You know, this whole Flash War reminds me of that scene in Something About Mary when Mary has that “foreign substance” in her hair and doesn’t know it.
I’m really getting the feeling that most people are missing the bigger unspoken point about Apple’s position on Flash: Apple does not want a revenue threat against their App Store.
Anyone who knows anything about Flash knows that this isn’t about Flash but the development platform it uses. That platform is sophisticated enough so that a sophisticated Flex developer could easily build a fully functioning App Store. The store could process credit card charges and deliver applications to the iPhone in a heartbeat.
That’s the main reason why “Flash” won’t appear on the iPhone. There’s only one AppStore and it’s Apple’s. It’s also why they don’t allow Cydia on the AppStore. They know it’s another store that can do almost everything theirs does except give them Cydia’s profits.
The truth about Steve’s points are bullshit too. Flash would wreck battery life? Really? For one moment, let’s make believe that the iPhone had a fantastic new battery: Flash then wouldn’t be a drain. Time to take that off the list. How about the “hover/mouseover” argument? Really Steve? An interaction design decision is enough to ban a piece of technology? Whatever.
You also say that Flash is the #1 reason why Macs crash. Then why do you allow such a horrid piece of software plague your Mac OS? I would think that if you were really worried about it, you’d simply snuff that out on the Mac long before the iPhone came out in 2007, but you didn’t. So that must mean you’re actually not too worried about Flash.
Finally, the worry about a different approach to developing apps on your platform. The truth is, you don’t have to worry about this. You’ve already made the case for total integration with your desktop, mp3 players, set-top boxes, phones, and now pads so compelling that there’s no WAY Flash could step into that ecosystem and throw a huge wrench there. The truth is, you’re not dependent on developers to decide when you make enhancements. You make enhancements and force the third parties to keep up. If they can’t, they go away and developers return to you. This scenario actually holds up when you consider your transition to Intel based machines. Developers had to ditch their old ways and move to the new one. Didn’t seem to hurt you too much then, huh?
Own up to it. This is about disallowing a potential competing AppStore that would threaten your business model.
Huh..
Turns out this URI is too long for Google to process.
And now for some random thoughts…
Guess I never followed through on my threat to dump this piece.
Glad I have comments turned off. I don’t need more bullshit spam and arguments. If you don’t like what I’m saying, please go fuck off. I have no interest in debating people via the web and especially on my own bully pulpit. This is just my place to dick around. Thank you.
Work is great and hairy. I wish I had the time to engage in everything that’s happening but it’s not possible.
The family is adjusting really well. I wish I were more connected to my neighbors but that’ll come soon enough. When the glacier melts off my front porch so people can approach the house without killing themselves.
Our basement is kicking ass. I can’t wait to get it wrapped up in a week or so. Art space, workout space, storage room, and a nice cool place to hang during the expectedly harsh summer heat.
Funny but since I’ve moved to Kansas, I can actually tell the difference between 3.2% alcohol content and 5% in my beer. I prefer 5%.
Speaking of weird places, I’m happy to be here. I feel safer. And I’m starting to get the feeling that I should actually care about the area I live in rather than just driving through it wondering why it is the way it is.
As it turns out, I did find a new job. I’m at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Missouri. Technically, the company is located in Missouri but we now live in Kansas. It’s kinda the difference between Sterling Heights and Warren. On this side of the road, it’s Kansas. The other? You get the idea.
Anyway, we’re slowly adjusting to this new environment. We chose to rent a place for 2 years instead of buy. Hmm, Matt’s not motivated to buy* a house lately? Go figure!
Realistically we only had 4 days to find a place, and this was the best of the lot. It’s certainly a nice house and neighborhood, but we’re just not able to determine if this is the final destination in Kansas.
The job is good and nuts at the same time. Tons of massive corporate change plus a bad economy makes for alot of freaked out people making interesting decisions. Luckily, my job is pretty damn safe, which is a big change.
Melissa and the kids are trying their best to assimilate and meet as many neighbors as possible. It’s not easy but luckily they are all quite cute, which I’m certain helps in their efforts. 
When I explain what the hell I’m doing in Kansas, I tell them imagine if a big tsunami rose up out of the Great Lakes and just washed us to Kansas. That’s what it feels like. We lost our house (horrid short sale), the investment we put into it, all of our friends and family, and had to essentially flee the flood.
We feel eternally grateful for Hallmark lining up at the right time like it did. It really was an amazing feat and we will never forget it.
That’s probably why I’m working so many fricking hours there…out of flat out guilt. Luckily I’m in a great position to influence many things and bring my expertise to bear in ways that I didn’t imagine prior to accepting the offer.
Many things are in the works but I can honestly say that if you are even reading this blog, hopefully you will see or hear about some really impressive developments coming from Hallmark. I am looking to make a big impact there, and so far, that’s my #1 role – with the authority to make it happen.
I’m excited, inspired, and most of all, tired.
I’m not used to working a) at all and b) so hard. It’s been a while since I’ve had to really apply myself in a big way but it is somewhat refreshing. I know I’m needed and feel really good about that when I’m walking the halls of Hallmark.
I wish my Detroit comrades only the best and consistently say great things about the auto industry when asked because we truly didn’t bring this cataclysmic change upon ourselves and the outside world needs to understand it. They like to think the domestics just weren’t selling well, therefore they are having hard financial times. The national media has done an amazing job casting this as a sales issue rather than a complicated financial industry chain effect.
Because I’m on facebook quite a bit posting photos of the kids for fam and friends to see, I’m considering closing this blog and shutting this URL down. I rarely have time to sit down with a glass of wine and write a post as I am doing right now.
Other than work, I’m listening to the audiobook of Craig Ferguson’s “American On Purpose” and it’s great stuff. I’m hoping to set up a band here, but I know that’s really just crazy talk. I can’t even imagine the logistics of such an effort despite having a great imagination to begin with.
It’s been quite the bizzy around here lately. The short story is that I’m going to write a book about my Recession 09 Layoff Madness Experience. I promise it will be hilarious. I’ve run into all types of people: executives, HR, creatives, receptionists, etc. and they’re all wildly interesting and if you’re being perceptive upon the first meeting, give you a really good glimpse into what it must be like to work there. Truly fascinating shit if you’re an armchair psychology geek like I am.
Anyhoo, new opps pop up literally every day, some within HOURS after applying. I KNOW! so weird. I fully expect to be uprooting my family from Michigan in the very short term with no plan in sight other than to have a great adventure along the way.
More updates as they become factual.
Some quick notes on what I think can be improved:
1. Why do we now have two separate applications for note taking? One is verbal (Voice Memos) and the other is textual (Notes). I could easily imagine a Notes interface button with the old style microphone as its icon that brings up the audio recording interface.
2. Why does SMS get renamed Messages and still stay separate from Mail?
3. The idea that swiping to the left to get to a simple search function is a sad solution. The ultra tiny magnifying glass icon tucked into the list of open windows blows that UI metaphor apart. Why not have the user pinch the screen? We do* have more than just left/right swipes at our disposal right? The pinch could use the same zoom+fade in motion as found on the desktop OS.
4. Why does the Contacts app support screen rotation and re-orientation but the Phone app doesn’t?
5. Because Mail is such a monstrous piece of shit, I’ll tackle that in a separate post when I have time to redesign the whole fucking thing. I’m tired of that app and wish it was more useful than it is.
6. Can we please have more information in the top status bar throughout the OS? Why do I have to back all the way out to the home screen to see if any Pushed emails are present? Why can’t I tap the battery icon in the top right and get a percentage? I know it’s there because it was shown to be so in a hack. Obviously, don’t repeat info shown when on the Springboard but that goes without saying.
7. Is YouTube still so fucking important that it needs to reside on the home screen? Why can’t this be on a second page of lame apps like Stocks or the Weather widget?
8. Why can’t we hide apps from the Springboard? Sorry Apple but not every app you make is something everyone wants. Let us decide please.
9. Why doesn’t the Calendar app icon on the Springboard display a badge when an appointment is nearing?
10. Why in the iPod app’s Artists and Songs screen do you hide the search field at the top? Same goes for Audiobooks, Composers, Genres.
11. If you don’t have a certain type of content on your iPhone, wouldn’t it make sense to provide a button to the iTunes store from the iPod’s Videos, Audiobooks, and Podcasts screens instead of just saying “You can download something from iTunes.” Guess you’re really not trying to sell content to users.
12. Why not share the same iconography from the iTunes store when browsing Genres in the iPod app? Reading text lists in the iPod app is not sexy or fun.
13. At what point in the future will you standardize the placement of the Edit and Create New Item buttons in your apps?
Messages: Create New is top right and is a Pencil icon in a button.
Calendar: Create New is top right and a Plus icon in a button.
Mail: Create New is lower right and a Pencil and “paper” shape – no button.
Notes: Create New is top right and a Plus icon in a button (but it’s brown!)
Contacts: Create New is top right and a Plus icon in a button.
Clock: Create New is top right and a Plus icon in a button.
Voice Memos. WTF
14. Photos. Why can’t I create a photo album on the phone and assign photos to it from the camera roll? And why is the “Photo Albums” header background transparent? What is the benefit of doing this?
15. Mail, can we please mark a message as read without having to literally tap into it? One would think that the Edit button would offer this option, but it doesn’t.
So how’s that for a 15 minute evaluation?
I just noticed that my attention has been siphoning off to facebook and it’s been a month since I’ve written anything. That kinda makes me sad.
The big news is that I’ve been interviewing like a madman. Constantly on the phone talking to recruiters, talking to companies in many different states, selling my house, and spending a ton of time with my family, which has been really nice.
We’ve also had some bad news lately. My wife’s grandmother passed away and is still very difficult for everyone in her family to deal with. Hell, it’s hard for me to deal with. I constantly feel like I can’t really feel anything at all because any minute of any day I could be on the phone trying to get a job and that requires that I’m upbeat and ready to go. I’ve had a few days where I’ve been able to let everything soak in and it’s not fun.
I’m pretty far down the road with one particular opportunity and hope it comes to fruition very soon. This massive amount of uncertainty has been very trying…
The time I get with my new boy Miles really helps me let go and forget all the problems swirling around us right now. He’s such a great source of love for me. Before I left to interview out of state, I had a quiet moment with him and told him I wouldn’t let him down.
It seems like someone knocked everything in my life up in the air and nothing has landed. I know this will all settle down and we’ll be okay but it’s getting very hard to keep up this positive attitude when nothing is certain.
When anything becomes a new constant in my life, I’ll certainly post about it here first, instead of facebook. Deal?
I’ll make this short. New audio slowdowner app called Capo.
Cool UI:
Lame App icon:
For a while now, I’ve been trying to share my iTunes library with the other 2 user accounts on our home computer. Apple has a suggestion of placing the Library that has the music in it into a shared location on your computer but there’s an easier way that’s much more reliable.
All you have to do is log into the account that has all the music, turn on “Share my library on my local network” in the master iTunes account (iTunes > Preferences > Sharing), switch to the other user account that wants to listen to the music and open iTunes. The shared library will be in the source column and you can play whatever you want.
38,300 votes approve
612,128 votes do not
Only 6% of the voters approve of the redesign.
Damn that’s rough. Hate to be the UI designer who worked on that one. Didn’t they do any user testing and analysis? My guess is yes…with hardcore FB users, not average joes. Me thinks a new FB design will be heading down the pike any day now.