TimeToCall - Good and Bad Times to Call
TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 5 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. Back to part 4 or start at part 1 first.
TimeToCall - Presenting the Clock
TimeToCall is a simple, universal iOS application I developed to help people choose the best time to call when calling internationally. This is part 4 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. Back to part 3 or start at part 1 first.
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. Back to part 2 or start at part 1 first.
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. That person is a fuddy-duddy corporate-drone Windows user dodging updates and viruses and popups while using PowerPoint for everything. And over there is the rare and exotic Blackberry holdout, spinning their nipple and clicking hopelessly on a thumb sized keyboard.
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. Read part 1 first.
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. Or maybe we have wolf genes.
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 $999.00. And if you just have to have Windows 8, Lenovo’s superb Yoga is also faster, better built, bigger and cheaper at $999.00 too (and it’s the most expensive of the bunch!).
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. You can browse to and look at an app on the web and keep browsing without having new windows getting in the way. Just download and double-click the downloaded file to install it.