John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app • Hacker News Board

Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app

#71

Post by jlgreco » Thu, Jun 06, 2013, 8:52 PM UTC

nicholassmith wrote: post #63

marbletiles wrote: post #54

Thinking that sync is optional is a really weird thing that seems to linger in the Apple world. You know the old William Gibson line that cyberspace is the place where telephone conversations happen? Not in the hardware at either end, but in the "space between"? Computing has moved there too. Work used to happen on a device and then was transferred to other devices, either manually (floppies, email) or later automati…

This app Isn't For You. Sync is great if you want it, or have a need for it, but the majority of iOS users currently have a singular device, so why invest time and resources into a feature a lot of people won't need? Why not just focus on a majority share? Yes you're trapped, but think of it as being stuck on a desert island happily, rather than being jailed unwillingly. Edit: I'll rephrase singular as singular devic…

Surely Sync becomes useful for your majority of iOS users when they upgrade devices.

Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app

#72

Post by jlgreco » Thu, Jun 06, 2013, 8:58 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #27

jmduke wrote: post #21

It appears to me by purchasing this app, you are trading the features of existing products for a slick design. I'm particularly impressed with how they have spun the lack of features as a feature ("simple and elegant", "imposes no system") For me, inability to coexist with Notational Velocity is a dealbreaker.

Isn't that a little bit like saying that by buying a Moleskin notebook, you're trading the features of existing products like Trapper Keepers?

Most people who don't want a "trapper keeper" probably don't want one because all of those extra features make the product literally heavy and bulky.

Now there may be something to why they choose a brand-name notepad instead of a cheaper alternative, but I don't think this analogy works for comparing software features of apps on phones.

Maybe a better example might be somebody choosing a pocket knife that was not a "swiss army" pocket knife. The nail file doesn't really get in your way, but if you don't want it, why have it?

Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app

#73

Post by montagg » Thu, Jun 06, 2013, 8:59 PM UTC

marbletiles wrote: post #64

nicholassmith wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This app Isn't For You. Sync is great if you want it, or have a need for it, but the majority of iOS users currently have a singular device, so why invest time and resources into a feature a lot of people won't need? Why not just focus on a majority share? Yes you're trapped, but think of it as being stuck on a desert island happily, rather than being jailed unwillingly. Edit: I'll rephrase singular as singular devic…

Nobody has a singular device. Nobody. Even if they only own one piece of hardware right now, they are surrounded by other hardware they have access to. Why should their stuff be locked to one physical object when it's digital? This isn't something you can pretend is for a minority anymore. It's like making a POP3 client and saying "IMAP is for power users".

It's also like saying: some people don't want to think about syncing.

I have a feeling that's the reasoning, more than anything else. It removes a piece of complexity with a very specific, conscious trade-off.

That said, I use syncing to Dropbox religiously with my notes app, so that's a dealbreaker for me.

Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app

#74

Post by frontsideair » Thu, Jun 06, 2013, 9:01 PM UTC

slantyyz wrote: post #60

ryandvm wrote: post #51

Cool. Gruber just invented Google Keep.

For reference, here were his thoughts on Google Keep a few months ago: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2013/03/21/keep

"Trust your thoughts and ideas to the greatest Apple apologist ever. Good luck with that."

Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app

#75

Post by roc » Thu, Jun 06, 2013, 9:03 PM UTC

jlgreco wrote: post #71

nicholassmith wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This app Isn't For You. Sync is great if you want it, or have a need for it, but the majority of iOS users currently have a singular device, so why invest time and resources into a feature a lot of people won't need? Why not just focus on a majority share? Yes you're trapped, but think of it as being stuck on a desert island happily, rather than being jailed unwillingly. Edit: I'll rephrase singular as singular devic…

Surely Sync becomes useful for your majority of iOS users when they upgrade devices.

Not really. During setup, when you specify your Apple ID, new devices offer to restore from an old device's last backup.

But when they record a note on their phone and later want to recall it for a bit of typing at their laptop or iPad...

Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app

#76

Post by nicholassmith » Thu, Jun 06, 2013, 9:04 PM UTC

marbletiles wrote: post #64

nicholassmith wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This app Isn't For You. Sync is great if you want it, or have a need for it, but the majority of iOS users currently have a singular device, so why invest time and resources into a feature a lot of people won't need? Why not just focus on a majority share? Yes you're trapped, but think of it as being stuck on a desert island happily, rather than being jailed unwillingly. Edit: I'll rephrase singular as singular devic…

Nobody has a singular device. Nobody. Even if they only own one piece of hardware right now, they are surrounded by other hardware they have access to. Why should their stuff be locked to one physical object when it's digital? This isn't something you can pretend is for a minority anymore. It's like making a POP3 client and saying "IMAP is for power users".

Nobody has a singular device is true, whether they give a shit about using the machine they use for spreadsheets or quickly checking their hotmail is different to using it as a productive device.

Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app

#77

Post by marknutter » Thu, Jun 06, 2013, 9:05 PM UTC

Am I the only one who thinks flat design looks boring and generic?

Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app

#78

Post by jmelloy » Thu, Jun 06, 2013, 9:14 PM UTC

doe88 wrote: post #57

danpalmer wrote: post #47

Features: I'm all for simplicity, in the right circumstances. I use Clear from Realmac Software because when I'm creating to-do lists, speed is the most important thing to me. However, when I'm writing notes, accessibility is probably the most important thing for me and that means sync, I'd also bet this is the case for many people, hence the popularity of things like Evernote and Google Keep. The absence of sync fro…

Concerning the sync I think they're waiting to see if Apple plans to fix iCloud (with CoreData) in iOS 7 or if they must look for another way to do the sync. At least this is what I would do, we're very near WWDC I think it was wise to wait to see how it goes. Although I think what's more debatable was the decision to release the app now and not to wait few weeks or even september. Personally I would have tried (if a…

Since he hasn't mentioned it on DF, and the website is only a splash page, and it's the Friday before WWDC, I wonder if Macworld broke their press embargo early.

Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app

#79

Post by __chrismc » Thu, Jun 06, 2013, 9:17 PM UTC

marbletiles wrote: post #54

Thinking that sync is optional is a really weird thing that seems to linger in the Apple world. You know the old William Gibson line that cyberspace is the place where telephone conversations happen? Not in the hardware at either end, but in the "space between"? Computing has moved there too. Work used to happen on a device and then was transferred to other devices, either manually (floppies, email) or later automati…

DF has posted quite a number of links over the last couple of months, highlighting how poor sync on iOS currently is (iCloud in particular). I'm pretty sure Brett Simmons has posted quite a few of them too... My theory is they tried to get sync working in as polished a fashion as they wanted, it didn't work well enough, so they dropped it for v1. If Apple fixes iCloud sync at WWDC they'll add it back in a new version. If not, they can just say it's not something they feel the app needs.

Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app

#80

Post by slantyyz » Thu, Jun 06, 2013, 9:22 PM UTC

rednukleus wrote: post #65

kloncks wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never. It's Gruber.

Honest question - what is it with these Apple fanatics not wanting to write any software ever for Android, Windows, Linux or anything not Apple? Is it just spite?

>> what is it with these Apple fanatics not wanting to write any software ever for Android, Windows, Linux

Perhaps the answer to your question is inside your question itself.