Archive for March, 2009
Design Matters. Learn from Apple.
Apple has long been an innovator in the field of User Interface (UI) design. They were the first to market with the graphical desktop that we still use today (upgraded, but the concepts remain).
There is something pleasing about a well-designed UI that is hard to put in words or numbers. (Which is why so few companies do it well. Or at all.)
Use an Apple product for a few minutes and you realize everything feels “right”. It fits. It works as you’d expect.
It’s the little things. Just today, I noticed that the seconds-hand on the iPhone clock moves like a real clock would: instead of jumping from one second directly to the next (the easiest way to design a digital representation of an analog clock), the seconds-hand sweeps and then vibrates slightly, just as with a real life clock. The engineers at Apple actually took the trouble of programming in the physics of a second hand–the inertia that must be compensated for with the movements.
Does this attention to detail drive sales directly? No. Could you place an ROI on the extra time taken to develop the aforementioned clock? No. But taken together, this focus on great UI makes for very happy, loyal customers.
I wish more businesses would realize what Apple already knows: design matters.
Filed under technology : Comments (2) : Mar 11th, 2009
The GOP in the Wilderness, Part II
After publishing a post examining the state of the GOP, I found a few more choice quotes from Phil over at Accidental Incidents.
As was my presumption, the GOP is self-admittedly not interested in new ideas or new legislation. They have proudly become the party of obstruction and sound bites:
“We will lose on legislation. But we will win the message war every day, and every week, until November 2010,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., an outspoken conservative who has participated on the GOP message teams. “Our goal is to bring down approval numbers for [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and for House Democrats. That will take repetition. This is a marathon, not a sprint.”
This “message-only” guidance is coming down from the top. House Leader John Boehner was recently quoted saying:
“I have been trying to get my Republican colleagues to understand that we are not in the legislative business any more.”
So there you have it. I applaud the Party of Lincoln for their political courage.
Ideas? We don’t need no stinking ideas!
Filed under politics : Comments (0) : Mar 10th, 2009
iPhone Worldclock : FAIL
See if you can identify what’s wrong with this picture:
I took this screenshot on Sunday, March 8, which just so happens to be the first day of daylight saving time here in the U.S. India doesn’t recognize such chronological silliness, so their clock should not be affected.
Oddly, it’s the image of the analog clock that’s accurate, while the digital readout is wrong. How strange.
Filed under technology : Comments (2) : Mar 9th, 2009
Understanding our financial predicament
The team over at This American Life delivered another exceptional episode explaining our global banking shitstorm [ed: excuse the technical terminology].
This American Life : Bad Bank : Episode 375
There is great value in explaining an extremely complex subject in simple terms, and these guys deliver. Required education (in my humble opinion) to anyone who pays taxes or votes or will do those things some day.
Another gem from the archive is the Giant Pool of Money episode that neatly explains how we got into this mess.
Listen to both of these with an open mind and see how it impacts your understanding and opinion on the subject. I realized I had some fundamental gaps in my understanding that I was trying to cover over with flawed assumptions. I wonder how many members of Congress are in the same boat.
Filed under economics, politics, sites i like : Comments (0) : Mar 8th, 2009
xkcd does it again
The venn diagram between my sense of humor and the humor employed over at xkcd is one circle.
If you like this, bookmark/subscribe immediately. It’s good stuff.
Filed under sites i like : Comments (0) : Mar 7th, 2009
