I’m in the middle of integrating a new email address/address book/VPN/etc. into my various computing devices, and am realizing more than I did before how much the screen size of my iPhone affects how I […]
Category: Usability
Blackmailed Into Evernote Premium
I upgraded to Evernote premium yesterday, with very mixed emotions, but I really had no choice. Because I was blackmailed. By a good business model paired with software that does some very cool things in […]
Brilliant Technology Doesn’t Make Us Feel Stupid
I spent yesterday organizing and digitizing parts of my overflowing collection of analog media I’ve collected over the years. And I came face-to-face with many of the sad side-effects of technology-gone-wrong. Contained in those human-computer […]
The App That Won’t go Away
Apple’s prowess at making technology easy-to-use is unparalleled, but there are some areas where their products don’t live up to the smoothness we expect. For me, iTunes is one of those areas. I had tired […]
Starbucks App Critique, Part 3—Drink Builder
What I think should be the coolest feature of the Starbucks App is the most frustrating for me, and I’m guessing is also the least-used part of the program. It starts off extremely well, with […]
Starbucks App Critique, Part 2
Spending a little bit more quality time with the Starbucks App, I find other aspects of even more frustrating than those I mentioned in the previous post. The first problem I had is part bug […]
Starbucks Complicates iPhone App
I love coffee. I love my favorite Starbucks even more. A nice comfy leather couch with an AC outlet 6″ away, almost-decent Wi-Fi, an oven to heat up lots of delicious things, and one of […]
How not to Design a Library Book-Return Robot
I’m a geek, and I love technology—especially anything that automates boring, repetitive tasks. So I should be a huge fan of the barcode-scanner wielding, German-engineered book-return robot that the Foster City library installed a few […]
The Disappearing Clue
This morning’s software frustration: I entered an address into Google, and it popped up a text bubble that asked if I wanted to share my location, along with a “tell me more” link. Clicking on […]
Smart Phone, Dumb Software
I’ve got my iPhone out, and the Starbucks app loading, ready to “pay” for my refill, when the phone rings. A true smartphone wouldn’t hide this app completely, and then make me relaunch it after […]