Opinion
Volitans Software is Joining the SOPA and PIPA Protests
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 | Company News, Opinion | No Comments
Volitans Software is joining the internet community’s protest of SOPA and PIPA. While we respect copyrights and intellectual property, these two bills will not protect them. Instead they will damage the internet. They are bad bills, and they need to be stopped. There are much better ways to protect copyrights.
Learn more at Wikipedia and Ars Technica.
Fare Thee Well, Steve
Thursday, August 25th, 2011 | Opinion | Comments Off
Steve Jobs resigned as CEO last night, news that was expected, but was nonetheless shocking. I have been a huge Apple fan since I was given my first Mac: a PowerBook 180- running at 33MHz, with 16 bit grayscale LCD, a 120MB HD, and 14MB of RAM. That Mac still runs (albeit with a fan on it). Its amazing how far Apple has come after that, from the doldrums of the Performa era, to the wonders of OSX, MacBooks, iPhones, and iPads. And what’s even more amazing, is that Steve has been the leading taking Apple into greatness.
For the short-term Apple will be fine. Steve may have had the vision, but he passed on his ideas to others, and many people under him who implemented the vision understand it. For the long-term, well that’s up in the air. If Steve did it right, then maybe Apple will be around for a long time.
For some great Steve Job stories, here are some links:
Hold the door (From the son/step-son of my former bosses at MacOutfitters, Judy and Jim)
And go to Folklore.org for some great stories about Steve and the rest of the Macintosh team.
WWDC: Lion, iOS, and iCloud, OH MY!
Monday, June 13th, 2011 | Opinion | Comments Off
Apple had their annual WWDC this week, and sweet fancy moses was there a lot of news and announcements. I found myself overwhelmed at all the new information, and what it meant personally and professionally.
Apple showed off another demo of Lion, and while there is not that much new information, its still nice to see the improvements. I’m really excited to run Lion full time, as I have been testing it part time. Versions and Autosave are going to be life savers. The new Mail is very usable. The interface looks better. Of course, there are some changes I don’t like (such as Spaces), but overall its very nice. Obviously I can’t talk about too much without breaking the NDA, but I do love it. Once big downside is its only available on the App Store. I hope that changes, I need a DVD. Read more about it from Ars Technica.
While we’ve already know about most of Lion’s features, we haven’t heard anything about iOS 5. And now that Apple has demoed it, I think we should be blown away. The notification system in previous versions was built when there wasn’t a push notification system- and only dealt with texts, voicemails, and missed calls. It was very scalable, so when the third part apps started using it, the usability was a nightmare: notifications took over, and if you missed one- too bad. The new system with a scrolling list on the lock screen and the pull down menu is a wonderful way to solve the scalability and usability problems. And after using it for a few days, I never want to go back.
Three more features I love: Apple also announced iMessage, which is basically free text messages between iOS devices. Time to finally stop paying outrageous prices for texts. iOS finally supports wireless syncing which means I don’t have to plug in all the time. And one other feature is the camera can now be accessed from the lock screen, and it can use the volume up button for a shutter button- both much needed functions. Read more about iOS 5 at Ars Technica.
So after blowing us away with that, Apple revealed iCloud. Wow, just wow. If it works as well as they say it will, its a game changer. iCloud will be the central store for all kinds of content, from music and movies to pictures and documents. Not only that, developers can use iCloud to sync data between devices. This has be unbelievable excited- especially because its free! Read more about iCloud at Ars Technica (yes again!)
Whew! That was a lot of new information coming out of Cupertino. Now we want for them to be releases to see how well they work in the wild. And we’ll look out for that elusive iPhone 5!
Apple Reverses Tough Subscription Requirements
Thursday, June 9th, 2011 | Opinion | Comments Off
Apple has finally relented and changed their policies on in-app subscriptions. Back in February, Apple announced in-app subscriptions, but along with the new API, the added some restrictions that could have forced some developers to leave the iOS App Store (such as Amazon’s Kindle). The two most pernicious ones were the price must be the same between in-app and out of app subscriptions (ie developers couldn’t charge a higher price to cover Apple’s cut), and that to offer the content developers must use the in-app purchase system (instead of not using it at all and charging subscribers on their website.
Apple has modified those restrictions. They no longer require the prices be the same, and they no longer require using the in-app subscription system. So developers can charge a higher price for the subscriptions. They also have the option of signing up subscribers on their website, and using that payment to send content to their iOS app. However, Apple will not let them have a BUY button in their app that takes them to the their website. I think that’s a fair compromise.
Even though I don’t have an app that is covered by the policies, I care about the iOS ecosystem. I found the subscription policies detrimental to that ecosystem, and I am glad Apple realized that as well. Another moral of this story is that complaining loudly, in the press, on blogs & websites, and to Apple can make them change their mind. In future, I hope we’ll here less of “They can do what they want to, so stop complaining because they’ll never change their mind.” That’s a good lesson to learn.
Unacceptable: New App Store Subscription Rules
Thursday, February 24th, 2011 | Opinion | Comments Off
Apple announced new subscription rules for apps that deal with content downloads (books, magazines, and newspapers). They require apps that want to offer in-app purchases to use Apple’s system, which has a cut of 30%, regardless if there is a website that the content can be purchased. And not only that, they require the prices be the same in both areas. I find this quite egregious. The payment required by Apple would heavily cut into publishers profits- maybe making it completely unprofitable. Those publishers then would have no incentive to allow in-app purchases on iOS devices. That is bad for users. Yes, Apple’s UI for purchases is great, but if there isn’t anything to buy, what’s the point. Marco makes some similar points in his article.
I see two ways this can be fixed. First, I agree with The Outsider, allow apps to charge more on iOS devices. Sorry, but if Apple wants its cut, that money has to come from somewhere, and that has to be the user. This is no different than buying Coke’s at DisneyLand- its more expensive because of Disney.
A second way would be to change the structure and prices. Normal in-app purchase for content that is ONLY to be used on iOS devices (ie think new levels for a game) is 30%. Apps that allow content to be used on multiple non-IOS devices (such as magazine subscriptions and e-book), MUST charge $10 or more for the app, but in-app purchases are only 5-10%. Remember- since Apple controls the store, they can enforce these rules.
I much prefer the second option, but either will do to solve this mess.
The Verizon iPhone
Thursday, February 10th, 2011 | Opinion | Comments Off
The Verizon iPhone is here. There is a lot of joyous cheers around the tech world. However, I am not as excited. I’m glad that more customers can see the joy of the iPhone, and hopefully by spreading out iPhone usage, the cell networks will be more usable.
But at least for me, ATT is a much better service were I live. Data is much faster on the ATT network. ATT’s network support simultaneous voice and data, which I use a fair amount (just yesterday in fact, checking email while one the phone). I also have a dislike of Verizon that goes back to their Bluetooth blocking in the early 2000′s. The prices are also the same, so for me there isn’t a reason to change.
However, its still a good thing to have more choice. Competition between the carriers will only serve to make the experience great for everyone, and cheaper.
iPad Review
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 | Opinion | Comments Off
I’ve had the iPad for almost a month now, and I’m still loving it. Its not any one thing it does that makes it so great, its a million little thing. The big screen makes everything easier to use. Browsing the web is so much better. Reading email is wonderful- especially in landscape mode with emails on the left and a message on the right. Using apps that were made for the iPad helps make the apps better: Twitteriffic, IMDB, MLB At Bat (AMAZING for a baseball fan like me), NetNewsWire, and Flight Control, among others. And everything is really fast- on top of everything else that makes the device.
But of course its not perfect. Even though its running iOS 3.2, its really a 1.0 version for the platform. I expect 4.1 to be much better. One thing I hope they improve is file sharing between devices. Its very clunky to transfer files and keep them up to day. I’d love to see better integration with at least MobileMe for transferring files. MacObserver has a good article about the less than stellar iPad file sharing.
I think that will be fixed in time though.
In Defense of Comments
Monday, June 28th, 2010 | Opinion | Comments Off
About two weeks ago, part of the online tech community erupted in a debate about comments. The most well known site that does not have them is Daring Fireball. There was a site back in January called DaringFireballWithComments.net, but that was taken down since it stole all of John Gruber’s writing. Others joined in the hate against comments. I’m here to defend them.
In this defense, I’m going to reference three articles:
- John’s “I’ll Tell You What’s Fair” (scroll to the end)
- Derek Powazek’s “Your right to comment ends at my front door”
- Marco Arment’s “Comments”
First off, I must address Derek’s title as a baseline for my argument (John makes similar statements in his article). Of course anybody who hosts their own website can decide whether or not they want to allow comments, and if so how much commenting they allow. I am not assuming I have a “right” to comment on anybody’s articles on their website. That’s a stupid argument, and its a strawman from those arguing against comments. I am not arguing that anybody must allow comments, I’m arguing that as a good internet citizen, they should allow comments.
Now with that out of the way, let’s get into the meat of the debate. John writes
You write on your site; I write on mine. That’s a response. I don’t use comments on Wilcox’s site to respond publicly to his pieces, but somehow it’s unfair that he can’t use comments on my site to respond to mine? What kind of sense is that even supposed to make? And if there aren’t any comments on DF, how are DF readers “adding to the noise”?
This is one of the main arguments those who hate comments trot out. “I’ll write here, you write there.” Okay, but then he describes Daring Fireball as a “conversationalist” website. Well, conversations have two sides. In this case, one is the writer, the other is the reader. The best part of the internet, is that with comments, the reader can have a voice. They can offer feedback- and that feedback can be seen.
That last part is the key. Emailing the writer makes the counter-argument hidden. Writing a response on another blog makes it near hidden, because most readers don’t have the notoriety of John. None of the other readers is likely to see that response. And while there are many bad commenters out there, there are also many commenters who can make coherent arguments against a position. Shutting them out kills the conversation, and the community loses in the end.
Marco disagrees:
I also disagree with the widespread notion that comments are “discussion”, or that they form a “community”. Discussion and communities require mechanics such as listening and following up that are rarely present in comments.
As does John:
Comments, at least on popular websites, aren’t conversations. They’re cacophonous shouting matches. DF is a curated conversation, to be sure, but that’s the whole premise.
Sure sometimes they aren’t conversation. I’m not arguing there aren’t bad commenters. But those commenters can be handled. Methods such as no anonymous posting, verified email addresses, and yes, banning bad commenters. The thing is when people see what others are getting away with, they push the bounds further. And further. But when they see others getting punished for bad comments, they stop. And they behave.
I think Derek has it right here:
I may enable comments again someday. But what I really want to do is fundamentally redesign the commenting experience. Most comment systems are practically designed to create stupidity. I know there’s a better way. But that’s another post.
Certainly there are systems that are horrible at maintain the level of discourse internet society should expect. And he is right, its not an on or off question. But I think there shouldn’t be an off. Especially when he says things like this:
But I’ve seen incredible communities form in the confines of comment forms. I’ve seen funny, helpful, informative, intimate, amazing conversations. I’ve seen groups of people come together using the crudest of tools to form intense personal bonds. I’ve seen it literally change lives for the better.
And as John Siracusa as remarked
Not a day goes by where I don’t read a comment that’s at least as interesting, entertaining, or insightful as the text it’s attached to.”
And I find the same thing. I skip over the rif-raf and find interesting points and arguments. I find back and forth debate and see both sides. The idea of allowing comments is not about shouting a point, its about expressing it, and possible convincing somebody to see a different point of view. That’s the beauty of debate. If hones arguments and builds better ones.
Finally, I’ll end with this: those who do not allow comments make it appear they do not want that debate. They want their experience free of people questioning them. John has said it doesn’t fit in with his experience. I think that says a lot about his arguments. Of course, even if they don’t mind the debate, not having comments proves they would rather not deal with it. And that’s not good for the internet.
Excellent Argument to Open Up the iPhone
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | Opinion | Comments Off
Jason Snell has an excellent article called “Time for Apple to open up the iPhone” where he makes a good case to for Apple to allow unapproved apps on the iPhone. He argues quite well that Apple’s reputation is being harmed without any good benefits.
He thinks Apple should do what Andriod does, and have a deep hidden setting to allow unsigned apps, with a giant warning. Most customers would never know, but they ones who did would be aware of the (very small) risks.
Read the whole thing, its good.
Google Picasa – Failure of Design and Support
Monday, April 12th, 2010 | Opinion | Comments Off
As part of my day job, I investigate applications for faculty to use. Some were interested in Google Picasa. It seems like a nice alternative to iPhoto, especially as it links nicely to Google’s Web Albums.
However, that last part we could not get to work. The application would not sign in to Google’s services. As with anything internet related, I suspected our proxy/firewall. As required by law, we implement a filtering package here to prevent inappropriate content from being viewed.
I first used an IP to bypass the filter- used to check out blocked sites for whitelisting and verifying problems with the proxy. Picasa worked fine without the proxy in between. I used Wireshark to run a packet capture, and verified that Picasa was attempted to connect directly to Google’s servers instead of going through the proxy.
So I proceeded to see if I could find out way. I located a post on their help forums talking about the issue: from January 2009! I could not believe that this has been around for over a year. And their help is a joke. They have forums and a few FAQs for helps. But no way to report bugs or even contact their support.
This is why I am really souring on Google. Their services and applications are pretty cool, but if anybody has a problem, good lucky getting it solved. This happened with the Nexus One earlier this year too- there was no way to call or get help for the phone.
I am still amazed that an application can be written in 2010 without using the proper APIs to use the system proxy settings. Especially from a web centric company like Google. To me that speaks of bad planning and design. And the set up of the support website just further hurts the whole experience.