I’m probably not the first person to write this, and I probably won’t be the last. But leaving aside whether Android was ever truly “open,” I don’t see any way even a nominally “open” Android platform survives the war that just dramatically escalated with the launch of Facebook Home.
I’ve heard about this book a few times over the last year or so: Car Guys vs. Bean Counters. It’s Bob Lutz’s book on what went wrong at GM, and, apparently, what’s going wrong in American companies in general. It’s a book I think I really need to read. It seems to be very much the same basic message embodied the Steve Jobs quote from my last post.
Sometimes a dominant company loses its edge, and instead of being the industry leader, becomes just another “me too” player. This month's issue of Vanity Fair has a scathing retrospective of the most high-profile example of this in recent memory. In "Microsoft's Lost Decade" (subscription only. Preview available here) Graydon Carter analyzes Microsoft’s fall from grace over the last decade. And while the causes are myriad, there is an implicit commonality among them: Steve Ballmer.
Okay. It’s never been my intention to make this blog about nerdy minutiae such as iPhone apps and the like. But the coincidence here is just too much to let slide. Since writing my last post about how much I love Instacast—and how it’s so well designed for those of use who listen to podcasts regularly—it’s almost spooky that Apple seems to have hopped onboard with building apps and features that are specifically targeted towards podcast listeners.
If you’ve read this you can probably assume that it’s not because of the neat new icons I see for podcast episodes that I’ve yet to download. No, it’s the fact that this screen, and it’s icons appear—and are live and ready for action—pretty much instantly the moment I select “Get More Episodes...” in the “Music” app on my iPhone.
A few years ago, I was working at my first startup company. The company was going to outfit each of us with a laptop, and we were allowed to choose what we wanted. There were only three of us at the time, and all three of us chose Macs. One of my colleagues, our Director of Design, was currently using a Macbook Pro as her personal machine and elected to continue with a Mac at work (of course). I had been a Mac user years previous, but had switched to Windows for the same reason a lot of professionals I knew did: there was software for Windows PCs that was necessary for my job that just wasn't available for Mac. With the advent of Intel-based Macs and virtual machines, this was no longer an issue, so I was, frankly, pleased to switch back and did. But my other colleague was our Director of Development, and a Windows user who had never used a Mac before. He was unsure if it would be practical or wise for him to switch, but after some consultation and a bit of gentle cajoling, he opted for Mac as well. Shortly after making the switch, we were curious to find out his reaction to this new OS in comparison to his years of using Windows. I still remember his response: “It makes me feel more human.”
Here's a question: exactly what are you worried about with regard to online privacy as it relates to Facebook? Specifically, what are you worried will happen to you? This is not a rhetorical question. I really want to know.
Far be it from me to pass up an opportunity to pile on with anyone criticizing Jakob Nielsen. Just found this little gem in Joel Spolsky’s 2006 “What Makes It Great? (First Draft)”
You get the feeling that if Mr. Nielsen designed a singles bar, it would be well lit, clean, with giant menus printed in Arial 14 point, and you’d never have to wait to get a drink. But nobody would go there; they would all be at Coyote Ugly Saloon pouring beer on each other.
Exactly.
I hate watching any of the software that Apple makes creep towards bloatware. Fortunately, it doesn’t happen that often, but it seems to be happening right now with the iTunes music store for iOS.
I admit it. I‘ve always thought that Jakob Nielsen is a fusty old curmudgeon who long ago lost touch with what the web—and indeed, the whole internet—has become and how people ahem... useit.
That’s why I really enjoyed reading this.