Linked List: November 7, 2013

Thursday, 7 November 2013

Felix Salmon: ‘How Money Can Buy Happiness, Wine Edition’ ★

Felix Salmon:

I, for instance, am absolutely convinced, on an intellectual level, that the whole concept of “super-premium vodka” is basically one big marketing con. Vodka doesn’t taste of anything: that’s the whole point of it. As such the distinction between a super-premium vodka and a premium vodka is entirely one of price and branding. And yet, it works! The genius of Grey Goose was that it created a whole new category above what always used to be the high end of the vodka market — and in doing so, managed to create genuine happiness among vodka drinkers who spent billions of dollars buying up the super-premium branding. But if someone asks me what kind of vodka I’d like in my martini, I still care, a bit. And if I my drink ends up being made with, say, Tito’s, I’m going to savor it more than I would if I had no idea what vodka was being used.

What’s more, you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on first-growth Bordeaux for this to work. You just need to spend a little bit more than you normally do — enough that you consider it to be a special bottle of wine. That’s it! When you sit down and pop it open, probably with people you love, in pleasant surroundings, everything is set for a very happy outcome.

Wait, Wasn’t Twitter Supposed to Be Dead by Now? ★

An awful lot of “Twitter killers” over the years.

Apple Releases Mavericks Mail Update to Address Gmail Compatibility Issues ★

Finally.

Everpix and Everyone ★

Khoi Vinh:

First, it’s incredibly hard to build a service that unseats an incumbent as entrenched as the iPhone’s Photos app. That is essentially what Everpix was doing with its own iOS app, which looked very much like a photo browser. Worse, what Everpix was actually competing on was superior cloud storage, putting it in the same game as iCloud, which of course is also free. So it was never immediately apparent to the average consumer why one would need Everpix if one had the Photos app and iCloud. Never mind that Everpix offered a stark advantage by backing up every photo you have while iCloud only backs up the last month or so; the distinction between the two services was fuzzy for those who barely understand cloud computing to begin with. (As an aside, I personally found iCloud and Everpix to be highly complementary, but then again I think a lot about having redundant backups.)

I hate to say this, because it’s glib and ignores numerous complexities that would ensue, but: I wish Apple had acquired Everpix.

Update: One of the glib things a simple “I wish Apple had bought them” statement glosses over is that I have zero idea whatsoever whether Everpix, which worked great for me — a terrific, reliable, fast service and great apps — would work just as well, or even at all, going from tens of thousands of users to tens of millions. Could be that Apple took a look at Everpix and deemed it unfeasible for the massive scale they would need.

Another possibility is that Apple’s executives don’t see the need for something like Everpix as a part of iCloud. That’s almost outlandish though. The utility of having your entire photo library in the cloud is so obvious, and so perfectly aligned with the entire stated purpose of iCloud, that it’s unimaginable that Apple’s leadership doesn’t see it. My hope is that it’s something Apple has a team hard at work on, and simply as yet unfinished.

‘So I Could Keep All My Shit Like Papers and Notes’ ★

Erin McCarthy, writing for Mental Floss: The History of the Trapper Keeper. A seminal product from my grade school days.

Thoughts on the Google Nexus 7 From the Perspective of a Longtime iOS User ★

Richard Gaywood:

During my first few days with the device, I kept some detailed notes on what I saw that I liked, as well as what I didn’t. I present these notes now for your consideration. I’m not going to pretend that this is any sort of a review; I don’t use enough different tablets to be a capable judge. It’s just my personal take after a few days of intensive use, from the perspective of a long-term iOS loyalist.

Thoughtful piece.

The Knock Against Snowfalling ★

David Sleight, writing in A List Apart, on “Snow Fall“-style experiments in web design:

As overdue experiments in art direction and editorial design for the web, these things are important. They’re also polarizing. People either love ’em or hate ’em (or hate on them, anyway). So more than a year after it joined the common news parlance, the question remains: is “snowfalling” worth it?

The biggest knock against “Snow Fall”–style pieces is that they seem to take a lot of time and effort to produce. Now, last time I checked, plenty of things worth doing take time and effort. But let’s give this argument its due. These stories can take a lot of time and effort to produce — at first. The more attempts, the better and more robust the tools become and the smarter organizations get about building them efficiently.

To me, the biggest knock against “Snow Fall”-style designs is that they make the article harder to read. I didn’t actually read much of “Snow Fall”. I spent a lot of time on the page and was certainly impressed by the design, but as a reader I felt lost.

I’m in complete agreement with Sleight that experiments like “Snow Fall” are important. I’d rather see failed experiments than no experiments. But I think it’s essential to keep in mind that the primary purpose of any story design is for it to be read.

Andy Ihnatko Reviews the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 ★

Andy Ihnatko:

But the best features of the HDX are the ones that make it a Kindle. No other tablet — the iPad included — is so keenly tuned to the needs of content consumption.