A look at Apple’s recent paring back of features, refinement of the UI, and applied consistency to the iWork applications. Specifically Numbers.
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Since it's introduction in 2003, Apple’s Safari has changed a good bit over the years. It's a web browser, obviously, but it's grown to be more than that. It's actually an application for which browsing the web is the primary feature. But it's the secondary features that keep me using Safari as my main browser, and enjoy using it. Of course, all the major web browsers are now applications that allow you to browse the web as well as many other things. But what makes Safari [https://www.apple.…
When I first became interested in web design, Firefox was the browser pushing web standards forward. And as a Windows user, I was very happy to take advantage of something new and fresh. And one of the best parts of using Firefox was Firebug [https://getfirebug.com/]. This article covers basic functionality and is targeted to the novice designer/developer. This was an add-on that enhanced the browser, allowing the user to monitor and tweak the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that was used for a giv…
What a week. The WWDC keynote [https://www.apple.com/apple-events/june-2013/] generated a lot of discussion, ranting, and much hullabaloo. Whether you liked what you saw or not, there's no doubt this series of announcements was a bigger deal than the last few years have given us. iOS 7 has garnered most of the attention, for good reason. But it's Apple starting from a clean slate and because of this I'd withhold my judgement for now. I like the overall direction and look forward to diving in n…
Federico Viticci, in a response [http://www.macstories.net/links/improving-the-ios-keyboard/] to my thoughts about the iOS keyboard [https://chrisbowler.com/journal/ios-keyboard-has-room-for-improvement]: > I think the discussion on the iOS keyboard often mixes writing with editing. Personally, I believe the iOS keyboard is great for writing, because it’s just a normal keyboard, but iOS text selection is in serious need of an update, because it feels outdated. He makes a good point, if you only…
In 2011, I made the move to using iCloud full time. This change was due mostly to the fact that I no longer trusted Google with my data (or any service where the user is the currency [https://chrisbowler.com/journal/the-hand-that-feeds], not the customer). And while the change was primarily focused on Mail, Contacts and Calendars, over time I've really come to appreciate the iCloud experience in unexpected ways. I say unexpected, because even though Apple gave a lot of PR attention to some of…
I recently read a recent article (you read that right) on a 'tech news' site that waxed on about Apple growing stale. That their software is “showing its age". That was the moment my browsing session came to an end. Marco [http://www.marco.org/2012/11/07/linking-to-bullshit] and Gruber [http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/11/08/bullshit] recently had a blog-to-blog discussion about the merits — or lack of merits — of linking to this type of writing. I'll go one further; don't read it. I usual…
Kyle Baxter answers [http://tightwind.net/2012/11/the-ipad-mini/] some of the questions I've had about the iPad Mini. Initially, I had no interest in the device, preferring to wait until it was retina capable. But screen resolution aside, it's been intriguing to see so many folks — people who's opinions I trust — echo the thought that this is the best sized iPad. My question was this: is it still highly usable as a creation device? Consumption is no question; every article I read on my iPad is…