A wonderfully done timeline of the history of the Internet. I think it’s a little oddly lacking for the current stuff – a lot of discussions of browser releases in the 90s, but neither Chrome nor Safari’s releases are mentioned, at all. Python (the general purpose language, which I don’t believe anyone uses without some Web-specific framework on top of it for producing Web stuff) is mentioned, so is Perl and PHP. And Ruby on Rails. Also no mention of HTML5, CSS3, WHATWG or other acronyms that are part of pushing the Web forward today.
It is very nice though. On iOS – and, I’m sure, other touch-enabled operating systems – the navigational arrows are replaced with swipe gestures.
I’m a Chelsea fan. As such, I’m inclined to give Terry the benefit of the doubt. No-one knows what really happened, and these trials haven’t really made any conclusive proof either way.
What is important is that we get rid of racism, in football and anywhere else. If Terry is guilty, he should be punished severely for his behaviour.
Whether App.net will succeed will still likely depend on their ability to make people abandon Twitter for it, but as a developer, I like their initiatives in this regard. Acknowledging third party value, and having that be the founding principle, is something I can only believe will lead to great experiences.
Of course, this is only possible because App.net get money from the users directly, no matter what clients they use. Twitter are leaving money on the table by allowing third party apps to not show ads.
Jeremy Keith on Apple’s non-existant developer relations with regards to Safari. I agree wholeheartedly – having an evangelist who isn’t allowed to speak at external conferences seems… odd. (What does she do the rest of the year, when not preparing for WWDC?)
Now might be the right time to push back at Apple, since they claim they’re doing things differently, but this is something that should be done at any time.
This is by no means a review. For that I refer you to Macworld, Ars Technica or iMore. These are the observations I made. I notice small things, and generally ignore big things. Mind you, my favourite part of iOS 5 was the addition of the en-dash in the keyboard. So, here they are:
They put in a ‘kr’ button in the Danish numbers keyboard. It inserts the letters k and r, which for most people would probably be easier to just type. (Same amount of clicks and they’re closer to each other)
The maps are certainly prettier than Google’s. As for the use of them, I must admit I never used maps all that much, but from my limited use of them, there seems to be almost no knowledge of Odense, where I live. (Transit missing is OK for me personally, because I never used the ones in the old Maps.)
No password required for app updates is great, and it’s mind baffling it’s taken so long for it to appear. Now we just need same behaviour for free apps (though I see more potential problems with that.)
Do not disturb is a great concept, somewhat lacking implementation. The ability to set up schedules would be great. (I have very different times for when I want to receive notifications on weekdays and weekends.)
Matt Drance on the iPhone 5 not having NFC, and how that is not really a problem in the world today.
This point is exactly right. Sure, the iPhone 5 could have NFC. It would probably require a thicker design, might impact battery life, but certainly it could be in there. So could a toaster.
Don’t get me wrong: I think the promise of NFC is a good one, one I’m excited to see. But it’s just a prospect for now.
Sometimes Apple push the envelope for this sort of stuff, what with the non-Floppy iMacs and such. But when they do, it’s because they believe it serves a purpose for their customers (or themselves), not to check off a box in a comparison chart. Currently, NFC serves no practical purpose, only the hope that it someday will.
