I installed Lion the day it came out, and I hated it. I tried not to rant about it too much and decided to give it a try for a while before judging. Maybe Apple is smarter than me.
For the most part, I like the idea of the new features, such as Mission Control and Full Screen Apps. Actually, I really like them. What I don’t like is that some built in functionality was removed (gesture to switch applications) and there are so many bugs, that using Mission Control in any logical manner just doesn’t work.
The #1 thing I want out of Lion: A developer that uses Lion with Mission Control and multiple desktops.
Some specifics on my problems …
Open Mission Control, which shows my Dock (I started hiding it in Lion). Click on an app in my Dock that is open and it doesn’t matter if I’m on the same desktop or not (happens in both cases). What happens? A different app gains focus. Not the one I just clicked. Seems like a major bug to me.
Use an app in full screen mode. Move mouse to bottom of the screen to bring up hidden Dock. Dock opens … sometimes. Sometimes right away, sometimes after waiting a bit, sometimes right after moving away, a lot of times not at all. I’d like the option to bring up the Dock in this way, but even if that wasn’t an option when in a full screen app, then follow that. This randomness is a huge pain.
Some other things I want …
Four finger swipe (left and right) for switching applications – They just pulled this one out of the options and now I have nothing assigned to this gesture. The application switcher was what I used the majority of the time when changing between apps. I tried BetterTouchTool at first but it was a little buggy. I also decided to give Lion a chance and maybe there was a better way to do things. I’ve adjusted to switching apps with Mission Control but I’m going to try BetterTouchTool again to hopefully get my app switching gesture back.
About the four-finger swipe … I went in to settings and found that swiping between desktops could be assigned to this gesture. I had this one disabled because I was using the gesture so much expecting the application switcher to show up that it was screwing me up. I still don’t have any desire for this functionality. I want to know where my swipe is taking me. This seems like I’d be going on an adventure to find the desktop I want. Mission Control will take me right where I want to go without a potential adventure.
Full screen Coda – Not an Apple issue, but with Parallels 7 supporting Lion (although $50 to get full support for a new OS is kind of ridiculous) it looks like Coda is the only app that I would use as full screen.
Dedicated desktops that disappear when not in use – Ok, I’ll make the last one an Apple problem. The reason I want Coda (and wanted Parallels) to be full screen apps are because they are two Apps that had their own desktop assigned to them. However, they aren’t open all the time, so there were empty desktops hanging around my Mission Control. iTunes was the 4th Space I had (that’s the two I mentioned along with my main desktop) in Snow Leopard, but that was full screen ready at launch for Lion.
Lion is just frustrating. Snow Leopard was solid, I loved it right away. Lion just seems lazy. I’m not surprised Apple shipped something with so many bugs, they have glaring bugs that they take forever to fix all the time on the iPhone. But usually, when it’s related to a major new feature, they polish it to make sure it’s adopted.
The next big launch for Lion will be iCloud. Which I sadly have to be excited for since iOS has things too locked down to make Dropbox useable for anything other than viewing on devices.
I’ll just be here, hanging my hopes on iOS 5 being wonderful.ikoni
All this talk about the cloud but there isn’t much that seems to work correctly at this point. It’s sad that I’m going to have to use iCloud so I can have something that will let me cleanly edit documents across my Apple products when Dropbox has served me well but is limited by what Apple lets it do.
It seems that music in the cloud is the popular topic recently, especially with Spotify finally launching in the US. I don’t see what the big deal is as it is not much different than a bunch of services that are already out there. I’ll have more on the topic soon as I spent a month with a Slacker trial and currently trying a rdio trial. No Spotify trial means rdio has a good shot at winning out. Again, more on that later.
All these music services have struggled to deal with the labels before than can do any innovating. Hmm, if there was only some sort of audio product where there wasn’t much worry about licenses. How about podcasts?
Sometimes I feel like I’m the only person who still listens to multiple podcasts across a couple of devices at the same time. I’m tied to iTunes to sort of keep things organized and sync’d. Evey that is tricky. iTunes podcast syncing was broken for months earlier this year and they didn’t seem to really care as it went a few updates without a fix. What I mean by broken: I’d listen to part of a podcast on my computer, then sync my iPhone and it would reset to the beginning of that podcast the next time I played it, instead of starting where I left off. For a while I had to be very careful of when I could sync and started listening to certain podcasts on certain devices. I looked for an alternative, but no luck.
The closest a product has come to being useful in a podcast management system was Odeo. It kept track of everything and would stream the podcast. I don’t think it remembered where you were in a podcast if you stopped listening in the middle and there was no downloading, so it wasn’t good for mobile. If you haven’t heard of Odeo, you might want to read up on your internet history as Twitter was dreamed up by the team while working at Odeo.
So what do I want and how does this so-called cloud work?
- Podcasts streamed or downloaded to devices
- Podcast management – subscriptions, new episodes, what has been listened to, etc. all kept track of
- Syncing – Which podcats need to be downloaded and where you left off listening to each episode.
That’s it. And the podcast hosts handle almost all the bandwidth because they freely distribute. All this cloud has to handle is all the status information. Podcasts don’t even need to be tied to music, so something could easily be developed outside of iTunes. Really all that’s needed are mobile apps because the desktop could be just a web site with streaming at the start. This even solves a problem I had considered too much to hope for: syncing between desktops. I have my own computer but then another computer at work. When I’m at work, I will just listen to podcats on my iPhone because who knows when something will pop up and leave me in the middle of a podcast.
Audiobooks and paid podcasts could easily follow a similar model. Audiobooks are even more crucial when it comes to remembering the position in the book. I can only assume Audible has not come out with their own app because they make too much off of iTunes.
This really doesn’t seem that hard. If I was solid on iOS development and had a few free days, I feel like this could be quickly dealt with.
Oh, and as for making money. You have a podcast directory like iTunes. Again, the hosts do most of the work setting up their accounts. Then you just have podcasters looking for attention to advertise on the site.
икониПравославни икониикони на светци
Now that Google’s +1 button is available I’ve got 4 buttons at the bottom of every post: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google. Why? I see the potential of each, I just don’t see any of my friends using them. I’m not just looking at my site here for that proof. I rarely see a friend liking anything on Facebook. I have very few friends even on Twitter, but they at least share links. Tumblr? Maybe I’m hopeful. It’s so easy to use, I think everyone should have one. It allows for the bit of creativity that Facebook lacks.
Now there is +1. Again, I see potential. However, it all lies in how Google ties it in to everything else. Will there be a stream with the +1′s of everyone that I follow? Will it be in my Buzz feed? Maybe the answer is already there, I just haven’t seen it yet.
The most linked that I get shared are via Google Reader. A total of 3 people share things that I get to see. It was my favorite way to share things. It’s quick. It gives you the option to comment. It just pops up in my Google Reader and I have the option to check it out at my leisure. Most of it is Facebook-like. The key differences: anyone can follow and, like I said, it says unread, it doesn’t vanish into the endless FB stream.
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I’m a bit obsessive when it comes to my home screen. It takes quite a lot to make the jump and break on to page 1. I wanted to start to see how it evolves, and also ask for feedback as to what you have on your home screen. Also, soon, I’ve found that I need to share what some of these apps are. Read It Later is at the top of that list.
The top row is the only thing that I don’t think has changed since I got my first iPhone (a 3G). Although that row includes some of my least used apps, but when I do need to use them, I like them to be readily available.
Like I said, share which apps you have on your home screen.
I acknowledge this isn’t the sort of thing regular people get excited for. I was even more excited the other night when I saw the first Sandy Bridge review went up.
The Mac App Store was just too easy and an obvious move after the iOS App Store. Thinking about it now, I can’t believe no one else attempted this. While iOS is setup to only allow Apple’s App Store, the Mac would not be so limited. You have other options to get software other than the App Store. Even Android is open enough to allow for multiple stores. Anyone could have likely pulled together all the smaller developers and would have probably offered a better deal than Apple will. If it became popular enough, it probably could have gotten some bigger name publishers before Apple showed up.
It will make it easier for any app to get acknowledged. Just like in the current App Store. Currently I will see an app on a blog and then have to dig around their web site to find out more and buy it. When I need something now, I’ll just be able to search the App Store. Then check out the charts to see what is selling best and read reviews.
I’m curious how any protection will work. Do I no longer have to worry about serial numbers? Did the developers have to modify their code to work with the App Store authorization? I could probably look in to this stuff, but I’ll just wait the two days until I can see it in action.
The real reason I’m excited is that it’s likely iWork 11 will be released on the same day. I skipped the last version of iWork, so I’ve been anxious to get my hands on the new version.
There were two things I didn’t hear yesterday that I expected to hear more chatter about relating to the iPad. I didn’t get around to posting them last night. I saw them mentioned today, but not too widely.
Multitasking – This was talked about a lot, but as something that was left out and people were disgusted by it. No one seemed to even mention that maybe it just won’t be ready in time for launch.
This thing is apparently running iPhone OS 3.2. An entire new product, with all new versions of apps, and it doesn’t jump to 4.0? This seems very strange to me. iTunes has seemed to jump full version numbers for no particular reason.
This is also the first version. The first iPhone had no apps! I never used one but when I got my 3G, I couldn’t imagine what you did without apps. Notifications and MMS took forever, even after being announced. Just about everything, except for MMS has been made available on previous versions of the phone.
Speaking of Notifications and MMS, perhaps they are hesitant to pre-announce software features after those.
All of that make me think that there are a lot more updates to come, just maybe not until the summer.
Boy Genius Report had a story about this today.
Subsidies – AT&T was nice enough to offer a data plan without a contract? No mention of $175 off if you did get a contract? I thought that was strange.
This Mashable post brings up that point as well as the possibility that content creators may give discounts with subscriptions. The post also makes a very good point about how the iPad is for consumption of content, rather than creation. One of the reasons I discounted it as something I would need is because of that lack of content creation capability.
I was probably in 2nd or 3rd grade. Over at Justin’s house. He had Prodigy. I’m pretty sure there weren’t even any graphics or pictures. I just remember being able to look up sports scores and standings. There may have even been sports trivia. I thought it was the most amazing thing ever, even though it wasn’t much more than I could see in the newspaper. What we really went on there for was to find NBA Jam cheat codes.
One summer, a few years later, I spent some time with my cousin in Virginia. My uncle did something with computers at work so they always had a random machine around. The one they had when I was there had a modem. My cousin and I wanted to get on the internet. They didn’t have AOL or anything. We assumed if you had a modem you could just dial up the internet. We didn’t know the number for the internet. We may have looked in the phone book. We were unsuccessful. No surprise. I just love the thought of me asking, ‘What’s the phone number for the internet?’
It wasn’t until I was 13 and had my first job that I actually got online for myself. I had my job at the field and I saved up so I could buy myself a computer and then paid for AOL (and I assume a 2nd phone line shortly after that). It took some convincing for my mom to let me get AOL, she didn’t understand why anyone would need it. It’s hard to believe that my family didn’t have broadband at the house until after I left for college. How did anything get done on dial-up?
This is my obligatory iPad post. I decided to look at it by finding some reasons someone like me might want one.
If I read more books I would choose an iPad over a Kindle. I assume the iPad will have all the features of the Kindle. I assume they will be releasing an iBooks app for the iPhone that will allow syncing of purchases and where you are in the books. At least this announcement will keep me from making an impulse buy of a Kindle that I don’t really need.
If I didn’t have my MacBook I would consider this for surfing on the couch. However, I use my MacBook the same way I use a desktop. I do a lot of things that require a lot of typing. Editing code on the iPad doesn’t seem like it would be a whole lot of fun.
If I had a kitchen in a large house (and if I spent a lot of time in that kitchen) this would be handy for quick surfing, calendar, contacts, iTunes. Really, exactly the things they are marketing it to be best at.
If I didn’t live close to home. My favorite demo of the bunch was from mlb.com. Having the screen to show mlb.tv would be spectacular. Why would I have to move away? Because I’m in the blackout area, so I wouldn’t be able to watch Phillies games on it. I really would get this just for that purpose. Set it up on an end table with the game on every night. Sure, I’d use the other features, but they’d just be bonus features that came with my PhilliesPad. Imagine if it came in team colors.
If I traveled a lot this would be great for plane rides. Watching movies, having my tunes, surfing in the hotel. Especially if I had a work laptop with me this would be useful. Last time I traveled for work I really wanted my MacBook with me. Getting 2 laptops through security wasn’t an issue. It was that I was holding up the line having another awkward item to take out of and get back in a bag.
If I took the train to work I would not be debating whether to buy or not right now. I’d be debating how much storage I wanted on my 3G enabled iPad. There are iPhone apps that I have said I’d get if I took the train. The Crosswords app for one, which I did finally buy a few weeks ago.
I’m not getting one but $499 is a tempting price. Although I’d probably want to get a 3G one in the likely case that at some point I’d want the service. That bumps the price up and along with the monthly fee, it puts is out of ‘Hey, that looks like fun to play with’ range. I’m really hoping someone I know gets one so I can play with it. I feel like I can let myself play with one. I didn’t touch the 1st iPhone until a few months before the 3G came out. I knew I’d love the iPhone but it was stupid to get one without 3G.
I have a bit of a gadget problem. I get lots of them and always tell myself that I will write a bit about them after I spend some time with them. Of course, time gets away and I never get back to talking about my latest toy. I also get distracted because a new gadget usually come along fairly quickly.
Yesterday I logged in to check on my phone upgrade options. For some reason I’ve been doing this almost daily for the past month even though it always told me 12/31. I was shocked yesterday when I logged on to find that there was no longer a date listed and I was eligible. I thought maybe they were kind enough to build in the shipping buffer. That made me a little worried about going in to the store and getting the same deal. Luckily enough, the mall is only a few minutes away. In store I was also eligible. Upgrading was painless.
I’ve been debating what phone to get for a while now. The iPhone 3G I have is painfully slow. The processor just can’t handle the running of the phone. The keyboard seems to anger it at times. I knew that upgrading to the 3GS would give me a processor boost but not a whole lot else. The compass would be nice on occasion when trying to use the maps in a city. Video recording isn’t that important, I rarely use the camera. So essentially I wouldn’t be getting the exact same thing, only faster. A Blackberry would be something completely different. I tried the new Blackberry in the store and while it is really nice I felt like I’d wind up preferring the interaction with the iPhone.
The other problem is that AT&T is not reliable in my apartment (Verizon doesn’t work either). I debated T-Mobile because the new Blackberry supported UMA. Meaning I could use Wi-Fi for calls inside. AT&T’s Microcell will be out someday. Plus, I would have had to pay the ETF for canceling AT&T 6 months early. I also wasn’t sure about T-Mobile, I know what I have with AT&T, which is very reliable when out of my apartment.
I decided I was going to stick to the iPhone. It really does everything I need it to. People were shocked that I didn’t talk about the 3G much after I bought it. That was mostly because it was exactly what I wanted. It didn’t change my life, it just did what I had been looking for. It also plays nicely with my Mac: iTunes and Contacts most specifically.
All I was left with was the hesitation that there will be another new iPhone this summer with some unknown feature that I will drool over. But even if it comes out in June. The slowness of the 3G will continue to drive me nuts. If it’s really that groundbreaking I’ll sell one of the other iPhones and pay the full price for the new one.
Having the 3GS for about a day now, I’ve learned that this is the iPhone that should have been released in the 1st place. The 1st iPhone didn’t make any sense because it didn’t have 3G. The 2nd iPhone’s processor couldn’t keep up with itself. The 3GS feels solid and responds right away when I tell it to do something.
Nice extras: The battery % indicator is a nice plus. The Wi-Fi seems to connect a whole lot faster, which is key when using the phone when I don’t have a decent signal. The stats on the Apple site indicate that the Wi-Fi is also more power efficient. I’m hoping that it adds just a little bit more life so I don’t get stressed as often when it’s about to run out (the % indicator will help with that as well). I also get another charger and I’ve yet to try the new headphones.
As for the old 3G, I’m not sure where that will fit in just yet. I may use it around, not sure how yet. I am a little concerned that since they look exactly the same I may leave the house with the one that I can’t use as a phone. It will likely stick around until someone in the family decides they want to pay for iPhone service.
I’ve had Hulu Desktop on my machine probably since it came out a while back but never really used it. They haven’t really figured out a good way to navigate around all the content they have. It is designed to be able to be used with just a remote, but you quickly get lost in layer and layer of menus.
So why did I try it out tonight?
I have my MacBook hooked up to a 20″ LCD. It sits on my desk, closed unless I take it for a trip. I decided tonight that I wanted to watch Hulu on the MacBook screen while I do stuff on the LCD. It kind of works but the Hulu video is always so small. I attempted to put it in full screen on the MacBook. It works if you have no desire to do anything else with the computer. As soon as I click anything on the monitor it jumps out of full screen mode. With dual monitor setups becoming more and more common I can’t believe this simple feature hasn’t been figured out.
I remembered having Hulu Desktop around and figured I’d give it a shot. It doesn’t solve the full screen issue but comes pretty close. The video fits to the window and you can resize the window. So I have the window maximized, which is 95% as good as full screen. It also solves some of my other issues with Hulu, such as always having to select 480p and it shows the buffer without having to pause.
Now that I’m aware of this I think Hulu Desktop will be how I Hulu. I just haven’t found how to get embed code from inside the application. After using it, hopefully I’ll get used to the interface and see what the designers were going for.
Update: Actually fullscreen does work for Hulu Desktop. I just had to find it.
My favorite feature of Firefox 3 (I think that’s when it was added) is the Awesome Bar. It searches your history based on what you type in, instead of just matching the beginning of previous URLs. I was curious what the Awesome Bar would point me to for each letter. Here’s the list:
A – Amazon
B – Borderline Fantastic
C – Crutchfield
D – Google Docs
E – ESPN
F – Facebook
G – Penn State Sports
H – Hulu
I – Ice Cream Helmet
J – Joystiq
K – Kentucky Derby
L – last.fm
M – MLB.com
N – NHL.com
O – Orbitcast
P – Phillies
Q – Game FAQs
R – Rotten Tomatoes
S – Star Tribune
T – Twitter
U – Uni Watch
V – Verizon Fios
W – Wikipedia
X – Random things like Amazon items with x in the URL
Y – YouTube
Z – Zillow
Not too many surprises. I was shocked by S. You’d think there would be a ton of S-sites. I wouldn’t ever pick the Star Tribune. It’s likely on there because I went there a lot for news on the Senate election.
