Linked List: March 25, 2013

Monday, 25 March 2013

Visceral Apps 

Great piece on modern UI design by Rob Foster at Mysterious Trousers:

So here’s my theory: I believe that introducing visceral elements into an app will take it past the point of just being awesome. It will make your app speak to the subconscious, built-in affinity that humans have for the physical properties I mentioned before. I believe that even if you designed the most perfect and useful app possible, that the act of adding in these visceral elements will make people love your app on an even deeper level.

I would call this designing for feel, or maybe even designing for affection.

The Management-Free Organization 

Scott Adams:

I think the manager-free model only works for a business that has high margins and depends more on creating hits than cutting costs. The videogame business fits that model, as do many Internet businesses. And in both cases entrepreneurs can hire from anywhere in the world.

So here’s my summary: Management only exists to compensate for its own poor hiring decisions.

A Review and Comparison of the Juice Pack Helium and Air for iPhone 5 

David Chartier:

I honestly don’t understand why the Helium exists. To be clear, the Helium and Air are both great, but do enough people care so much about such a small difference in size, weight, and battery to warrant two separate cases released just weeks and $20 apart? It would be more understandable if there were more space between the two, perhaps if the Air had a 2000+ mAh battery and the necessary increase in overall size. Then again, I don’t work in the battery case industry, so maybe Mophie knows something I don’t.

I had one of these for my iPhone 4 and 4S, but I’m seriously questioning if I’d ever even use one for my iPhone 5. And like Chartier, I wish they charged via Lightning rather than micro USB; I don’t want to pack the extra cable.

‘Bozos and BlackBerrys’ 

Special guest Erica Ogg, senior writer and Apple beat reporter for GigaOM, joins me on this week’s episode of my podcast, The Talk Show, to discuss Apple’s hiring of Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch; Apple’s PR department; the BBC running a story on a survey conducted by a subsidiary of Samsung’s advertising agency; Eric Schmidt still using a BlackBerry; Google Keep; and Apple’s significantly updated Podcasts app.

Brought to you by two excellent sponsors:

  • Basil — A smart cookbook for iPad.
  • Ridiculous Fishing — An iOS game about fishing with miniguns, chainsaws, and hairdryers.
So Long, Break-Even 

Horace Dediu makes the case that the iTunes Store is now a money maker for Apple.

Stanley Kubrick, ‘The Shining’, and New York City: The Filming Locations of ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ 

Scouting NY:

I can imagine that Kubrick conspiracy theorists would argue that this is all intentional, adding to the movie’s dream-like feel. That by trapping Bill in the same three recurring New York streets, it’s like he’s in a nightmare he can’t escape. I could buy that to a certain extent.

But a more practical way to look at it is that Kubrick was simply doing what every filmmaker does when shooting on a set. Film sets are limited in size, and you do everything in your power to give them scope, the sense of an outside world. Also, film sets cost money, and rather than tearing down and rebuilding, you try to use them in as many different ways as possible.