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Yesterday the Elevation Dock surpassed the TikTok’s record of $942,578 and became the most-funded Kickstarter project ever. And there’s still two days left to back the Elevation Dock — looks like it’ll break a million.
Safari extension that halts the iTunes app store from automatically launching when you visit an iTunes Web Preview page. Very nice.
(Via Memphis-based blog, 512 Pixels.)
Tweetbot for iPad Review
Great design is often polarizing. When opinions about your design work seem to be either extremely positive or extremely negative then it’s likely that you’ve hit a home run.
And I can think of no other Twitter client that has received more polarized praise and criticism than Tweetbot. People seem to love it or hate it; very few are just “meh” about it.
I check Twitter on my iPhone an order of magnitude more than on my Mac and especially on my iPad. It’s no secret that I love Tweetbot. I’ve been using the iPhone app as my main Twitter client since late 2010 when the app was still in its early beta days.
Up until recently I have always used the “official” Twitter for iPad app. It always struck me as odd that an app on my iPhone (Tweetbot) could serve as a better twitter client than one on my iPad (Twitter). But now Tweetbot has an iPad version. And it rocks.
The most obvious differentiator between Tweetbot and other Twitter clients is that Tapbots-style of design. It permeates all of their apps and it is a part of their brand. But design for the sake of design is never enough.
No doubt that the vast majority of those who read this site are familiar with form-versus-function commandment: thou shall not let form trump function. The way an app works is far more important than the way an app looks.
Tweetbot is that rare bird of an app that carries an extremely strong and unique mix of both form and function.
Every single pixel is completely customized. The Tapbots color pallet of blue and black and grey with textures and gradients is prevalent throughout. So too, every sound is unique with the playful robotic sounds of clicks and swooshes.
But it doesn’t stop there. The amount of custom design in this app is only surpassed by the amount of functionality and usability tucked underneath those pixels.
Tweetbot, even with its extremely custom design, is still an app with greater function than form. Though the first thing you see is the custom designs done by Mark Jardine, and these are the pixels which are always before you when you use the app, what makes the app great is how functional it is.
Over time I’ve become so very used to Tweetbot’s functionality that it’s an app which has stuck on my iPhone’s Home screen since its beginning. And now it’s stuck on my iPad’s Home screen as well.
If you love Tweetbot on your iPhone, you’re going to love it for iPad. It carries all same power-user-friendly bells and whistles that the iPhone version has.
Here are a few of the iPad app’s features which stand out to me:
Tweetbot for iPad still treats lists as first class citizens. This is one of my favorite bits about the iPhone app and I am glad that on the iPad it is still easy to set lists as your main timeline view.
Reading articles via the in-app browser is fantastic. You get a full-screen browser along with that same awesome Readability / Instapaper mobilizer toggle that the iPhone app when in the in-app browser. Just flip the switch and you get a text-friendly layout of the site you’re on:
Tapping an Instagram or other linked image in your timeline darkens out the background and expands the image:
Composing a new tweet is a lot more spacious than the official Twitter client, and has the same quick-access buttons that Tweetbot for iPhone does:
Tweetbot for iPad is a power Twitter user’s best friend. It’s an ideal app for those who make good use of lists and who follow folks who post a lot of links to articles. You can still apply filters to mute certain users or hashtags, you can see your favorites, and retweets, and more.
I’ve been using it for the past several weeks and the more I use it the more I like it. Highly recommended.
Here’s the iTunes App Store link.
Includes side-by-side screenshots comparing the changes between version 1.x and version 2.0.
Tweetbot, the best Twitter app for the iPhone got a major update today.
The first thing you’ll notice in Tweetbot 2.0 is that the list scrolling is different and improved. At first scrolling feels slower, but it’s not. It just scrolls differently. I can’t explain it really, but I just know that it took me about 2 minutes to get used to it and it’s much more smooth and improved compared to version 1.x.
Also new in the timeline view are: (a) embedded images — you can see a tiny square thumbnail of a linked-to Instagram or twitter pic, etc; and (b) better tapability when tapping on a link or username.
To me, the best feature in Tweetbot 2.0 is the browser integration with Readability and Instapaper. The tap of that little dial allows you to toggle between a text-friendly mode and the regular view of the webpage you’re on:
Finally, is an improved view for direct messages. It’s more like the SMS view now.
In short, Tweetbot 2.0 is a fantastic update. Here’s the iTunes App Store link.
A.K.A. The “Eggs in One Basket” Index.
A.K.A. Facebook and Pandora rely a lot on their ad business.
A.K.A. Google really, really relies on its ad business.
My thanks to kooaba for sponsoring the RSS feed this week.
kooaba Shortcut is a shortcut between real life and the Internet. Take a picture of what you are reading in a newspaper or magazine and instantly get connected to the digital version.
Using image-recognition technology, Shortcut recognizes what you’re reading. Once recognized, you can share the digital version of the pages via Facebook, Twitter, SMS, and email, or store them in Evernote. This works with over 1,000 newspapers and magazines worldwide. (See www.kooaba.com/products/shortcut for a list of publications.)
Shortcut also works with advertisements in newspapers and magazines, and billboards with the Shortcut icon. After taking a picture of such an ad, you gain access to extras such as coupons, sweepstakes, or store locators.
With Shortcut you no longer need to type links into your phone, google for information, or cut out articles — just take a picture instead!
Shortcut is available for iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone 7.
Today’s piece by Federico Viticci is one of the best articles I’ve ever read on MacStories. Viticci pulled together a virtual cornucopia of quotes, articles, and data spanning the past two years in order to give a high-level perspective on the iPad-slash-PC conversation and to help define what exactly a post-PC device looks like. Great work.
Chuck Skoda:
The iPad threw a wrench into the gears of the computer industry. [...] We need to frame the conversation if we want to have meaningful discussions about our industry, and having meaningful discussions about the PC industry can no longer exclude mention of the iPad.
Katie Marsal:
About one quarter of the queries to the “computational knowledge engine” Wolfram Alpha now come from the Siri voice assistant found in Apple’s iPhone 4S.
It may sound dorky, but I’ve found the Siri-Wolfram combo to make for a great, on-the-fly tip calculator.
The Verge’s Dieter Bohn sat down with Stephen Wolfram in order to write up a nice review of the new Wolfram Alpha Pro that launches tomorrow as well as insight into how the Wolfram Alpha results differ from a Wikipedia article or a Google search.
Will:
The secret is to fold the shirt in half rather than in thirds. In other words, when the shirt is on its front laid out for folding, turn the sleeve sides over only a quarter of the way, leaving a space between them. Then fold the bottom up so the shirt is roughly halved into a square.
This way any creases that the shirt may acquire while packed will not be visible when you have your jacket on.
Is It or Isn’t It?
Yea
Canalys:
Apple, after reporting stellar results, became the leading worldwide client PC vendor in Q4 2011. Apple shipped over 15 million iPads and five million Macs, representing 17% of the total 120 million client PCs shipped globally in Q4.
Wikipedia (from the definition of “Personal Computer”):
A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator.
Webster (from the definition of “Personal Computer”):
a microcomputer designed for individual use, as by a person in an office or at home or school, for such applications as word processing, data management, financial analysis, or computer games.
Ken Fisher:
I consider the iPad a PC because, in my view, a PC (Personal Computer) is just that: a personal computing device.
In my Big Sky view, the PC is best understood as a bundled trajectory of technologies, of which the iPad is a significant plot point in the development of mobile computing. That is to say, I view iPads in the same vein as laptops, believing that for 98 percent of the world, the iPad is equivalent to a laptop, in terms of intended uses. When we fast forward 15 years, I expect that today’s laptop will seem most antiquated to us, having been replaced by tablet-based experiences. I do not think the home PC will feel quite so antiquated.
Don Reisinger
Although the tablet doesn’t look like a PC or act like a PC in the simplest sense, it is a PC. From its functionality to its design, there is simply no reason people should look at the iPad and think it can’t hold up against desktops, notebooks and netbooks.
Harry McCracken:
I think it’s possible to use an iPad as one’s primary device for professional-level content creation. Actually, scratch that. I’m positive it’s possible—because I’ve been doing it for the past three months, and I’ve been having a really good time.
Chuck Skoda:
The iPad was the first computer built to meet you on your terms. It brings the last 35 years of digital technology into the physical world in a way so natural, not only do grandmas and toddlers get it, but so do kittens and lizards.
Terry Lucy:
When Apple released the iPad, I would argue that it actually released the first, truly personal, computer.
Graham Spencer:
So if you are excluding the iPad from the personal computer category, does that mean there is some checklist of requirements for a device to be a PC? Does it need a keyboard, or perhaps a trackpad or a mouse, or does it just have to be able to install any application you want (without the approval of a gatekeeper such as Apple)? All of these ‘requirements’ are completely arbitrary — with no practical reason as to why they are required to be on a PC.
Matthew Panzarino:
Look, tablets are PCs, get over it.
Andy Faust:
It’s replacing people’s needs for traditional computing environments in the home and office, and people are buying it in record numbers.
MG Siegler:
All you need to know about the “is the iPad a PC?” argument: are people buying them instead of traditional PCs? Sure looks like it.
Nay
Patrick Moorhead:
The way technology is headed in the future, calling the iPad a PC will set precedence that will only lead to even more confusion and misinformation. [...] Let’s stop classifying the iPad as a PC, it only serves to confuse people.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes:
I agree with Moorhead, it’s time to stop the madness. If tablets are classed as PCs then why not smartphones? Or smartfridges? Or digital watches?
Eric Grevstad:
People are using tablets for e-reading, Web surfing, and movie viewing. And—at least for now, at least if you focus on real-world usage patterns—I say Canalys is wrong to count tablets as PCs.
But are We Asking the Wrong Question?
I can’t help but think that asking if the iPad is a PC or not is to ask the wrong question.
Shouldn’t the question be: are consumers buying iPads and other tablets instead of traditional personal computers?
I suppose that the answer to that question would also answer if the iPad is a PC or not, but focusing on the latter seems to be missing the point.
To re-quote MG Siegler:
All you need to know about the “is the iPad a PC?” argument: are people buying them instead of traditional PCs? Sure looks like it.
That is exactly the point. There will come a time when the majority of consumers who are in the market for a new personal computer will consider (and buy) an iPad or other tablet rather than a laptop or desktop computer. And when that time comes, the debate about the iPad being a PC or not will be over.
The market will decide that the iPad is a PC by buying them instead of laptops and desktops.
It seems that those arguing against the iPad being called a PC are really trying to make their own point that, for them, an iPad could not replace their PC. When they say the iPad is not a PC what they mean is that either: (a) there’s no way I would or could give up my PC and use an iPad instead; or (b) the iPad is not yet a PC, but it probably will be soon.
The reason this discussion about “if the iPad is a PC or not” is interesting is because the iPad is already proving to be disruptive to the PC market.
Horace Dediu writes:
The impact of the iPad is not specific to any single vendor (Apple included). It competes for time and purchase decisions across all computing alternatives and though many times it’s additive, it is also substitutive and will become increasingly so.
Backing away from the minutia of what the true definition is of a PC, we see that millions of people are buying iPads and using them for all sorts of purposes. And why shouldn’t they? The iPad is relatively inexpensive, it is fun, it has incredible battery life, it is extremely lightweight and portable, you don’t have to get it out of your bag for airport security, and it does most all the same basic tasks your laptop or desktop can do.
The fact that: (a) such a young device could be such a smashing success; and that (b) it could disrupt the decades-old PC market, are both interesting topics for discussion. And that discussion is manifesting itself as: “is the iPad a PC or not?”
It’s fascinating that such a small and inexpensive tablet device actually has a shot at replacing someone’s large and expensive desktop computer. But what else is fascinating is that the device and the market are less than 2 years old and people are already starting to make that transition.
For millions of people, an iPad is a perfectly good replacement for their laptop or desktop. They just don’t know it yet.
Ben and I had to record last week’s episode of The B&B Podcast today. We talk coffee (and discover that Ben likes Americanos), we talk Samsung’s Galaxy Note ad and their revolutionary new S Pen, and we talk Google and Facebook and tracking internet usage.
Brought to you by two fine sponsors: Doxie and Jumpchart.
Trevor Gilber:
Samsung is [...] taking jabs at not only the products, but the customers of the products. Yes, Samsung is running attack ads against the people they are trying to convince to buy their products. Brilliant!
It was an odd commercial.
If Samsung was targeting Apple customers then why did they make fun of us by insulting the fact that we’re willing to stand in line for an iPhone?
If Samsung is targeting people who look at “Apple fanboys” as being silly for their willingness to stand in line for an iPhone, they why did Samsung depict all those Apple customers as jumping the line to get the Galaxy Note? You know those Apple nerds you tease? Look! They’re buying our product.
Whomever it was that Samsung was trying to advertise to, they managed to insult instead.
Eric Grevstad’s article for PCMag.com from last November is the best piece I’ve read yet in terms of consolidating the different points of view for and against if the iPad should be considered a PC or not.
The 4 points of view Eric Grevstad lists are:
- Yes, the iPad is a PC
- No it’s not because it lacks a keyboard
- No it’s not because it lacks expandability ports
- Yes it is, but if you say iPads and tablets are PCs then you have to say the same of smartphones
Nearly everything I’ve read regarding this discussion lands in one of the above four camps. I’m in camp number 1 — yes, the iPad is a PC.
Grevstad’s conclusion is nearly (but not fully) identical to what I’ve been thinking regarding this discussion. That is: iPads will be considered PCs when consumers begin to use them as such en masse.
It’s only a matter of time until consumers begin buying and using iPads (and other tablets) as their primary computers. Why wait until then to call the iPad a PC? The iPad is a PC today.
The non-winning team’s merch gets donated to World Vision and is shipped overseas to disaster areas and impoverished nations.
I learned a few tips during my trip to Macworld and this one from David Sparks during his presentation at the Omni Group’s booth was one of them. Not only did I learn that: (a) you can show tasks based on their start date (not just due date) in the Forecast view on the iPad; but (b) I also learned that it’s wise to only use due dates for items that are truly due that day.
I virtually never use start dates, and so my daily to-do list is usually filled with a dozen items which I want to do that day, but perhaps only one or two of them need to be done.
David Sparks recommends using Start Dates to populate your future-to-do list, and use Due Dates only for those items which have consequence if they are not done by the day they’re due.
I got Launch Center when it first came out a few months ago, but the idea of having quick-access to certain actions in the Notification Center never really stuck for me. But, with Launch Center’s newly-added support of app URLs, it’s gotten a new life for me.
This app has landed on my Home screen and is now the fastest way for me to get to:
- the “snap a photo” screen in Instagram;
- the “new entry” screen in OmniFocus;
- adjust my iPhone screen’s brightness;
- and more.
Last week, when I linked to Federico Viticci’s article about what’s wrong with the iOS Home screen, I wrote that the iOS Home screen doesn’t just need to be a springboard to get to apps, in some ways it needs to be an app in and of itself. I think Launch Center brings up some useful ideas and insights into how a more useful iPhone Home screen could function.
See also Dave Caolo’s slew of use-case scenarios and URLs for Launch Center.
I was a guest on yesterday’s episode of The Bro Show. We talked about Macworld 2012 and discussed if the iPad is a PC or not.
For a backpack, I agree that the Smart Alec is nice. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Ben for hauling my iPad, my extra iPhone charger, and my sweater around during Macworld. At first I thought he was just being extra nice, but I realize now he was probably just collecting data for his “conference mode” review of the Smart Alec.
My thanks to Déjà Vu for sponsoring the RSS feed this week.
Déjà Vu is your visual memory. Use the app by taking pictures of things you would like to remember. For example, products you see in a magazine, recipes you read in a cooking book, wine labels in a restaurant, Newspaper article, DVDs, CDs or event flyers. Each picture is a visual memo. A regular camera app doesn’t distinguish those photos of stuff from “regular“ photos. Déjà Vu helps people organize and structure their visual memos in an easy and effective way. It does this by a tailored interface for tagging and categorization and integration of image recognition technology.
Features
- Quick shot camera (allows faster picture taking)
- Image recognition integrated
- Syncs with cloud account
- Easy search (find your visual memos by keywords and tags)
- Map location (locate your visual memos on a map)
- Available on iPhone and Web
Free for up to 30 visual memos/month. Learn more at Kooaba.
Address Book is one of the worst apps in Lion. iMovie may be the worst, but you have to buy iMovie. Address Book is certainly the worst app that ships with Lion — it’s ugly and extremely difficult to navigate. A 3rd-party replacement for Address Book is ripe for the shipping.
Cobook is a still-in-beta-but-it’s-public-beta-so-technically-it’s-version-1.0-right-? contact manager app that lives in your menu bar. It launches at a key combo, connects with Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and is supposed to replace the default Address Book app that ships with Lion.
I downloaded Cobook on Monday and have been giving it a whirl, but I’m doubtful that it’ll stick for me. We’ll see. I like what Cobook is doing and I think it’s a clever app — it is quick, minimal, and easy to navigate. It’s well done to be sure. But I don’t think it meets my needs for an Address Book replacement.
I have two primary needs and one obscure need:
- Quick access to look up info about someone in my contacts.
- Quickly add a new contact to my address book.
- Manage groups for the purpose of some newsletters I send out (unrelated to this site).
The first need I meet via LaunchBar. The second is built into OS X (primarily in Mail). The third was awesome in Address Book on 10.6 and previous, and it horrid in the current version, and it still doesn’t exist in Cobook.
So, all that to say, I hope more apps like Cobook pop up because there is a market for them. I know I would love to see some more innovation like this in the Address Book space.
Speaking of “any little differentiator“, Nicholas Deleon wrote a short profile about DuckDuckGo for The Daily:
[Gabriel Weinberg] designed DuckDuckGo to address some of the concerns that people have had with Google and other search engines over the years. “We try to focus on things that the big guys don’t do for a variety of reasons,” he said. “Usually those reasons aren’t technical, but rather business, legal, and cultural. It’s somewhat silly trying to compete with Google on a technical basis.”
Great show with Marco Arment on NPR’s Planet Money podcast. I liked this line by Marco:
When the market is that big of everybody that uses the internet, any little differentiator can get you enough of a customer base to support yourself and a few other people.