Reviews
The retina display and the subtleties of Helvetica Neue
From John Gruber’s iPhone 4 review:
It’s a subtle change, but Apple has changed the system font for the iPhone 4, from Helvetica to Helvetica Neue. The change is specific to the iPhone 4 hardware (or more specifically, the Retina Display), not iOS 4. On older iPhone hardware, iOS 4 still uses Helvetica as the system font.
I’ve had a hard time aliasing this typeface at small sizes with any real quality. While it looks great in large sizes or in print, both on my Macbook Pro and 3G iPhone, the type is fuzzy at 14 point or smaller. (I suspect this is due to font hinting) Not surprisingly, it renders very cleanly on the retina display.
This kind of attention to detail is just one example of what separates Apple from the other manufacturers who clearly couldn’t care less about this stuff.
Draft
37signals announces ‘Draft,’ a simple iPad application for sketching up wireframes and sharing via Campfire.
This move seems like it’s less about the product and more about pimping their software development opinions. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. For the record, I don’t have a problem with the $9.99 price tag either.
(Aside: A lot of people are complaining that it’s too expensive. They also just broke into the Top 100. So, you decide if it’s too expensive.)
I’ve always agreed with their minimalist approach. It’s like YAGNI on steroids. Sharpie markers, bold strokes, forget the nitty-gritty details… all great advice.
But, it feels like they’ve intentionally taken this to the extreme. Basecamp is great because they left out features that would get in the way. In Draft, it’s as if they did this because it’s cool to leave out features, rather than useful.
On another note, the attitude in Jason’s comment irks me:
We might add yellow to version 2.0 in 2012.
Kinda witty and funny, in a blunt and rude way. It was a rather condescending response to a comment left by someone praising the app they just publicly purchased.
Just bought the app. Love the simplicity, and posting to Campfire makes it valuable. If the goal isn’t to add features… is version 1 the final version?
We run our business on Basecamp and Highrise, and wouldn’t change that for the world. I never thought I’d see the day where Adobe creates a better user interface than 37signals.
Recommended Reading
Thanks to Søren for pointing out Jason Santa Maria’s list of recommended design books. There are some great finds in here that I haven’t previously read. It’s definitely worth checking out.
Amazon Previews it’s Kindle for iPad app
Today Amazon announced it’s iPad application. I was disappointed by last weeks release of the Kindle for Mac application, but it’s clear Amazon has focused their Apple developers on the iPad app. It looks quite polished.
I’ve been rather vocal about my love for the Kindle since the day it came out. It’s one of the best gadgets I’ve ever owned.
The iPad version looks like it contains all of the major features of the Kindle hardware.
How to pace yourself through laborious books.
I read books for two reasons: for entertainment or to learn something new. Occasionally, I’m fortunate to get both from a single book.
ReadMore, the new iPhone application from Navel-Labs helps you get through those books you need to read, but your mind refuses to concentrate on.
The premise is simple. Track your reading and gauge your progress. The application estimates the number of sessions it will take you to finish reading and about how much time that will take.
My Favorite Pomodoro Timers
The Pomodoro Technique is a simple system for helping you stay focused throughout the work day.
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that can be used for any kind of task. For many people, time is an enemy. The anxiety triggered by “the ticking clock”, especially when a deadline is involved, leads to ineffective work and study habits which in turn lead to procrastination.
The aim of the Pomodoro Technique is to use time as a valuable ally in accomplishing what we want to do in the way we want to do it, and to enable us to continually improve the way we work or study.
Paper Prototyping vs. Balsamiq Mockups
Our process of designing mockups directly influences the quality of our finished design. Great design isn’t just in pixels and colors, it is also in the interaction design. We can’t design graphically until we have designed and tested wireframes.
Paper Prototyping with Paper and Marker
My design tools are primitive. They include a stack of paper, a Sharpie marker, and a wastebasket. Sketching wireframes on paper is very fast. It takes only a few seconds, and the result is always disposable. Drawing and trashing concepts is the interaction designers way of brainstorming for ideas.
Review: Easy PHP Websites with the Zend Framework
About 6 months ago a good friend of mine, Jason Gilmore, came to visit and brought along his new book Easy PHP Websites with the Zend Framework. He’s the author of the already bestselling Beginning PHP and MySQL on the Apress label.
His new book doesn’t disappoint. It’s an easy read and has easy to follow examples. At around 300 pages, it’s easily digested.
The book is a great introduction to the Zend Framework and walks you through building simple database applications, Facebook applications, applications which integrate with web services such as Amazon Web Services, Google Maps and others.
You can buy the book from his website, or Amazon.com.
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