I understand that developers want to distinguish iPad apps from their equivalent iPod offerings, but I don’t think “HD” is the best method. It’s got a specific definition — high definition video has one or two million pixels per frame — that the iPad doesn’t meet.
It’s logical to assume that one could tack “iPad” or “For iPad” onto their titles, but Apple only recently ruled on how “iPad” may be used. Developers who have been hard at work for weeks had to make a decision before getting their apps in for review. Do you submit an app called, for example, “Plants vs. Zombies iPad” or “Flight Control for iPad” only to have Apple send it back at the last minute?
Additionally, what if a future iPad model is capable of high definition playback? Is your app then “HD Plus?” I think “XL” or something similar would have been better. I know I’m being nit-picky, but I wish “HD” hadn’t been used.
With the App Store, Apple has mastered the art of the impulse purchase. Much like the candy that’s displayed at a toddler’s eye level at the supermarket checkout counter, those shiny iPhone apps are right at your fingertips whenever you have a spare moment to flick around. “Only a dollar … why not?”
Last summer I listed the apps I’ve paid for but don’t use, and today I’m doing the opposite. Here are the 12 apps that I use every day without fail. Each has won a coveted spot on my iPhone’s home screen.
Messages (free, Apple, Inc.) From push notifications to quick chats with my sisters, text messaging has become a part of my life. At first I thought the notion was ridiculous. Sending text messages with a phone? It’s a phone. That’s like dipping a typewriter into an inkwell and using it as a quill. But now I get it. Some things are just faster and not worth the time or cost of a phone call. Call me a convert. 4real.
Calendar (free, Apple Inc.) My wife keeps this updated with our family schedules and MobileMe syncs it to all of our devices flawlessly. It’s a must in our family.
Photos (free, Apple, Inc). I mentioned the kids, right? That means ridiculous amounts of photos and video. But that’s not all. I’ve used it and Camera, my next selection, to remember where I’ve parked in a large garage, send photos of business cards to myself, send photos of receipts and ask, “Is this the [product photo here] I’m supposed to buy?” via SMS.
Outside ($2.99 with optional in-app purchases, Robocat) As a New Englander, I’m obsessed with driving directions and weather. Outside runs laps around Apple’s Weather app with a beautiful UI, push notifications, great-looking animations and an overall sense of fun. A blizzard? Yippee! Look at how cute that animation is!
Maps (free, Apple, Inc.) This is the iPhone’s wonder app. Let’s say you’re in the middle of Nowhere, Maine and you want to find some coffee. Open maps, locate yourself with GPS, enter “Coffee” into the search field you’re on the phone and driving to a great little shop that you didn’t know existed 20 seconds prior. I recently drove from Boston to Valley Forge, Pa using only the Maps app and it was flawless. I think it’s powered by magic. Or GPS. Either one.
Birdhouse ($1.99, Adam Lisagor & Cameron Hunt) In all honesty, when this app was released I thought it was a practical joke. “A Twitter app for writers? They’re kidding, right?” Now I get it. I tend to be a bit verbose on Twitter, and posting every random thought that my brain fires up into Birdhouse before inflicting it upon my followers is a handy little buffer. Plus, it does offer a chance to re-write something that frankly could use it. My Birdhouse is always packed with several chambered tweets, ready to fire.
Twitterrific Premium ($4.99, The Iconfactory) Still my iPhone Twitter app of choice. It’s beautiful, well-executed, supports multiple accounts and frankly does everything I need in a manner that I enjoy. Use it, love it.
Daylite Touch ($49.99 per year, Marketcircle) The mobile companion to the powerful Daylite for the Mac is the one app out of all of these that I couldn’t go a day without. Between TUAW and my other gigs I have a lot going on and Daylite Touch lets me manage all of them elegantly. It’s very powerful and the back end server app runs beautifully on a G4 iMac in my basement. Before you balk at the price know that I was paying that in two months time with Basecamp. Just like its sibling Billings Touch, Daylite touch is fantastic. I can’t say enough good about it.
iTunes and App Store (Free, Apple, Inc.) are self-explanatory and got me into this mess to begin with.
CNN Mobile (Free, CNN) Regardless of your opinion of the Cable News Network, you must admit that this app is very well done. The news is timely, navigation is clear, the app is snappy and the streaming video is the clincher. I actually watched the balloon boy saga unfold on my iPhone. Plus you can sign up for keyword alerts, push notifications and even submit your own photos, videos and stories. I love it.
Facebook (Free, Facebook) Yeah, it’s Facebook. But this app is well done.
Pastebot ($2.99, Tapbots) It’s a clipboard manager for the iPhone but so much more. Enable wireless sync with a Mac and you’ve got super-easy photo transfer, a clipboard history from your Mac and more. I use it to hold boilerplate text that’s now a tap away. Want to insert it into an email message? Click “Send to Mac” and you’re done. Like all of the Tapbot apps, Pastebot is gorgeous and downright useful. You need to own it.
Trip Cubby ($6.99, App Cubby) My job (and Uncle Sam) requires me to keep close tabs on mileage. Trip Cubby makes recording my trips simple and fun, and version 2 improves upon a winner.
To get started, add a new trip and fill in your destination, purpose, any tags you’d like and so on. Designate a vehicle and its starting odometer reading. You can also categorize a trip (business, charity, etc.) and add relevant notes (tip: Add frequent trips to favorites for future reference).
From there, click done and you’re off! Once you arrive, select your trip again, enter the final odometer reading and click Done. Trip Cubby assumes a mileage rate of $0.550, but you’re free to change that if need be.
Here’s where it gets good. You can sync all of your data online at App Cubby, should you lose anything. Also, you can mail all of your data to yourself from within the app as a CSV (a HUGE time saver at tax time). Typically I’m a pen-and-paper guy, but Trip Cubby has replaced the notebook in my glovebox. I absolutely rely on it.
While doing some leisure reading online, I noticed that a blogger on the Fusion Ad Network explained a recent absence by saying that he had just finished up high school.
Hi. Yeah. I’m almost 40.
When I started blogging for TUAW, I thought, “Wow, I’m getting paid to write!” Calling myself a “writer” at that point would have been like a hummingbird calling itself a space shuttle. I mean, they both can fly, but one produces 1,315 tons of thrust and can withstand temperatures of 1,650ºC.
The other entertains retirees from their kitchen windows.
I’ve been able to delude myself into believing that I deserve that title over the years. It started the 1st time someone called something I had written a “piece.” Much like a Lay-Z-Boy is a chair while an Eames Molded Plastic Rocker is a piece, the term elevated my 350-word re-working of a common and rather pedestrian opinion to something actually worth your time and attention. As the head swells, so does the pen and I wielded mine like a Louisville Slugger.
However, the act of typing doesn’t turn one into a writer any more than sleeping in a garage turns one into a car. It’s something you either have or you don’t. Like Rubella.
In “On Writing,” Stephen King notes that most decent writers can become good writers, but they won’t become great. So I’m at my desk, behind the keyboard, writing pieces.
In this scene from The Shining, Jack is in the bathroom with Delbert Grady, the Overlook’s former caretaker. Jack stands to our right and Mr. Grady to our left. The perspective created by the parallel rows of urinals, sinks, ceiling lights and orange paint focuses our attention on the two men.
Kubrick holds this shot as Mr. Grady denies his identity. Jack presses him with a cocky attitude. Then the perspective suddenly changes.
The tables are turned, both figuratively and in the shot. The men “switch sides” as Mr. Grady drops the charade and tells Jack, “You are the caretaker, sir. You have always been the caretaker.” The focus is sharpened with more urinals and sinks are in the shot. Jack’s cocky attitude is replaced with fear.
Now we’re in Jack’s intimate zone. He gives a nervous laugh and his confusion and anxiety are palpable.
Now we’re only a few feet from Mr. Grady. In these close shots the characters have a very personal conversation. Mr. Grady explains the threat posed by Danny, and suggests the “good talking to” that Jack ought to give Danny and his wife, Wendy. Jack admits that Danny is a “willful” boy and reveals a secret about Wendy.
It’s a gradual crescendo that uses cinematography beautifully to heighten the increasing intimacy of their relationship and conversation, and one of the reasons I love Kubrick’s work so much.
October 1, 2008 was my first day without a full time job since May 30th, 1994. Twelve months later I’m celebrating one year of generating my own work by thanking the people who have helped along the way.
More than anyone, Bev Ryle was crucial to my transition from having a job to generating work. Just weeks before our first meeting, my employer of 15 years announced that business would cease within six months. It only took two. More than 110 of us lost our jobs. I was in panic mode.
Bev taught me the difference between having a job and creating work, and how to simultaneously make a living and enjoy life. Even more than that, she gave me direction and confidence, and continues to act as my mentor. I recommend that anyone facing a similar transition get her book.
After a few meetings with Bev, I thought I could make a run of blogging and helping others do the same. Around that time, I used Twitter to find other geeks on Cape Cod. Leslie was among the first people I met. She introduced me to others in the field, got my name out there and helped me make relationships that I’ve come to rely on today, all without provocation or personal gain. I’ll always appreciate her generosity.
In short – my TUAW family, past and present. First, C.K. for editing me ruthlessly way back when we were still owned by Jason. My writing improved tremendously under C.K.’s red pen.
Victor suggested that I fill the co-lead spot that Scott left, and I’ll be forever grateful. Scott’s direction was instrumental in making TUAW the leading source of Apple news that it is, and I was humbled to fill his shoes. Thanks to Vic for having confidence in me.
Mike and Christina have been tremendous co-workers. Mike’s thoughtful approach to the blog is a compliment to my knee-jerk impulsiveness, which I appreciate (like the time he edited my email address out of a screenshot. Thanks, Mike!). Christina’s enthusiasm for blogging helped me through all of those “what the hell do I think I’m doing?” moments. Yes, pro blogging is a legitimate way to make a living.
Not only is Chris a good friend, but his willingness to share his skills and knowledge with a newbie like me atypical. In a way we’re after the same clients on this small spit of sand, yet Chris is more than happy to share what he knows with me. In the past few months we’ve started working together to great mutual benefit.
Whether it’s a bitch session, professional support, paid gigs or an opportunity to hoist a few, the neighborhood geeks offer selfless support, and I appreciate it.
My family
Imagine this scenario: You’re got two kids under 7, two car payments and a mortgage. Your spouse unexpectedly became unemployed and after a bout of depression and then panic, announced that self-employment (during our country’s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression) was the answer.
That’s exactly what my wife agreed to.
Her support is the greatest thing in my life. Without her, I’d be living in a box in the park. I definitely married the right girl.
I’ve got some new things on the horizon that I’ll announce soon. For now, here’s a huge thank you to all of my friends. Watch for part 2 in October of 2010.
Several months ago, I listed the plug-ins I add to every WordPress installation. This post is an update to that list. Here are my standard WordPress plug-ins.
Akismit eliminates comment spam and trackback spam effectively. You’ll need a WordPress.com API key to enable it. I occasionally see something sneak through, but those occurrences are the exception, not the rule. Akismit is the first plug-in I set up.
Thank Me Later sends first-time commenters a single email thanking them for their participation. Customize the time delay between receipt of the comment and deployment of the email, the body of the message itself and more. It’s not essential, but a nice touch.
WordPress.com stats provides real-time statistics in your dashboard. Again, you’ll need a WordPress.com API key to enable this one.
WordPress Database Backps does just what the name implies — creates a backup for your blog’s (or WP-powered site’s) database files. For some real fun, check out my super-simple instructions for setting up automated, off-site backups.
Share This lets visitors share your articles with their favorite social sites without having to leave your blog.
Subscribe to comments allows readers to receive email notifications of responses to posts they’ve commented on. It fosters conversation and gives readers following the thread a reason to return.
Related posts scours your tags each time you publish a post to find older entries that are a match. Those are listed just above the comment box. This gives readers a reason to dig into your archives.
So there you have it, my basic WordPress starting point. What’s yours?
The first little person I ever met tried to sell me a T-shirt in Boston.
Having pushed passed the New England Conservatory students, noisy pizza joints and a one-armed pimp in a Members Only jacket (I assume he was the last member), I stood before 98 Hemenway Street. That beaten-down building, which would close a year later, was my freshman dorm at Berklee. John stood on the stoop. “What to buy a T-Shirt?” he said. It had obviously been silkscreened by hand. “Um, yeah,” I said.
I spent my first night alone, wearing my new shirt and watching David Letterman on a 13″ black-and-white TV. Actually, I only looked at the television. My mind was replaying the moment that I said goodbye to my parents at the Newbury Street Garage.
That was an astounding 20 years ago. Today I live on Cape Cod but my heart is in Boston. Whenever I visit, I take what my wife calls “The Nostalgia Tour.” We eat at Cappy’s, buy an iced tea from DeLuca’s (the only thing I could afford from that place in 1989), walk through The Fens and take the Green Line to Park Street.
We also visit the former site of Allson Beat on Newbury Street, in honor of John. He was what we used to call a “club kid” who lived the lifestyle 24/7. So we called him John Non-Stop. I think he lives in California today.
On Monday I’ll travel to Cambridge to talk about blogging. Though I was born and raised in Scranton, PA, visiting Boston always feels like a homecoming.
In less than 2 months, I will celebrate 1 year of freelancing with the Mac. It’s been the most educational year of my life. I learned about CSS and PHP, taxes and marketing, faith, patience and the power of being positive. I’ve also seen why the freelancing lifestyle is a cyclical return to the past, and how the Mac is the ultimate freelancer’s tool.
Take a moment and come with the to that little house on the prairie. Yes, I’m talking about Ma, Pa and Laura Ingalls Wilder. When Pa wasn’t saving the day (and making modern-day fathers like me feel inadequate), he was making furniture. It wasn’t Pa’s job to make furniture — there was no time clock to punch or office to occupy for 8 hours a day — it was his work. If you needed a chest-of-drawers, you went to see Pa. Got the flu? Call Doc Baker. Need some pestering done on your behalf? That Nellie Olson is always available. None of them had jobs, but they all created work.
The industrial revolution changed all of that. Instead of laboring at his little house, Pa would have found himself in a factory with a clipboard and a typewriter. He would have worked for the same company in the same physical location for the rest of his entire physical life (this is a metaphorical Pa, of course. Even with this awesome Dad Powers, he couldn’t have lived that long). At that point, Pa would have had a job.
That was the process for decades. Go to the office, perform your job and then go home. Now it’s 2009 and the model that my father adhered to — work for the same company for 35 years, get a gold watch and retire — is dead. Technological advances, automation and overseas outsourcing have eliminated the majority of those production jobs. Freelances like me don’t have jobs, we create work. Just like Pa.
In fact, if you look up the word “job” you notice that many of its meanings — a task, something to be done, an assignment — apply to work both as it existed in the Pre-Industrial Age and will exist in the future. Yet the world is still most often used in the sense that it took on during the Industrial Age — a permanent, full-time position with a single employer. For that reason, I suggest swapping “job” with “work.”
“Job” bears roughly the same relation to “work” that “orange” does to “fruit.” If you go to the store with your heart set on oranges and a bad winter has caused a shortage, you’ll end up disappointed. If you go looking for fruit instead, you’re likely to find a variety of ways to satisfy your taste and appetite.
When a worker has a job, s/he knows exactly what must be done in order to secure a paycheck. The chance that she will do anything beyond what’s required is slim. And why should she? She’s paid do perform her job as described and that’s all she’ll do.
Now, if she doesn’t have a job but is creating work, her choices increase tremendously. She knows her skills and what employers want. She’s free and motivated — heck, required — to move beyond what’s expected and consider what would benefit an employer; what would benefit her; what artful and beneficial way she can apply her skills to solve a problem (fruit, anyone?).
I’m happily creating work and thrilled to be doing it with a Mac which, incidentally, has undergone a transformation of its own.
Years ago, Apple’s slogan was “Think Different.” From the Crazy Ones ad to the Jolly Roger at Cupertino, Apple set their machines apart. No, they don’t operate like every other personal computer and that was the point. Many of us loved the branding. Many more did not. Then something happened while Windows conquered the business world.
Apple offered a free and painless way to run Windows on any new Mac. Suddenly, those machines went from being “different” to being “special.” Yes, they can run that mission-critical, Windows-only software, plus all this other cool stuff. In short, there’s nothing this machine can’t do. It’s the sharpest tool in my kit.
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to write all about freelancing with the Mac. I’ll cover everything that’s been a part of my experience. I hope you’ll read along and get something out of it.
“The funny/sad part of the debate so far has been the technology folks who are actually arguing for less choice in the name of ease of use/customer support. The fact is, allowing certain folks to easily/officially/legally jailbreak/unlock their phones is something Apple could do easily. Same with opening up iTunes or the App Store. Apple could easily make users flip a warning or two-like folks do on routers-when users opt-in to doing something a little more ‘hacky.’”
Abandon ease of use and customer support for more “choice?” Where do I sign up for that? Ask a system administrator how easy it is to support a network and users with a lot of “choice.” Let’s say, Jason, that Apple allows people to “…easily/officially/legally jailbreak/unlock their phones.” Then something goes wrong. Who’s responsible for the cleanup? Apple? Hell, no. But those users will beat a path to Cupertino for a “fix” to the problem they created.
If I want to put a hemi engine in my Volvo station wagon, that’s great. But it’s not Volvo’s issue when I’ve got a telephone pole in my front seat. Likewise, I can’t condemn Nintendo because my Wii won’t play PS3 games.
I’ve used Apple products since 1994 and have never felt hindered by a lack of choice. Everything works perfectly. Mail, iCal, Safari, my Macs, my iPhone, my iPod and my Apple TV do exactly what I want them to do every day. I add a calender event and pow! It’s everywhere. I download a podcast and it’s distributed just as quickly. Where’s the problem?
Because I can’t run any Windows or Linux app I want? Oops, I can, and Apple provides the how-to for free. Because I can’t use a music player with iTunes other than the iPod? Oops, I can.
To ask Apple to change their wildly successful business model to accommodate a small group of hackers and devotees is ridiculous.
When Howard Stern moved to Sirius Satellite Radio, I went with him. When my contract expired, I didn’t renew because the experience wasn’t anything I couldn’t create for free.
Howard’s show was funny but disappointing. Specifically, there were commercials. Howard bragged that they reduced the length of commercial breaks from 20 minutes to 6, but still. The $156 I paid annually should usurp all ads. Unfortunately, this practice wasn’t unique to Howard’s 2 channels. Discovery and Martha Stewart also aired commercials. Sorry, Sirius, but ad-supported talk radio is available for free.
The music stations don’t broadcast ads, but I can create an uninterrupted stream of genre-specific music on my iPod by hitting “shuffle.” Plus, my iPod only plays songs I absolutely love. But the nail in Sirius XM’s coffin is podcasting.
The number of free, high quality podcasts increases daily. Pick any topic and you’ll find a terrific show operated by passionate, knowledgeable folks that you’ll love. Just like the music, they’re available on demand. Sirius’s Discovery channel had some shows I liked, but I wasn’t always near a radio when it aired. By contrast, I can listen to Stuff You Should Know or The Adam Carolla Show whenever I want.
I feel sorry for Sirius XM because I wanted it to work. Either kill the ads or make the content so compelling that I’m happy to pay for it.
