chrishitchcock.com

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Posts tagged iphone

Oct 4
On the latest episode of Build & Analyze, Marco and Dan discussed the rumor that Apple may be canceling the iPod classic during the special event that is going on today. This got me thinking about the iPod icon on my iPhone.  How long is that icon going to stick around?  The iPod classic is the only iPod that the icon still bares a resemblance to (rectangle screen with scroll wheel below it).  If the iPod classic is discontinued, then that icon quickly becomes something like the floppy disk toolbar icon that is used to save files in applications like Excel.  It will start to look a bit dated.  The mental connection between “rectangle screen with scroll wheel below it” and “play Lady Gaga” will be less clear to people who never used/saw an old iPod. The iPod touch has always split the iPod app functionality into a Music app and a Video app.  I haven’t played around with the iOS 5 betas, but maybe Apple has done the same thing with the iPod app on the iPhone.  

On the latest episode of Build & Analyze, Marco and Dan discussed the rumor that Apple may be canceling the iPod classic during the special event that is going on today.

This got me thinking about the iPod icon on my iPhone.  How long is that icon going to stick around?  The iPod classic is the only iPod that the icon still bares a resemblance to (rectangle screen with scroll wheel below it).  If the iPod classic is discontinued, then that icon quickly becomes something like the floppy disk toolbar icon that is used to save files in applications like Excel.  It will start to look a bit dated.  The mental connection between “rectangle screen with scroll wheel below it” and “play Lady Gaga” will be less clear to people who never used/saw an old iPod.

The iPod touch has always split the iPod app functionality into a Music app and a Video app.  I haven’t played around with the iOS 5 betas, but maybe Apple has done the same thing with the iPod app on the iPhone.  
Posted at 10:02 AM 2 notes Tagged: ipod classicipodiphoneiosbuild & analyze5by5.tv

Jun 1
Colorado Mountains in the Morning: Before our trip out to Crested Butte, I saw a link on Daring Fireball to an iPhone camera app called Plastic Bullet (iTunes). This was the first of the varied iPhone camera apps I’ve messed around with. I took this shot while I was on an early morning run. I thought the effect in this photo turned out pretty cool.

Colorado Mountains in the Morning:

Before our trip out to Crested Butte, I saw a link on Daring Fireball to an iPhone camera app called Plastic Bullet (iTunes). This was the first of the varied iPhone camera apps I’ve messed around with.

I took this shot while I was on an early morning run. I thought the effect in this photo turned out pretty cool.
Posted at 12:20 PM Tagged: iphoneplastic bulletCrested ButteColorado

Feb 25

A year in the life of an iPhone Developer

I saw this post on Hacker News today about an iPhone developer waiting on Apple to approve his latest app.  The first App he created was rejected by Apple after eight months, so he is a bit unsure of what to expect with his newest creation (a Boy Scout merit badge app).

I clicked around to see what other entries were on his blog and saw that he has only posted five entries.  The timeline they describe is an interesting snapshot of his life as an iPhone developer:

  1. I’m an iPhone Developer (3/13/2009) — In this blog entry you see the developer’s hopes and dreams for what is to come and the milestones he can’t wait to hit.
  2. I’ve submitted my first application (3/17/2009) — His “Ask Obama” app is submitted to Apple for approval.  His brother ridicules his love for Apple, but the developer soldiers on.
  3. The Waiting Game… (3/20/2009) — He is still waiting after a week to see if his app will be approved.  He also links to a story about $600,000 being spent to build an app.  He is glad he only spent $1000 so far (mostly on a MacBook and an iPhone).
  4. And the Verdict Is… (12/4/2009) — The developer finally gets word that his app is rejected because it shows political content, which is verboten outside of educational uses.  It is a shame it took Apple this long to get back to him.
  5. I’m doing it again (2/25/2010) — Finally, almost a year after the blog was started, the developer is going at it again with his merit badge app.

Seeing the arc of excitement, pride, anguish, disappointment, and finally a sense of tentative excitement laid out like that was really interesting.  I admire his desire to stick to the path he started out on.  I wouldn’t have much desire to do another app if Apple didn’t bother to get back to me within eight months.

Posted at 11:22 AM Tagged: iphonedevelopment

Jan 29

HyperCard

Wouldn’t it be great if Apple came out with something like HyperCard for the iPhone/iPad they would let people put together simple apps?

I envision the designer program actually running on the iPad letting you make simple apps that you can pass around to friends.  It would be nice if the apps could target either the iPad or the iPhone.  These new HyperCard apps should probably bypass the AppStore so that the store doesn’t get filled with a bunch of recipe databases.

I killed a lot of time as a kid messing around with HyperCard.  It would be cool if another generation got a chance as well.

Posted at 10:54 AM Tagged: ipadiphoneprogrammingHyperCard