Dad, iPhone/Apple fanboy, beginning guitarist, runner, Enterprise 2.0, collaboration/communication.Working as a Windows sysadm, with primary responsibilities towards Exchange, OCS, Sharepoint.
I think all the friggin' time, and I get way too many ideas I want to execute in real life, but either don't have the time or competency for. So I try to pick the ones I can execute, or find exciting enough that I may gain the competency to execute.
Enterprise 2.0/Social Media is definitely something I want to get more into. Not because it's hot now. But because it's useful, and has enormous potential to change how businesses do business.
I hope you find my blog, and the links I share, useful or funny. Maybe even inspiring. Who knows ?
In any case: Welcome :)
The problem, can easily be reproduced when a user logs into the 'guest' account, either on purpose or by accident, and when they log back out of the account and back into their normal one, they find that their account has been fully reset with all data wiped and lost - the account is like a brand new one. The home directory still exists under "/Users/username" but is completely empty.
Nasty, so beware !
Did you know they had one ? I didn’t. It’s located here:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Enterprise_Deployment_Guide.pdf
Nice URL to remember. More and more execs have started using iPhones, so there might be reason in reading the guide and staying ahead of them.
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During the first two weeks of its release, Snow Leopard outsold Apple's two previous operating systems by a wide margin and set a record for the Mac maker. Sales of Apple's latest OS were more than two times higher than its predecessor, Leopard, and almost four times more than Leopard's predecessor, Tiger, according to the NPD Group, which tracks retail sales, excluding online sales.
At $29 that's almost a given. Perhaps Microsoft should learn from this. Lower your prices. Sell more. Perhaps even win over some of the pirates.
Apple has a point here. They removed all the serial number crap that's always so bothersome, but set the price low enough, that there's really no benefit to downloading a pirated copy of their software.
Even their office solution and their fun pack (iLife) are priced in a way, that you actually feel you get a massive bang for your buck.
And, they have low priced family packs.
Apple may sometimes be both arrogant and hard headed. But they know how to move their stuff.
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Right, I forgot a couple of things in my previous article.
Locations
I buy music at work through iTunes. I also buy music at home, through iTunes. In fact, iTunes is the only place I buy music these days. And it's a pain having to drag music back and forth between home and work. Or rather, I bring it home from work, add it to iTunes at home, sync it to my iPhone. So, here's my suggestion: Location, location, location baby ! Add support for two locations, work and home. Makes sense too, not just for me. It would allow users to bring their iPhones back and forth, between just those two locations. Which means, you're not giving up control. You're adding flexibility, while maintaining control. End user happy :)
Streaming music from iPhone to iTunes
Very simple: Why oh why, am I not able to stream music from my iPhone, through iTunes, when it's either connected via Bluetooth, or the USB cable ? If you're not going to add syncing music from work and home, at least let us use the iPhone to stream music from, to the pc it's connected. We should be able to do that. Since the content (in this case the music specifically) is destined to live on our iPhones, why on earth are we not allowed to use it as a music library, even if it'd be a read-only one ?
Unified Purchase list
This one I so don't get. The music I buy at work, and the music I buy at home, is bought using the same iTunes account. Yet, my purchase lists at each respective location, reflects ONLY the music I bought at that location. Why is that info not tied to my account, instead of my computer ? That way I can more easily get an overview of what I bought and how much money I spent on music. This is an easy one Apple. Let's see if I come up with a Part 3 ;)
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Hey Apple, a couple of years ago, I bought this fantastic device you made. Good ol' Silverback. The monster gorilla that entered the flock, dominated, and by my counts is a winning device. It has... I wish I could say "it all". But fact is, it doesn't. I'll try to explain what I think is lacking, and what could be done about it.
Active home screen with widgets
I started out a Windows Mobile fanboy back in the day. Actually, it wasn't long after I started using those devices, that software like Facade entered the arena. Now, Windows Mobile is what it is. It's boring, stale, and nowhere near as nice an experience as iPhone. But Facade truly made it stand out. The premise was very simple: I could always just turn on the screen, and I'd have instant access to my PIM info. What would I be doing next, later, tomorrow. It was so fantastic. And when you think of it, isn't it a bit of a usability failure, that I have to press a button, swipe the screen, enter my passcode, navigate to where my calendar is, press the button ? WHY is it, that I can't just press the home button, the screen comes alive, with the info I tell it to show me ? I know widgets are soooo Nokia. But you know what ? That part, they got right. Widgets is the way to go. So here's an idea: Why don't you let iPhone developers include widgets with their apps ? And add the possibility of adding widgets to the locked screen with that ugly battery. Why would I need to see that battery status that often anyway ? What value does that provide ? Not much ! By letting the developers supply the widgets, and letting me choose which ones I'd want to see, the problem would be solved. I'd be able to show exactly the info I wanted: Next appointment. Number of unread twits. Number of unread Facebook messages. Number of unread LinkedIn messages. Number of calls I need to return. How many unread SMS/MMS/Emails I have. You get the point by now. Hell, elaborate on it, expand the app store with a widget category ! Let developers sell widgets. It would be good for business, good for the developers, and great for me as a user :) I know you won't let us run multiple applications. But let the widgets live as system services then, without any GUI. Only the possibility of fetching data, and showing it on the locked screen. This would be a MAJOR functionality upgrade. It would rock our world. It would heighten the usability of the device so... friggin'... much.
Navigation needs an overhaul
Ok. What makes the iPhone so attractive to me ? One of the things is the way I as a user can consume content. But you know what ? I have 7 friggin' pages of apps and games ! Now, if I had 7 configurable homescreens presenting me useful data (like on say... Android ? ;) ), 7 screens could possibly make sense. Why is it that I can't do something as simple as categorize my apps and games, and navigate by that ? I don't want "click folder icon, go into folder, present icons in there". Guys, you made stacks in my OS X dock. Find an easier, faster way of navigating the content of my iPhone.
Individual backup/restore of applications and their data
I love that you backup my phone. And I love that it's so easy to restore. Could you please add the possibility of restoring single applications with their data ? It's very likely (actually, this is already happening) that I buy a game, only to find out that I'm going to play it at a later time. So I play it some, decide I'm gonna return to it at a later time (so much "later" that I delete the app from my phone). When I delete that application, the only way I can restore the data, is to restore all of my phone to a certain backup, right ? I would love to see a feature that let me just restore a single app and its data. That way, when I delete an app (which I incidently do because I don't want my 8th page with icons), whatever data or game progress was achieved, wouldn't be lost.
Revise your application review process
Joe Hewitt already had some good points for you to consider. I have to say, I'm in agreement with him. The review process you have now, is unproductive, and is acting like a brake more than an incentive. C'mon, I'm pretty sure you guys would love to free up some resources in the current economic climate ? And who does it benefit ? I know, you want to have a certain (large) degree of control over the content, so your image doesn't get bruised. But you're keeping good stuff from your users, and money and business opportunities from your developers. That can't be right ? So, how about simply reviewing the apps and games with the aim of supplying it with a rating, releasing it, and let it be over and done with ?
Access to PIM data
Now, I'm not an iPhone developer myself. But as I understand it, 3rd party apps don't have access to e.g. calendar data ? At least that's the impression I get when I see how Pocket Informant is forced to to things. It can't tap into your iCal database ? Oh come on ! So, Pocket Informant has its own database because of it ? Here's a very simple idea: Let me, the user - who ultimately owns the device, uses it constantly, and owns the data - control which applications get access to which data ? So let's say I want Pocket Informant to use the iCal calendar. Why would I want to do that ? Basically, Pocket Informant kicks iCal's ass. That's why. But I don't want to maintain two calendar databases. I want the data from iCal, but the functionality of Pocket Informant. So, Pocket Informant should get access. Or whatever else PIM software I choose to buy and use. Into Settings, Enter "Access to data" menu (or something like that), "Grant access to iCal data to Application X". Bingo, done. I, the user, am now happier :) I'm not saying "go crazy, give everything an all access pass !". Let me choose.
External keyboard
This one is a bit of a longshot. Cause basically it could hurt your laptop profits. Thing is, the iPhone (especially the 3GS which I just bought) is a very capable device. After I got that, there are days I don't even turn on my iMac anymore *SIGH* ! I simply don't need to. However, when I listen to a speaker, attend a class, a meeting, and want to jot down information, the virtual keyboard is a showstopper. I understand why you won't do an iPhone with a QWERTY keyboard. And the virtual keyboard is great for a lot of things. But far from as efficient as a fullsize keyboard. Windows Mobile units had that option. An external, battery driven keyboard with a little stand to keep the device in place. Bam, you could use your smartphone/PDA to take extensive notes. Write long articles. Write a paper for school. Please include that option. It would be fantastic. It would actually rid me of a laptop. I wouldn't need it anymore in most cases. Oh the bliss ! So, thanks for reading. I really, really hope you remedy some of these lacking functionalities in the future. The iPhone is a fantastic device in many ways. But it can definitely improve. And in the end, it's all about me, the user, being able to use this device for as many tasks as possible, and have it serve as many of my device needs as possible. I hope you agree :)
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Yeah yeah, I know this probably isn't going to happen. But we're still allowed to dream. I'd buy this in a second, if the price ended up right.
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