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What happens when it's all glass?

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Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#81

Post by jasonlotito »

cubicle67 wrote: post #66
jasonlotito wrote: post #28

If this article is any indication, Apple needs to seriously needs to improve it's software. I love my Mac, I love the environment, but there are so many lost and forgotten pieces to their software that it's highly frustrating. Take iChat, for example. So limited, even the supposed features it has do not work (Bonjour for iChat fails to work to let me and my wife chat via her MBP and my iMac). Indeed, the entire Bonjo…

And then I have to dig through that folder and find a generic icon just to find the application, and then launch it Spotlight is your friend. Cmd+Space, first few letters of the app name (first is usually sufficient for new apps) then hit enter. Indexing in OSX is as good as instant, and new apps seem to show up at the top of the results. Agreed, auto launching with a confirmation dialog would be better, but I find u…

I agree. Spotlight is sweet. The problem is, to install the app, I have to use the mouse. Then, I have to come back over and use the keyboard to open up spotlight to load the app I just installed. I mean, it just seems like an absurd number of steps to get to the most likely scenario.

Though, I find that often. I love creating a movie in iMovie for iTunes, and then having to tell iTunes about it. You can't just save the media into the appropriate folder and have iTunes pick it up. At least, it's never worked that way for me.

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#82

Post by dougp »

JoachimSchipper wrote: post #13

> The difference in build quality, materials, and tolerances between a MacBook Pro and a Lenovo are still obvious Yes, ThinkPads are still some of the most sturdy laptops around while MacBooks tend to need more support/repairs. Of course Apple's (repair) service is very good, and MacBooks do look nice(r), but "build quality" means something else to me.

Every Lenovo I have used at work in the past 2 years has put out this super high pitched sound. Like the sound you could hear from an old tv. It drives me absolutely out of my mind to the point where I have to wear headphones when using one.

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#83

Post by loewenskind »

jasonlotito wrote: post #80
loewenskind wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good points on most things but I disagree about app installs. I like how it is because I usually don't choose the folder it offers me anyway. I also instinctively shy away from the kind of installers you describe because it brings back memories of windows installers where I have to wonder what's actually happening (though I know the mac installer does more than just copy the files too).

That's a fair point. I'm mostly concerned with the actual drag and drop method anyways. It's cumbersome, and fairly difficult. Each installer has their own special graphical representation, and it's not always clear. Then you get the applications that have multiple files, and I'm sitting here wondering which one I'm supposed to install. And while you do have a point, I think it could be solved through some other meth…

Agreed, it could probably be solved some better way. I can see the reasoning behind doing it this way though. Drag and drop is something the user is presumably already doing, so installing a new program is associated with just copying a file into a folder. My favorite apps on windows were my favorites long before I ever touched a Mac system because they behaved this way (e.g. PuTTY).

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#84

Post by jasonlotito »

loewenskind wrote: post #83
jasonlotito wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a fair point. I'm mostly concerned with the actual drag and drop method anyways. It's cumbersome, and fairly difficult. Each installer has their own special graphical representation, and it's not always clear. Then you get the applications that have multiple files, and I'm sitting here wondering which one I'm supposed to install. And while you do have a point, I think it could be solved through some other meth…

Agreed, it could probably be solved some better way. I can see the reasoning behind doing it this way though. Drag and drop is something the user is presumably already doing, so installing a new program is associated with just copying a file into a folder. My favorite apps on windows were my favorites long before I ever touched a Mac system because they behaved this way (e.g. PuTTY).

I found apps like Putty annoying. I'd have to go put it into Program Files myself, setup the links, just to keep everything organized. If I didn't, I'd forget where I put putty. In truth, Linux is years ahead in the package management area then either Windows or OSX. Look at Ubuntu's new Software Centre. Apple did this with the App store, and the released documents concerning Windows 8 suggest Microsoft will be pushing for something similar.

This isn't to say you are wrong, just idle conversation. =) At the end of the day, I'd prefer the system handle things by default so I don't have to worry about it.

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#85

Post by gbhn »

mjfern wrote: post #65
mjfern wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you're describing here is the notion of activity systems! Michael Porter describes the concept in detail in the article "What is Strategy," Harvard Business Review. The crux of the idea is that the strategic position of a product hinges on a system of activities across a range of areas, from marketing, to product development, to distribution. Activity systems are a source of sustainable competitive advantage bec…

I'm excited about the number of upvotes for this post about "activity systems." There are a number of excellent concepts/tools in strategy that could help founders assess and develop their start-ups. Anyone have any thoughts on how to best convey these concepts/tools to generate interest and understanding (e.g., book, blog, app, etc.)?

Thanks for posting it. I think a blog on this would be interesting to the HN audience.

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#86

Post by loewenskind »

jasonlotito wrote: post #84
loewenskind wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, it could probably be solved some better way. I can see the reasoning behind doing it this way though. Drag and drop is something the user is presumably already doing, so installing a new program is associated with just copying a file into a folder. My favorite apps on windows were my favorites long before I ever touched a Mac system because they behaved this way (e.g. PuTTY).

I found apps like Putty annoying. I'd have to go put it into Program Files myself, setup the links, just to keep everything organized. If I didn't, I'd forget where I put putty. In truth, Linux is years ahead in the package management area then either Windows or OSX. Look at Ubuntu's new Software Centre. Apple did this with the App store, and the released documents concerning Windows 8 suggest Microsoft will be pushi…

Fair enough. Sounds like we have very different usage patterns. But I absolutely agree about Linux. I've always thought it had the worst desktop of the "big 3" but I love how one manages packages on e.g. Debian or Ubuntu. I agree that it's way on in front on that.

The comparison of the App store and Linux package management (for most distros anyway) is very interesting. Online people groan endlessly about the App store and its "draconian control" but the main fundamental difference I see between it and e.g. debian's package management is that volunteers manage the repo on debian.

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#87

Post by gbhn »

jasonlotito wrote: post #28

If this article is any indication, Apple needs to seriously needs to improve it's software. I love my Mac, I love the environment, but there are so many lost and forgotten pieces to their software that it's highly frustrating. Take iChat, for example. So limited, even the supposed features it has do not work (Bonjour for iChat fails to work to let me and my wife chat via her MBP and my iMac). Indeed, the entire Bonjo…

I agree that Apple's attention to the iLife suite isn't on par at all with with the work they do on hardware and the OS. I've had some truly awful experiences with iMovie where you wonder how the thing even shipped. (Activities like changing clip boundaries causes the thumbnails to all disappear, requiring a resize scrub to make them appear again which of course causes you to lose your place in what you were doing, and yes, this is a commonly reported bug. And why won't it export large files!?!?)

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#88

Post by jasonlotito »

loewenskind wrote: post #86
jasonlotito wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found apps like Putty annoying. I'd have to go put it into Program Files myself, setup the links, just to keep everything organized. If I didn't, I'd forget where I put putty. In truth, Linux is years ahead in the package management area then either Windows or OSX. Look at Ubuntu's new Software Centre. Apple did this with the App store, and the released documents concerning Windows 8 suggest Microsoft will be pushi…

Fair enough. Sounds like we have very different usage patterns. But I absolutely agree about Linux. I've always thought it had the worst desktop of the "big 3" but I love how one manages packages on e.g. Debian or Ubuntu. I agree that it's way on in front on that. The comparison of the App store and Linux package management (for most distros anyway) is very interesting. Online people groan endlessly about the App sto…

Doesn't stop people from groaning about Debian's package management. =)

I've always said I know the Linux, Windows, and OSX well enough to hate them all for specific reasons. =) And, I know I'm fairly picky, probably too much. But I'm only that way because I care enough.

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#89

Post by barrydahlberg »

cubicle67 wrote: post #67
amackera wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My ex-girlfriend bought an iMac and proudly displayed it to her friends. She showed them travel pictures, watched movies, etc. The computer had, for her, transitioned from a computer to an attractive designer object that provided utility. It didn't really feel like a computer so much as just a part of the environment of our apartment. That always struck me as Apple's greatest success. There are way fewer hackers and…

And it's silent! Got an iMac (first Apple product ever, for us) for my wife back in early 2006, and that's the thing that stood out to me the most. Compared to my pc at the time, and every other one I'd ever owned, the iMac was as good as dead silent. You never really appreciate silent computing until you have one (a quiet computer, that is, not necessarily a Mac)

I have a Mac mini sitting on my desk and I have to keep checking the lights to see if its own, I love it.

Re: What happens when it's all glass?

#90

Post by elai »

loewenskind wrote: post #77
elai wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find picasa significantly faster and easier to go through huge swaths of photographs than iPhoto, and it uses a simple directory method of organization, so it's easy to move around and send pictures to others.

The way you organize photos in iPhoto is the best thing about it. Why would the creators of gmail (i.e. they understand the power of tagging) go with a "simple directory method of organization"?

It's not stuck in some opaque iphoto library directory blob, and is significantly more portable (like the plain text of photography). Tagging and all the can be done with a separate library information file, and to be honest, I only organize by import events separated by dates. I don't do much else.
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