Besides a mobile phone, the major applications were a calendar, address book, world clock, calculator, note pad, e-mail, and games. It had no physical buttons to dial with. Instead customers used a touchscreen to select phone numbers with a finger or create facsimiles and memos with an optional stylus. Text was entered with either a unique “predictive” on-screen keyboard or QWERTY keyboard. The Simon had an optional PCMCIA memory card.
I didn’t know this existed.
via Reddit
This might be the coolest setup Shawn Blanc has highlighted on his site.
Matt Alexander, regarding e-ink readers and full-blown tablets:
As much as you or I might enjoy the e-ink experience, people are not thrilled about buying a device that does one thing very well when they can buy something that does that one thing fairly well along with dozens of other features. And once that “fairly well” becomes “very well” as technology progresses, how could dedicated e-reading devices possibly remain relevant?
I like Matt, but I think he’s got this one wrong. I think people are thrilled about buying a Kindle because it does one thing, and does that one thing very well. Consumers (or at least the nerdy ones) seem just fine having a dedicated device in this category, as well as another device that can do lots of other things. Why would that change all of a sudden in the future?
Editor’s Note: This was sent to be by a reader of the site who shall remain unnamed, in response to the discussions this week of the shift at Apple’s Genius Bars. The writer’s thoughts closely track with mine at how the Genius Bar — and Apple Retail on the whole — has shifted. It is re-printed here with permission.
Even at training (Early 2009) our instructor warned us about ‘Old School vs. New School’ Geniuses. His emphasis was that the needs of the business change. He advised us to keep our eyes on the Credo, and not to get hung up on the way things used to be. Consumer electronics is a fast-paced world.
Customers generally wanted the same things: resolutions to their computer troubles, a better understanding of their equipment and its capabilities, and a calm, soothing friend who let them know it was ok they had forgotten their Hotmail password again. This often meant 20 minutes of one-on-one time with a Genius.
iOS products attract a very different customer. Their needs and willingness to learn are different. Most problems customers have are (they think) simple and don’t require an extended interaction. These customers don’t want to ‘hang out with a genius’ — they want their phone to work. NOW.
Tasks like replacing a display, swapping a phone, or updating software don’t require the same skills that isolating a failed video card or manually recreating a user in OS X do. As iPhones and iPads continue to fly out the door, the role of a Genius shifts.
I didn’t want to primarily support phones. Not because I don’t think it’s an awesome product, but because there was a lot of monotony and there were few portable job skills learned. I always saw the Genius role as a stepping stone into other IT jobs.
Everyone hates being asked to do more work than they did yesterday. Apple’s growth is explosive.
This is where competent managers make all the difference. A savvy scheduler who stays on top of hiring and training the appropriate staff makes everyone’s job easier. I worked at two different stores, and though both were very busy, you could tell a big difference in the workload. I wouldn’t have lasted nearly as long if I hadn’t ended up at a “good” store. If there was one thing the retail stores aren’t consistent with and could use improvement on, here it is.
I worked with guys who could pop through 35–40 appointments in a day and almost all their customers were very happy. I worked with others who would waste 20 minutes of my time whining about how they didn’t have time to “connect” with their customers. These were the guys who caused the bar to consistently be behind and forced me to take 2–3 appointments at a time.
Apple is a family. When one family member is unhappy and vocal, it can be toxic. There were certain people I wished would have been asked to leave.
Most Geniuses are emotionally invested in their jobs. Their ability to assess and react to any situation with skill, tact, and empathy keeps customers ranking Apple support so high, year after year. I gave the role my all, but most days it meant I went home empty, too emotionally exhausted to socialize.
As you get better at the job, your ability to assess and react to unspoken tension improves. This is great on the job, but hell when I would go out in public. I couldn’t turn that part of my brain off. I wanted to fix every problem I perceived. I had panic attack. This inability to interact normally was a major reason why I had to leave.
I worked with a number of +5 year geniuses — some were getting toasty. All had an ability to keep emotional distance and keep pace with the changing demand and way of doing business. Those that stay on for another 5 years will have good times and bad, but will still love the job in whatever form its in. Being a Genius is a hard job, and for some it becomes more difficult as time goes on.
Oh, and it is often said that the average lifespan of a Genius at the company is a mere 18 months.
Working for Apple means you are always on the cutting edge. If you want to work with the best people, you need to be one of those people. Every 3 or 4 months you have to look hard at yourself and the current incarnation of the job and ask, Am I the best fit for this job? Am I willing to deal with the problem of the week and offer feasible solutions? Is my mental health in a state where I can enjoy this? Would I want to work with me with my current attitude?
If the answer is no, I hope a manager helps you through that tough time and out the door if need be.
While this a good tip, I bet removing all permissions to Launchpad’s database would keep it from re-spawning when new apps are installed.
Commenting leaves a lot of baggage that we simply don’t have the time to maintain, and that’s not a good thing for us or our readers. Instead of putting readers in danger by failing to moderate a malicious link, or failing to moderate an offensive opinion, we’re simply going to remove comments and leave commenters the choice of using Twitter or their personal blogs to write informed and well spoken opinions that our comments section doesn’t provide room for. The answer isn’t as simple as, “We don’t like comments.” There are a lot of reasons behind why we’ve reached our decision, and we hope our contribution to the discussion provides an ample explanation for when we eventually remove the feature.
Good move.
Marilyn Sadler, in a piece on my friend Ryan Dalton:
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reports that more than 100 cases of sex trafficking of minors have been documented in Shelby County over the last two years. Victims as young as 13 have been beaten, raped, and tortured into submission. The same number of adult cases have been documented. “But many more cases go undocumented and without rescue,” emphasizes Dalton.
I couldn’t be prouder of the work he and my brother have done over the last few years.
My criteria for via links are simple: If someone points me to an article I did not find on my own (either through my RSS reader or at its original source), I’ll include a via.
Chris’ post is a lot more succinct than mine was.
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In writing, sources are everything. As early as grade school, we’re told to list our sources at the end of book reports. In journalism school, you’re taught how to find, cultivate and protect sources.
Many writers on the Internet aren’t great at listing their sources, though.
The Internet has far more material than any school or public library. You can find anything online. There is simply too much content out there to process it all.
Hence, the via link was born.
In short, the via link is a simple way to show your readers how you found the content you are sharing with them. The idea is to thank the resource you used to find the content you are sharing. As a bonus, it’s a nice way to toss some traffic at other people’s sites.
For example, if Joe Publisher links to something that I didn’t come across myself, and then I link to it after I read it on his site, he should earn the via link, in a perfect world.
Of course, it is more complicated than that. What if Joe and I link to the same thing (on the same day) but found it independently? If I link before he does, I can’t assume that he found it via 512 Pixels. Therefore, I have no ground to email and ask for one to be included on his post.
Likewise, if Joe Publisher posts before me, but I found the content on my own, I don’t think I owe him a link, either.
(This is even more convoluted on sites with multiple writers, who may not have the same set of criteria for using a via link. 1 And then you have the writers who only via their buddies, or their thanks a generic reader for “sending it in.” Oh, and little sites have a lot more to gain from a via, so they usually are more fair with them, in my opinion.)
Here are the guidelines I follow when it comes to the via link:
I don’t think every website should have a big set of endnotes with each article, but if you link to content that is obscure or on a site that is not commonly seen by your audience, I think a via link is appropriate.
In short, I see the via link as a way to note the origin of content I post (the source), and the conduit via which I found it.
If you write on the web, what are your criteria for a via link?
TV networks, for the record, also suck at attribution. ↩︎