Year: 2015

Wednesday, March 18

Fare Thee Well, IE

When Microsoft’s Project Spartan finds its way to market, it will not bear the Internet Explorer brand. Good riddance, I say. I stepped away from Windows as my preferred computing platform seven years ago, but I encounter it every day in my Apple-averse workplace. With every release of IE, I had high hopes for something better. And with every release I was left disappointed by the same ol‘, same ol’. IE11 seems better, but yet still too familiar. I don’t think a name change alone signals better things to come, but Project Spartan sounds like a step in the right direction and maybe the brand refresh is symbolic of a much needed deeper philosophical shift within the Microsoft team responsible for its web browser.

Tuesday, March 17
Wednesday, March 11

Quotable:

“What kind of a system do you have when existing, large players are given a head start and other advantages over insurgents?”
— Dave Pell
Tuesday, March 10

When Overrated Really Means Properly Rated

Mark Wilson, writing for Fast Company’s Co.Design blog, apparently has an axe to grind and it isn’t just with Apple. As proof, he takes a swing at the highly regarded Thinkpad:

Sapper’s design was unparalleled in 1992, but times have changed. We have touchpads and touch screens that can distinguish how many fingers you’re clicking with.

Wilson’s primary beef is with Lenovo’s insistence1 of keeping the red nub around despite the proliferation and popularity of more modern pointer input methods.

First, the functional irrelevance of a particular feature of the design doesn’t necessarily detract from its timelessness. Being replaced by other, arguably superior, forms of input doesn’t retroactively dismiss the achievement of the original design or implementation. Second, I still find trackpads on non-Apple hardware to be “ludicrous”2, so I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the value of the red nub on today’s Thinkpads.

I’m not a daily reader of Co.Design, but I’ve enjoyed checking in at least once a week or so. Lately, though, it seems like they’re just trolling for clicks.

  1. I call it good stewardship.  ↩

  2. I’m borrowing a great word from Wilson here.  ↩

Monday, March 09

The One That I Want

Apple Watch 42mm with stainless steel link bracelet

This is undoubtedly the one that I want, but I’m fairly certain it’s not the one I can reasonably afford. For now, I plan to resist the temptation to even get the Apple Watch Sport; but man if that thing ever gets GPS, watch out, wallet.

Tuesday, March 03

Cynical

I don’t care who did what first, if smartphones unify into a single design interpretation, I’ll chalk that up as a very cynical view by manufacturers and design teams of the unique and individuality of consumer tastes and preferences. Obviously, I’m a bit disappointed. Thankfully, we have Motorola and Microsoft1 to help stem the tide of conformity2.

That said, in terms of build quality, the S6 looks like a great improvement over its predecessor. The bad news for Samsung, I’m guessing, is that build quality comes at a cost. And even though I don’t like to put companies on blast for making $4.5 billion in profit, the media isn’t quite so kind.

  1. For now, but maybe not for long for either of them.  ↩

  2. In all fairness to Samsung, I think Edge is an interesting take. It’s not the kind of must-have feature that would entice me to switch to Android, but at least it’s different.  ↩

MacRumors: Google Reportedly Preparing Android Wear for iPhone and iPad →

Bravo, Google. I didn’t expect it, but I’m also not surprised by it. They’ve always been more open to cross-platform compatibility, a position enabled by their ad-revenue based business model. It will be interesting to see if this strategy works against the expected luxury pricing of the Apple Watch.

Monday, March 02

Understanding Apple Watch

I don’t know everything there is to know about the Apple Watch, but we’ll all know a lot more after Apple finishes telling the story they started last September at next week’s Spring Forward event. If you have even an ounce of interest in what they might announce next week, but you haven’t been following along as bits, pieces, and theories1 emerge from the tech blogosphere, then there is something very important you need to understand in order to temper the sticker shock you’ll undoubtedly experience: the Apple Watch is not Apple’s entry into the wearables and smartwatch space, it is their entry into the luxury watch space and that entry just happens to include a heavy dose of smartwatch features. So much more could be written, but if you haven’t been reading up to this point then you probably don’t care.

The key take away is this – selecting among the various versions of the Apple Watch will be akin to selecting among a Timex, a Citizen, and a Rolex, except all contained within a single line of watches made by the same manufacturer. All three versions of the Apple Watch will have the same basic function – and nothing substantially more technologically advanced than anything that has preceded it – but they will vary widely in their materials and craftsmanship required to produce them. Accept that notion and let it sink in and it will help you absorb the impending shock that’s headed your way.

  1. I included this one mostly for fun. Kudos to him if he’s right. Shame on him if he’s wrong for failing to realize that Apple just has to sell an Apple Watch to 1% of the people who bought an iPhone in the most recent holiday quarter in order to (supposedly) match all of 2014 Android Wear sales.  ↩

Saturday, February 28