randomosity

Yes, iSync has been with us for few years now. It should be rock solid. It’s not - yet. I recently wrote about my impressions of data detectors. Not rocket science, but a small and powerful addition to useful workflow on a Mac. That they also remind me of the promise that was the Newton makes them all the more welcome. But what can I say about iSync? One of the things that makes OSX such a compelling choice for day to day computing is the consistency of interface between applications and their ability to share information…not just data, but contexts and preferences and thus recognition and adaptability to user peculiarities that anthropomophise the laptop. The computer becomes somehow just something a little more. A trusted companion - not merely a clone of millions of other identical collections of aluminum, silicon and other substances.

Read the complete article… »

I feared the trackpad. I am not the biggest fan of the trackpad. I gather that my namesake, the CTO at Synaptics is responsible for some of the biggest breakthroughs as the trackpad gained laptop cred during the 1990’s and so I feel a little loyalty if only by association. However, my favourite means of input is the TrackPoint - the little red nubby (that becomes less red real fast) that the IBM ThinkPad is most closely associated with. This is a very personal area. I know many users that could just not get used to using a single finger on an ultra-sensitive tiny joystick. The cursor and they could not become friends with the TrackPoint in the equation. Random survey indicates most people still carry a mouse with them and connect it - this is the case for TrackPoint as well as trackpad users. I am glancing around the coffee shop right now and frankly I am the only one relying on the built in tracking device. There’s a lot of users with big mice and small mice, but mice nonetheless. There is even a user carefully balancing one on the arm of an easy chair - that can’t possibly be comfortable.
Read the complete article… »

Last week Stéfan Sinclair noted that his upgrade to Leopard had largely been a less than awe-inspiring experience. he did find some amusement with the new Mosaic screensaver and I will admit that after trying it on his instigation, it’s pretty cool. I have to add another rather impressive addition to the list. DataDetectors! Wow. I can remember being one among many that saw the power of this sort of recognition of disjointed info on the Newton and having it take a scribble about lunch with Joe and make some assumptions and create an event in your calendar linked to the first Joe it found in your address book. So, Apple’s been playing with the technology for awhile. DataDetectors are so subtle that I suspect many people might be missing them. I did.
Read the complete article… »

Perhaps there is an inner historian within me. The latest spate of reviews featuring the iPhone versus this challenger and that has me thinking that at the pace that we move today we don’t take enough time to reach a little further back to consider our forward progress. This case in point, everyone evaluating the iPhone or the iPod Touch (hereafter ITouch - as I am sure Apple would have rather called it) seems to be pitching it against the Nokia N95, HTC Kaiser, or the latest Blackberry. All appropriate for being the current flavour of the market - and when it comes to cell phones, they have such a limited shelf life. How long does the average phone remain current these days? Despite Apple’s slight revamp of the iPhone, I will go out on a limb and suggest that it may have greater longevity than most. However, not because for technical prowess, but to Apple’s marketing panache. Nonetheless, as I look at the comparisons, I am struck that we might best be able to gauge how much of a technical marvel it is by comparing a little further back.
Read the complete article… »

So…48 hours back on a Macintosh laptop and I am in seriously danger of getting drunk on the kool-aid again. What is it that pulls one back? Having never really left was part of it. I simply was being interdenominational.

I have my iMac in the living room and an HP Media Centre in the den. I conduct most of my daily work on my laptop though. I am a happy user of an IBM ThinkPad X32. I did not come to the X32 blindly. I started using ThinkPads on a daily basis back in 1999. Before that I was that bane of the Windows world: the Mac bigot.
Read the complete article… »

So, another Steve Jobs/Apple keynote over and the hype of the advance pundits leaves one feeling a might let down. This is the first keynote that I can recall that sparked mainstream news coverage in advance. I was watching my local news station this morning and they gave Steve & Co., at least 30 seconds of air time in anticipation (admittedly of things iPhone). I can remember when introduction of machines that would go on to become incredibly successful (the phrase ‘insanely great’ wafted through my memory for a second) didn’t rate coverage outside of technology media as recently as two years ago. It only took Apple 30 years to achieve this.
On the upside, I am writing this on Safari for Windows and so far am very impressed. The anti aliasing is finer than FireFox and the screen-render speed is somewhere in the vicinity of where Steve claimed it would be - blazingly fast. Colour me pleased with it thus far. I really like the little things that you note, such as the browse button behaviour and better indication (an icon and title) that the file you uploaded is linked to. These are nice touches.
Read the complete article… »

There’s an interesting short article on Low-End Mac about how the author uses an Apple Lisa for his writing tasks. He cites the fact that he can turn it off and resume exactly where he was by turning it back on, not having to worry about either saving documents or power outages. More importantly he reminds us to consider whether all the bells and whistles of the latest greatest productivity appas are things we actually use. I blogged earlier on this point and was comparing Word 1.0 on the Mac to the current incarnation. Without being some neo-Luddite and pretending like the older technology is that far superior, I think that there are points to be made for simple and fast.

Nonetheless, its not quite that black and white. I have tried to find an alternative word processor for use under Windows with less baggage than Word. I have been unsuccessful. Both AbiWord and OpenOffice seem as bloated and frankly try to emulate Word at the expense of actually thinking about how the human actual processes words. Admittedly there are a few challengers of note on OSX. But, what about starting with TextEdit or the like and simply being able to modularly add features as desired.

One of the other points raised relates to the concept that some tasks haven’t been improved upon by faster processors and the like. Word processing can get away with the older 68K…frankly given the choice, I would actually be very happy doing my word processing on one of the NeXT boxes and WriteNow. That was (and still is) speed with an awesomely crisp display. Pure monochrome (I have little need for colour when word processing) and a joy to the eyes. strangely far less eye candy than OSX has become bloated with. A purpose built word processing engine. I should crank up the old NeXT laser printer and see if it still works as well.

As to the age of the machine we use…think about that for a sec - a twenty four year old computer. And its not the oldest working ones about…alas, it seems like just yesterday.

Update: The pondering is usually good enough to get me exploring. In this case I happened upon PolyEdit from Russian publisher PolySoft. They have a tiny 1.3Mb word processor that reads and writes .docs and seems to have a rather robust feature set, yet runs like a wee demon. I’ll post comments if my trial goes well. So far so good.

Further Update: Well, if I didn’t need footnotes or endnotes I’d be doing well, unfortunately PolyEdit has neither. Additionally, while it will import Word 2000/XP/2003 versions, it will only save as Word v6. Pity. Its super fast and does offer a wide variety of features and the interface really works.

Ok. This guy is into some cool, cool stuff. Jeff Han has a number of very impressive short movies of some of the fascinating prototypes. Not only Multi-Touch (which the iPhone has suddenly become most publicly associated with), but some very interesting work using LEDS as photodiodes, and his media mirror which pitched as artwork, but is a very interesting extension of the multi-touch reflective feedback.
Read the complete article… »

Mitch Ratcliffe at ZDnet is conducting a longer term comparison between a new MacBook Pro and a Lenovo X60 as part of a series of articles looking at broader user experience with two OS platforms. I normally would not cite an article from the more mainstream eNews media as they often strike me as being removed from the average users experience and entirely submerged in the manufacturer’s marketing messages. In fact, Ratcliffe notes up front that he may take Lenovo on a as a client during the span of his series of articles. Well, at least he’s honest. So why am I citing this article?

Ratcliffe has presented a better eNews article. He has started from scratch in looking at the way in which manufacturer’s address the total user experience. Today’s article focuses on unpacking the two machines and appreciating the experience that this creates. He notes immediately that the Apple packaging itself replicates the experience of carrying the laptop away from the store, with a slim box and a carrying handle. This compares with Lenovo which packs a smaller, lighter machine in a larger, non-descript box that “makes the ThinkPad appear clunkier when it’s not.” Moreover the MacBook is ‘framed’ and the packaging itself focuses on the product itself, presenting it as an object of a certain desire. The ThinkPad unfortunately, with loose fitting wrappers that fit all ThinkPad shapes and sizes presents the computer in a generic way…packed in a pile of uninspiring packing material to be thrown away. In contrast, the Apple box is one that begs to be kept (even displayed). I wonder if the folks at Lenovo are listening? I wonder if they do care about these things? I certainly can’t tell from my past experience with my ThinkPads, but will admit that I am typing this on my X32 which is my weapon of choice, despite not having established a personal or spiritual relationship with the machine’s manufacturer.

Although its clear that not everyone notes these salient little details, I appreciate that some are struck less consciously by this attention to detail and this is where Ratcliffe is going with this artile. It is meant to look at the all important first impression. Ratcliffe’s choice of words are well chosen and I look forward to reading his subsequent articles which will hopefully continue to explore som of the less discussed aspects of the user experience beyond simply usability.

This guy’s place puts me to shame. Even in my pre-move glory days, my collection was nowhere in the vicinity of this one. For those of you that don’t know I reduced my space when I made the move to Hamilton and at least half my collection of hardware went to the dump along with all the old issues of Macworld/MacUser/Publish! etc. as well as all the software boxes. I recall the first cull that I did of software that had collected in my basement. I had filled the basement entirely, with just a walkway down the middle and the boxes tended to collapse everynow and then. So one day, with my neighbours assistance I moved most of it out. We filled the garage to a depth of six feet or so and then started collapsing boxes and filling bigger boxes. Back in those days, garbage collection was also not limited to fixed amount and they thankfully took it all letting me use my driveway again…but I digress.

Read the complete article… »