Today’s a special day. Yep, it’s someone’s birthday.
And no I’m not talking about former MotoGP 125cc and current World Superstock 1000 rider Pere Tutusaus – happy birthday Tutu, by the way – No, I’m talking about my own baby VROOM MEDIA which turns one today.
It’s going to be a day like any other really – I’m in the middle of a raft of wireframing for an iPhone application for a travel company, and also doing some printwork design for CBBC, Children’s BBC. So it’s going to be a long and busy day. But that’s good. And it’s something I’m very thankful for after a year of kicking off a completely new business in somewhat tough times. Read the rest of this entry »
I could have written something on the day of the iPad launch but I couldn’t really be arsed.
I was busy, everyone was talking about it anyway, and most of the talk was either pro or anti hysteria.
My thoughts at the time haven’t really changed though, and reflecting on how things are gradually moving ahead with the iPad, I thought I should get round to writing them down…
The hype – there was a lot. Seriously. Rolling news channels, all kinds of online sites, newspapers and magazines. And offline. Someone was going to be disappointed. Lots of people actually. Mainly those who were either daft enough to expect something impossibly miraculous, or those who were cynical enough to want the launch to be an anti-climax.
Was there too much hype? Yep – certainly in terms of justifying the actual specific product as it stood on the day. HOWEVER, and it’s a very big however – I can’t help but think that in a few short years that hype *will* be felt to be justified. And everybody will have forgotten about the exact iPad on the launch day. The hype won’t be justified by what the iPad was on that day but by what it became over the following months and years.
And there’s a very good parallel / precedent.
Two in fact…
Say hello to the iPod and the iPhone…
Read the rest of this entry »
Silicon Alley Insider has some choice snippets, apparently from someone who’s actually seen the forthcoming Apple ‘tablet’ / ‘slate’ device – about one of its (many) great mysteries… what it’s Operating System is going to look like. Is it iPhone-ish? It is OSX-ish? Is it a hybrid? How do you use it? What’s the interface metaphor and control paradigm?
Well apparently the best we’re going to get for now are…
• “It’s pretty.”
• “The UI has a good bit of new sexy to it.”
• “It’s a big iPhone, but it’s not just a big iPhone.”
Helpful, eh…?
Oh, and here, if you’re interested in the device, are a few artists impressions drawn from across the interweb of what it MIGHT be like (according to the voices in their heads). Some nice bits of ideas in there, but you kind of know the real thing is still going to exceed pretty much any expectations.
Roll on the end of January.
Apple’s App Store – part of iTunes, and used for buying applications and games for the iPhone and iPod Touch, turns 1 year old, having put over 56,000 apps on its virtual shelves and had over a billion downloads.
They’re celebrating with some special download offers on their most popular apps…
