Some people still like shit work. They can spend an hour moving Twitter accounts to special Lists, and then at the end of it look back and say “Boy, I spent an hour doing this. I really accomplished a lot today!” You didn’t. You did shit work…
The same is true in any product. We need to get out of this idea that the act of spending time on a project means that you spent your time wisely. Sometimes you’re just wasting your time.
Zach Holman – Don’t give your users shit work
It’s no secret that I love The Hit List. The app serves as my carefully organized digital brain. Sometimes it’s the really little things that make an app fantastic.
This morning I opened it up for the first time since Friday. I had already left my apartment so I was out of WiFi range. To pull data, many other apps, including Mail and Tweetbot, prompt if you’d like to connect to WiFi.
This is a pain because it makes syncing my data a two-step process. The Hit List does it right. It recognizes that I’m on 3G with data and just syncs. No prompting. Let me figure out WiFi later.
I love this because it shows that the developer considered the fastest way to let people get their data synced and get working. When I open an app it’s because I want to do something. The sooner you let me do that the happier I’ll be with your software.
Thoughts on the occupy movement and UC Davis in particular. Great piece on the use of the human mic in the events at UC Davis yesterday. The video is fascinating. It’s just part of some great writing about what happened. Check out another take on the same video as well as an open letter to the UC Davis Chancellor.
Got out for a great hike this morning with Daniel and Leah. Hiked about 8 miles in the gorge up to Devil’s Rest. We lucked out with weather, it only started to rain when we were within shouting distance of the car.
Just got back from an 8 mile hike with Daniel and Leah. Now for an afternoon of reading and relaxing.
Marco Arment writing about Amazon’s goals with the Kindle:
I agree: it does seem like those were Amazon’s goals. They now have an inexpensive tablet that makes it extremely easy for its users to buy more from Amazon.
Note the apparent absence of goals such as “Make a great reading experience” or “Make a great portable video player”. It serves Amazon’s business goals (assuming it sells), but it doesn’t serve its customers’ goals well.
Workspace. A look inside Trent Walton’s home office set up. The adjustable desk, tabletop, and view out the windows look fantastic. I dig the small tips and tricks from posts like this. For example, the Magic Charger that Trent mentions looks great.
