I'm a PC. I'll take a Windows machine over a Mac any day of the year. Yet as odd as it might sound I'm learning to love a Mac. Why? That's a separate post. Someday. Maybe.
Without further ado... Ten things I like in my new MacBook Pro.
1. It's minimalist in all aspects
Just two USB ports, just one way to delete text, simply no frivolous stuff such as funny little mid-keyboard joysticks. Pure awesomeness.
2. It's compact and powerful
The beautiful body packs a spectacular brain. Just think of the core-GHz per square inch of desk space metrics.
3. It's quiet
I can't audibly tell apart a working MacBook Pro from a sleeping one. At least at my normal background noise level.
4. It can be used as a laptop
You can actually have it on your lap and be quite productive (I think). That's because...
5. The touchpad is amazingly functional
All those nifty and highly-hyped gestures actually work and you can do amazing things with just one hand.
6. It's engineered with meticulous attention to detail
Magnetically attaching power cord, a nice little battery charge indicator on the power cord connector, a satisfying muffled thump when closing the lid are all fine final touches.
7. The user experience is fluid
Animations are well-timed, transitions are smooth.
8. No anti-virus software required
Not that you can't get some if you want to.
9. It's cool (to the touch)
Aluminium body feels great and is pleasant to deal with.
10. It's sticker-free
A typical Windows machine comes pre-configured with a wealth of stickers that tell you what's inside, what came in the box, and what-not. There are absolutely no stickers to peel off of a Mac.
I'm sure there must be other things to love a Mac for. Anyone?
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Facebook vs Google+: Sharing Models
I'd like to elaborate on why I think Google+ provides a better sharing model than whatever Facebook has.
Facebook groups are cumbersome to setup and use and generally feel like a Band-Aid patch so I'm not going to talk about them here.
Other than that Facebook's sharing model is a broadcast to all your "friends" - the folks you are connected to. This bulk communication method has two serious drawbacks. Many people, like me, don't share certain content on Facebook because they don't feel like the content is relevant to the the entirety of their friends, e.g. sharing family pictures with folks you never personally met. Many people, me for example, over-share by posting stuff not relevant to many of their friends, e.g. my friends who own an iPhone could care less about my Android updates.
With Circles Google+ strikes a balance between these extremes by letting us share content with people who most likely will be interested in it. It translates to less spam and higher engagement (comments, re-shares, +1's). In Google+ it seems plausible to have 1000+ folks in your circles and still be able to meaningfully communicate with them.
In contrast to Facebook's symmetric friends model Google+ Circles are asymmetric, which is another great way of cutting down the amount of spam coming your way. More on that later.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Bye Facebook, Hi Google+
Two days in and I'm packing up my Facebook stuff and moving over to Google+.
Even though I haven't tried some of Google+ awesome features such as Hangouts (group video chat) Circles was enough to get me going.
Google's social history is long and painful. Friend Connect, Wave, and Buzz are all high profile failed efforts. None of these "solutions" solve a particular problem.
Seeing other folks typing live in Wave was utterly cool, even mesmerizing at times, but as a service it was no match to existing tools in any particular area.
I tried hard to get the gist of Friend Connect and couldn't. Several years in I still view Friend Connect as a fancy way of subscribing to blogs in Google Reader.
Buzz was a blatant exercise of throwing stuff at the wall and seeing if it sticks. It didn't.
Meanwhile Facebook ruled the social arena. It did basic sharing right and demolished all the major competition as a side effect. It ventured into the more advanced area of targeted content sharing with its groups effort and failed miserably.
Enter Google+. With Circles Google goes after the only major Facebook weak spot - targeted content sharing. Circles are easy to grasp, easy to use, and solve a well-known major problem. Once you try it you are sold.
After day one in Google+ I was hopeful the service will take off and fly. After day two I'm confident this is going to be the case.
Goodbye Facebook, hello Google+.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Google+: First Impressions
Finally I got into Google+ and managed to play a little with its main feature - Circles. Here are my initial thoughts.
Limited Sharing Done Right
Circles are a Google attempt to solve the hard problem of targeted content sharing. From what I see it looks like Google nailed it. You add people to your circles (family, friends, coworkers, etc) then you share the news with one or more circles. It's as easy as that.
What Happens On the Other Side?
The people you share with receive your updates in the Incoming stream. When you are on the recipient side in Google+ Incoming is essentially your spam folder, which you might want to check occasionally for good stuff.
Once you add a person to a circle of yours their updates start appearing in your main stream as well as the stream for that particular circle.
Public Updates
You can share your updates with particular people, circles, groups of circles, "extended circles" defined as your circles and the circles of the people in your circles as well as with the whole world.
A public update appears on your profile, is visible to all the peeps who added you to their circles, and spams the Incoming stream of all the folks you decided to share with but who didn't put you in a circle of theirs.
You might want to make sure your public update is meaningful for an average Internet stranger whose random circle you ended up in.
Google+ For Business
The Google+ counterpart of Facebook fan pages will be available later this year. Till then we'll see a lot of unauthorized brand profiles and other ingenious use of personal Google+ profiles for business purposes. Be ready for more spam coming to your door.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Android Tablets Based on TI OMAP 4 Processor Will Have Netflix HD
It might be surprising for a person not closely following Android news that Netflix is currently not available on Android tablets. The good news is it'll change soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)