your device on the same pot you cook your food in! That's way cool. Sorry, hot.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Secrets From Apple's Genius Bar: Full Loyalty, No Negativity
Secrets From Apple's Genius Bar: Full Loyalty, No Negativity, WSJ article, full one (has to be via google for some reason.)
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Don't miss the phenom of Apple Store Dancing... !
There are currently about 300 different dancers doing this! If that's not solid evidence of a company entering young cultural mainstream, I dunno what would be!
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Don't miss the phenom of Apple Store Dancing... !
There are currently about 300 different dancers doing this! If that's not solid evidence of a company entering young cultural mainstream, I dunno what would be!
Analyst: Android US smartphone share drop to continue
Analyst: Android US smartphone share drop to continue, article.
I did not see this coming. Everybody though Android would take the lion's share of the phone market with hardly a fight.
I did not see this coming. Everybody though Android would take the lion's share of the phone market with hardly a fight.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Huawei unveils 7-inch tablet running Android 3.2
Huawei unveils 7-inch tablet running Android 3.2, article.
I'm not sure what its raison detre is, apart from it having a 217ppi screen, which admittedly I consider an important feature after having seen what high resolution does for text on the iPhone 4.
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