TimeToCall - The Biggest Design Decision
TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 3 in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software.
Clothes make the Man
We all know the old English proverb, “Clothes don’t make the man", declaring that we should not judge a person by their appearance. Yet we do continue to judge people, just these days it’s by their devices. That person is a Apple fanboy with their walled garden white earbud iPhone and shiny MacBook Air. That person is an open-source neck-beard with their incomprehensible 1976 vintage text editor running on a cheap ChromeBook.
TimeToCall - Building the Core
TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 2 in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software.
TimeToCall - The Effort and the Return
TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 1 in a series of posts about the thinking and work done. My goal is to share just how much effort it really does take to craft an iPhone app and ship it. I hope this series helps you to understand why it costs so much and takes so long to create beautiful software.
Time To Call - Coming Soon
“Ring Ring” … “Hmmmm Hello” … “Er Hi Mum” … “Mum” … “MUUUM” … “Do you know what the time is?” … “I know it’s after work in Sydney, but it’s 3AM here in New York” … “Yes I was sleeping” … “No, no, I’m awake now” … “Just please check the time before you call” Never know when is the best time to call people overseas? TimeToCall is coming soon for the iPhone and iPad.
Dog with a Bone
I think one thing that is unique about programmers is that we are tenacious about getting a problem solved. As tenacious as a dog with a bone to chew. It irks us when things are not perfect, but instead of ignoring it or putting up with it, we put in the time and effort to solve it. No matter how small the niggle. Maybe it’s simply because we can. Or maybe we’re anal or crazy.
Surface Pro Pricing Madness
I don’t get the pricing for Microsoft’s new Surface Pro. The basic, bottom spec unit (with no keyboard, tablet form only) is $899.00. Why would you buy it when you can get full-size iPad at $499.00, or even the top-of-the line iPad at $829.00. Why would you buy it if you specifically want a Windows 8 tablet and a Samsung Activ goes for under $699.00 (and includes the keyboard). And if you do add the keyboard for $120 (which pushes the price over $1,000) to use the Surface as a laptop, why not buy the best laptop ever made, the MacBook Air for $999.
Browser Windows on all Desktops
In Being Productive With Virtual Desktops, I talked about how I pin certain applications to certain Mission Control virtual desktops to create context specific environments. Reader “zharmany” asked what I did with the web browser, since it is needed on many of these desktops for different reasons. My needs are to have separate browser windows on Desktop 1 / Work for previews, on Desktop 3 / Mail for mail links and on Desktop 4 / Social for looking at tweeted links, so I do not pin Safari.
Sanity Saver: NoMoreiTunes
Sanity Savers are quick tips that help you stay sane when using your computer. I really don’t like it when you web browse to the App Store (iOS or Mac), it also launches iTunes or the App Store App on top. If I want to buy the app, I’ll click myself, I do not want my browsing flow to be interrupted by the launch of another application. The NoMoreiTunes Safari Extension prevents this from happening.
Being Productive with Virtual Desktops
There are a bunch of applications I always want running on my computer, such as Mail.app, OmniFocus, Billings Pro and Tweetbot, but I also do not want to be distracted by them. One option is to hide them using ⌘H on the Mac, the other way is to use virtual desktops. My goal is to create context-aware desktops where I can stay focussed on the task at hand without distractions, and to be able to switch and restore contexts instantly and predictably, that is most productive.