http://www.neilmix.com Sun, 24 Jan 2010 02:38:28 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I've long been reticent to jump on the Applet tablet bandwagon because of a fatal flaw in the overall concept: key input. An onscreen keyboard doesn't make sense: one-finger typing is too slow and the device is too big to be held for two-thumb typing. That leaves 10-finger ... http://www.neilmix.com/2010/01/23/tablet-prediction/ Prior to this past week, I've had several theories about the fabled Apple Tablet computer (in order from least cynical to most cynical): A brilliant new product with a revolutionary keyboard input mechanism An interesting product idea waiting patiently to become technologically feasible A really cool-sounding bad product idea whose keyboard input sucks A ... http://www.neilmix.com/2009/12/27/if-the-apple-tablet-isnt-real/ I've heard the iPhone described as a computer that just happens to be a phone, and this is true from a hardware/software perspective. But how about from a consumer's perspective? While most developers undoubtedly see the iPhone's computing capability, I'd wager that "mass market" consumers see the iPhone ... http://www.neilmix.com/2009/11/23/app-or-media/ It's amazing how much the Internet has changed the software development process. There's now an entire generation of techies (including me) who were indoctrinated into the art of building software with a casual release process. Back in the old days, releasing software was anything but casual, because you'd ... http://www.neilmix.com/2009/11/20/software-on-the-shelf/ Andrew Woolridge proposes an App Store for the web. Honestly, ever since Apple opened the iPhone App Store I've wondered why every platform didn't already have its own version of the same. Trying to find software is generally a time-sucking, awful activity akin to mixing dough with a ... http://www.neilmix.com/2009/11/17/app-store-for-all-platforms/ Imagine you're the developer of a complex application with many moving parts. It's been released, and by all metrics it's a homerun: customer satisfaction is through the roof, new customers are flocking to it in droves, and the product is efficient and scaling well. But there's a bug in the ... http://www.neilmix.com/2009/11/15/solve-the-right-problem/ One thing that may not have been clear from my last post about Joe Hewitt leaving iPhone development is that I don't disapprove of his actions. Quite the opposite, really, I applaud him for showing the world his beliefs through his actions rather than his words. He describes ... http://www.neilmix.com/2009/11/12/it-takes-guts-to-do-that/ Joe Hewitt garnered some remarkable press (for a developer) today by going on record saying he quit developing Facebook for iPhone because of Apple's App Store review process. I am unimpressed. (With the article, that is -- not with Joe and his paparazzi. Damn Joe, how'd you ... http://www.neilmix.com/2009/11/11/please-stop-whining-about-app-store-review/ Apple says: we haven't rejected it. AT&T says: we had no say in it. Google says: [redacted]. What? Are you kidding me? This, my friends, is what the old folks call smoke and mirrors. Google needs to speak up quickly and explain that redaction. Here's the problem: ... http://www.neilmix.com/2009/08/22/redacted/ I've been published! A while back I wrote a chapter for the Apress book iPhone Cool Projects, and it's "on the shelves" NOW. The chapter is about, of course, streaming audio on the iPhone. It's a pretty neat book that consists of a chapter each for seven ... http://www.neilmix.com/2009/08/18/iphone-cool-projects/