The Apple Blog reminds us of a very important line in the iTunes license agreement:
[Don't use iTunes for illegal activity]……including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture, or production of nuclear missiles or chemical or biological weapons.
That’s right folks, don’t use iTunes for making bombs.
I was heartened to read the Bill Gates usability rant gleaned from the anti-trust documents. This email shows me that Windows usability issues were more institutionalized and were the result of an obese org, not because Gates didn’t ‘get it’.
via ethan
I love my Macs as much as anyone, and applaud their design and innovation. However there are others out there doing good work as well, case-in-point Dell’s new Crystal Display unveiled at CES. Really nice overall design, I haven’t dug into specs or any other info, but on the surface I like the anti-brushed aluminum approach. Curious to see how it’s received.
It’s 2007 (nearly 2008) so stop with the damn .SIT files. Seriously just stop it. ZIP it if you have to compress, Stuff**it it a pain on Leopard/Tiger. So knock it off, thanks.
Sebastiaan de With has taken a hit for all of us. By releasing his great Orion icon set for Leopard (to replace the ass-tastic default folders Apple shipped with the big cat) on his own server and become a huge hit with Apple and their users he’s been stuck with one helluva hosting bill. You always hope people dig your stuff, but bandwith can break your heart. I didn’t link to Orion just out of respect, if you don’t have it wait and grab it once he has a new home for them.
So here’s the question, in an age of community where does freeware live? Do we find a way to help Sebastiaan offset the cost, or is this just the cost of ‘giving’ assets away? With 180,000+ uniques that pulled the icons is there enough business drummed up to not feel bad for the upfront cost? No idea what any of the answers are, but if he asks for help I’d happily chip in.
Just a quick note to say howdy to my new subscribers. I know not your visage nor your names, but your attention here is welcome and applauded.
So as a little thank you I have a couple MLB Mac icons for you. Oh the mountains in their glossy glory.
Download World Series team icons
But wait, there’s more…do to some recent god fortunate I had a need for a new dual monitor desktop. So I created the following 2 piece (1280×1024 each) set. They were built some freeware vector icons that I’ll credit as soon as I dig up where they came from. Enjoy…
I spent several years as a usability engineer and in one session with a defense contractor, testing a complete rewrite of a big enterprise app that wasn’t going well, a participant told me that our products ruined her day. She dreaded her workday because she knew she had to come in and use our stuff. Ouch. That’s the nature of usability, of putting the user first. Somedays you get praise and hugs and somedays, well, somedays you realize how important it is to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and walk around a bit. That product ruined her day because it worked fine functionally but the developers had never walked in her shoes, had never lived the life of a procurement specialist or supply-chain manager or dock foreman.
So while no one came and sat in my cube this week I’ll send Vienna feedback the only way I know how, by writing this. Vienna, if you’re listening, YOU RUIN MY DAY. I love your app, it’s free and easy and no-longer crashes incessantly. It has just what I need in a feed reader, but it lacks one crucial thing: empathy for it’s user. You’ve failed to walk in my shoes.
Exhibit A
This is the toolbar, under that damn gear icon is a host of features. Unfortunately they only exist in that menu, I can’t break them out as individual buttons. That means marking an entire feed “as read” requires click+drag+select+unclick every single time. It should just be *click* and done. Seriously this is an awful, awful bit if UI undesign trotted out as an enhancement. One of the downfalls of open-source is that criticizing an unpaid developer feels a little dirty, but it’s the truth. No one ever hesitated to tell me about issues with the interfaces I’ve designed, I guess it’s only fair I do the same.
I’m curious what folks think about the price drop, specifically those of you who - like me - are well outside any sort of return/re-shelve/refund window. Are you upset? Couldn’t care less? Do you agree with Jobs that it’s “just technology”?
Personally I think it’s bad form, but not entirely unexpected. I’d like that $200 back, but I believe it was a $600 product then and I’ve made good use of it in those two months. It is a shitty tack for the company to take to burn people willing to take a leap into a new frontier with them, and they will never again see a launch like they had with this phone. There’s also a real potential for new buyers to shy away now, Apple has been notorious for these price slashing prior to a new revision, which is certainly possible (although not probable) before Christmas. Apple has become a consumer product business, and the exemplary customer satisfaction they tout in their marketing and interviews took a hit yesterday. If they keep this up they will be a big consumer electronics business like they wish to be, the kind everyone hates.
The drop also shows a weakness in the market for the product and the overt profit-taking being done upfront. I believe Apple was hedging their bets on demand and wanted to isolate a price point that kept buzz high, demand under control and supplies in-line. To those ends, I feel Apple is struggling with the product (nearly a million sold in 10 weeks doesn’t add up to 10 million in 53 weeks, even with holiday feasting). The price drop is meant to stir interest and grab the remnant buyers out there, but I think ultimately the Touch is going to make the most of the iPhone R&D spending and we’ll see the iPhone go the way of the Newton. My gut says this time next year there will not be a cell phone Apple product on the market.
Am I nuts? Let me hear it.
Also, if you want that “crying baby holding a crying baby” wallpaper click here.
Or looking into a book, that is my own autobiography, chock full of bits about me and stuff I like. That’s what reading this post is like for me. Creepy, a post with Design Within Reach AND Yacht Rock, who is this guy, my shadow?
It looks like the NBC is pulling shows from iTunes. Apparently they are willing to lose both the revenue and the controls that Apple provided. People have now gotten a taste of The Office and Heros on their iPods, their only option will be torrents, where NBC gets no revenue and loses any and all content controls. Smart move guys, stellar. I had perviously given NBC a lot of credit for making the move to the iTunes Store, but this retreat shows that not only do record labels not get-it, all content providers are out-of-touch.
