Neven Mrgan:
As you see, with every Apple event of this sort the focus of the rumor coverage is always heavily on the hardware products, so I like to spend a few minutes idly theorizing on the possible software Apple might also show.
Rene Ritchie’s iPad mini Preview →
Rene Ritchie wraps up much of the what and why of the expected-to-be-announced-tomorrow iPad mini. Ironically, I find myself in the first stage of my own Pre-Event Sentiment Progression, in that I just don’t see what in the world I would use a smaller iPad for. It’s hard (and unfair) to speculate about the use case of a product that doesn’t even exist, but I’m going to do it anyway. I don’t see the iPad mini replacing my current iPad (3) for work use, nor do I see it replacing my Kindle Paperwhite for long-form reading. And maybe that’s the point. Maybe the iPad mini isn’t intended to be an additional device for someone like me.
Tweetbot for Mac →
Speaking of great software for the Mac, Tweetbot for Mac shipped a few days ago. Aside from the fact that it’s an amazing app, and that it’s the best desktop Twitter client you can buy, and that it has a million awesome features, it’s the syncing between the iPhone and iPad versions that I love most. It’s $20 in the Mac App Store and it’s worth it.
BusyCal 2 →
BusyCal is such a great calendar app. It’s like iCal Pro, and the just-announced version 2.0 is a significant upgrade. The UI has been polished, there’s more customization, and they’ve added a Fantastical-esque Menu Bar extra that lets you view your schedule and crate events quickly with natural language. If you live in your calendar, I bet you’ll love BusyCal.
And they’re selling it exclusively on the Mac App Store. Everyone gets upgrade pricing for a limited time.
You Gotta Remove the Mustard →
This week on The B&B Podcast, Ben and I talk about six different apps which have recently come out and why they’re awesome, interesting, different, or all of the above.
Campaign Monitor: iOS Totally Dominates Email Client Market Share →
Campaign Monitor’s servers sent over 7 billion emails between June 2011 and August 2012. In that time they saw mobile email clients take the lead over Desktop and Web clients. And iOS dominates the mobile clients with 90% market share.
On the Release and Creation of Pinbook 1.0 →
Collin Donnell shares some of the behind-the-scenes info on the design and development of his hot new Pinboard app, Pinbook.
Why the Microsoft Surface Ad Might Be a Miss →
Astute observations from Stephen Hackett.
Home Work Podcast: Parenthood →
Speaking of podcasts (get it?), I was a guest on this week’s episode of Home Work. I have learned a lot from Dave and Aaron’s show, and it’s one of my favorites. It was a lot of fun to be on the show. We talked about working from home with young kids in the house, and managing the moving targets of work and parenthood.
The iPhone is Here to Work
Noah was finally asleep. Sitting in the center seat, my wife was holding our 7-month-old son as he slept on her shoulder. The three of us were flying back home from a week in Colorado, and Noah had spent the first half of the flight fussing. Anna and I — as well as our fellow travelers — were relieved that he was finally resting.
Noah likes to be held but hates to cuddle. It’s such a rare occurrence for him to fall asleep in our arms that I had to document the rarity (and cuteness) of the moment.
The seats on a 737 are not exactly spacious. I reached into my pocket to retrieve my iPhone 5, and in the process the back edge of my phone had an encounter with the metal frame that held the seat’s arm rest in place. My iPhone was a couple weeks old, and the slate black body was, until that moment, still unscathed.
As if writing on a chalkboard, I could feel the frame of the phone shudder ever so slightly as it slid across that metal surface. Once out of my pocket I looked down at the back edge. Sure enough, part of the slate coloring had been scratched away revealing the silver-looking aluminum.
In that moment, while appraising my phone’s new scar, I was unexpectedly reminded of why the iPhone is special.
The iPhone is an uncanny amalgamation of beauty and utility — it’s a design and engineering marvel. Our western culture tells us that when you own something this nice, you protect it. Your sports car sits in the garage all winter; that painting belongs behind a sheet of glass; the silver flatware is kept in a box in a drawer; the mobile phone goes in a protective case.
The iPhone, however, prefers not to play by these rules. Though exquisite in design, it was not born as art to be put on display. It belongs in our pockets. It is a tool. A utility. A gadget of gadgets.
The iPhone is here to work.
It’s beautiful enough to be put on display. Simple enough to be used by your grandmother. Powerful enough to be used by CEOs. Popular enough to be made fun of on network television.
And this is why the iPhone is so incredible. Because it is equal parts niceness and usefulness.
This blows my mind. Here I have this gorgeous object of industrial innovation, and yet its proximity to my life is not due to my above average affinity for fine gadgets. No, the iPhone has earned its place by virtue of usefulness. The curiously-thin slab of glass and aluminum that I carry around in my pocket is my camera, my jukebox, my map, my newspaper, my phone, my email, my photo album, my schedule, my to-do list, my notebook, my Internet, and so much more.
“[Design is] not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs
* * *
After snapping a few photos of our sleeping boy, I turn the phone around so Anna can see the screen and browse the images I’ve just captured. I think to myself how it’s unfortunate my iPhone is no longer mint. And yet I wouldn’t trade that scrape for a case or a cover, and certainly not for a lesser device where scratches seem less intrusive.
Reality Surface Field →
Michael Mulvey:
The dichotomy between how Apple and Microsoft create gadget lust is interesting. Apple makes you fall in love with their products when you get your hands on them. Microsoft, on the other hand, has been creating desire for Surface by keeping a distance between people and the physical products.
Microsoft’s New Commercial for the Surface →
If I didn’t know better, I’d say Microsoft’s Next Big Thing was a keyboard.
Five Minutes on the Verge with Paul Mayne →
Check the Weather App →
There are three things about this brand-new weather app which really stand out to me:
- David’s using Idlewild as the typeface, which is a gorgeous choice.
- Check the Weather is using the Dark Sky API, thus allowing you to see the short-term precipitation forecast in conjunction with the radar.
- I can’t think of any other weather app that presents so much data in a manner that is so quickly accessible and so readable. The main screen shows you the current temp and weather plist the next three days. But swipe the main screen to the right and you get a 14-day forecast; swipe to the left and you get the hourly forecast; swipe up and you get the current radar.
This is a one-stop-shop weather app that doesn’t feel bloated. It reminds me of when Mobile Mail in iOS finally got a unified Inbox. Just $2 in the App Store.