I'm Serious.net

Concerns of a Wavering Fangirl

It's not that my relationship with Apple has been without its shaky moments before, of course. You would expect rocky patches in over a quarter century of being together. We've managed to survive Steve I, Lisa, John, Jean-Louis, and Newton. We quickly agreed to put the episode with "the luggable" behind us, never to speak of it again. And, we've agreed to disagree on the "to license or not to license" question.

The past few weeks have been a bit much, however. Apple's pre-occupation with taking out Adobe has the ring of a spurned lover on The Jerry Springer Show. It makes us who are fans of both companies feel like we're watching our best friends' marriage break up in front of us. Will we still be able to be friends with both, or will we ultimately have to pick sides?

But, there is a more pernicious worm eating it's way toward Apple's core. Censorship. 

In order to gain "shelf space" within the closed system that is iTunes, which is the only content distribution platform available for Apple devices, a developer must submit an app for review - and approval. Or rejection. The review process itself is mysterious, as are the criteria for evaluating an app. Apple's interest seemed to be in ensuring technical quality, which was great; Apple could put an app through its paces far more rigorously than a garage-based developer ever could. Everybody wins.

Then, Apple started getting interested in the content of apps. First, they were getting too many "pull my finger" submissions. Then, they announced they would not sell or rent R- or X-rated movies. Next, they started quietly eliminating apps that were already selling on iTunes, either because they contained offensive content (says who? using what standards?) or were developed using unauthorized development tools (read, Adobe tools).

This week was, for me, the pièce de résistance. Louisa Hearn reported in the Sidney Morning Herald that Ellen Degeneres had made a spoof iPhone ad wherein she lampooned her own texting inabilities. (Watch it. It's very funny. You'll think you're watching me, without the cursing.) 

Apple's corporate feelings got hurt, and they insisted that she apologize to them on air. AND SHE DID!

What kind of corporate-backed, ham-handed threats must Apple have made that would convince Ellen Degeneres both to apologize and to endorse Apple and the iPhone? What would compel Ellen to ignore her own free speech rights? Why did she feel obliged to submit to their demands?

Apple, and its astonishing CEO, Steve Jobs, continue to make masterful contributions to technology and culture. But that doesn't give them the right to squelch other corporate citizens - nor does it excuse them when they bully others who might make a joke at their expense.

Grow up, Apple. Enfant terrible just isn't cute anymore.

I'm serious,

Anne

Teach them to search...

Good "search" skills are misundersestimated, to borrow some coinage from our inestimable erstwhile president, George. W. Bush. Indeed, knowing which search engine to use for what purpose and then how to use advanced queries to find useful information can make the difference between an efficient research exercise and a frustrating, potentially unfruitful trial. 

Good search is a matter of entering the right question - or key words - into the search field. Finding the proper key words and the proper syntax for joining those words require complex language and logic skills. Effective search also requires enough knowledge of the subject matter to formulate a query that will yield the desired information. 

For the most part, Internet users gain search skills over time, through trial and error. Unless you're in library school, you are unlikely to be presented with a tutorial on search techniques. We all just kinda wing it, hoping to find the info we want, presuming it's not available if we don't find it right away.

Last Fall, Google released Search Stories Video Creator. It's a nifty little tool that they've released on YouTube that lets you create narrative around search queries to build a short (very short) movie. Enter seven queries in a sequence, indicate whether you want to search the Web, YouTube, maps, etc., then add a soundtrack - et voilå, your very own little 30-sec. movie. Here's mine (my first one, anyway):

I'm reeling from the scads of ways learning designers can embed this tool into all sorts of curricula. Give learners a topic, and have them tell a story to demonstrate content mastery.

• Tell me a story about "metamorphosis."
• Recap the story of "To Kill a Mockingbird."
• Who's got the best story about "quadratic equation?"
• Team A: your group's story is about microlending. Each team member tells a chapter of the story. Each chapter focuses on one key principle. Organize your team. Assign chapters. Tell your story.

There's even a dedicated Search Stories channel on YouTube, with some really fun (and some really not - but they're all PG-rated) examples.

I'm serious,

Anne

Balsamiq goes with everything!

Let's face it. There is a lot of tedium involved in the design of digital products. So much of the design-to-documentation workflow is filled with notating the pesky details of the user experience. Every button, every control matters, and every element must be communicated to the development team and the client in actionable ways.

For me, one of the biggest challenges is going from notebook and whiteboard to shared digital files. I'm always on the look-out for tools that will take some of the agony out of this chore. I'm especially keen to find apps that don't force me to adopt a process model or approach, but do give me enough structure and support to apply my process rigorously. Is this a pipe dream?

Maybe not. Thanks to a tip from Silke Fleischer of ATIV Software, I have discovered Mockups by Balsamiq.

Balsamiq calls Mockups a "low fidelity wire-framing tool". I think of this nifty tool as a robust engine for doing real-time, online, collaborative design mock-ups. Mockups has a great library of pre-made interface elements and controls which are all operating system-appropriate (including pretty much all mobile platforms), and what you can't find in the tool's library has likely been developed by someone in the devoted user community. It's easy and intuitive to use, although there are ample online help and tutorials. Mockups saves as an XML file! And, a single-user, multi-platform license is only $79 (although the download is free with very few restrictions).

Check these guys out - you might enjoy a splash of Balsamiq, too!

I'm serious,
Anne

Videogames and leadership

Meet Byron Reeves, Professor of Communications at Stanford University:

A transcript of Prof. Reeves' remarks is available on the WashingtonPost.com website, or here.

Seriously, thanks Byron!
Anne

Come Take My Poll

Hey everybody! I'm seriously back.

I'm still working on bringing the blog up-to-date (e.g., not all the pages have content quite yet). In the meantime...

Please come take my poll! I'm gathering initial reactions from new iPad owners/users.

I'm serious,
Anne