Why did the design team on the RAZR decide to make the phone beep when I’m turning the volume DOWN? Every conference or meeting I go to starts with, “Everyone make sure your cell phones are off.” That statement is then followed by the sound of multiple RAZR phones bleeping their way to silence. Hint to Motorola: Turning down the volume should be a silent activity with visual feedback.
This is great - ‘Why Lost is genuinely new media’ from cityof sound. I’ve not finished it all yet - but it is interesting, and I’ll make a p.o.v. (pointofview) about it when I’ve completed it. In the mean time - enjoy.
It’s starting to feel like watching a pro wrasslin’ match between Adaptive Path and 37 Signals. A real geek pissing match of epic proportion. My question is this: in a real fight, who would win? Adaptive Path or 37 Signals? AP is at a severe disadvantage with the loss of Veen. Guys, get over yourselves. It’s just computers.
Zahnd Industries has been working on an innovative online product called Distance Logger, and we will begin beta testing in late Spring.
Distance Logger is for anyone who participates in distance-based sports. Distance Logger helps you:
+ Set goals and stay on top of them
+ Log your workouts in as much detail as you like
+ Track your progress
+ Find and meet real people doing the sports you do
+ See the ways that other people are making progress and succeeding
If you would like to help us take Distance Logger for a test spin before we launch it this summer, go to http://www.distancelogger.com and sign up.
We’d love to have you on the team!
Joel Spolsky spent 15 minutes at ETECH today presenting his grades on the state of a few products. I don’t know if it was due to the short time he had, but his presentation came across as half standup comedy, half presentation.
His Grading Formula™:
His first example was Reddit.com - he goes to the site because of the Reddit alien. It looks like a human baby, and babies are cute. (note: WTF?)
Happy: A
Emotions: A
Aesthetics: B
Final grade: A
Motorola: Razr / Pebble
Happy: D
Emotion: A
Aesthetics: A
Final grade: B
Internet Calendars
He bashed all the stupid web-based calendars that have popped up lately, and bashed the ancient Yahoo Calendar. Then he brought up Airset. His litmus test for a good calendar was whether or not he could enter his flight times and info into the calendar. Airset, also has a java phone app that Joel claims doesn’t suck.
Happy: A (control)
Emotion: B
Aesthetics: C
Final: B
Contemporary web design: F
He said something along the lines of:
“All contemporary web design is ugly. Enough with the pastels and Arial! You’re all copying Google. That’s not what made Google Google. Google’s was making a statement against the portals of yore. When you copy their fonts, you’re not making a statement. So, Web site design in general gets a F.”