John Wang

Moving to a new OS is never an easy task. You have to get all new applications that are compatible with the new OS. You probably want to transfer all your data from the old one to the new one. And you may even need new hardware if your old one isn’t compatible with the new OS (ie. wifi cards, keyboards, webcams, etc.)

After observing some PC switchers at a local Apple Store, there are a bunch of things that I noticed bugged the average PC (Windows) user trying to switch to a Mac to no end.

1. No “Home, End, Pg Up, Pg Down” buttons. Not sure why this is, but that’s the way it was designed for better or worse.
2. No “Delete” button – ok, ok. Technically there is a “Delete” button, but to a Windows user, that translates to “Backspace.”
3. No “Insert” button – I haven’t figured this one out myself yet.
4. Tapping the trackpad does nothing! This seemed to be a big one. Especially with the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros. You have to physically press down on the trackpad to click a link in Safari. This seemed to drive some of the users nuts. Go figure.
5. No “Right-Click” button. Simple enough to understand that a PC user is used to having a 2-button trackpad. As soon as the Apple Genius told them that they needed to just press with 2 fingers, the users seemed ok. Though, still confused as to why not just put 2 buttons there.

Of course, these annoyances are easily overcome once the user has gone through the learning curve or a workshop.

Were you a switcher? What growing pains did you go through?

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As managers, team leads, project managers, and supervisors, we have a responsibility to those we lead. And most often than not, the reason we lose them is our own fault.  It’s a very hard realization to learn that you are the problem and not them. That’s not to say that there aren’t cases where they are the problem. There’s plenty of those too. From my past experience as a developer, leader, co-worker, and designer, here are the biggest reasons that I’ve seen cause either myself or another great person to leave.

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Ever since the iPhone 3G came out, I’ve been looking for the perfect Twitter iPhone app. I’ve tried Twitterific, Twinkle, Twittelator,TwitterFon, Twittervision, and Twitxr.

Some of them are actually good and have some really interesting features. Such as: attaching pictures to a tweet (Twitxr), GPS location posting and seeing if anyone is near-by (Twinkle), and searching + add to following list (Twittelator).

But all that said, I’ve found my favorite Twitter app for the iPhone in Yahoo’s oneConnect. It’s a free app and it has a nice UI that is very user friendly.

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There are some wonderful and useful free tools available for Web Designers and Developers. Here’s a small taste of some.

The Google Suite: Google has created an entire set of tools for free.

Google Docs – A great replacement or addition to Microsoft Office or an alternative to OpenOffice.

GrandCentral – This is great for freelancers abound. The greatest feature for them is the ability to automatically send calls to voicemail during specific time periods. It helps a lot when you have clients in different timezones and you’re trying to sleep.

Google Analytics – A great way to see statistics on your websites.

Google Webmaster Central – Another way to see statistics and errors on your websites.

Google App Engine – Although you’re currently limited to 3 applications, it’s a free way to play or host your Python projects on Google’s servers.

Skype – Free internet calling, also available on the Sony PSP for those who actually own a PSP mic. Supposedly, they are considering an iPhone application.

Evernote – a wonderful tool for taking screenshots, pictures, notes and having them synchronize to all your computers and even the free iPhone application. Definitely handy for having your notes everywhere.

Remember the Milk – A wonderful to-do list application. Also has a mobile version with a 15-day trial. You need to sign up for their Pro services to continue use of it afterwards.

Tada List – Another great to-do list written with Ruby on Rails.

Notepad++ – A super-powered version of Notepad. Has a massive plug-ins community base.

What tools do you use? What did I miss? Any suggestions for alternatives?

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Sight

Web Interaction started out purely visual, obviously being the sense of Sight.  This still is and will remain the most compelling and important aspect of the web. Where is Sight going?  It’s staying put on your monitors, but also going mobile. The iPhone has recently obtainted 0.87% of the web browser market. This is without having any Flash support. With the newly announced Google Android phone, T-mobile’s G-1, along with RIM’s Blackberries getting better support, the web is sure to be going mobile.

Hearing

Sound interaction of web design started well over 10 years ago with embedded midi and wav files. The main use was background music for users while browsing websites. At the time, this was very innovated, though very annoying when there was no option to turn off the background music.  Now, the use of Mp3s are primarily used on Musican websites to showcase their latest records, songs, or promote purchases.  Sound effects are also present in just about every single Motion Picture website out there. Primarily embedded in Flash for user interaction of opening doors, drawers, or anything else Flash designers can think of.  Where is Sound going?  It may go mobile, it may not. It all depends on how well Flash mobile gets adopted, if at all. The large bandwidth required is a limitation that cell phone companies don’t really want in their cell network. Remember, it’s “unlimited” data, which isn’t really “unlimited.”  Sound will not disappear, as it’s the main way for bands, musicans and the like to showcase their hard work.

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