Tretakoff Musings

Apple's iOS has routinely been beat up for the user interface in the stock apps that come with the iPhone/iPad. Lately, the criticism has been on the use of "skeumorphic" design (i.e. design elements meant to resemble a real-world analog, like the use of simulated wood and green felt on Game Center or the simulated  brass casing on the compass), but lost in the noise is the real challenge: making the apps much more useful. Today, let's look at the iOS Calendar app and some of the alternative versions that may make you rethink using it. First, the standard app. Like most calendar apps, derives it's look from the classic paper DayTimer from the analog age. Decent information delivery, with the option to switch between List, Day, Week and Month views. Good separation and use of the screen real estate to display all day events vs. timed ones. A separate drawer to manage received calendar invitations. Prominent controls to go to Today, vs. whatever day you are on. ...

Thanks to the folks here who voted , I opted to expedite my Pebble experience, eschewing the Grey color I originally chose, and going for the Black. A couple of weeks later, and my wrist was wrapped with a Pebble. Voila! Thank you all for your encouragement; the results were overwhelming in favor of the going for it now. Good job, Internet! So, now that I finally have the smartwatch I have been waiting for, for a year, what do I think? I haven't worn a watch for nearly 15 years. I stopped wearing one because I have an innate sense of time (or have carried an electronic device at least that long that has a clock in it), and wearing a watch made me tense. So, I was a bit concerned that the old familiar tension would come back, but I'm happy to report it's not the case. Part of it seems to be that, since it is truly redundant as a timepiece for me, and 15 years of conditioning to look elsewhere for the time, I simply don't consider it as a tireless taskmaster (...

On the heels of today's leaked info that Yahoo is buying Tumblr for $1.1 billion comes the news that some folks think that's too little . Tumblr earned a whopping $13 million in revenue in 2012; that's right; not $30 million, not $300 million: $13 million. Essentially, they are being bought for an almost 85x of their earnings. And someone is complaining? Tumblr offers a lively photo-based blogging service...for free. It is quite active, and has a lot of users, which explains Yahoo's interest. And yes, Tumblr has burned through the cash, all $125 million of it. With 18 whole employees, and millions of users, it still couldn't generate enough revenue to hold on for more than a few more months...and Yahoo gives it a massive exit...and someone is complaining? On the heels of Facebook's completed $1 billion acquisition of Instagram (12 employees), and it's imminent $1 billion acquisition of GPS app Waze (80 employees), it's pretty clear that $1 billi...

With more and more standalone devices being replaced by your phone, it was only a matter of time for the last vestige of a 1950's relic to join the pack, the venerated and vilified bedside alarm clock. Think of it: you plug your phone in every night, and probably keep it by your bedside; why would you need a standalone chronometer? Your old landline got replace by cell; your nightly book probably by the Kindle app...time for the clock to go away, too. But which one? Now here's where the plot thickens a bit. There are literally hundreds of alarm clock apps in the App Store, not to mention the one built in to iOS. Some are free, others a nominal charge, other exorbitant. Which to choose? Well, I'm happy to share the results of my quest, but remember: your mileage may vary with your preferences. In choosing an App, I had a few criteria that I wanted the perfect app to give me: It needed to be reliable. No special requirements or settings to work; it just needs to ...

The iPhone 5 is coming to life, as I write this. I thought I'd share some impressions so far. The design: wow, is this thing light. Like half the weight of my iPhone 4. A perfect blend of light without giving a hint of cheapness: it feels milled, not produced. I opted for the black, as I always have, and I am amazed to be captivated by it. It's like looking at a grand piano on the stage of a concert hall: inky, deep, exuding class without anything other than the blend of the black, both shiny and oh so understated matte. With the Nokia 920 I was trying out, it was all about the screen, and the playful curve and color: this is all about...Apple. The helpful AT&T staff activated the phone in the store. Not necessary, but nice. However, other than knowing that it's, yes, an iPhone 5, and yes, talks to AT&T's network, it was essentially a blank slate. So, when I got home, I promptly stuck my old iPhone 4 into the cradle, synced it...and things got a little we...

Apple launched iOS6 yesterday, with it's much touted Passbook app , allowing you to aggregate your tickets, boarding basses, loyalty cards, payment cards and more. Except a funny thing happened as part of the launch: there's nothing in the app. When you fire it up, you get a nice looking description of what could be there, and an invitation to hit up the App Store to go get some apps that talk to Passbook. What apps did they launch with? Fandango, Live Nation, Lufthansa, MLB.com At Bat, Sephora to Go, Ticketmaster, and Walgreens. What this means is that, on the all-important day for Passbook to be unveiled to the world, the only people who could appreciate it happened to be flying to Germany, heading to a baseball game, concert or movie, or getting a gift card from the place that says you care so much, Walgreens. Wow. In all of the demos of Passbook, we saw United Airlines (the US' largest air carrier), Starbucks, and more. The fact that Apple didn't partner up w...

As I mentioned in my post on the iPhone 5 unveiling , I am underwhelmed by the newest iToy. I wanted innovation, and instead got evolution: good evolution, but nothing like I expected. With the recent strides made by both Android (with the release of Jelly Bean and Project Butter ) and Windows Phone (with the upcoming Windows Phone 8 ), the market finally has some real alternatives. So, much as I did with my exercise years ago when evaluating switching from my venerable Treo to the iPhone , I decided to take a look at the apps I rely upon on an every day basis and see how the competition stacked up. Before I go too deep on this, I want to point out to the iPhone fanboys that I am well aware of just about all of the new features of both the iPhone 5 and iOS6 . I'm also a certified iDevice household: in my home, there are two iPhones (both iPhone 4, not 4S, granted), an iPad, an Apple TV (which I love), a dedicated NAS for my iTunes collection, and yes, a Mac (not really used th...

The world is a'buzzing this morning with the big news: Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion . HUGE move: one of those seminal business moments that will mark a seismic shift. Hearkens back to the moment AOL bought Time Warner, or Netscape's IPO, or Google crossing the $400/share mark: all moments the landscape changed. In this case, the ramifications are many, but I want to highlight two. The first is the title of this post: this is truly the triumph of the echo over the voice. I've recently been wrestling with the perception dilemma of a feature vs. a product/company; there is a very good argument to be made that Instagram is nothing but a feature of Facebook: just a slightly better photo sharing. $1 billion is a lot to pay for a supposed feature, right? Here's where it gets interesting: there is a steady succession of companies who you could argue have taken a feature of other companies and turned it into a full product. For example, Twitter is, for all int...

A great piece on a massive sculpture, here in the Bay Area, and how the artist turns it into an ever changing lit piece with the help of an app:

I'm a big proponent of Foursquare and other location based services. Recently, many have started adding deals to their services by incorporating other companies and services. A good example? JetBlue awarding JetBlue points for checking in on Facebook to their "official" JetBlue locations at the airport. But Foursquare keeps trying, and recently they upped the ante by partnering with Groupon to feature their deals. However, they still have some work to do. For example, Foursquare will often prompt you to add "to do's" for places: essentially, bookmarks. Ok, fair enough. A while ago, I added a To-Do for a sushi place folks told me might be good. Now, at this point, Foursquare has the info: I want to go there. And, the other day, I fired up Foursquare and saw this: All good, right? I click through, and I see: Now, what, you are asking, is the problem? Well, look at the time at the top: it's 9:46 PM. Now, look at the bottom: "Must present between ...

I always try to keep myself out of the canonical debates on OS. Mac Vs. PC? I used to head up the largest Mac user group in the world, but today I prefer Windows 7. Palm Vs. Anything? I was a Palm guy, all the way, but as soon as iOS hit, I gladly jumped ship. Today, it's all about iOS vs. Android. I won't get into the debate, but suffice it to say, there are good points on both. Me, I come down on iOS, but I just picked up an Android tablet (more on that in another post), to be sure I haven't been missing out, or maybe see the other side. Through all of that, however, the best argument I have seen for using Android on your mobile phone was made by this article from Ars Technica . Someone lost their phone; it happens all the time. Sure, there's software that you can install ("apps," for those new to this arena) that, when installed before you lose it, helps you to track your phone down. What happens if you had not yet installed that software, through? Out o...

As regular readers of this blog know, I am a big fan of two things: comic books and the transition from dead tree publishing to digital. Even in my post on why I was not a big fan of the iPad , I mentioned that one area it could potentially dominate is the digital transition of comics, something that Kindles and iPhones simply cannot really capture. In the months since, ComiXology has released several versions of their digital comics app, including the "Big Two" of DC and Marvel. I have happily purchased many a comic since this way, and read them on my iPhone (and yes, it does make me yearn for the tablet size). But yet, maddeningly, the offerings consisted of a microscopic sampling of the titles published by both. Why? This month's Wired magazine answers it very well . In essence, comic book publishing is a razor-thin symbiotic affair, with the slightest threat to the retail stores having a disastrous effect that becomes a maelstrom that pulls down the whole industry t...

I love ringtones. Love using little movie clips for people who call me. Love having a specific song for particular users, making me smile as I know who's calling. I even like customizing the noises the phone makes when an SMS comes in. Just one problem with all of this. I never hear them. No, I'm not deaf. I spend most of the day either in an office, or in meetings and calls. The eruption of Alan Rickman's phenomenal quote during a conference call tends to sidetrack the conversation, so I keep the phone on mute. My carefully selected ringtones are reduced to a simple buzz, as my phone quietly vibrates, and I am left to wonder if the message is about a nearby special, or something more critical. Sigh. One of the great things about Jailbreaking is the ability to add great new functionality to the iPhone at it's core level, not just as an add-on app. Enter Vibrafications . Now, I can add a custom vibration pattern to each person, whether they text or call, so I inst...

Ok, first an apology for the lack of recent posting. Things have been absolutely skyrocketing at TownHog , so it's been hard to find the time. However, with the recent addition of Charles Barletta to the team, I'm looking forward to getting my arms around the absolute torrent of new business. Now, what you really came to hear about. It's official, I have now broken the Apple shackles. Yep, Jailbroken, and I'm not going back. Why? Well, it started with my trusty 3GS iPhone slowing down and feeling it's age. Apps were taking forever to open, mail was a crawl...in short, it was clearly time for a new iPhone. However, I have recently been feeling the frustration with the limitations of the iPhone, especially with the UI. Notifications taking the entire focus of the phone, no matter what you are doing; the psuedo multitasking, and the badges everywhere. Push notifications that sometimes work...the list goes on. It got worse when I saw the Windows Phone 7 "Metro...