"Ignorance"

Reporting from his Internet blackout, Paul Miller writes:

What I do know is that I’m a lot more “smart” in an internet culture than in this written culture I’ve exiled myself to. In an internet culture, it matters more that I know where the facts can be found, and how to piece them together, curate, and redistribute, than how long I can keep my head submerged in 300 pages of non-fiction. When reading news on the internet, I’m defined by my filters, but when reading a newspaper, I’m defined by my patience for skimming through stories about crises in the Middle East.

I’ve found myself buying books on sprees that have more similarity to opening multiple tabs in a browser than the actions of a rational shopper. I page through my magazines like an RSS reader, where “marking read” means reading the headline, not necessarily reading the article. I’ve long since run out of shelf space for new titles, I’m a few pages into a few dozen books, ranging from Plato’s Meno to John Jeremiah Sullivan’s Pulphead, and I’ve thrown away numerous issues of The New Yorker that I’ve never even observed the table of contents of. I seem to be collecting more rubber bands than facts from my New York Times subscription. I’m drowning.

When reflecting upon Paul’s endeavor, I hadn’t quite appreciated the self-inflicted blindness that such a decision might entail. Bereft of connections to Wikipedia, Google, and whatever other means we have assembled for attaining knowledge, Paul has lost the means for quickly and easily getting ahold of information — both serious and incidental.

I remember, years ago, for matters of immaterial trivia, my friends and I would often send a text message to a service based in England. You could ask a question, and in return you’d receive an answer within the character limit. Although such a service has been quickly antiquated by ubiquitous connections, I remember the distinct sense of power that such a service extended to its users. Suddenly, regardless of your level of comprehension of a topic, anyone could “knowledgeably” chime in on a discussion.

In many respects, this false sense of knowledgeability has been perpetuated by the Internet, and our always-on culture. Much as people often criticize calculators in the classroom for removing the difficulties of working through problems, smartphones coupled with Wikipedia have enhanced our respective senses of intelligence. In my memory, I can’t think of anyone that has challenged or questioned the ramifications of such a state of affairs, but I imagine it’s likely to become one of the most important issues in modern education.

Despite the initial swelling of aggression toward Paul’s life-sans-Internet experiment, I continue to be fascinated by his findings. The Internet does, indeed, enhance our lives — and it will continue to do so — but it’s endlessly important to consider what such enhancement entails.

"Computers = Trucks"

John Lilly:

I picked up a phrase some time ago that I think applies: “The next big thing is always beneath contempt.” Implication being that it is, of course, until it isn’t. Until it’s too big to ignore. This has happened over and over again in our society. In the middle ages, people assumed that no serious discussion could happen in anything but Latin — the so-called “vulgar” languages had no merit. And writers assumed that nothing interesting or lasting would come from this new medium of television. And, I think, people assume right now that nothing important will be created from a 10” touch screen without a keyboard (let alone a tiny 3.5” screen).

But I think that we already know that that’s a mistaken view of history, and of the future. That humans always find a way to create, and to make. Phones and tablets are right in the midst of becoming devices of incredible creation, and they’re going to let us create things on the go, in real time, that we never imagined.

One of the most baffling aspects of human nature is the tendency to question the perpetual tide of innovative change.

Basing perspectives within some sort of conservative and fearful construct, individuals frequently and fearfully disregard impending change. Rather than dialectically seeking to improve experiences, people all-too-frequently align themselves with the familiar, and actively look to prevent losing this environment.

In a technological sense, with each major operating system version, hardware iteration, and software update, the Internet is veritably flooded with people quickly scrambling to duplicate outdated functionality, to rollback to their prior environment, or expressing vehement outrage over the compulsory UI changes instituted by their favorite web application.

Without due cause, people are all-too-keen to shortsightedly judge the significance of the ebb and flow of innovation. Sadly, without taking part in this constructive conversation, true improvement cannot be attained. Excluding oneself from the changing environment is ultimately akin to abstaining from voting, or from contributing your voice in an important discussion.

Innovation and change occur irrespective of pre-existing circumstance and context. Judging a device, service, or piece of technology based solely upon such pre-existing circumstances renders opinions and attitudes utterly out-of-step with the remainder of the world.

Whilst Mr. Lilly’s argument is aimed at the misguided notion that touch-centric mobile computing is inherently subordinate to traditional desktops with hardware keyboards, his perspective holds true for virtually any aspect of the changing world, and I sincerely applaud him for writing about it in such a fashion.

"Angry Birds Meets Codecademy"

John Pavlus writes for Co.Design:

The key to learning to code is learning to think like a computer—which is a hard thing to do. “It requires structured thinking, ability to abstract details away, and there’s little margin for error—one little typo and your program might do something entirely different from what you wanted,” says game developer Rui Viana. “The real world just doesn’t work like that, so it’s hard to get your head around it.” Which is precisely why Viana created Cargo-Bot, a simple iPad app that turns “thinking like a computer” into a genuinely addictive puzzle game. It’s like

Angry Birds crossed with Codecademy, and it’s total genius.

Although I haven’t had a chance to dabble with the app yet, I’d be lying if I said the last sentence hasn’t piqued my interest.

Cargo-Bot is available here.

Banksy's 'Ballerina'

Bobby Solomon for The Fox Is Black:

Dare I say this piece is elegant, or even beautiful? Could I be bold enough to say that if Degas had used spray paint rather than oils it may have looked like something like this? I could, but that might rile too many people up. Instead I’ll simply say how nice this looks, and that it’s interesting to see Banksy making commentary on fine art culture in such a lovely way.

Despite the inevitable criticisms of his mainstream presence, pieces such as the ‘Ballerina’ remind me of precisely how Banksy has risen to such prominence.

"The New Codas"

Upon downloading Coda 2 and Diet Coda on Wednesday evening, I was immediately struck by the desire to write about them both. Having spent the last few weeks living in Coda — more on that soon — I was desperately impressed by Panic’s latest iteration of the Mac app, and immediately found Diet Coda to be a true treasure to behold.

And yet, for all of my desire, my qualifications are rather significantly lacking for a full review of either piece of software. Although I could discuss the user experience and novel paradigms implemented by Panic for days, any deep insight regarding the code editing portion of the equation would be lost.

Thankfully, however, Mr. Shawn Blanc has produced a thoughtful treatise concerning the two apps. Whether you’re a casual or professional web developer, I’d highly recommend reading through his post in its thorough and systematic entirety.

Rather than plucking chunks of text from their contextual place within his piece, I’ll simply cite Shawn’s concluding remarks:

To say I’m impressed and pleased with Coda 2 and Diet Coda would be an understatement.

My initial impression of Diet Coda is that it is the Tweetie 2 of iPad text-editing apps. As many people have proclaimed, Tweetie 2 was not just one of the best Twitter apps for iPhone, it was also one of the best apps for the iPhone, period. Although Diet Coda is still brand-new, it strikes me being a best-in-class code-editing app as well as a great iPad app, period.

Although I hadn’t drawn the parallel between Diet Coda and Tweetie, I find myself in unquestionable agreement. The app is a true credit to the iOS ecosystem, rendering even the most dull of development tasks a pleasure to contend with when away from my Mac.

Over the coming weeks, I imagine I’ll have much more to say — particularly when some of my new projects are ready for the scrutiny of the public eye — but Shawn’s post is certainly worthy of widespread attention and praise. I couldn’t agree more with his perspective.

Coda 2 is available from the Mac App Store for the temporary price of $49.99. Diet Coda is available from the iOS App Store for a similarly temporary price of $9.99.

Jim Dalrymple On The 7 Inch iPad

Jim Dalrymple writes for The Loop:

A 7-inch iPad is only a sign that Apple is filling out its product strategy, not that it’s strategy has changed. The company does have a history of doing this very thing with its products.

Let’s take the original iPod. Looking at it now, it was big. However, at the time, with the technology available to them, Apple released what they felt was the best product they could make.

Then Apple came out with the iPod mini, which later became the iPod nano, capturing another segment of the market. That release was followed up by the iPod shuffle, again capturing another segment of the market.

It was changes in technologies that allowed these products to be released, but I believe Apple had planned the releases all along.

When you look at a 7-inch iPad, or any other Apple product, don’t look at how it affects its competitors, but rather how it fits into Apple’s product strategy. Doing that will make things a lot clearer.

Far from a concrete confirmation, but certainly lends plenty of credence to the prospect of a product-line expansion. And, as we all know, if there’s one man to trust when it comes to rumors, it’s Mr. Dalrymple.

The most important aspect to take away from this matter, however, is Jim’s emphasis upon the prospective reasoning behind such a maneuver. Apple is not a company in the business of being responsive to the various endeavors of its competitors, and any movement toward a different sized iPad — or iPhone, for that matter — should not be misconstrued as evidence to the contrary.

Whether or not a smaller iPad arrives at market, it’s important to remain cognizant of the nature of the decision-making that constitutes Apple’s resultant product-line.

The Facebook Camera Login Screen

Much like Mr. Siegler, I too was taken aback by the initial launch screen of the Facebook Camera app. Although not established at the system level à la Twitter, Facebook has evidently worked through some intelligent loopholes in order to achieve this astoundingly useful login screen.

Regarding this novelty, M.G. writes:

But how on Earth did the app know my name? I assumed, of course, it was related to the fact that I also had the main Facebook iOS app installed on my iPhone — but still, how did those two apps talk to one another as neither is system-level?

Here’s how. (And here’s Apple’s documentation on it.)

It’s a smart way to do it (though it may get a bit of backlash). And it will allow Facebook to continue to build separate apps for key features — perhaps an Events app next? — that are quick and easy to install and use. Now just imagine if this was baked into iOS itself so other apps could use it (just like the Twitter iOS integration, but actually even a little more seamless). It would save a lot of typing and/or a number of clicks for app switching (Single Sign On). In my mind, this “hack” shows why Facebook eventually needs to do their own mobile OS. Deep integration and seamless use are paramount in mobile.

The last sentence is an astute observation.

Upon opening Facebook Camera, the immediate greeting of your own name, and, indeed, the effortless login, is an utterly welcome and important characteristic to boast. Perhaps asking for login details is an expected inconvenience, but the psychological ramifications of foregoing such a step are positively extensive.

Regardless of your feelings towards Facebook, I highly recommend dabbling with Facebook Camera for a short while. Unlike the vast majority of Facebook’s mobile endeavors, the Facebook Camera app demonstrates a distinct feeling of polish that irrevocably alters and disguises the perception of Facebook as the bloated entity that it has become.

Subtleties such as this, whether cognitively noted or not, are of the utmost importance in design, and it’s certainly encouraging to see Facebook adhering to such a philosophy.

Amazon Launches "Never Before On DVD" Store

Russ Fischer reports for SlashFilm:

A few different studios have experimented with ways to make ‘deep cut’ catalog films available to consumers on a limited basis. The model for such a plan has to be Warner Archive, which creates made-to-order DVDs from an ever-expanding catalog of newly mastered transfers.

Amazon has sold Warner Archive discs in the past, and has also been part of MGM’s initiative to offer similar products. Now Amazon is really diving into the manufacture on demand (MOD) DVD market, with the new ‘Never Before on DVD’ store.

The digital store is adding content to offer more than 2,000 titles from studios including Disney, Sony, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Universal, and Fox. Among the Fox offerings are titles from MGM. All discs are created on DV-R based on consumer orders. Not all the titles are new to Amazon, or new to MOD, but Amazon is adding more titles, and organizing them in a new specific way.

The quality of selection is utterly lacking at the time of writing, but it is, nevertheless, an exciting prospect, indeed. If Amazon is able to retrieve some classic films and television shows from these archives, I would imagine it would be able to attain a rather dedicated consumer-base.

Having said that, admittedly, I have little knowledge of such “deep-cut” catalogs, and therefore do not know what to expect from such a selection. Right now, given the evident quantity of prior Survivor seasons, perhaps I should meter my expectations accordingly.

The new store is available here.

The Facebook Camera and Instagram Non-Controversy

Following yesterday’s release of Facebook Camera, many have been quick to question the application’s significance in light of Facebook’s recent Instagram acquisition. Considering Facebook Camera provides attractive filters, sociability, and various other Instagram-esque perks, the similarities are readily apparent to even the most uninterested of onlookers. In reality, however, I tend to think there isn’t quite as much controversy as many have projected upon the situation.

As I discussed with Myke and Terry on The Bro Show a number of weeks ago, Facebook has been famously working on a mobile photography-centric app for over a year. When the acquisition was announced, many were quick to assume that development of the app had been abandoned. Clearly, however, such assumptions were unfounded.

In fact, contrary to the general confusion apparent within the technology community, I would argue that the youthful existence of the app is, in many respects, a resounding endorsement of a resurgent and responsive Facebook. As I wrote several months ago, Facebook’s goal must be the creation of a social networking playpen in which users are herded into the Facebook ecosystem for entertainment. Due to its ever-slowing rate of expansion, the facilitation of an entertaining and absorbing environment is of paramount importance to the long-term relevance — and, indeed, economic stability — of Facebook. Without this, Facebook will continue to hemorrhage its user-base to competing, small social networks (i.e., Instagram).

Instagram is a platform agnostic service, whereas Facebook Camera is — as is betrayed by its name — solely dedicated to Facebook sharing. Without ruining the integrity of the Instagram community, Facebook has launched its own, rather impressive, photography app that seeks to leverage its enormous community dynamic. In providing an attractive, competent experience for the average mobile photographer, Facebook has constructed a win-win situation for itself, insofar as users are likely to post to one of two photography communities — both of which are owned by Facebook.

Although this is mere conjecture, once the Instagram acquisition is finalized, I would imagine that Facebook will steadily reduce the quantity of time and work leant to the Instagram platform. In this environment, with an actively developed and growing photography app of its own, Facebook will ostensibly provide the end-user with a decision between an increasingly stagnant app, and an utterly attractive, responsive, and active alternative. Concordantly, many users may find themselves in a subtle shift from the agnostic, Twitter-friendly environment of Instagram, to the dictatorial environment governed by Facebook.

Following years of rapid expansion, it’s important to note Facebook’s recent re-investment in introspective improvements. Whether it’s the long-awaited release of the iPad app, the announcement of the App Center, or the general improvements in user experience, Facebook has clearly identified the significance in its existing infrastructure. Mobile is, without a doubt, the future for mobile social networking and, although somewhat late to the party, Facebook has demonstrated clear recognition of such a fact. Without rushing itself, Facebook is steadily extending itself into impressive, long-term endeavors in the mobile space. Facebook Camera is, on many different levels, the epitome of the disruptive Facebook of the mid-two thousands, and I certainly hope its indicative of the coming months and years for the company.

For the time being, however, Facebook is deserving of praise for the Facebook Camera app. Although many readers will have a deep-seated mistrust of Facebook, the app is unquestionably steeped in the broad tenets of mainstream appeal, smart design, and ease of use. For the vast majority of mobile social photography users, the Facebook Camera app accomplishes all that it needs to, and it does so in an utterly compelling package.

Perhaps Instagram and Facebook Camera superficially clash, but I tend to think such a conflict is not without long-term significance and reason — certainly not cause for controversy, dismissal, negativity, and confusion.

Core webOS Enyo Team Leaving HP for Google

Chris Ziegler reports for The Verge:

The HP team responsible for Enyo — webOS’s HTML5-based application framework that debuted on the TouchPad — will be leaving the company and starting at Google shortly, The Verge has learned. What this means for the future of Open webOS is unclear; Enyo and the developers supporting it are central to HP’s open source strategy for the operating system going forward, and it’s hard to say whether this move will have any effect on the planned late 2012 release for version 1.0.

Any lingering wisps of hope for the beleaguered mobile operating system must surely now have passed. Although the loss is certainly a shame, I simply hope HP will begin to acknowledge the futility of the sustenance of webOS, and move on.