Multiple Identities on One Small Screen

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 […]

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 […]