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Original iPhone Designer Shares Thoughts on Apple's Flaws

Andrew Orr ·

Imran Chaudri—an original iPhone designer—worked on the first iPhone’s user interface, and was once director of Apple’s human interfaces group. He talked to Fast Company about his time at Apple and some of Apple’s flaws.

There are issues any time you do something unnatural, when you ask humanity to interact with machines. It’s that simple. The side effects of interfacing with machines, whether it’s knobs and dials, or clicks and taps, or swipes and gestures, are always going to be there. You have to be smart enough to be ahead of them and anticipate what they are.

Even when using the first iPhone, Mr. Chaudri knew that a feature like Do No Disturb would be important.

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Sorry Apple, the iPhone X Plus Won't Save You

Andrew Orr ·

Ewan Spence writes that the iPhone X Plus won’t save Apple. (From what?)

…the year on year growth of the iPhone family has been disappointing at best.

That line is too funny not to share. While I won’t pick Mr. Spence’s article apart Macalope-style, I will share a few thoughts. He writes that there is no «increased demand» for a bigger iPhone X model, iPhone tech is «heavily inspired by the feature set found in Android,» (Hmmm) and «the passionate supporters of Cupertino are at saturation point for new devices» (These iPhone owners disagree).

The fact of the matter is, and always has been, that the iPhone’s year-over-year growth is only disappointing if you’re a Wall Street short-term investor, of whom Tim Cook repeatedly says Apple doesn’t care about. We’ve reached Peak Smartphone, and sales simply won’t mimic the highs of the first few years of the iPhone.

Podcast

Killing the Lighting Port, Buying into Apple Watch Series 4 - ACM 477

Bryan Chaffin · · Add Comment

What would it take for Apple to ditch the Lightning port on iPhones? Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet explore the possibilities, and Bryan ends up convincing himself to buy Apple’s not-shipping-yet AirPower charging pad. They also ask themselves what it would take for them to want Apple Watch Series 4, iPhone Xs, new iPad Pros, and new MacBooks. Their conclusion? It’s going to be an expensive fall.

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Blackbird. No, Not SR-71. Uber-like Flight Sharing

John Martellaro ·

You knew it had to happen. Think Uber, but with small, private aviation aircraft. Business Insider has a fairly extensive story. «You can book a seat on a plane, not a car, with flight sharing startup Blackbird.» Some seats are as low as US$50. (Image credit: Business Insider.)

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New Zealand has the World's First Digital Teacher

Andrew Orr ·

Auckland energy company Vector partnered with AI company Soul Machines to create a digital teacher called Will.

Will’s there to teach children about energy use. Students interact with Will — essentially just a face on a screen — via their desktop, tablet, or mobile device. He teaches them about different forms of renewable energy, such solar and wind. Will can then ask the students questions about what they’ve learned to ensure the lessons stick.

Thankfully it’s not teaching an entire curriculum, because education probably doesn’t need AI teachers. Maybe in developing countries, where lack of education/teachers is a problem. But in first-world countries, we should just pay human teachers better.

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What's We're Likely to See in the 2018 iPad Pro

John Martellaro ·

At ComputerWorld, Jonny Evans writes: «… there are lots of reasons to think about Apple’s [2018] pro tablets.» And he’s right. From Face ID to loss of the headphone jack (for the sake of consistency) to thinner bezels and better performance, these improvements may well get customers in a great buying mood. Check it out.

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Visualizing a 4D Sphere in 3D Space

John Martellaro ·

For those who are fascinated by (theoretical) four-space dimensional objects, this visual tutorial explains how a 4D sphere would appear as it travels into and out of our 3D space. For more background see the Wikipedia entry for Flatland. All kinds of SciFi fun has followed.