A very articulate and interesting article by Matt Legend Gemmell on what he constitutes as an “enticing interface”:

The interface and UX style I most enjoy, particularly on iPad, is something I think of as augmented paper. […]

For me, software experiences that feel like Augmented Paper are those that second-guess our (developers’) natural tendency to put functionality first, or to think of our apps as software. Apps are only incidentally software; software is an implementation detail. Instead, apps are experiences.

Eight months ago Elliot Jay Stocks switched from a single-powerhouse-laptop setup to an iMac-plus-MacBook Air setup. Here he shares the pros, cons, and tips for keeping two machines in sync.

His previous setup was similar to what mine currently is: A MacBook Pro as the only computer and then a big Cinema Display to connect it to when at the desk. Ever since I realized that, for me, having a Mac Pro and MacBook Pro was superfluous, this has been my setup for several years (though last summer I replaced the MBP with an Air).

However, in a way, I once again have the same setup as Elliot. But for me it’s on a different scale.

My MacBook Air is now my “desktop” and my iPad is now my “laptop”. I’ve spent the past month using and testing different apps so that my iPad can function as a work device when I’m away from my desk. This is, primarily, so that I can travel without the MacBook Air. As light and thin as the Air is, it still doesn’t match the iPad.

It’s fun to look back at how the trend of computer setups over the past decade has ebbed and flowed as the costs of computers have gone down, the performance of laptops has gone up, and the ease of cloud-centric computing has increased, and as new devices have stepped onto the playing field.

Federico Viticci compiled a list of the App Stores’ noteworthy milestones reached by developers over the past few years. And here’s a table cataloging the growth of the app store in terms of number of apps available and total apps downloaded.

Apple just released a Java update to remove the Flashback Malware.

This turned out to be a great episode of The B&B Podcast. Ben’s a new dad and so we talked shop about diapers, etc. for a while, and then we discussed the Pebble smart watch, and Facebook’s purchase of Instagram and some of Ben’s general dislike for Facebook.

Brings landscape reading mode and more. You have to download the update from Amazon’s website and then transfer the software onto your Kindle via USB. I haven’t done something like that since the last time I installed a Kindle Touch software update. Seriously though, I’m actually quite thankful that Amazon has been improving the Kindle Touch software. It’s a great device and now with greater software.

(Via Matt Alexander.)

Editor’s note: my thanks to Byword for sponsoring the RSS feed this week. This is a great app which I’ve been using since it launched a year ago. I even wrote a review about it a bit ago.

Byword is a Mac and iOS app for modern writers.

Modern writers don’t just sit at a desk and write. Sometimes it’s great to be able to write, edit or proofread when and where inspiration strikes and not be restrained by a single device or location. Byword makes this kind of workflow easy by integrating iCloud and Dropbox synchronization.

The flexibility of Byword: An article idea came to your mind last night on the couch and you began working on it on your iPad. This morning, at the office, you picked up where you left off by opening Byword on you MacBook Air — and finding the article was there just as you left it on the iPad. After lunch, on your way to the coffee shop, you pull out your iPhone to proofread and finish the draft.

Byword is available on the Mac App Store for $9.99, and for iOS on the App Store at the introductory price of $2.99. Check it out.

This article by Macworld Senior Editor, Dan Moren, is absolutely spot on with some of the awkwardness and friction that the Mac Messages app has brought with it. It is great to be able to have iMessage conversations regardless of what device I’m on. But Messages on the Mac has crossed a line between a text message on my phone (something personal) and an instant message conversation (something casual) — the two types of “messages” are not the same. I couldn’t have said what Dan says any better.