this is what I want to do with an iPad

Read journal articles and mark them up. There are apps that get close but not to the Holy Grail just yet. I hope someone cracks it. I would love iBooks to have more robust annotate features. I appreciate that with the Kindle software but they don't go far enough.

[Note: seems as though iBlogger doesn't allow attachments, e.g. photos. I always found it an awkward piece of software.]

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Christina Aguilera Bionic Press Conference (Part 1)

I got the link to this video from a gossipy site that took Christina Aguilera for complaining that someone on the set was coughing during her interview.

That was interesting enough but what REALLY intrigued me started at about the 4:34 mark. There she talks about the creative process, one that is surprisingly visual considering she's a music artist.

If you have been in a focus group, you probably have done a collage exercise – tearing words and pictures from magazines with the goal of describing the 'mood' of a brand, person or product. Well Christina does that for her recordings. She tears pictures and the like from magazines, creates mood boards and then takes them to her producers to impart the 'feel' of the song that she's trying to achieve.

I can't say I am a fan of Christina but I do have more respect for her as an artist knowing the work she puts into every release.

Font Joy - mister jun font

I love this font. It has such presence.

mister jun font: ""

The decline of interest in travel

I'm old enough to remember when airlines served free food, free drinks, and service with a smile. Truth be told, I used to be a bit of a plane spotter. I think my interest in design started with an interest in airline livery. I would comb through the phone book and check out all the airline ads. I miss the livery and logos of People Express, Air Florida, Braniff, BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corp) and so on. I'd pour through books on aircraft, military and civilian.

Now my interest in planes and livery is waning as the travel experience becomes more about removing service than enhancing it. Airlines are moving to non-reclining seats, less distance between those seats, charging for even one checked bag, and even charging for carry ons. It's hard to respect companies that move in lock-step in the 'nickel and dime' games.

USA Today has a pretty good blog on air travel and one of the comments to an article about non-recling seats on Spirit made me think. I can't find the comment right now but the person said s/he was a former plane/airline enthusiast and is no longer interested in following the industry any more due to its' behavior.

When an industry loses its' enthusiasts, you know it's in serious trouble. I can't wait for the next step in long-distance travel to reveal itself because I know I'm sick of this one.

Cultural anthropology

As some of you may know, I've been toying with the idea of grad school. I say toying because I'm still unsure what exactly I want to study. To date, it's been a choice between a traditional MBA and cultural anthropology. But lately I've been considering a relatively new field called behavioral economics. I was an econ major in college and so it would build upon what I learned oh those many years ago.

Anyways, I've started reading some books and papers about both social science fields. I started a classic from the godfather of anthropology in the U.S. called Anthropology and Modern Life [Amazon link] from Franz Boas. He went on establish cultural anthropology at Columbia, one of my target schools. He was also the one that brought empirical discipline to the field. It's amazing that some of the concepts that we take for granted now – e.g. location plays as large a role in values and and even physical development as ethnicity – were 'out there' back then. I'll report back as I spend more time with the tome.

As a side note, you can buy the book on Amazon but it's also available as a public domain book if you have a good eReader, such as Stanza on the iPhone and iBooks on the iPad.

House Hunters International is the best travel show in America

I have to confess that I am obsessed with that show. If you ever wanted to know what it would be like to live in a foreign country, watch this show. The show, hosted by Suzanne Whang on HGTV, travels throughout the world and shows you the house hunt of a particular hetero or homo couple, and the occasional single.

The locations are what keep me coming back – Malaga, St. Johns, Belize, Buenos Aires, Panama, the Greek Coast, Berlin, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Fez etc. The areas are usually charming and are where most people would want to live.

It also doesn't hold back; there are trade-offs, sometimes significant ones. But I think that's what I like most about seeing places like Fez (squat toilets), Tel Aviv (bomb shelters in the apartment) and Hong Kong (so tiny).

It's also a peek into the culture. What is a kitchen? How much privacy can be expected? Where do people put their clothes? What items unite the global Ikea culture?

Finally the people looking for property are fun to watch. Their ages run the gamut – retirees, budding families, empty nesters, and even single people looking for their first place. But being the human behavior geek, it's the dynamic between the couples that I find fascinating. How much of partnership is it?

Great show.

Standing up

I am thrilled with the iPad but one criticism is that it's not light. You can't hold it in one hand and use it for any length of time.

I don't know about you but I'm tired of sitting down when I interact with a device.

I love the idea you have seen in some commercials lately ― people pointing to air while they walk down the street, surrounded by a forcefield of digital knowledge.

I'm not saying I'm thrilled to actually do it. Seems a little odd pointing to random places on the street. But then again everyone would be doing it, if iPhone adoption in NY sets any precedence.

Standing up allows you to interact and still move about without looking down and missing what is around you. In this country, we should be standing more and sitting less.

What do you wish technology would enable you to do?

One button madness

So the new iPhone software is coming this summer. It has everything that most people have wanted since the beginning, starting with multi-tasking. Overall it looks like an amazing upgrade and I can't wait to install it on my phone.

I do have one issue with the way it is implemented. Double-clicking the button bring up a tray at the bottom that shows up to seven apps that one has running at the time. Problem is that double-clicking was previously used to pull up either the phone or the iPod functions. What happens to that keystroke now? Is it contextual?

In a way, this is similar to a UI change that occurred one maybe two generations of software in the past. In order to quit an app, one pressed the home button for a long time. That shortcut was changed to a more cumbersome holding of the power button etc.

I love Apples one-button/minimal button ruthlessness but sometimes I think it gets in the way of what they are trying to achieve – ease of use. Remapping keystrokes only serves to frustrate users and lengthen the learning curve. Apple gets away with it sometimes but they should know better.

App design

In the previous post I mentioned one apps that annoyed me and one app that didn't.

A common complaint that I have with the apps out today is a giddiness with the size. Case in point, the Reuters app. They want to provide as much information within the frame as possible so they have stacks of rotating panels that can be unpredictable to navigate. There's just too much sliding and flipping overall. I don't think that format would work on a piece of paper, on television or on the computer screen. When looking at the iPad, you can't approach it from a tech point of view.

I think the Cool Hunting developed with BBH is the exact opposite. Cool Hunting is in effect a magazine. They balance the content by dedicating one block to each topic and each block has a headline and a striking visual. All of the main topics of the day can be seen at a glance. Inside each story is a cool stream of pictures above. The copy block has a strong presence and is easy to read. Tags and icons of related content appear to the right, just like the blog, but it feels as natural as on a glossy page.

It's not surprising media companies got it right. Many of them had iPads under lock and key so they got to experience what it could do first hand. Only now are other developers getting on board. I imagine things will improve.

Thoughts on the iPad four days in

So its been a few days with the iPad in my possession. A few thoughts.

The keyboard is better than I expected it to be and I've changed my mind as to its' usefulness. It's certainly better than the iPhone keyboard in terms of room and ease of use but not quite a regular keyboard. I still find the awkward placement of punctuation a problem but it hasn't stopped me from getting work done. Overall a good compromise. And there will always be compromises.

The gaming experience is infinitely better. I always found the small screen on the iPhone a hindrance for involved games like Sims. I can't wait to see how EA translates the experience. Or other games I play with some frequency – Eliss and Monopoly being the most eagerly awaited. Real Racing is incredibly lifelike. The speakers manage to vibrate the device in your hand and it's quite realistic.

My favorite applications so far are: NYT (news), BBC (news), Flight Control (game), GoodReader (PDF reader), the Weather Channel app, and Cool Hunting (blogzine). Each of these apps have translated the experience in an appropriate and engaging manner. Reuters is also great but I find the layout a little awkward. More on that and Cool Hunting in the next post.

I know that the iPad is about entertainment but I find myself working on it more. Part of the reason is I have so much reading that I need to do and I do enjoy reading on it. But also because I find the experience more interesting than with my desktop. As I mentioned before, I was looking forward to the reduced distractions of my laptop and desktop. If you are like me, you are emailing, IMing, writing, surfing all at once. I have been in multitask land for so long working on the iPad almost feels backward. But I enjoy not having the system alerts over this, that and the other thing. It's like 'Full Screen' in the Mac version of Pages, basically taking away all the noise of the system. As someone best put it, and I will source it later, is the device transforms itself in a way that the iPhone does not. When you run an app, it takes over the entire large screen. You are focused. It is great.

Update – source found: Tidbits writer Adam Engst said "In contrast, the iPad becomes the app you're using. That's part of the magic."

I have been working in Pages and Numbers these last few days. Keep in mind that I have been using these applications as my work apps for months now; they replace Office 75% of the time. I find the iPad versions very intuitive, familiar and quick. In Pages, I like the isolation the device allows. It's very much like writing on a notepad, which I'm sure is intentional. Most of the functions are just a couple taps away. But you can really just write.

Numbers has a much more steep learning curve, thanks to pretty complex touch commands. I have had to check out help and see how to do basic things like make columns wider or even select the entire column. The feature I thought I would like most – specialized keyboards for data entry – I find annoying. Having multiple keyboards for data entry functions is great but it can be slow moving from one to the next. I'd really like a way to put the functions I use most on one page. Right now it really can take a lot of taps and trial and error to get cells to do what you want.

The more I spend time with the iPad, the more I understand what Apple is trying to do. The tagline is – the most magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price. When I watched the launch Jobs presentation, it annoyed me how often each speaker said 'magical' or some other hyperbole. It just didn't seem that big of a deal since so many of us are familiar with the iPhone/iPod Touch, warts and all. But it's really one of those things you just need to experience in person. I think it's starting to grow into that tagline a lot better than I expected.

-- Post From My iPad (edited on the MacBook)

Damned if they do

It's amazing that people berate Apple for working to ensure that their customers have the best experience possible on devices bearing the Apple name.

• They work with the best suppliers in the business and are ruthless in their judgement of quality. Horrible!
• They don't deliver features – both the technology and user experience – that haven't been optimized to work as best they can. Scoundrels!
• They try to shield their users from extraneous nonsense. Bastards!

Apple does not always succeed but success is highly subjective. Every company in the world would kill to have Apple's reputation and loyal customer base. That doesn't happen by 'sheepishly' spitting out garbage. It comes from respecting the people for whom you make products and working hard to avoid putting out crap.

The endless devotion to stats/benchmarks remove the user experience from the equation, which it shouldn't. If my computer/ phone/ device is difficult to use, I don't care how fast it is because there's only one speed I see – full stop.

That's something GM didn't realize until it was too late. Microsoft is learning that now. One day I'm sure Apple will misstep and allegiance will move on to another company. But for now Apple is the one to beat.

iPad thoughts

The initial euphoria has worn off and now it's down to business. Specifically – does the iPad justify the money I just spent on it? Definitely yes with a small no.

Yes because it's gorgeous, easy to use, and behaves quite differently from what I imagined. Some of that is the system itself and some of that is the nature of the applications. No because there are some limitations that need to be solved. But I know these limitations won't be around for long.

Gorgeous is not a word one typically uses for technology. But on the iPad, like so many other Apple products, the shoe fits. It's a beautiful well-made shoe. When you hold it in your hands, you feel as though you are holding the future. The iPhone was the only other time I felt like that about a piece of technology. The screen is large and bright. For those with the recent MacBookPro line, it's like Apple ripped off the screen and put it in your hand. For me that is just what the doctor ordered. The interface is smooth and responsive. Things snap to your command. It's almost overwhelming in its' efficiency.

I think the critics who labeled it 'just a large iPhone' need to sit down with the device. There is no way that the same application can and should behave the same way on the two devices. Therefore, even though there are similarities, the additional real estate and new UI conventions force a different user experience.

I bought the iPad as primarily a reading device and it is quite adept in that function. Having it on your lap in either landscape or portrait feels intuitive and comfortable. It's usable in even direct sunlight, although details do wash out. Surfing the web is like experiencing it anew. In portrait, you can see the entire page, which is really what the designer intended.

The lack of Flash is frustrating as so many sites are dependent on that technology. But as I've said before, I've never been a big fan of it and I don't play a lot of games or non-YouTube video. I imagine the web will be a different place in a few months once the impact of all three major Apple devices driving the way we interact online.

Now the not so great stuff.

Right now, there are a lot of clumsy apps on the iPad. I salute some developers for embracing the concept and developing applications that fit very well. The media applications are the best at this – New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and GQ are the ones I've interacted with so far and am very impressed.

But it's painful to use non-optimized or ill thought out applications. What makes sense on an iPhone feels awkward and restraining on an iPad. I imagine every developer will be modifying his or her app soon because one does not want to cede loyalty to the competition.

One major difference is the iPad allows for more direct file swapping and some developers haven't modified their app with that in mind. To that end, I haven't seen an elegant solution for the main reason I purchased my iPad – interacting with large PDFs in a fashion more akin to printing it out and marking it up. I'll be watching the App Store closely.

This is the perfect opportunity to raise the application price point as an issue. iPhone apps are almost throw-away in cost. Yes that adds up but you can pull in a lot of great applications for under $20, try them out and toss the ones that don't work for you. iPad applications are more expensive, making each purchase a more considered one. I think there should be a trial period associated with every application. That will raise standards and make the purchase experience as rewarding as on the iPhone. Tossing $5 for something that doesn't work for you is annoying.

For more than just a few emails, I think the on-screen keyboard is too unconventional. There aren't enough punctuation marks on the main keyboard, forcing one into a menu tree. I could excuse this on the iPhone because of the limited space. On the iPad it is stupid and slows down what could be a decent typing experience. Dear Apple – punctuation is more than just an extra button; it is part of the structure of a language. Please adjust the keyboard accordingly.

One question I have gotten a lot in the time that I've owned this device is – can it replace a laptop. Yes, eventually.

Some of what one already does on one's laptop can be done on the iPad, with a lot more fun and a lot more grace. With an external keyboard, writing is a joy. It's a lot easier to read and edit one's writing in portrait mode, which is more akin to the printed page. As I've said before, the lack of multi-tasking is not a problem for me. There are fewer distractions than on a laptop, which makes one more productive. Interacting with the web, which is what most of us do on our laptops, is so much more enjoyable, lack of Flash notwithstanding. And the application UI is easy to use or thyet very powerful. I see a lot of very powerful applications coming online in the next few months. Hopefully they will challenge how we use our laptops and desktops and eventually cede the floor to tablet computing.

All that being said, it's not there yet. We are still dependent on our laptops and desktops for content that can not be elegantly shared if it is housed solely on the iPad. The Apple iTunes bottleneck does grate in a way that it doesn't on the iPhone. I can see why there has been so much wailing on the part of critics because it seems as though this device is wrapped in a plastic bubble that you can't pop. Additionally, the iPad is a different computing paradigm and I think developers need time to experience it and adjust their applications accordingly.

Is it worth it to buy it now? Maybe. I certainly love it. It's 90% of what I've been looking for in a device. I'm a mobile professional and am the perfect target for the MacBook Air. I didn't bite because while it was gorgeous to look, its' utility was too limited for the price. In fact, I think the iPad is a better MacBook Air. It's more portable and does many of the same tasks – surfing the web, listening to music, watching video, and writing – as well if not better. I think the iPhone OS has a lot of room to grow. I'm really looking forward to OS 4.0, which is rumored to go live in the coming months.

The iPad is a magical device. Some of its' magic will take time to unfold but I don't doubt that it will happen. It will change computing in the same way that the iPhone changed phones. I for one am very very pleased.

Future of Magazines

Magazines are the primary reasons I got into communications. I love video but the printed page is a thing of beauty to me. I took classes in editorial design and layout at the School of Visual Arts in my younger days and it made a lasting impression on how I consume the medium.

Since the advent of the website and online news, my magazine consumption has dropped dramatically. There was a time that I would go to the newsstand and spend upwards of $100 on magazines. I did so because I enjoyed the magazine experience – great photos, smart writing, interesting callouts, the incorporation of interesting and eye-catching advertising – all in an easy to carry form. With the advent of the internet, magazines became too static. The only magazines that I read now tend to be timely – the Economist, BusinessWeek – or rely upon the printed page heavily, titles like Car & Driver and design titles like Metropolis. These publications have great websites but their physical presence is too gorgeous to pass up.

That's why I'm so excited about the iPad. It has the potential to return editorial design to its' rightful place as an art form but bolstered with the benefits of dynamic content. I must admit that I have been disappointed in the translation of the magazine to the iPhone/iPod Touch. I like them in principal but the compromise is always too great. GQ is a perfect example. Great effort but one just can't see the clothes well enough to substitute for the large format pictures the magazine allows.

I look forward to seeing how publications adapt to this device. I'm encouraged by the newspapers' first efforts, based on what I see. But it's publications like GQ, Vanity Fair, Metropolis and Architectural Digest that will push the envelope of content. The journey begins on April 3rd, 2010.

Active panels

Love this! An active panel that one can change. I'm sure a large LCD would be awesome away.

Hat tip: Industrial Design Served