Jorge Arango

I think for the most part the new iPods are yawners. Even the new “phoneless iPhone” was broadly expected. The most thrilling announcements, as far as I’m concerned, are the new device-based access to the iTunes store (is this a first?), and especially, the relationship with Starbucks.

Although I don’t think this latter initiative is going to be much of a money maker, it hints at the true potential of the iPhone/iPod Touch: location-specific, web-based services. I wrote about this back in January when the iPhones were announced; the relationship with Starbucks seems pretty close to what I’d envisioned then: the device is aware of in-store-only web services, and allows you to interact with the business via the device.

There are so many opportunities for other vendors to jump on this bandwagon! This may become an important new mechanism to deliver digital goods to consumers. It also points to a further blurring between physical and online spaces. It’ll be interesting to see how Starbucks and Apple manage the relationships between these two worlds… how will Starbucks explain this functionality in-store to their patrons? How will the device’s UI make you aware of entering an “active” physical space? What happens if two such spaces overlap? (Think: in-airport Starbucks kiosks.) Lots of potential for exploration…

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One of the new OSX Leopard features that Steve Jobs unveiled today is a unified theme for the operating system. Apple has been experimenting with app themes for a long time, and the result has been a hodgepodge of inconsistent UIs. The current Finder, for example, shares the same (butt-ugly) brushed metal theme as iCal, iChat and a smattering of other applications. iTunes and the iLife apps have another skin, and older apps – such as MS Office – have another still. They just don’t feel right. Given Apple’s focus on UX as a differentiator, it was about time the company did something about this.

Leopard has a new unified UI that seems similar to the one currently used by iTunes and the iLife apps. It is clean, sober, and – most important – consistent throughout the whole operating system. And they didn’t stop with the OS and applications: apple.com has also undergone a redesign that adopts the new UI look and feel. (They couldn’t well announce a “unified” theme for the OS while still feature the old tabbed UI theme on the site, could they?) This attention to detail is a testament to Apple’s commitment to develop and differentiate their brand through consistent design.

A side note: I’ve never seen a better online presentation of a new software app than the Leopard pages in apple.com. The screencasts, especially, seem perfectly integrated with the rest of the site, and do a great job of presenting the new features clearly.

Kudos to all involved!

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Wow, this looks very cool:

Perhaps it’s time to upgrade to a MacBook Pro. Or should I wait til Leopard comes out?

(Gracias Albrecht!)

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I have a couple of trips coming up that will keep me away from home for weeks on end. As a result, I’m looking to buy an iSight for my Powerbook so that I can better communicate with my wife and coworkers. Apple.com lists the iSight in its “Hardware” page, but the link goes to a generic “Accessories” page. (I realize this product has been discontinued in the US, so why show it in the list at all?)

So I went to Amazon, and this is what I found:

Seriously? Four hundred bucks? (There’s even one listed for $439.) A reminder: other cameras of this type are aroung $50. Is it the “beautiful” Apple design that merits such a huge premium on a discontinued product? What gives?

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The iPhone is stunning from many perspectives. It’s a paradigm-busting device: a pocket-sized, highly networked computer, with a real OS, that is usable. (Oh, and it also has a phone.)

If it functions as promised (and is successful as a product), it could open many interesting areas of exploration …

• Location-specific apps: you walk into McDonald’s, and the iPhone downloads a widget from their wireless network that lets you place your order directly and charges it to your bank account. Or: you walk into Borders and pull out your iPhone to search the store’s inventory, see your neighbors’ reviews of the books being sold, etc. (Eg. Amazon in the real world.)
• Speaking of location-specific apps: Advertising! Advertising! Advertising! With rich media, even! (Not sure I’m happy about this.)
• If it runs Bonjour (and why wouldn’t it?), there are tremendous possibilities for enabling rich social interactions (there’s a camera and a mike built in!) between iPhone users (and Mac users) in their vicinity. This blows Zune out of the water.
• Speaking of apps, the ones shown in the demos look a lot like dashboard widgets. Given that webkit is a part of the package, it’s probably safe to assume they are dashboard widgets. If so, creating apps for this thing is incredibly easy. (Let’s hope Apple makes it fairly open.)
• A real browser in a decent-sized screen: if competitors follow Apple’s lead, we no longer have to worry about providing a “mobile” version of apps.
• It could be a device that allows you to “tag your world”. (Imagine if future versions include GPS.)

  Also, it has folks talking about the advantages of good user experience design, in major media outlets even. This is good for all folks concerned about improving the bottom line via good UX!

  On another note: the UI looks stunning. It (again) raises the bar for anyone doing any type of application design, including web designers. The iPhone UI reminds me of the first Mac I ever saw (1985 or so); other PC interfaces suddenly looked like museum pieces. The iPhone does the same for all other mobile devices I’ve seen, including (perhaps) the current iPods.

  Some people are complaining about the price, but I think $500 is fair. (It’s a computer, after all. How much is an Oqo?) If this thing really has OSX running under the hood, it has the potential of changing how people interact with information, their environment, and each other, in significant ways. I want one!

  Technorati Tags: iphone, ux

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