Wednesday, November 23, 2011

With the launch of iTunes Match I’ve encountered one of the first Apple products/services that has truly baffled me.  It’s not the service itself that’s causing the confusion, rather the signals that it sends me.  First, a little background information.

All (or most) of your music in the cloud.
While it’s not the first cloud-based music service to hit the scene, iTunes Match is the one that makes the most sense to me (thanks to years of iTunes purchases coupled with a steadfast dislike to purchase multiple copies of music just to have them available on multiple devices).  Other offerings from Google and Amazon let you stream your music to your computer or mobile device for easy listening but they can take a while to upload content that wasn’t purchased through their services.

iTunes Match takes a slightly different approach where you can access not only your music purchased from Apple, but also any of the other music you might have added from other sources such as ripped CDs or Napst…eerrr…friends.  The difference comes in where Apple is only scanning your library and matching this music and granting you access to (usually) higher-quality version of music that you have in your library.  You can upload songs that aren’t available in iTunes which can mimic the storage-locker-style approach that both Amazon and Google have taken.

Say what?
Signup for this service is straightforward, I’ll admit that right now.  The confusion and mixed signals sets in after the matching process begins, and in some cases fails.  The error messages that Apple has implemented aren’t very “Apple-like”.  They’re confusing.  They don’t give the whole picture, or even a snapshot for that matter, of what the real issue is.  In addition to the cryptic error messages, Apple has brought new iCloud icons into play that, unless you have a legend for, you have no clue what they mean.  Thankfully Apple has shed a bit of light on this issue.

Issues and interface inconsistencies aside, I’m loving iTunes Match, though it keeps sending me mixed signals.

Quick Tip
The November 19 episode (#143) of We Have Communicators makes mention of a MacWorld article that explains an iTunes column sorting option that is extremely handy when dealing with iTunes Match music.

“One way to cut through the confusion is by turning on a new view option in iTunes. Choose View -> View Options and check the iCloud Status box. This will add a new column to your iTunes list detailing the status of every item in your library.”

- Jason Snell of MacWorld.com

A very handy tip indeed!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Children don’t have any preconceptions or expectations when they encounter something for the first time. This is all-too apparent when I watch my two boys (ages two and five) use our family iPad. Not to take anything away from the simplicity of the device, but I’ve shown countless people the iPad, demonstrated it for individuals of all ages, and the results are as varied as the individual experiences.  Nothing compares to the experience of placing one of these devices into a child’s hands.

They seemed to understand how it worked only moments after touching it, and appeared to have mastered the basics of navigating it after a minute or two.  I’m not exaggerating either (as tall as this tale sounds now).  Some trial and error was up next, figuring out what each of the chicklet-shaped icons would do, what apps they would launch and what entertainment they would provide.

After the first few apps were launched, they both had established a pattern of how all apps worked.  The app they chose to base this belief on was Angry Birds.  Close, but not apps are made equal…regarding their navigation.  The kids would each adapt their use after finding out that Angry Birds doesn’t control the universe.  After seeing that, I made sure I was paying very close attention to their facial expressions.  I wanted to see if either of them would express frustration or would become angry if something didn’t work the way they expected (or wanted) it to.  To my surprise, they appeared happy and delighted to be puttering around and making the screen come alive.

As they get older and the tools and technology that they encounter become layered and burdened by expectations, I have no doubt that they’ll get mad at the outcome of some interaction.  It’s inevitable.  But as the world continues to move and become more fluid, there’s hope that these instances will be few and far between (along with the hope that they’ll help usher in the next wave of gadgets and gizmos).

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

If you’re one of the many, many people that purchased the iPhone 4S last Friday, you’ve no-doubt played around with Siri.  While this feature does have some useful and potentially beneficial uses, there’s the irresistible urge to find out just how much information and thought Apple and the Siri team have put into this service.  The answer: A whole-heckofalot.

These are a few of my PG-esque queries.

For more virtual assistant hilarity, check out S#!tThatSiriSays & S#!tSiriSays.com.

Monday, September 19, 2011

I’m not sure why I didn’t ask Chris Sherman to put his iPad ownership thoughts into writing sooner. We’ve had many discussions about it’s usefulness (and weaknesses) over the past year and I’m glad that Chris was willing to spend some time to write down some of his thoughts.

Why did you get an iPad?
I love Apple products and I wanted to bridge the gap between my iPhone and my MacBook Pro.

Is it an original or iPad 2?
It is the original iPad

Are you happy with your decision?
I am, although I know now that I didn’t need the model on steroids.  The 64gb w/3G is more than I need.

Did it fill a need or was it a impulse buy?
I have to be honest here, it was more of an impulse buy.  I would have been totally happy with the 16gb wifi model.

How has the iPad changed your “normal” computer-use habits?
I handle most of my social media needs on the iPad so it has become my feed screen even while I am on my regular computer.

What are you doing with the iPad that has made your life easier or has surprised you?
I feel that the iPad is a larger version of my iPhone so I am still using my iPhone for a lot of my on-the-go needs.

Have you been able to integrate the iPad into your work life?
Aside from the social media use as stated above, I have all of our sample photo’s on there so when we visit with clients, we use it as a digital portfolio.  Awesome tool in that respect.  Also, FTP On The Go is very helpful with the large files.

How would you grade the iPad as a work tool, specifically in the area of design?
It is amazing.  The “Palette’s” app is awesome.  I can pull out color palettes on projects to work with when trying to create corporate images etc…  Sketchbook Pro and Adobe Ideas are great for designing.

Are there any business apps or content creation apps that you rely on?
Nothing in that respect have I tried yet.

How often do you use your iPad for business/how often for personal?
It is pretty much business use. I would say almost daily at work.

Is that use more that you’d expected?
Not now, but at first, I almost never used it until I started searching for apps and researching online what is useful.

Do you still use your other computers as much?
Yes.

Are there any apps you’d recommend for either personal or business use?
Audio Note is great if you attend seminars.  You can record the audio and then whatever you type in as a note, it will time-stamp the recording for fast reference.  Very useful.

What would you change about it or what features would you add/take away?
I wish it worked more like a laptop.  It would be nice if it had a desktop like OS with a cursor and a USB port for file transfer if you are not in a WiFi setting.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

My friend and fellow designer Steve Dalton recently shocked me when he tweeted he was buying an iPad.  This wasn’t shocking, many people by iPads…but I never would have guessed Steve would buy something with an Apple logo on it.  For as long as I’ve known him he’s been a Windows and most-recently Android user through-and-through.  Since he’s had a few months to get used to the iOS side of things, I wanted to get his thoughts on his latest geek purchase.

Being an Android fan, why did you decide get an iPad?
I have always been interested in gadgets and technology and I’d heard how great the first iPad was and was holding out to see what Motorola was offering as a tablet.

Are you happy with your decision?
I am extremely happy with choosing the iPad. It has exceeded my expectations in every way.

What need did it fill or was it a impulse buy?
Initially I thought the Motorola Xoom was the way to go, but due to the lack of apps that were available and price I decided to take another look at the iPad. The only Mac product I have used in the past 10 years was my iPod and being Android fan I was hesitant to make the switch.

How has the iPad changed your “normal” computer-use habits?
My normal computer use hasn’t changed that much except I find that I don’t use my laptop as much when traveling. Mainly because it’s so light and thin I can easily slip it into my writing pad folio to take it on the go.

What are you doing with the iPad that has made your life easier or has surprised you?
I was probably most surprised how well it works as an all around personal trainer. I can set up a personalized workout and take it to the treadmill, elliptical, and weight machines to keep track of my progress. Plus, it’s always great to fire up the Netflix app and watch movies to make the time running on the treadmill less monotonous.

As a designer, have you been able to integrate the iPad into your workflow?
I do have a stylus for my iPad, however as a designer I haven’t used it much as a tool for sketching out ideas (yet). I’ve used it quite a bit for showing mockups, ideas, and as a portfolio of past projects to current and prospective clients. We have also used it as an interactive sales took for showing our products, services, and service area.

Are there any design apps or content creation apps that you rely on?
I use PhatPad and Evernote for taking quick notes of ideas, things I find interesting and material I don’t want to forget. Once you get used to it the handwriting recognition for PhatPad it’s quite handy for writing notes longhand.

How often do you use your iPad? 
I use my iPad daily, and definitely use it more than expected. It really hasn’t changed the amount of time I spend using other computers, although it has improved the workflow between devices. For example ideas worked out in Evernote on the iPad are synced nicely if I need to review notes on my Droid, laptop or desktop computer.

Any apps you’d recommend for either personal use or business?
I have downloaded quite a few fitness apps and a few of them are quite helpful. ITGO MatrixHD is great for HIIT Intervals for elliptical machine training. You can even sync it to your iTunes library to play certain songs during warm-up / cool down periods. Fitness HD has a ton of great workouts with videos and photos. While it doesn’t have a way to save your progress online yet, you can use the Daily Burn app to sync this information quite easily.

The business app I use the most and would recommend is Evernote. I use Evernote on my phone and desktop, but with the camera functionality on the iPad it makes it an ideal portable scanner as well.

What would you change about it or what features would you add/take away?
There isn’t much I would change. The battery life, speed, and easy learning curve of the device has made this lifetime PC user a true fan.