Dropbox vs. iCloud

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Rachel Swaby for Wired:

But Dropbox’s success is now at a critical moment. Providing a way to give users access to everything they do on a computer from everywhere has become the brass ring for digital services. And Dropbox is the one to beat. After years of remaining largely below the radar of the world’s biggest computing companies, Dropbox is now faced with a host of very prominent competitors. The most immediate, of course, is Apple, whose iCloud service launched in October.

iCloud hits Dropbox hard on the simplicity and ease of use fronts because Apple has been working in this space from the beginning. iCloud may be cross platform averse, but its automatic syncing slices seconds from Dropbox’s drag-and-drop approach.

I really think Swaby misses the point with this.

iCloud may become a direct competitor of Dropbox’s, but at the purposes of the services are different at this point.

Dropbox’s main usage is to sync files; iCloud would have users sync data, hiding the individual files from the user interface. MobileMe’s iDisk was more of a direct competitor with Dropbox than iCloud is, as its primary use was syncing folders and files.

Apple’s wants to leapfrog this entire model with iCloud. iCloud may become the go-to solution of OS X and iOS users to sync data in the future, but right now, that’s just not true. Nerds still like files too much.

OmniFocus [Sponsor]

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We’re hoping you decided to check out the trial of OmniFocus after their sponsorship earlier this month. Here’s a quick 5-step jumpstart.

  1. Capture everything. Take 15 minutes to move things out of your head and in to OmniFocus. Anything from long-term goals (earn pilots license) to quick errands (card for mother).
  2. Define next actions. “Earn pilots license” deserves its own project. Move it to your library and decide what to do next.
  3. Organize actions with contexts. “Research area flight schools” might be assigned to a Mac context for googling, “card for mother” to Walgreen’s.
  4. Now we do stuff. If you’re at the office, focus on work projects to get stuff done!
  5. Review mode. Take time to consider each active project. Does it need some work?

Find out more about OmniFocus here, and don’t hesitate to ask questions.

Minimalism and Real Work

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On this week’s Back to Work, Dan and Merlin talked about minimalism, and how it can become a distraction in and of itself.

They discuss the point that if someone can’t work unless every single cord and pixel are in just the right place, maybe they should be more interested in the work at hand.

I think this is dead on. I like having a minimal computing experience as much as the next Mac nerd, but I do feel the temptation to keep tweaking and keep shedding tools. Sometimes, that temptation feels bigger than a looming deadline.

Minimalism isn’t about a super clean desk with an iMac perfectly centered on it, with a single TextEdit window open on the screen. It should be about getting the work done, with the best tools possible. For some people, that means having 45 Safari tabs open while pushing back the piles of paper just enough to make room for a mouse. Some people need a clear desk with a full-screen text editor.

In reality, minimalism (or zen, or whatever) doesn’t have a fixed definition. It varies. It is about reducing friction just enough to work, then sitting down and doing the work.

Don’t let fighting the distractions become a distraction.

Kindle Fire Updated

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David Pogue:

There are still some things Amazon should fix. For example, magazine reading is still an exercise in frustration; far too often, the row of page-navigation thumbnails still thrusts itself on top of what you’re trying to read. Other problems may not be so simple to fix: for example, the on/off switch is on the bottom edge, where the Kindle’s weight naturally falls when you’re reading.

It turns off by itself a lot.

Still, today’s software update erases the stubbornness that characterized the original Fire software.

CNET’s Coverage of the Apple/NeXT Merger

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From 1996:

Some analysts were cautious in their assessment of Apple’s wisdom in choosing Next. “I am a little bit surprised by this move, and I still have to digest this,” said Daniel Kunstler, who follows the computer systems industry for the investment banking firm J.P. Morgan. “There are no real details as to how they are going to use the Next technology and platform to jump-start their own operating system or how long it’s going to take.”

However, he added: “I really don’t see any downside to Steve Jobs returning to Apple.”

via TUAW

The Killer App is Credibility

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Robert Hernandez at the Nieman Journalism Lab:

In the age that we live in, content is relatively cheap. Anyone can create it. If not through their computer, everyone’s phone can basically do live shots, record newsworthy sound clips and file stories. Some can do interactive 360 videos or augmented reality presentations. Really cool stuff.

[…]

With technology empowering everyone with the ability to create and to distribute, I predict — and wish — that in 2012 the new dominating factor will be Credibility. Actually, earned Credibility.

Amen, brother.