Linked List: July 2, 2007

Monday, 2 July 2007

Belkin Headphone Adapter for iPhone ★

Looks ugly. The one from Griffin looks good, but isn’t available yet. (Me, I’m happy with the standard iPhone earbuds — and I love the combination mic/button.)

Old Meets New ★

Michael Tsai:

The iPhone User’s Guide contains lots of interesting information about the iPhone. But the most interesting thing, to me, is that the document was created on a Mac using Adobe FrameMaker 6. This version of FrameMaker was released in 2000 and ran under Mac OS 8 and 9.

Tog on the iPhone ★

Bruce Tognazzini:

The iPhone really is a study in “delight.” It really is wonderful that, in an industry rife with companies striving for mediocrity, one company is still doing things right. Those of us who flocked to Apple in the beginning did so not to build computers, but to change the world. Apple is once again doing just that.

(I disagree with Tog’s suggestion that there should be one universal “inbox” that shows all incoming messages together: email, SMS, and voicemail. I think that view is the Home screen, which lists the unread counts for all three.)

A Sort of Homecoming ★

John Siracusa on joining Macworld’s rotation for the new back-page Spotlight column:

Before the web, MacUser, Macworld, and MacWeek were the entire Mac universe to me. I’m not sure Mac fans born in the Internet age can ever understand what that was really like, so thoroughly has the vast and varied Mac web supplanted (and in many ways, surpassed) those print publications. But there was something magical about that time, before Windows 95, before the dark times… before the Empire. By writing for Macworld, the last of the big three still in print, I feel like I’ve completed some kind of cosmic circle. I’m thankful for the opportunity, and I hope to do it again.

Dead Man Walking? ★

Warm wishes and good thoughts to Derek K. Miller.

From his next-day follow-up:

These bodies of ours are fragile things, and amazing things. Here’s to keeping my jalopy running for awhile yet.

Yes, here’s to that.

Soft on Crime ★

The Times editorial board nails it:

Presidents have the power to grant clemency and pardons. But in this case, Mr. Bush did not sound like a leader making tough decisions about justice. He sounded like a man worried about what a former loyalist might say when actually staring into a prison cell.

Brier Dudley, Another Poor Baby Who Didn’t Get a Free iPhone ★

Brier Dudley:

Apple’s smug attitude will keep a lot of people from even considering this device. Individuals I’ve dealt with at the company seem very nice, but the institution exudes a better-than-you attitude that I find repelling.

What the fuck is he talking about?

I’m not bitter that Apple gave iPhones to Walt Mossberg and David Pogue first, but I am amazed that Apple gets a pass for its attitude and controlling behavior.

Oh, I see what he’s talking about. They didn’t send a test unit to The Seattle Times.

Bush Commutes Libby’s Prison Sentence ★

The New York Times:

President Bush said today that he had used his power of clemency to commute the 30-month sentence for I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, who was convicted of perjury in March and was due to begin serving his time within weeks.

Appalling, but not the least bit surprising. It’s not like Bush has to worry about a low approval rating.

James Duncan Davidson: My iPhone Lists ★

Another great list of kudos and wishes. Between Duncan and Steven Frank, many of the things I’ve noticed since publishing my initial review are covered.

Beyond Sweet ★

Very thoughtful essay by Craig Hockenberry on what the iPhone does for the state-of-the-art in UI design.

Ta-da List for iPhone ★

Very nice iPhone-optimized version of 37signals’s simple list-making app. The iPhone version is just an optimized front-end — it shares the same lists as the regular web version. (My only quibble is the use of black as a background color; black is so perfectly black on the iPhone display that it looks like the screen has shrunk.)

iPhone Screen vs. Microtech Knife ★

Seriously scratch resistant.

The Official stevenf iPhone Review ★

From a man who knows his handheld gadgets.

Kwik-E-Mart ★

Flickr photoset of a 7-11 dressed up as a Kwik-E-Mart as a promotion for The Simpsons movie. I love that they stocked the shelves with Simpsonsverse products.

Edward Tufte: Megan Jaegerman’s Brilliant News Graphics ★

Edward Tufte on news designer Megan Jaegerman:

Her work is elegant, smart, finely detailed, inventive, and informative. A fierce researcher and reporter, she writes gracefully and precisely. Her best work is the best work in news graphics.

With terrific examples from her work for The New York Times. (Via Kottke.)

iPhone Opening Weekend Sales ★

Bloomberg:

Shoppers may have bought as many as 700,000 units over the weekend, Goldman Sachs Inc. analyst David Bailey said, twice his projection of 350,000. Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster pegged sales at about 500,000, more than twice his original 200,000 estimate.

Rival Manufacturers Chasing the iPhone ★

New York Times story on the Korean and Japanese electronics companies’ reactions to the iPhone:

Cellphones in these technology-saturated countries can already play digital songs and video games and receive satellite television. But now that analysts and industry executives are getting their first good look at the iPhone, many here are concerned that Asian manufacturers may have underestimated the Apple threat.

I.e. these companies compared their offerings to the iPhone based on a checklist — email, web, music, video; check, check, check, check — but they’re totally screwed on the actual experience.