Tag Archives: john-gruber

Ubuntu for phones »

January 3rd, 2013

Canonical is calling this Ubuntu for phones but even in their own presentation they mention it will run on tablet devices. Yesterday I said, on Twitter, that I was happy to see another entrant into this market. Android and iOS are not enough choices (though we’ve been dealing with Mac OS vs. Windows for years and years).

Sadly, Gruber might be right. And The Verge’s video shows this. Ubuntu for phones may be a non-starter.

However, Gruber says that a gesture-based UI can never work. I don’t know if that is true. I’d hate to say that anything is impossible. Gruber and I are old men. Maybe a gesture-based UI wouldn’t work for us (though keyboard shortcuts come as second-nature to anyone my age and under) but will work for a future generation? What if every mobile OS became a gesture-based touch OS? Then humans would be forced to deal with it and get used to it.

So, I don’t know if it is a non-starter because it is a gesture-based UI or if someday that will catch on as the norm, but I do know that if it isn’t responsive or reliable than it won’t take off regardless.

Bold Poker app »

December 11th, 2012

This is ambitious and a bit ridiculous… but it must have been a lot of fun to work on. Bold Poker.

Something I’d like to see is for an app that is as well-designed as this to handle what is arguably the much more difficult part of poker – the betting. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had split-pots and difficult-to-count bets that a machine could do in seconds.

/via John Gruber.

Would Apple ever bring back Forstall? »

November 12th, 2012

Michael Lopp:

In my years at Apple, the Caffe Macs chatter about Forstall was that he was the only legit successor to Jobs because he displayed a variety of Jobsian characteristics.

Comparing anyone to Steve Jobs is a tall order but Lopp does a good job in his most recent piece about innovation being a product of disruption and contention.

If Lopp is right, and Apple’s slow (we’re talking a decade here) decline begins with the departure of Forstall would Apple ever consider bringing him back if Apple needs help? Remember what happened to Jobs? He was fired. Then his company acquired by Apple. Then he became the CEO with the best “second act” in the history of business.

I dare Forstall to start a company named anotherStep.

/via John Gruber.

Siri vs. Google Voice Search »

November 2nd, 2012

Gizmodo did a side-by-side comparison of Google’s new Voice Search app on iPhone and Siri. Google wins every single time.

I’ve been using Google a bit on my iPhone 5 over the last 24 hours or so and it is blazingly fast. Siri, obviously, is far more integrated into iOS and can open applications, set appointments, etc. but strictly for getting at information Google’s new app is nearly instant.

As Gruber said, Apple now has something to shoot for. Siri’s abilities are great but her performance is relatively abysmal.

John Gruber on the iPad mini »

November 1st, 2012

John Gruber on the iPad mini:

It’s really light and easy to hold one-handed. The hardware design — chamfered edges, less tapered back, metal rather than plastic buttons — strikes me as better, more elegant, than that of the full-size iPad 3/4. But it’s disappointing to go non-retina after using the retina iPad for the last seven months. All of the accolades and advantages of retina displays work in reverse. I adore the size and form factor of the iPad Mini, but I also adore the retina display on my full-size iPad. My ideal iPad would be a Mini with a retina display.

I don’t even need to hold an iPad mini to know that my thinking is aligned with John’s. I’ve already made a deal with myself not to buy any more products, from Apple or any other company, that do not include a retina-quality display. The mini looks like a device that has found the right balance of size, speed, and weight. But the display is the thing you stare at the most.

Unlike John, Eliza and I will be waiting for an iPad mini that has a Retina Display. That iPad 4, on the other hand, looks like a good deal to me. Hmm.

(Side note to John: iPad Mini? Apple writes iPad mini. So I will too. Sorry.)

Missing iOS 6 features for some devices »

September 19th, 2012

Dan Frakes and Serenity Caldwell at Macworld give a run-through of iOS 6 installation and what this latest release means for each device. Some features won’t be available to all iOS 6 devices. Naturally. Here is one example, though, that I lament.

Flyover and turn-by-turn navigation features of the new Maps app are available on only the iPhone 4S or later, fifth-generation iPod touch, and the iPad 2 or later

Flyovers are one thing, but not getting turn-by-turn navigation if you own an iPhone 4 is downright painful. I’m glad to be getting an iPhone 5 so that I’ll be able to use all of the new features in but as an iPhone 4 user for a few iOS updates I have to say that this sort of thing hurts. Understandably, graphics and CPU intensive features can not run well on older devices but Apple’s propensity for cutting older iOS devices short – given how quickly they release new hardware – is disappointing. Many applications available to the iPhone 4 have turn-by-turn navigation. Most terrible Android-powered phones have turn-by-turn navigation. The millions of people out there with an iPhone 4 should get it too.

I think this trend shows how new and fast moving this post-PC era really is. Updates are coming quickly to both the software and hardware of this new era. Leaving those of us that buy into it spinning with how fast it is moving when compared to the old, cludgie, and far less attractive PC market.

/via John “I took a photo of Han Solo with an iPhone 5 before everyone else did” Gruber.

What an iPad Mini, or Air, could weigh »

August 16th, 2012

MG Seigler compares the weights of some leading e-readers, phones, and tablets to visualize where the iPad Mini, or Air, may stack up:

As you can see, this new iPad would be closest to the Kindle with a keyboard in weight. It would weigh noticeably less than a Nexus 7. It would weigh less than half of what all of the current iPads weigh. And it would weigh just a third of what a Surface running Windows Pro will weigh.

Yesterday I held a Nexus 7 (thanks Jeff) for the first time. It is incredibly light. Remember, I’m used to lugging around an iPad 2. The iPad 2 is downright heavy when compared to the Nexus 7. Jeff was walking around with the Nexus 7 in his back pants pocket! I’ll admit it, I was jealous.

If the iPad Mini, or Air, or whatever Cook & Co. call it, weighs in anywhere near these estimates, and costs anywhere near $200, and has the features of the existing iPads, it is going to be a smash hit. Even bigger than the iPad is now.

 

(This isn’t to say I’ll be getting one. I do not know if I need the ~8″ form-factor. I use my iPad every single day and while it would be nice to have a smaller, easier to handle, iPad I can’t see springing for one out the gate. I’d probably weight until I retire my current iPad 2 and pick up the second-generation iPad Air (I’ll stick with this, though I doubt Apple will) at that time.)

The way we handle linking

July 3rd, 2012

For the past week or so I’ve been publishing Daring Fireball-style links for the links category (or as some call them, the link list). I’ve been going back and forth on whether or not to link this way for years. (The things geeks worry about.)

Readers find these style of links much more beneficial. Especially RSS feed subscribers. And, indeed, it does seem less “spammy” when you’re linking readers directly to the sources rather than to a webpage of your own. Though, this site very, very seldom has any sort of advertising or affiliate links – it can still seem spammy. When linking to something the full credit for that something should go directly to those who published it.

I’m not the only one who was mulling this over, on 1 July Stephen Hackett made the switch.

Why Microsoft is making Surface »

June 22nd, 2012

John Gruber, on why Microsoft needs to be the one making Surface (and not a third-party like HP or Sony):

The intention is obviously to slow the iPad down, but the radical shift in Microsoft’s strategy is about the fight over the profits that remain after Apple’s. The math no longer works out for the Windows you-sell-the-hardware-we-sell-the-software model. It works for unit share (cf. Android), but it doesn’t for profit share. Nothing works sustainably in business without profit — profit is the oxygen companies breathe.

His take and Horace Dediu’s (who could ever argue with Horace?) make perfect sense to me. Microsoft is now doing what Apple began to do in the early 2000s. Begin chasing profits not marketshare.

Will apps be announced for the Apple TV next week?

June 5th, 2012

I’ve had an Apple TV for a while now and I love it. I use it all the time. And, I’m guessing, with Mountain Lion I’ll be using it a lot more. But I’ve got no reason to upgrade to the latest Apple TV (save the 1080p resolution) since the software updates come around for free.

However, if John Gruber is right – apps may be coming to the Apple TV next week (or at least announced then):

To me, this is what a preliminary WWDC conference schedule would look like if Apple were set to announce a new developer platform, like, say, apps for Apple TV.

I hope he is right. Because I’d love a new TV experience and to get even more usefulness from my Apple TV. But, Apple will likely get me to purchase two new Apple TVs (one for the living room, one for the in-house pub).

Fanfare for the Comma Man

April 13th, 2012

Ben Yagoda on the use of the comma:

You see this kind of thing all over the Internet as well. People punctuate that way because, if they spoke these sentences, they’d pause after the conjunction (and because the extremely fanciful and undependable Microsoft Word grammar and style checker refrains from applying a squiggly green underline).

I’m no writer. I’m sure I get this wrong all the time. In fact, I know I do. (See what I did just then?) I do exactly as Yagoda suggests. I write commas based on how I would say or read the sentence.

He goes on about the use of the Oxford comma as well. Which I wholeheartedly agree with and strive to do myself though I’m sure if someone ripped through the catacombs of this here blog they’d find a million grievances.

Yagoda has a follow-up coming. Stay tuned.

/via John “I’m using Facebook by way of Instagram” Gruber.

Better OS X updates in Mountain Lion

February 22nd, 2012

Since the Mac App Store debut I’ve been disappointed with the way Apple had three unique ways to update the OS, the applications on my Mac, and the applications on my iPhone and iPad.

I’m very much looking forward to Mountain Lion’s consolidation of two of these. Serenity Caldwell for Macworld reports:

Software Update, possibly the slowest Apple program on your Mac, is saying goodbye in Mountain Lion. Instead, the App Store will be handling any system patches, along with updates for your Mac App Store programs. And as a bonus, Notification Center will alert you in the background when updates are available, saving you five minutes of staring at the “Checking for new software” window.

This is great. I hope Notification Center also notifies me of updates that are available in iTunes too; iPhone and iPad applications, Podcasts, episodes of my TV shows, etc.

/via John “Have you seen my iPod nano?” Gruber.

What I use an Apple TV for

December 13th, 2011

I saw this link that John Gruber posted about a recent report on the habits of Apple TV owners and, at the end of it, he mentions how some of his Twitter followers use the Apple TV. He says:

“And lots of DF readers on Twitter are telling me they use Apple TV just for AirPlay and Netflix streaming.”

That is exactly what I use the Apple TV for. I do not buy or rent TV shows or movies from the iTunes store. Ever. Although the Apple TV integrates with the iTunes Store, Home sharing (for sharing files from a computer), the NBA and MLB (and others), Vimeo, YouTube, Flickr, etc. etc. the two features I use on my Apple TV are Netflix with Airplay.

I use Airplay to put videos I find via my iPad on the TV. I do this a lot. (Thanks Devour) Even if the source of these videos is from YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler, and other outlets – the integration with any of those platforms goes unused by me since I simply use Airplay. I suppose if I didn’t own an iPad my use of Airplay wouldn’t be nearly as significant. It is just so easy. I’ll also, on occasion, use Airplay to play some music via my Apple TV (this replaced my Airport Express’ purpose) and very, very rarely put some vacation photos on-screen.

Another note about Airplay; if you, like me (and obviously Jason Kottke), sometimes acquire a few TV shows you couldn’t get otherwise by grabbing them via Bittorrent you may be interested in Erica Sadun’s Airflick. Airflick is an application that lets you stream video, audio, or photos from your Mac to your Apple TV. Very handy application.

But all-in-all my Apple TV might as well just be a Netflix box. I’ve used Netflix on the computer, on an Xbox 360, on iPad and iPhone and on Apple TV. By far the very best Netflix application exists on the Apple TV. It is easy to use, looks great, and works nearly every single time without hiccup. I don’t know if I’d even be subscribed to Netflix if I didn’t own an Apple TV.

It’s happening. Twitter changed.

December 9th, 2011

Remember when I said this yesterday?

“What would happen if, say, tomorrow Twitter decided that all Twitter clients (third-party and official) had to show some fairly obtrusive ads or you’d need to pay a few dollars per month to use the service?”

It turns out Twitter did change the next day. (I knew nothing of #letsfly at the time, I promise.) Marco Arment, today, whilst linking to John Gruber’s thoughts on the matter.

“I’d wager that all third-party clients will be forced to display the trends and ads within a year, and what we know as Twitter today — or at least what we knew until yesterday morning — will be a distant, quaint memory: Remember when it was just people you followed?”

So, it is happening. Twitter has changed. In the blink of an eye its most loyal users are second-guessing its future. It pulled a Facebook. And I’m guessing that Marco isn’t too far off in his estimate. Twitter will never be the 140-character simple messaging system that we all fell in love with in 2006.

Twitter for iPhone, TweetDeck updated for #letsfly

December 9th, 2011

In an effort to unify the experience across multiple devices and platforms Twitter has released updates of Twitter for iPhone and the Mac version of TweetDeck.

I think it is a good thing for the official applications to all feel and work very much the same. However, for obvious reasons long-time users of Twitter may feel the changes are a bit jarring. John Gruber rips into Twitter for iPhone by comparing it to Tweetie (which is what the application started out as). Mike Rundle rips into the app on its own merits.

Some TweetDeck users seem to like the update since prior to this latest version the application was a horrible Adobe AIR application that (at least in my experience) was slow, poorly designed, and bloated. This latest version seems better.

I don’t use Twitter for iPhone or TweetDeck and I only use the Twitter.com website on rare occasions. I’m very, very happy with Tweetbot.