Recommended Reading

As a Systems Administrator in an art department, one of the key facets of my job, I realize more and more, is creating the best possible experience for our users. This is a goal I share with many people and companies, among them Apple Inc. So I find myself thinking about things like interface design, and how to continue refining and simplifying our systems and our facility, and I look to the industry for insight into that process. Apple's products have always been an inspiration to me in this regard. There is also the occasional pundit-supplied brilliant insight into this concept. This week there were two, and I wanted to point to them specifically.

The first article is from John Gruber/Daring Fireball and talks about why the iPhone lacks copy/paste functionality. It's great writing: clear, concise, the kind of analysis I wish I could write. It's spot-on too, and it highlights a great example of Apple leaving out functions at least partly for simplicity's sake. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in interface analysis:
Clipboard and Text Selection : iPhone :: Arrow Keys : Original Macintosh

The second article is by John Siracusa, over at Ars Technica, and is perhaps more related to the things I deal with on this blog. It's about why Apple largely ignores the enterprise market:
Stuck on the Enterpsise

Anyone interested in creating great end-user experience in software development, hardware development, systems administration, web design, lab administration, or, hell, anywhere else for that matter, should look at what Apple does. And anyone who wants to read really well written, thoughtful analysis of that endeavor should check out these writers. They're both really good.

Buy the Fucking CD!

Universal recently announced that they — like a handful of other major record companies — would begin offering DRM-free music for download at a number of online stores. But not on iTunes. It's a strange and controversial decision, and probably represents Universal's best efforts to gain some control over the online music market, which, from everything I've ever read, is currently dominated by iTunes. The tech world is, of course, up in arms over Universal's decision. But I find all this hullabaloo strange.

Ken Fisher, at Ars Technica, writes:

I know I've run across a few Universal albums I would have bought but then reconsidered, thinking, "This will be DRM-free soon." Foolish? Maybe, but DRM-free products are clearly superior, and it looks like music fans in general believe that to be the case.

Yes, Ken. Without a doubt that was indeed unbelievably foolish. You see, Ken, and anyone else out there who cares about this sort of thing and happens to be listening, which, come to think of it, is probably about six people at this point, there's a perfectly reasonable alternative to DRMed downloads that's been available for over 25 years: Buy the fucking CD! Yes, you can still buy CDs. You can even buy them online. And guess what? They're completely, 100% DRM-free. Not only that, they're better quality, they often include song lyrics and nifty graphics, and you don't ever have to worry about making a backup.

I find it strange that people are fighting so hard for DRM-free music online when the option to buy a CD has existed for years. Do DRM-free online music purchases offer certain conveniences? Sure. Immediate gratification, for one. But that's about it. In fact, the major advantage of DRM-free music will probably go to the music companies, they're just too stupid to realize it: increases in online sales over physical sales, which, since online music requires zero manufacturing costs, will be a huge gain for them.

So what are you fighting for? Essentially, you're fighting for the record companies to make more money so that your digital musical lifestyle can be slightly more convenient and instantly gratifying. Stop it. Please. It's stupid and I'm tired of reading about it. The solution is really quite simple. If you've forgotten, I'll say it one more time: Buy the fucking CD!

Ah, yes. I do feel better.

Sprint for the Holidays

Internet communications involve a vast multitude of tiny but complex transactions all working together in a concerted effort to transmit and receive various kinds of data. We all know this. But at no time has this fact been more evident to me than during my visit to my mother's backwoods home in Maryland, where the AT&T cellular service on my iPhone has ranged from intermittent to nonexistent. From time to time, however, I can get a connection just long enough to fire off an SMS, but using any other service that requires the Edge network is like watching the internet in slow motion. Surfing is a non-option. And sending email takes significantly longer in this slowed-down world of spotty service. But I found it surprising initially that SMS is able to get through where mail cannot. My first impression would be to assume that both would go about at about the same speed — both consist primarily of text data and are fairly lightweight. But email is clearly the more complex transaction, requiring the contacting of and authentication to mail servers and often the exchange of said data over secure channels. I'm not sure how SMS works, but it's something much, much simpler and more direct. And when everything is going in super slow motion these differences become painfully apparent.

This trip was to be the ultimate test of my iPhone's capabilities: could I survive a weekend at my mothers without a laptop, using only the iPhone instead? Would it hold up on the train as an entertainment device for the two-and-a-half hour trip? Would it function adequately as an internet appliance for light surfing and emailing? Would it work as a telephone?

Surprisingly, it worked well enough in every capacity but this last one: I could not use my iPhone as a cell phone at my mother's. I eventually discovered that, when laid flat on its back, the iPhone was able to generally maintain a connection to the AT&T network, so SMS, email and surfing were possible though the latter two were often painfully slow. Still, they were good enough to get me through the weekend. Where the iPhone fell down was as a cell phone. As soon as I'd lift it to my ear (sometimes sooner) it would drop any call I might be attempting.

This is a major disappointment. I was expecting the other functions of the phone to be limited, but I was pretty sure I'd be able to use it as a phone most places in the U.S. It worked plenty well in the Adirondacks. But at my mother's house (the phone seems to get healthy reception a few blocks away) I simply can't use my cell phone anymore. This was never a problem with Sprint. Indeed my folks have used Sprint without issue for years here.

Moving to AT&T was a calculated risk. One that, at least in this case, did not pay off. At this point I can only hope that either the iPhone's reception somehow gets significantly more stable in the vertical position in remote areas, or that AT&T's service eventually broadens to encompass the greater Annapolis area. Until then I'll be stuck on Sprint for the holidays.

So, in conclusion: the iPhone does actually replace my laptop as a portable internet and media device for short trips; unfortunately, it doesn't replace my cell phone. And that just blows.

This post written on my iPhone

Gmail vs. Blogger

Apologies if you've recently posted a comment on this blog, and had not heard back from me (I try to respond to all comments whenever I can). Seems that my Gmail account for receiving comment alerts began flagging them as spam. Seems the address for comment alerts was also not among my contacts. Seems odd to me, though, that two Google-made products would suddenly butt heads like that. Seems like they should know better.

Anyway, I'm back on track with comments again, and I've just posted a bunch of responses. So if you were looking for one, check for it. It should be there.