While not directly about GUI design, I like John Maeda's The Laws of Simplicity. It is short enough to be read in one or two sittings but packed with ideas that make a lot of sense when presented to you in an organized manner.
He maintains a blog relating to the book concepts as well.
Bluetooth doesn't have to be "choked into 30 feet". Get a Class 1 radio for your computer and a Class 1 radio for your peripherals and enjoy greater range.
Range The operating range depends on the device class:
* Class 3 radios - have a range of up to 1 meter or 3 feet
* Class 2 radios - most commonly found in mobile devices - have a range of 10 meters or 30 feet
* Class 1 radios - used primarily in industrial use cases - have a range of 100 meters or 300 feet
One of the things I love about track-by-track downloads is that I can explore dozens of new artists every month. Sometimes I won't remember the artist name or track name. I will know that I recently purchased it and can access my recently purchased smart playlist. *That* is usability that I gladly pay a premium for.
I think it is great that Reznor is doing this and I think it is great that it is getting some visibility.
It should be noted that many electronic music artists have provided similar "full access" to their music for remix competitions in the past.
BT actually made 4 tracks available for all to tinker with.
I am truly am glad you found some music that you "really enjoyed". I hope that you will continue to support that artist. Buying their CD used isn't sending any more cash their way.
> I could have purchased that one track from iTunes for a buck,...with all sorts of restrictions on it.
What restrictions? The restriction from giving the file to everyone you know? I'll grant you the lossless argument, but I don't have any problem listening to my music that I purchased from the iTMS. You may not like iPods and you may not like iTunes. That's fine. I'm guessing you'll find your OGG files to be just as "restrictive". Aren't you limited to a subset of players that are OGG capable?
That sounds very familiar. My wife and I were in the same situation. We got to wire up our house, in the dark, using flashlights and lanterns while it poured rain outside until near midnight.
Totally offtopic. The screenshots of this software show the old, fantastic, track Voodoo People by The Prodigy. I just so happen to be toying with a mash-up betwen Voodoo People and my new, favorite, Prodigy track, Hot Ride at this very moment. Small world.
Any plans for you to know what you are talking about? Bluesnarfing is not the fault of the Bluetooth spec. It is the fault of particular implementations of it. Go tickle google and do some reading.
>Yes if you leave your bluetooth on all of the time, then yes you can have messages sent to your phone and data stolen from it.
It's nice to see that you've paid enough attention to BlueJacking and BlueSnarfing to only be able to repeat the doom and gloom that the media is spreading. If you dig a little deeper, I'm sure you'll find that BlueJacking is an annoyance at best and BlueSnarfing is only relevant to a few phones, none of which is the Verizon phone in question.
>What the hell is the point of a wireless printer?
Take a moment and consider uses of the technology outside of *your* immediate needs. Wireless printing is most useful for portable, belt-worn printers.
Who says a printer has to have a power cable? You should check out the Bluetooth enabled portable printers made by companies such as Intermec, Extech, and Zebra. They run on rechargable batteries.
Cabled printers on the go are bad. Cables break and are costly to replace. Cables get in the way, like when climbing in to a truck to get the goods you are delivering. Cables open up one more connection to get filled with dirt or water or let in electric shock.
IrDA's no good either. It requires tedious pointing of the devices, gets confused in sun light, and requires users to move clothing out of the way in cold weather (think of a belt-worn printer under a coat).
The consumer market is slowly warming to Bluetooth, but that doesn't mean no one uses it.
Slashdot Mirror
>Which of these other OSes (WinMob, Symbian, and Palm) has a bluetooth API? None, I think.
Actually, they all do.
Windows Mobile Bluetooth API
Symbian Bluetooth API
Palm Bluetooth API
While not directly about GUI design, I like John Maeda's The Laws of Simplicity. It is short enough to be read in one or two sittings but packed with ideas that make a lot of sense when presented to you in an organized manner.
He maintains a blog relating to the book concepts as well.
Bluetooth doesn't have to be "choked into 30 feet". Get a Class 1 radio for your computer and a Class 1 radio for your peripherals and enjoy greater range.
From http://www.bluetooth.com/Bluetooth/Learn/
Range
The operating range depends on the device class:
* Class 3 radios - have a range of up to 1 meter or 3 feet
* Class 2 radios - most commonly found in mobile devices - have a range of 10 meters or 30 feet
* Class 1 radios - used primarily in industrial use cases - have a range of 100 meters or 300 feet
>Spoken like a true pirate/copyright infringer.
Spoken like a true closed mind.
One of the things I love about track-by-track downloads is that I can explore dozens of new artists every month. Sometimes I won't remember the artist name or track name. I will know that I recently purchased it and can access my recently purchased smart playlist. *That* is usability that I gladly pay a premium for.
Wow, you sound cool. Do you know this guy?
I think it is great that Reznor is doing this and I think it is great that it is getting some visibility. It should be noted that many electronic music artists have provided similar "full access" to their music for remix competitions in the past. BT actually made 4 tracks available for all to tinker with.
I am truly am glad you found some music that you "really enjoyed". I hope that you will continue to support that artist. Buying their CD used isn't sending any more cash their way.
...with all sorts of restrictions on it.
> I could have purchased that one track from iTunes for a buck,
What restrictions? The restriction from giving the file to everyone you know? I'll grant you the lossless argument, but I don't have any problem listening to my music that I purchased from the iTMS. You may not like iPods and you may not like iTunes. That's fine. I'm guessing you'll find your OGG files to be just as "restrictive". Aren't you limited to a subset of players that are OGG capable?
Anonymous Coward, you are my hero. Do you mind if I fashion a gold idol in your likeness?
That sounds very familiar. My wife and I were in the same situation. We got to wire up our house, in the dark, using flashlights and lanterns while it poured rain outside until near midnight.
The S-Video is in the $19 cable that you plug in to the DVI port.A ppleStore?productLearnMore=M9267G/A
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/
And that is why I've adopted the Seinfeld way. I now say "You are so good looking" whenever anyone sneezes.
>Myself, I doubt there will be many people who will buy a $500 box to watch just one or two movies a month.
Really? I know a LOT of people that paid $300-500 for DVD players just a few years ago. Plenty of them only watch a movie every couple of weeks.
You are absolutely right. Rather than pay for an extended cab pickup, I'll just put a couch in the bed of the truck.
Totally offtopic. The screenshots of this software show the old, fantastic, track Voodoo People by The Prodigy. I just so happen to be toying with a mash-up betwen Voodoo People and my new, favorite, Prodigy track, Hot Ride at this very moment. Small world.
Any plans for you to know what you are talking about? Bluesnarfing is not the fault of the Bluetooth spec. It is the fault of particular implementations of it. Go tickle google and do some reading.
>Yes if you leave your bluetooth on all of the time, then yes you can have messages sent to your phone and data stolen from it.
It's nice to see that you've paid enough attention to BlueJacking and BlueSnarfing to only be able to repeat the doom and gloom that the media is spreading.
If you dig a little deeper, I'm sure you'll find that BlueJacking is an annoyance at best and BlueSnarfing is only relevant to a few phones, none of which is the Verizon phone in question.
With all of the talk about software, let's not forget one of the worst offenders, battery charge LEDs.
:)
"The indicator will be red while charging and turn green when charged."
Fantastic. That doesn't help me a bit
If you ever work on a charge indicator, please add a blink pattern as well.
Multi-color LEDs are evil to color blind folks.
Take a moment and consider uses of the technology outside of *your* immediate needs. Wireless printing is most useful for portable, belt-worn printers.
Who says a printer has to have a power cable? You should check out the Bluetooth enabled portable printers made by companies such as Intermec, Extech, and Zebra. They run on rechargable batteries.
Cabled printers on the go are bad. Cables break and are costly to replace. Cables get in the way, like when climbing in to a truck to get the goods you are delivering. Cables open up one more connection to get filled with dirt or water or let in electric shock.
IrDA's no good either. It requires tedious pointing of the devices, gets confused in sun light, and requires users to move clothing out of the way in cold weather (think of a belt-worn printer under a coat).
The consumer market is slowly warming to Bluetooth, but that doesn't mean no one uses it.