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Maybe I'm not reading it correctly, but it seems like a pretty simple issue to resolve by syncing outlook to gmail / google calendar along with an android phone... The current email host should be set to forward to gmail and outlook repointed to gmail as well. If the user wants access to email offline, they can just enable POP. Syncing the calendar is even easier... It seems like he's more interested in working with…
Maybe I'm not reading it correctly, but it seems like a pretty simple issue to resolve by syncing outlook to gmail / google calendar along with an android phone... The current email host should be set to forward to gmail and outlook repointed to gmail as well. If the user wants access to email offline, they can just enable POP. Syncing the calendar is even easier... It seems like he's more interested in working with…
Thank you for illustrating his point so beautifully.
Maybe it's just me, but I receive very high utility knowing that I help solve someone's problem which maximizes their utility as opposed to throwing my hands in the air because said solution may not agree with my own tastes.
Recently, I had an argument with my father about uploading photos efficiently: He got an iPhone4s and took pictures with it. Now my father uses Windows and does not know much about transferring pictures the right way, instead he does what he knows–email the picture to yourself. My mother who uses a mac, but still computer illiterate, wanted to get pictures off his iPhone so she can post it to her Facebook album. So he goes to his iPhone, selects the picture and emails it to her gmail account, and does this same process per picture. After that mom, logs in to her email, clicks on the new message, clicks on view, then drags the picture from the browser to the desktop. She does this same process to the rest of the messages.
Now I was there, watching in agony (–_–") (I was called up earlier to find out how to transfer photos from her cellphone using bluetooth to the Mac. But unfortunately the cellphone did not allow file transfer using internal memory unless using a microSD card.)
So back to mom, she noticed that the pics were too small to edit (about 30kb 200x200px). So my dad was about to do the same process again on his iPhone. Me=Facepalm
To my reaction I said "You are using iCloud are you? Then why don't you just use Photostream? Whatever pictures you taken automatically syncs with the computer, no fussing with files/transfers, just select the picture in iPhoto, edit exposure, then upload to Facebook." I'm not sure if my father was listening, as he was still selecting and emailing the photos.
I proceeded with setting up with iCloud syncing on the Mac to activate Photostream, asked for the password, (he didn't say anything, but mom knew what it was). I then launched iPhoto, clicked on Photostream and pictures started to come in. "See, isn't that easy. Now mom, pick what picture you want. You can drag the picture out to the desktop like you always do, or just use the upload to Facebook button in iPhoto.
Then the internet just halted for a bit, and the 19 of 72 some photos were only downloaded. My dad said: "I don't like this, you are overcomplicating this simple task." I was like "WHAT! How on earth am I complicating this, I am making this simple for you, its less repetitive and more time efficient than what you are both doing!"
Then I go on about the benefits of Photostream to talking about analogies regarding data capture/logging pool, Film/Photographer's DSLR workflow, to data pool auditing workflow.
He said: "What you find simple, is complicated for us. We can work in a linear fashion however long it can take, and you can work autonomously. Anyway, this is only a one time thing, I don't need to use Photostream. If I need to use this everyday, maybe I might but today its not necessary."
~~~
So lesson learned. You can't just force anyone using your methods. It may or may not work for them even if it sounds stupid to you.
Whatever works for you indeed.
Maybe I'm not reading it correctly, but it seems like a pretty simple issue to resolve by syncing outlook to gmail / google calendar along with an android phone... The current email host should be set to forward to gmail and outlook repointed to gmail as well. If the user wants access to email offline, they can just enable POP. Syncing the calendar is even easier... It seems like he's more interested in working with…
The point (or at least, one of them) of the post is that sometimes user has constrains coming from his job, personality, or preferred mode of operations, that will make it impossible to use your particular preferred solution in that context. It takes some humility to notice that and not evangelize your particular working habits too much. Also, our technology is broken on that angle; things simply are not expected to work well with each other from the start.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait, why was her left foot on the brake? Is she a leg amputee? Are you in Ireland or Japan or some other tiny island where everything is on the wrong side?
Are you in Ireland or Japan or some other tiny island where everything is on the wrong side? Australia is pretty large... 78 countries (28% of the worlds traffic) drive on the left [1]. These include countries like India, Pakistan and Indonesia with fairly significant populations. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic#Ju...
Thanks for data, I didn't realize how many left-driving countries were there; I thought it was only UK and Australia.
Still, they don't drive on the right side. :).
If all you care about is using Microsoft's contact system (Outlook), then perhaps you should get a Windows phone. Surely those would sync.
People sometimes have strange syncing needs. Example: I spent some time (and failed, ultimately, due to broken Google Calendar) trying to sync Emacs Org Mode with Android phone. No, I won't switch from Org Mode to anything web-based, Emacs is just too convenient for me. No, I won't switch from SlideScreen to a homescreen with widgets - I love the former and hate the latter. So I need to accept that, right now, I don't have any working solution to sync my phone calendar with Org Mode.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The point is that it's important to realise that not everyone has the same priorities, or the same constraints, as you do. Marco says he's happy to relinquish some control in order to have things work the way they're supposed to, but he recognises that other people may not have the freedom or the desire to make the same trade-off. This recognition is called empathy, and it's a useful trait for people involved in prod…
And I'd buy it more if his actions followed his words. I listened to his podcast once, and the Android/Google bashing was so pervasive it continued even to the point they were making fun of it during an ad that mentioned a company had an Android app (something to the effect of "They even have an Android app, if you are stuck with an Android"). An ad! People paid money to his show to have their work/customers belittle…
(I hate those podcasts, by the way, not defending them, just this one point)
There's a difference between trying to help a guy solve a specific problem and trying to evangelize him to switch to your preferred platform. There are tons of resources on the Web devoted to syncing Outlook with the iPhone. Maybe someone more tech savvy (like Marco) could have helped. Instead he said he "couldn't help him". He really meant "I don't want to try to help you".
And that is the point, your quick 10-minute fix will only cause more problems down the line. I've also reached the same conclusion even before 30.
Edit: I'm reminded of a friend that makes music. He always burns a CD to play in his stereo. His stereo also has a USB port and will play MP3s from there. So I suggested instead of burning CDs he could just copy it to a USB key. So he does that and he hates it. Why? When he's burning a CD he gets to arrange the tracks in the order he likes. The stereo plays MP3s in alphabetical order. The time saved from not having to burn CDs is now wasted on having to rename MP3s into the proper order.
Yeah, whatever works for you.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thank you for illustrating his point so beautifully.
Maybe I'm just being obtuse, but what exactly is his point? Since he's a developer, I can't imagine that a couple minutes on the web wouldn't net him a solution that'd work for his friend's father. Maybe it's just me, but I receive very high utility knowing that I help solve someone's problem which maximizes their utility as opposed to throwing my hands in the air because said solution may not agree with my own taste…
Slightly tangential, but it seems to be popular to assume that fanboyism is universally a bad thing. Which makes sense intuitively, but here's the thing: I _like_ fanboys. When I meet a fanboy of something I don't tend to use or like, I make a point to talk to them as much as possible. It starts off rocky - after all, I'm coming from a completely different perspective, and to me, everything they're saying is obviousl…
I at least, and I think most people, have a distinction between 'fan of' and 'fanboy' Where the line is that a fan of a something can talk about its virtues and concede its limits, but a fanboy will gloss over any limitations as irrelevant / wrong "its not a bug its a feature"