9-bits by David Kaneda

A tumblog by David Kaneda, creative director at Sencha.


POWERED by FUSION

June 16th 2011

“A beef filet cooked for 15 hours by 30 cooks doesn’t necessarily taste better than a cheeseburger.”
Information Architects, the creators of iA Writer for Mac and iPad, On Prices and Features. I could quote this post all day.
business tech writing app value

Watch Your Language »

The new iPhone developer agreement which Apple posted yesterday has caused a bit of a stir in the development community. Due to the wording, it is currently unclear whether or not certain development platforms will be able to continue delivering iPhone apps — most notably affecting companies like Adobe, Appcelerator, and Unity3D.

The first response to this change was put out yesterday by Appcelerator. On the developer blog, Jeff Haynie notes:

We know that you put a lot of trust in Appcelerator and effort into your applications. You have our commitment that we will do everything possible to ensure that Titanium remains the outstanding platform for cross-platform application development for years to come. We will update you with more information as soon as we gain a clearer understanding of today’s announcement.

I encourage you to read the entirety of the post, which is wholly calm, positive, and professional. Now compare that with a post on The Flash Blog today from Lee Brimelow:

What is clear is that Apple has timed this purposely to hurt sales of CS5. This has nothing to do whatsoever with bringing the Flash player to Apple’s devices. That is a separate discussion entirely. What they are saying is that they won’t allow applications onto their marketplace solely because of what language was originally used to create them. This is a frightening move that has no rational defense other than wanting tyrannical control over developers and more importantly, wanting to use developers as pawns in their crusade against Adobe.

Not only is Brimelow’s post speculative, but the tone is combative and flat-out unprofessional. It sets the stage for a fight. It assumes full insight into Apple’s intentions and practices. Brimelow concludes with:

Now let me put aside my role as an official representative of Adobe for a moment as I would look to make it clear what is going through my mind at the moment. Go screw yourself Apple.

Simply put, if I were in Adobe’s shoes, I’d be looking for a new evangelist. This is not the tone I would want — or accept — coming out of my company. Yes, there are a lot of people at Adobe working hard to make Flash apps work on the iPhone — and Apple’s change in legal wording yesterday could have been perceived as a direct attack at those initiatives — but we are not children here. If a startup like Appcelerator, with only a handful of employees, can produce a cohesive, mature response to a new corporate challenge, surely so can an enterprise company like Adobe.

iphone apple adobe flash writing
The Desk Phone Dock from Kee Utility is an odd little product. From the makers: No more multiple phones, bunch of cables and other accessories on your desk. Use your iPhone smarter with Desk Phone Dock. Now, don’t get me wrong: This thing is beautiful (so much so I might consider purchasing it) but their marketing copy is a stretch. From what I can tell, the Desk Phone Dock doesn’t clone your office phone number. Instead, the website seems to suggest you replace your office line with your mobile: Your iPhone is the main telecommunication device you need in your office or home, especially if you or your business has a special service plan from your carrier.  But wait, you say — then it’s a shell of a phone for… my phone? Except with this, you can’t bring it into the kitchen to get a soda. Lots of the features on the website are simply benefits of using your iPhone for business, like VoIP and having one place to manage contacts. Again, don’t get me wrong: I quite like the device. Maybe it’s easier to cradle between your head and shoulder than an iPhone. Maybe it’s got a better speakerphone. Maybe it’s easier to pick up while you’re working than wrestling an iPhone out of its dock and sliding to unlock. Maybe it’s just a beautiful thing. I just think the website could be simpler and better aligned to their audience. When you’re selling something, keep it simple and focus on your strengths. You don’t have to change the world and you don’t have to make everyone happy. Side note: I’m going white for my next iPhone.

The Desk Phone Dock from Kee Utility is an odd little product. From the makers:

No more multiple phones, bunch of cables and other accessories on your desk. Use your iPhone smarter with Desk Phone Dock.

Now, don’t get me wrong: This thing is beautiful (so much so I might consider purchasing it) but their marketing copy is a stretch. From what I can tell, the Desk Phone Dock doesn’t clone your office phone number. Instead, the website seems to suggest you replace your office line with your mobile:

Your iPhone is the main telecommunication device you need in your office or home, especially if you or your business has a special service plan from your carrier. 

But wait, you say — then it’s a shell of a phone for… my phone? Except with this, you can’t bring it into the kitchen to get a soda. Lots of the features on the website are simply benefits of using your iPhone for business, like VoIP and having one place to manage contacts.

Again, don’t get me wrong: I quite like the device. Maybe it’s easier to cradle between your head and shoulder than an iPhone. Maybe it’s got a better speakerphone. Maybe it’s easier to pick up while you’re working than wrestling an iPhone out of its dock and sliding to unlock. Maybe it’s just a beautiful thing. I just think the website could be simpler and better aligned to their audience.

When you’re selling something, keep it simple and focus on your strengths. You don’t have to change the world and you don’t have to make everyone happy.

Side note: I’m going white for my next iPhone.

iphone hardware marketing writing
“I think it’s time that well-meaning publishers abandoned the blog format in favour of something more suitable for their content, their audience, and their long-term prosperity.”
In Rise of the Tablog, Nick Cernis describes the devolution of the blog format and also the rise of more suitable web outlets, like Tumblr.
webapp blog writing

Also noted: