06.18.09
Posted in technology at 10:02 pm by Steve
The world wide web has leveled the playing field in so many ways for individuals & companies. You no longer need a 6 figure budget to market worldwide. You no longer need to spend thousands to connect a group of like-minded people. You no longer need to be a designer or programmer to develop a digital experience for hundreds, thousands or even millions of potential users. Oops! Maybe that last one isn’t a good thing.
That’s right, the “everyman’s web” mentality also means that there is no skill set entry requirement for the designer or developer of the everyman’s web. Anyone who has spent any significant time browsing the web will have seen countless bad design ideas with confusing & disorienting user interfaces. And this holds true for some business & municipal sites that should know better (and have the budget to do better). So, you may ask, what should be done to remedy this problem?
The answer to this dilemma is standardization. That’s right. We need to standardize the user interface of the web so that a web interface is immediately recognizable and understandable. Much like we are accustomed to the interface of programs on our computers, we should be accustomed to a standard look & feel for a web interface.
Now, I’m not saying every website should look the same. What I am saying is that any user should be able to visit any website and all the interface elements (everything the user will interact with) should be obvious and familiar. Think about the menubar on your computer. For a Mac user the menu bar sits atop the screen and never moves, providing all the necessary functionality for whatever program you may be in. The same holds true for the Windows menubar, though it lives atop each window (a slightly poorer use of Fitts’s law, but it seems to be serviceable enough).
The problem is, not enough graphic/web designers realize they are not interface designers. Most don’t even realize that there have been volumes written about human interaction with objects in 2D and 3D space, going back to 1954 and a certain Paul Fitts.
It’s a monumental task. Who’s going to take on the challenge? Yahoo!, that’s who. I have to applaud Yahoo! for stepping up to the plate and beginning a process that is long overdue: standardizing the user interface of web sites, particularly in regards to interactive items. They saw the problem and are providing a solution. And while I am not saying they have perfected their user interface library, they are at least starting down the path to a clean & consistent web experience. The Yahoo User Interface project is a giant step in the right direction and I hope more developers and designers jump on the bandwagon of clean & consistent user interface.
So, the next time you sit down to design a website interface, do everyone a favor and take a few hints from the helpful folks at Yahoo! by implementing their user interface library where it makes sense to. I even downloaded all the YUI stencils from Graffletopia for OmniGraffle so I could be sure to have all the interface elements available to my when I wireframe and design a user interface.
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01.21.09
Posted in technology at 10:20 pm by Steve
With all the recent speculation on Steve Jobs, his health, Apple, it’s validity without Jobs and all that is the cult of Macintosh I was pondering the possibility that we may already be experiencing an Apple without Jobs at the helm.
What? Jobs already gone! Well, it’s no secret that he has stepped down for the next 6 months as CEO to focus on his health problems, but I say that he “unofficially” stepped down even months ago. And my proof (or suspicion) is the last round of Apple product releases. Particularly the new Aluminum MacBooks and MacBook Pros.
Here is my reasoning. The biggest disappointment in product releases came from the most recent MacBook. Sure, the one piece aluminum case is really sleek and the upgraded video is a welcome (albeit strategically necessary) upgrade. So, why was it that it was as if a million voices cried out and were suddenly silenced? Simple. No FireWire. A ridiculous choice that had everything to do with forcing users to buy the more expensive MacBook Pros to continue to use their FireWire peripherals.
This was no decision by the man who singlehandedly brought non-linear digital video editing to the average home. Those video cameras all rely on FireWire to transfer the video to iMovie (which oddly still ships with these systems). And to remove FireWire from Apple’s best selling portable product is insane…unless you are pushing the more expensive “Pro” line. This has every mark of a “suit” looking at up-sell tactics and completely not understanding the Apple user’s mindset. This was not a decision by Steve Jobs. This was a decision made possible by Steve’s sabbatical.
Follow that up with the New MacBook Pros. Once again, nice upgrades overall. But what about a 17″, top of the line, laptop that does not have a removable/replaceable battery? Did they even get statistics of how the average laptop user deals with extensive battery only work sessions. We swap out our battery for a fully charged fresh one when it gets low. A technique no longer possible with their flagship portable product. Someone from the iPod division got their chance to manage the portable division and royally screwed.
Sure, an internal battery is okay for an iPod, but it makes a laptop rather pointless. Even if the battery is expected to last 8 hours, which is a claim I will have to experience to believe. What happens when we find out Sony (or whomever is producing them) delivered another batch of spontaneously combusting batteries? Oh, you need to be without your laptop for a week (or longer) while Apple opens it up to swap out the bad battery for a (hopefully) good one. This could also be the case if the battery begins to stop holding a charge after being used frequently. I mean, this is cutting edge battery technology…and there are bound to be issues.
Yes. I think it’s clear that we are seeing the first fruits of an Apple without Jobs obsessing over every minute detail of every project. I won’t say Apple is doomed, but I do believe the new management team will have to take their lumps before they truly “get it”. I also believe that Jobs will not be returning to Apple and his “temporary leave” will become permanent. Calling it a temporary leave was necessary amid the doom & gloom predictions of an Apple without Jobs. In 6 months when the new management team has had time make their mistakes and move on to make better decisions we will get the news that Steve Jobs has stepped down.
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11.20.08
Posted in technology at 11:17 pm by Steve
Technology surrounds us. It has infiltrated almost every aspect of our lives. I sometimes wonder if being so reliant on technology is good for us. The farther we remove ourselves from the world that sustains us…that is to say, the more removed we are from mother earth the less in touch with our humanity we become. I’m convinced that that is not healthy. In fact, it’s a frightening thought to consider that the technology we develop is progressing faster than we can fully comprehend it’s effect on us and the world we live in.
I’m no luddite. Far from it. In addition to being a musician I spend my days as a technology consultant/interactive strategist & developer. I use technology everyday. I am fascinated by technology. But, more and more I find that true clarity only comes to me when I step away from the cacophony of technology and listen to the sounds of life.
And to that, I am proud to say that I sometimes like to sit in a candlelit room, play acoustic guitar and laugh maniacally at the gods of electricity.
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11.03.08
Posted in technology at 2:47 pm by Steve
I just spent the better part of my morning cleaning up a family member’s Dell laptop and had one thought to sum up the experience “why to people subject themselves to Windows.”
I am, admittedly, a Mac user, but I did my fair share of Windows, UNIX & UNIX-like OSes back in the day (programming in Pascal on VAX/VMS, for instance). I simply refuse to wrestle with a tool to get it to perform a task it was built to perform – my Mac seems to understand that why can’t Microsoft figure it out?
I feel sorry for people who have to put up with the Microsoft garbage on a daily basis. It’s cumbersome and counter intuitive…that being said – I guess it’s better them than me.
It simply goes to reinforce an old joke I like to use when I sit at someone’s computer to “fix it” for them: “oh, I see what the problem is…you installed Windows on this thing”.
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03.21.08
Posted in technology at 2:52 pm by Steve
For those that might not know, there are a group of tests for a web browser called The Acid Tests, which tests the browser’s ability to render a web display properly (as referenced by the World Wide Web Consortium). These tests are meant to provide benchmarks for browser developers to use to improve their products.
Well, it’s not surprise that in most circles Firefox is considered to be the king of web standards & compliance. It is also widely agreed that Internet Explorer is, in contrast, the nemesis of web standards & compliance. Other browsers are assumed to fall somewhere between the 2.
Recently Apple released Safari 3.1 for Mac & Windows claiming to be faster, more stable and more compliant that other browsers. So, naturally I wanted to put that to the test…the Acid Test.
I decided to pit Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer (IE) & Opera against each other in the 3 available acid tests to see who really was king of web standards & compliance. I was surprised by my findings.
The Acid Tests
There are 3 Acid Tests, each designed to test a different reference point within the development of web standards. At this point every browser should pass Acid Test 1 & Acid Test 2 without issue. Acid Test 3 is, however, a test of proposed standards and while a browser passing is a good sign, it is not yet something to worry too much about if a browser doesn’t get a 100 out of 100 in the test’s grading.
Acid Test 1
All the browsers passed the first Acid Test.
Acid Test 2
This one was surprising. We had a 50/50 split with 2 browsers passing and the other 2 failing the test. Yes Internet Explorer failed, but so did Firefox. Both Safari & Opera passed.
Acid Test 3
Acid Test 3 isn’t a simple pass/fail test, but rates a browser on a scale of 0 to 100. A 100 being a perfect score of rendering all the items on the page. Surprise, surprise Internet Explorer scored a 5 out of 100 (at least that’s the best I could tell while trying to read the results, as they were mangled beyond almost all recognition). The next worse was Opera, scoring a 46 out of 100. Firefox came in 2nd with a 53 out of 100, leaving Safari as the clear winner with a 75 out of 100.
Who Knew?
I’ve been a rabid Firefox user for years and believed the it to be the best, most compliant browser available. With Apple’s release of Safari 3.1 I need to rethink that assumption and my browser choice.
With the exception of Internet Explorer all the browser are available for Mac & PC users. I tested the latest versions, which were: Internet Explorer 7.0.5730.11, Firefox 2.0.0.12, Opera 9.26 & Safari 3.1 (5525.13) on both Mac OS 10.5.2 & Windows XP Pro SP2 with all the latest updates (as of this past Tuesday).
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01.31.08
Posted in technology at 2:09 pm by Steve
AKA Mac OS 10.5
I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my production system to Apple’s latest OS. Other than a it being a long process (full backup of the current hard drive and then the upgrade of the OS plus running all subsequent updates to be current at 10.5.1), it was a smooth upgrade. Here are my first impressions:
The Good: Apple has done an exceptional job “under the hood”. With my main 3 or 4 applications running I am seeing my CPU at about 96% idle. That coupled with general improvements throughout has made all the time I put into the update worth it.
Some Specifics
Mail.app, Apple’s included mail client, has updated to be even more integrated with their Address Book (aptly named “Address Book”) and Calendar (called iCal) so that it recognizes data within the email you receive (sch as addresses, email addresses and dates) and allows you to capture that information appropriately. I can grab an address than someone sends me and add it to their address book card, or create a new address book card if they don’t already exist in my list. I can also add dates to my calendar from information in email. I’m using this feature daily. It certainly helps a busy consultant keep on top of th barrage of information that comes my way everyday.
WebDAV finally works as it has been touted. I can open a WebDAV volume from my desktop and manipulate files & folders as if they were right there. This is huge for all the website development I do.
The Finder has undergone a complete overhaul. It has taken on a more iTunes styled look, but I think Quick Look is certainly a key feature. I can page through just about any document on my system without ever launching an application. What a time saver when I just need to look up data from a Word document or Excel sheet. No more waiting for Office load.
The Bad: My biggest complaint is that my default printer, which is attached to my Airport wireless router via ethernet, was not picked up via Bonjour like it was in 10.4.x. I won’t blame the fact that the driver installer dropped a bunch of files with bad permissions on my system, that is simply Hewlett-Packard’s deal, but Apple has taken a giant step backwards in their printing engine. I think it’s related to Bonjour (their zero-config process), since I also notice that the printer’s configuration web interface is sometimes recognized and other times not in the “Bonjour” item in Safari (Apple’s web browser).
The Ugly: Okay, whose bright idea was it to have a translucent menubar with no option for making it fully (or at least more) opaque?? It’s very distracting and a bit hard on my eyes. I finally had to resort to a solid colored desktop background to make the menubar usable. I’ve heard many complain about the new 3-d Dock, but since I keep my Dock on the left side of the screen rather than the bottom it auto-reverts to a 2-d Dock, though more high-tech looking than previous iterations.
So, after 3 days of daily use, I will say that I am mostly pleased with the update. There is still some digging and exploring to do, but I find the under-the-hood enhancements to be well worth the price (in both money & time) for the update. I still need to play with Time Machine (a built-in backup utility) and Spaces (a UNIX style desktop manager).
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