Why would I really need a tablet computer? Tuesday, March 01, 2011

I've been considering the question, "why would I or anyone really need a tablet?" for about a year now. I'd like to share my own personal experience and observations on the topic which might stand in contrast to (or incomparable isolation to) posts like this.

I'll give you the short answer: I don't need one at all but I'm not the target market.

I'm an interactive developer and designer. I own and actively use my iPhone and MacBook Pro laptop. Last year when iPad came out, I had been thinking how it would be cool to have one, because they're sexy, and they've got a couple of advantages over my iPhone and MacBook Pro:

• Instantly on
• Easier to sit in an armchair and read some blog postings, read email and write short replies
• Read digital books in bed and not cut trees down to do it (I acknowledge the pollution caused by producing the devices though, not sure which is worse in the long run)
• A bit easier because of size and weight to use on an airplane for reading and movie watching.
• Since I'm a developer, I can make apps for it.
  

For the lowest model though, at over $500 it was pretty hard to justify the expense. Basically, yeah it would be kind of nice, but I really can do all that I need and more with the devices I have now. Luckily, I ended up winning one at a conference and have had a year now to play with it and think more about the question.

I've learned that it works very well, it's is cool and no, as a consumer I really don't need it. In fact, I almost never use it, preferring instead to use my iPhone (which is always with me in my pocket) and my laptop.

Here's where I think a lot of reviewers have the wrong perspective on tablets though: If you're an avid blog reader, or especially if you yourself are a blogger, if you have an iPhone and or a laptop then you are an advanced computer user – even if you think you suck. When you think of "a lot of people", you probably imagine your peers, your coworkers, Facebook friends and maybe your siblings. That's a whole sweeping demographic, the majority of which probably doesn't really need a tablet. I agree, nurses, doctors, real estate agents and other mobile professions could probably use the tablets more than the rest. The point I'm alluding to though is that we're excluding two huge user groups that I've seen first hand THRIVE on the tablet: Children and Seniors.

I've seen first hand, my Nana and my wife's Grandfather, pick up the iPad and become proficient with reading news, emailing, and looking at family pictures within an hour. In fact, my wife's grandfather was so smitten with my iPad during a visit that for the entire week he was with us, he'd diligently plug it in to charge each night before bed so that he could resume useing it first thing in the morning. I also happen to know that he's often frustrated with his computer and that my grandmother is terrified of hers. With her tablet though, Nana loves to take it to her seniors' community center and play Scrabble and show off pictures of her grand kids. Think about it, you can't (yet) get viruses on a tablet, there aren't multiple windows to get confused with, files to rename, drag and drop, multiple file selection and all these paradigms that you and I take for granted are learned skills. And the biggest ease of use – the input device is your finger, which you're already an expert with. You've had hand-eye coordination since you were a baby. Given an easy to use operating system, tablets are very approachable compared to traditional computers.

Young children also take to the iPad very quickly. Any parent with an iPad will tell you that their kid will pick up drag and dropping shape games and animal sound games almost immediately. Do you think they're going to master all the nuances computer right away without messing something up? Here are some benefits I think most parents would agree with:

• The instant on/off is a big plus since young kids generally have short attention spans.
• It's easy to hold. You can grip the screen with one hand, and hold your kid with the other. It's easier to sit on a couch than at a computer desk, and a laptop is vulnerable to the child prying open the lid too far, or shutting it while you're trying to use it.
• A child will be able to use their finger much more easily than a mouse
• It's easier to clean an iPad than a keyboard.
  

My conclusion is that I'm sure that there are all sorts of niche uses for tablets within our own demographic. You might even find a piece of software that alone justifies the use of one for you. Without a doubt though, looking at the toddler and senior demographics, tablets are going to be widely embraced and useful. Looking forward, tablets with front-facing cameras and Skype are an awesome combo connecting these two user groups.

Faster way to install iOS .ipa apps on testing devices Monday, December 06, 2010

Note: This steps in this tutorial require OS X. I have no idea whether jailbreaking your phone will have an impact on these steps, but my devices are not jailbroken, FYI.

If you're creating apps using Flash, you'll know that a development build will produce a .ipa file. This is just an app archive. You can rename it to .zip and unzip it. Inside, you'll find the actual app – named Main.app for example.

Until today, I was only aware of one way to install the app. Drag it into iTunes then sync to my device. There were a couple problems with this. First, if I wanted to replace an app that I synced previously, I had to

1. Delete it from my iPhone
2. Go into the apps tab in iTunes (under my device, not the main Applications area of iTunes)
3. Check my app (it will be unchecked)
4. sync again (which includes waiting for all the other crap to sync like addresses, music, calendars...)

This is obviously an inferior process compared to just building and deploying with XCode. I'm not going to argue the benefits of which tools to use, I've built apps with all sorts of tools now. This article is focused on the developer who is already using Flash.

The other downside to syncing via iTunes is that I don't think I could have installed my app to a device that wasn't set up with my computer (say I borrowed a friend's device that's all set up with is own computer). I think I'd get a bunch of warnings about having to erase the device and sync from scratch to my computer. Now that's not going to work is it?

The good news is I discovered another way today to install apps to test on various devices that is faster and does not require syncing through iTunes - the devices can be set up for another user without conflict. You have to have provisioned the device as a testing or ad-hoc provisioning profile. Sorry if that's not familiar to you, it's beyond the scope of this article. Here's how you install your app:

1. Compile your app, signed with your dev profile. This creates your .ipa file.
2. Rename your .ipa file to .zip
3. Unzip the .zip (I've done steps 2 and 3 right in the OS X Finder)
4. Inside the folder that is created from unzipping, you'll find a .app file.
5. Open up XCode (You'll need the Apple Developer Tools to do this, available at the Apple Developer Portal).
6. In XCode, open up the Organizer (Window -> Organizer)
7. In the Organizer you should see your devices that you've set up in the Apple Developer Portal, listed on the left. Now you should be able to drag the .app file onto one of the devices on the left (which has to be plugged into your mac btw). That will install the app without an iTunes Sync. It will prompt you to overwrite the old version.

Lastly, I just want to mention that the latest version of FlashBuilder (currently named Burrito) will probably streamline this process. So, this will probably only apply to FlashBuilder/Flash/Flex SDK versions that are older than that.

Little ABCs now available on Android Tuesday, November 02, 2010

My new educational game, Little ABCs hit the Android Market today. To find it, visit the Android Market on your Android device, and search for "Little ABCs"

Friendly, colourful and filled with sounds and animations that little ones love, Little Apps have been created to inspire, inform and engage your toddler. Illustrations by Pete Hamblin.

FireBug and JavaScript tip and gotcha | console.info() Tuesday, October 05, 2010

If you are coding in JavaScript, and have FireBug installed into FireFox, you can print messages that are handy during development to the FireBug console.

The Tip:
You do this by adding a line like this in your JavaScript:


var x = 123;
console.info("hello world, " + x);


In the console tab in FireBug, the above will output:
hello world 123

The Gotcha
When you're not debugging anymore you should delete those console.info() statements. If you neglect to do so, beyond just leaving unnecessary overhead in your code, if FireBug is closed, your JavaScript code will actually die when it reaches the first console.info() line and fail silently.

My new iPhone/iPad game, Little ABCs now on iTunes app store

My new game, Little ABCs hit the iTunes store this week. This educational kids game is optimized for both iPhone and iPad.

Friendly, colourful and filled with sounds and animations that little ones love, Little Apps have been created to inspire, inform and engage your toddler. Illustrations by Pete Hamblin.

My new game, Concentrika now on iTunes app store Wednesday, August 04, 2010

My new game Concentrika hit the iTunes store yesterday and is selling well!

Make your work day mornings a little easier with OS X and Automator Monday, July 19, 2010

When I find myself doing anything repetitive, I usually question whether there is a way to automate in order to save time and get onto more interesting things.

I generally find these days, that computers are awesome for what you pay for them. That has led me to be less accepting of waiting for computers to complete a task. A few people have called me a power user. I think they just mean I'm pretty quick to get around my computer and my programs because I've learned and use as many keyboard shortcuts as possible and generally use efficient techniques to be more productive and less bored! Here's something new I started doing recently to save time and I love it. Here's what I found was happening every morning:

I get in, I turn on my computer, I wait for it to start up, I log in (from the OS X users screen), I wait for my dock to show up, then I start opening all the programs I'll need for the job I'm working on. For one job that might include, Email, Flash Builder, Adium, Skype, Things, and Flash CS5. For another job it might include Titanium, Coda, Adium, Skype and Photoshop. Sometimes after clicking one or two apps, the dock becomes unresponsive for a time so I have to wait a bit before I can click the next app. Multiply this by the number of apps and you have some annoying wait time between app launching plus the app launch time itself. Wouldn't it be better to go grab a coffee, fill up your BPA-free water bottle or go to the bathroom?

Solution: Use Automator to create a job launcher.

Create a folder called "job launchers", drag that folder into your dock. Right click it and select Display as Stack. Open Automator (use spotlight to search for it). Search in Automator's spotlight field for 'launch'. Drag the item in the middle column, 'Launch Application' to the right. Choose your app from the list. If it doesn't appear, choose Other and go find it. Drag another item below the first and repeat. For some reason Automator gets stuck when it launches Flash Builder (Eclipse), so I just make that the last app to launch in my list. Save this workflow inside the job launchers folder you created as an Application (not workflow). You might want to name it after the job or type of job you're working on, such as Flash application.

In the future, if you ever want to modify your app launch list, drag the application from the Finder (not the dock onto the Automator icon).

Now, click the job launchers folder in your dock. The job app should appear with an Automator icon. When you click it, it should launch all of the applications in your list while.

Remember a watched pot never boils so go and take a break while your computer does your first task of the day for you!

We’re in The Future | A Perspective on Living with Technology Monday, March 29, 2010

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