Version Three

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Earlier today, when my host, design, and content management system Squarespace unveiled an overhaul their styling & theme structure, I got the drive to scratch the redesign itch I have been feeling for quite a while.

I like to stay current with things, and after perusing their revamped styles, I could see that there was a lot more room for customization. So, I settled on the updated and re-envisioned fork of the theme I originally started with, and went to town hacking and tweaking. (I have so much more to learn about CSS).

After a few hours, here we are at techēse v3. Content is front and center. Nav is back up top, instead of being the only thing in an otherwise wasteful sidebar. Generally, everything has been cleaned up. Let me know if anything looks weird, and I’ll do my best to tweak it into submission.

Enjoy the third design of techēse as we head into its third year of existence.

¶ iOS 5.0.1

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Apple released its first update to iOS 5 today with iOS 5.0.1. This is the first public release of iOS to come as an over-the-air (OTA) update, and is also delivered as a delta (just the changes) version.

The main change in the update was to address battery life issues. It also brings multitasking gestures to the first generation iPad, and a few bug and security fixes.

It weighed in around 40 MB on both my iPhone 4 and iPad 2, and took about 10 minutes and 5 minutes to fully update, respectively.

The process was painless, quick, and fantastic. I, for one, am a fan of the OTA update process.

To update your iOS 5 device, visit Settings > General > Software Update.

¶ A Year Without Flash

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With today’s news that Adobe is killing Flash for Mobile, I thought it was a good opportunity to check in on how a year has been without Flash on my Mac.

This time last year John Gruber published his manifesto on going Flash-free on OS X, and how to cheat when necessary. I followed suit with his methods a few days later, and haven’t turned back.

I use Safari sans-Flash nearly all the time with little hindrance. The few places I tend to run into snags are movie or video game sites, Flickr videos, and the scourge of Flash-less browsers everywhere — restaurant sites. For these instances, I employ the use of Safari’s Develop menu. With the Develop menu turned on, I can simply click the menu, then select Open Page With Chrome. The page simply opens in Chrome. Boom.

I used to assign a keyboard shortcut to this menu item, but Apple decided to start including Chrome’s constantly shifting version number in the menu, which makes that practice cumbersome.

My only real annoyance with the Chrome fallback is for sites, like Flickr, that will feed HTML5 when viewing on an iPhone or iPad, but not on a Flash-less desktop browser. It seems asinine for a site to check specifically for which device you’re using when deciding to serve Flash or HTML5, instead of detecting whether or not Flash is present on the device. The site is already doing a check for Flash capability, it’s just checking the wrong aspect.

No matter what, though, running a Mac without Flash is very much achievable. I’ve been doing it. The Chrome fallback is a nice safety net, and Safari encounters far fewer problems than it did when I had Flash installed.

Until web development lessens its reliance on using Flash for video players and restaurant menus, this method works great. And remember, the less you use Flash, the more the web will become Flash-less.

Branding

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This morning Ben Brooks pushed a new design of his site, The Brooks Review. One of the most significant changes he did was to drop any form of logo or branding from the site.

He, of course, addresses this:

I just like the site without a logo weighing down the top, right or wrong, it’s really that simple.

I think it is a bold move, and definitely not something many of us would do. But think about it — the old logo is what the design was built around, and what better branding could you have than to have the design stand on its own?

On Its Way Out

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Marco Arment on the demise of Flash for mobile:

If web developers must make non-Flash implementations of everything, why bother making the Flash versions at all? This isn’t just the death of mobile Flash: it’s a confirmation from Adobe that all Flash is on its way out.

[…]

Rather than fight a losing battle for a particular runtime, Adobe can focus on what it does best: making tools for creative professionals.

Adobe Kills Flash for Mobile

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ZDNet had a pretty nice scoop last night on Adobe’s plans to cease development of Flash for mobile devices. Instead, Adobe will be refocusing their efforts on Flash.

Today, a lot of folks are saying that Steve won. However, I think Chairman Gruber nails it:

Apple didn’t win. Everybody won. Flash hasn’t been superseded in mobile by any sort of Apple technology. It’s been superseded by truly open web technologies. Dumping Flash will make Android better, it will make BlackBerrys better, it will make the entire web better. iOS users have been benefitting from this ever since day one, in June 2007.

This is big news — and good news — for mobile computing. There’s been a recent trend in web design dubbed “Mobile First”. Thinking of how Flash’s roots have been in web design, I can’t help but hope that Adobe has seen the usefulness of Flash declining and is taking a “Mobile First” strategy to dismantling Flash’s death grip on the web.

The Mac Experience

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Ben Brooks contrasted the “Mac Experience” to the ‘Mac Pro Experience”:

Here’s how I see the current Mac experience from the non-software half:

  • As few wires as possible.
  • Sits on your desk, because it is gorgeous looking.
  • Quiet.
  • Truly designed to not be touched by the user. (Caveats have been made for RAM access and the like, but for the most part these are “sealed” systems.)
  • As small as possible.

[…]

If you go through the above list of attributes you will notice that by and in large the Mac Pro goes against most of them.

  • It begs for more wires to make use of the vast amount of ports.
  • While gorgeously designed, no one in their right mind is putting it on top of their desk — it’s huge.
  • Depending on what you are doing it can sound like a sedate ceiling fan or a 747 taking off.
  • The entire side panel is easily — easily — removed allowing the user access to most all inner components of the machine. It was designed to be expanded upon from the hard drives and RAM to the PCI slots.
  • It may well be as small as it can be, but it still ain’t small.

Ben brings this up because of the recent talk of the Mac Pro’s murky future. But he makes other good points such as:

I can’t help but think that the Mac Pro offers a decidedly un-Mac-like experience for users.

And:

As I think about everything that Apple stands for with its design and goals, I can’t help but suspect that the MacBook Air is the epitome of the Mac experience as Apple sees it. Small, quick, sleek, low-price, sealed.

There’s been a stigma for a long time that Macs are only good for graphic designers and photo/video professionals. The Mac Pro is the decedent of a time when that stigma was reality. The Mac had a niche market in Apple’s dark days.

But the times have changed. The Mac is no longer a niche market for a few professionals. It has been refocused to the original Macintosh’s vision of being a computer for the rest of us.

To put this into grand perspective, the MacBook Air is very similar to the original Macintosh in that it is a sealed computer that is designed to “just work”.

Below, I have included a picture that Apple circulated a while back comparing the iMac and a Windows PC.

Clean versus Messy

Which one does the Mac Pro reminded you of? Exactly.

Apple Store App Update Brings In-Store Pickup & Self-Checkout

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Apple updated their Apple Store app to version 2.0 today. Primarily, the Apple Store app acts as a refined interface for purchasing items from Apple’s online store. It also has a nice tie-in with Apple’s retail stores, allowing you to set up Genius Bar appointments or One-to-One training.

Today’s update further strengthens that tie-in to the retail stores.

First, when you are using the app to shop for an item, you have the option to have it shipped to you (the usual method), or you can now see if the item is available for pickup at your local Apple Store. If it is, you can checkout via the app, and your purchases will be set aside and ready to pick up in about an hour.

Second, some items at Apple retail stores are now labeled for what Apple calls EasyPay — basically, self check-out. So far this is limited to accessories. Let’s say you want a Smart Cover for your iPad. You can now pick it up, launch the Apple Store app, then use your iPhone’s camera to scan the barcode. This will bring up more information about the item, and the ability to purchase it. To purchase, you simply sign in to your Apple ID, and the linked credit or debit card is charged. Finally, you can just leave the store.

This move shows Apple is placing a fair amount of trust in its customers. Certainly, theft could very well become an issue, but I am sure Apple has put some sort of process in place to minimize that.

Overall, EasyPay looks to be a way for a tech-savvy, informed customer to walk in, grab the accessory they need, pay for it, and be on their way without having to interact with staff.

I, for one, am quite excited about that.