It’s because as adults we rarely get the chance to savor uncertainty.
It’s like being a kid on Christmas morning. You know it will be good, but will it be amazing?
By the way, thanks for ruining Christmas last year Gizmodo.
Dicks.
The genius of iMessage
It’s said that as many as 50% of all iPhones have never been synced after activation. That means a lot of people have no backup of their phone data, and that they’re running outdated versions of iOS.
Apple means to fix this in iOS 5 by obviating cable sync with automatic iCloud backups, iTunes sync, and OS updates over wifi. But how to get everyone on iOS 5 when so many users won’t plug in to iTunes to get the update?
Free iOS to iOS texting in iMessage is a fantastic carrot to get users to upgrade. It’s got network effects baked in: every user benefits by getting more users to upgrade. (I wish everyone I know had iMessage right now.)
iOS developers win because going forward they won’t have to worry about iOS version fragmentation. Apple wins for the same reason, plus Apple Store technicians won’t have to worry about data loss when users come in with unsynced iDevices. And not least of all, iMessage disintermediates cell carrier texting while widening Apple’s moat.
Genius.
Why Mobile Safari is the world’s best web browser
You know why Mobile Safari has been the world’s best web browser since 2007?
It’s because double tapping a text column bypasses all web page clutter and zooms in on what you’re trying to read.
That’s it. The secret sauce.
And now iOS 5 will add “Reader” to Safari, a button that promises to completely de-suck the web.
Ads, modal popups, scammy over-pagination, sidebar cruft, and even bad typography will be banished with a single button tap.
You could think of Reader as Apple’s quiet declaration of war on web advertisers.
Why does the MacBookAir feel better than the MacBookPro?
After a visit to the Apple Store, I have to say the new MacBookPro line is disappointing.
With any common task like launching programs or flipping through iPhoto images the 13” MacBookAir felt faster than any MacBookPro. At CPU intensive tasks, for example applying a blur to a large PhotoShop file, the Air and Pro lines felt about the same.
Of course, if the MacBookPro floor models at the Apple Store had solid state drives it would make all the difference in performance.
Still, the design of the Air is viscerally appealing in a way that the Pros aren’t. The Pros feel outmoded, bulky.
While I was playing with the laptops a group of junior high kids swarmed the Air table. (It’s the table on the left, closest to the doors. The money table.) I overheard teen girls squealing things like, “These are the smallest, cutest ones!” They didn’t visit the Pro table. The Airs got most of the action from all comers.
So:
- There’s no point in having a high end computer with a platter hard drive. Go SSD or go home.
- Expectations about computers have changed. What matters now is heft, portability, battery life, how it fits your bag, and how cool it looks at the coffee shop. Not how fast it is, but how fast it feels. It’s not about specs, it’s about the experience.
Quick thoughts on phone design
This piece on developing for Windows Phone 7 prompted a few observations on phone hardware:
- Most reviewers don’t mind dithery AMOLED screens. Surprising.
- Apple has raised the bar on hardware design. When gadgets feel cheap or flimsy, users notice.
- I’m glad the iPhone4 is metal and glass. By the end, my iPhone 3G had serious cracks from plastic fatigue.
- Expandable storage is a no-no. It degrades a unit’s industrial design. It also tempts manufacturers to skimp on storage, leaving users to make up the difference in complexity and frustration.
- Same goes for removable batteries.