Cadence & Slang Chapter 4: Managing expectations:
Many designers are now considering something called goal- oriented design. Through this, designs are framed in terms of the user’s goals. We dictate the steps that users should go through to complete a task, and design from there.
A major premise behind goal-oriented design is that users don’t care about what makes technology work. When users sit down with a computer, for example, they think “I need to send an email,” not “I need to click these buttons in order to send an email.” And when users see your product, they should say “it helps me deal with this problem I have.”
Quite challenging. But a good challenge. As of this writing there are only 400 copies remaining.
Foreign developers of applications for phones didn’t give the Japanese market a second thought because of its insularity. But that is changing as the iPhone, for which tens of thousands of applications have been created, dominates Japanese smartphone sales.
How many iPhones are sold in Japan?
Apple doesn’t give iPhone sales breakdowns by country. But Japan makes up a significant chunk of the 70 million iPhones sold worldwide so far, including a record 14.1 million last quarter.
That sounds incredibly high. Nonetheless Japan is and will continue to be an important market for Apple.
Jason Bell, a UC Davis graduate student doing research on single molecule biophysics and the biochemistry of DNA repair, shares his views on the safety of TSA’s Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) at My Helical Tryst:
According to the TSA safety documents, AIT uses an 50 keV source that emits a broad spectra (see adjacent graph from here). Essentially, this means that the X-ray source used in the Rapiscan system is the same as those used for mammograms and some dental X-rays, and uses BOTH ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ X-rays. Its very disturbing that the TSA has been misleading on this point. Here is the real catch: the softer the X-ray, the more its absorbed by the body, and the higher the biologically relevant dose! This means, that this radiation is potentially worse than an a higher energy medical chest X-ray.
Softbank is offering the 3G 16GB iPad for free, that is, of course, with a new two-year contract. Engadget:
You see, there’s no built-in monthly surcharge for this one; rather than paying off your iPad over 24 months, you’re actually getting it for nothing as long as you’re kosher with forking out ¥4,725 ($56) per month for that 3G goodness.
Softbank’s promoting deal as “iPad for everybody” and starts on December 3rd.
Photograph by Menno Alberts
MacRumors: It is rumored that Apple will be launching its first retail Apple Store in The Netherlands at the Hirsch building near Leidseplein in Amsterdam. Coincidentally Apple’s corporate headquarters in the Benelux region is on the third floor at Hirsch.
Richard Branson’s Project magazine is rumored to launch tomorrow. Gizmodo:
It’ll be exciting to see just what a magazine built from the ground up for the iPad can accomplish, rather than titles that have fumbled—to varying degrees—in the process of translating dead tree content into a tablet experience. Leading the charge in the inaugural issue: that Bridges profile, a 205mph “supercar,” the search for Earth 2.0, and other stuff that just seems, well, cool.
Yes, very cool.
Sprint today officially unleashed the power of 4G – enabling fast mobile downloads, wireless video chat and turbo-charged mobile Web browsing up to 10 times faster than 3G service1 – in Los Angeles, Miami, Washington D.C., Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio.
There are 68 4G markets in the US including New York City. The San Francisco area will be doused with 4G signals starting on December 28th. Sprint 4G downloads are rated at 6Mbps. Quite fast. So far only the HTC EVO 4G and the Samsung Epic 4G smartphones can take advantage of Sprint’s 4G.
Andrew Kim on Design Fabulous regarding the Samsung Galaxy Tab:
- The perfect size for reading a book. But if reading books is your key need, get a Kindle.
- Too small for comfortable web browsing and reading magazines.
- It’s too large to carry without a bag and if you’re going to carry it in a bag, wouldn’t you want something larger?
- Some people say that the 9.7″ display is too large on the iPad. However 7″ definitely not the right size. Maybe 9″ is.
Just like Apple has stuck to 3.5 inches for all four iterations of its iPhone, I think the company will stick to 9.7 inches for its iPad for some time. I am looking forward to when Apple announces the next-generation iPad.
Apple has been the most-sued technology company since 2008, the year after the iPhone was introduced, topping Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc., according to LegalMetric Inc., a compiler of litigation data based in St. Louis.
The legal cast include outside counsels:
In addition to Bruce Sewell who joined Apple last year as the company’s general counsel and Senior VP of Legal and Government Affairs reporting directly to Steve Jobs, Apple hired Noreen Krall as in-house attorney focusing on intellectual property litigation.
Apple is squaring off this week against Nokia Oyj, the world’s largest mobile-phone maker, before the International Trade Commission. The dispute, in which each side alleges intellectual property violations, is also a precursor to Apple patent battles with Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp.
Today only, get special savings on these ipad, iPod, iPhone, and Mac accessories. And every day, get free shipping on all orders over $50.
There are some interesting deals but here are the two that I think are worth looking into. Both are 10% off.
The white color is an Apple Store exclusive and you’ll be paying a bit more for it. If you’re okay with other colors like Dark Grey, Red, or Purple you can save a bunch if you buy it at Amazon
Even with the absurdly high California sales tax this deal is slightly better than $39.99 on Amazon
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