So. The iPad. Cool, eh?
What, you don’t like it? Think Jobs under-delivered in his keynote? Thinking your tiny Dell netbook can do all that and more, even if you have to crouch to look at the screen and glue your hands together to type?
Yeah, I know. Tablets with full 9.7 inches of ultra-sensitive touch screens are so common nowadays. I mean, these things can even play HD video without crashing their way to reboot, yeah, that’s common too. And the interface? Pssssh, I’ve seen Excel worksheets looking better than that iCal view. And all that starting from $499? Gee, what were these guys thinking.
Seriously, people, get a grip. I don’t know what kind of mystic arcana you believed Jobs would unveil in his keynote, but really, are you that close-minded to think that the iPad is common and overrated? Have you seen many tablet PCs nowadays that look and function as cool and intuitively as the iPad looked in that intro video?
And don’t get me started about the lack of Flash support; seriously, who cares1. Oh I know – Flash developers care. Look, my fellow developers, I admire your skills but seriously, seriously, don’t you ever think that maybe it’s the time to expand your skills a bit if you want to hop on the bandwagon?
Most developer complaints I’ve heard are based on the loose axis of “yeah I know I could do that and more with Cocoa, but I’m confident with my current set of skills and I don’t want to learn Objective-C”. This is wrong and you know it – this is as if PHP developers absolutely refused to dabble on Ruby & Python because they’re “happy with their current set of skills”. We’re called developers for God’s sake, don’t you think we should develop our skills every now and then?
The iPad is not made for you and me, fellow geek. It’s primarily targeted to people that are still afraid of interacting with PCs, those that don’t have a clue about drivers and web apps and Wi-Fi setup. And this is exactly the kind of people that won’t buy a Linux netbook, dear Open Source zealots – because as much as Ubuntu has made Linux user-friendly, there’s still much filling that shows between the seams.
One could argue that I’m a total iPad fangirl and everything above is the fruit of my utter fangirlism, but I assure you, I’m not that much of a fanatic cookie. I’ll probably don’t even buy the first generation iPad. But I’ve seen people getting it so wrong on the interwebs these days that I’ve collected a massive amount of ranting fume.
1 Yeah, I know Farmville fanatics, you’ll have to stick to your netbooks to sow your corn, but I don’t really care about you to be frank.
One of the newest kids on the productivity (or as all the cool kids call it, GTD) field is The Hit List, a polished task management app from PotionFactory, the mama of Voice Candy and Tangerine!.
Having used (for just a bit) a ton of task management apps, both on Windows and on Mac OS, I can tell if one of those buggers is gonna be a hit or not. And this, my friends, is a direct crossé to the jaw of procrastination.
Things? I never quite got used to it. Sounds illogical, but it never managed to fit my workflow. I didn’t like the way it handled tasks and projects and ‘areas’, plus it stayed in beta phase for too long.
OmniFocus? I would love it. If I was Merlin Mann. I’m a quite simple-minded girl and OF was just too much for me.
iGTD? Anything with “todo” somewhere in their name? You name it, I’ve tested it. Nothing worked. So I’ve settled with TaskPaper and all its simple-text, cross-platform goodness. I use it everyday for simple lists, but I wanted an application to keep track of greater projects and complex to-dos. Enter The Hit List.
It’s sexy (even in its public beta incarnation), it’s pleasant to use, it makes you wanna do things, cross them off your list and then add some more (actually, I don’t think that’s a very good side-effect, but whatever).
What I loved:
- Getting around using only the keyboard. I cannot remember myself ever learning all the shortcuts of an application, but I’ve quickly mastered THL ones. It even has a ‘game mode’, where you can move tasks around with W, A, S, D. Support for vi and emacs text shortcuts included. Quicksilver-like “Go To…” functionality. What’s not to love?
- Nested tasks. Yes, at lasts, a task is not just a single action, it’s a tree. Thank you.
- Tabbed view, so handy and card view, which lets you focus on one task alone, adding notes at will. Perfect for brainstorming.
- When you finish a task, a pleasant sound greets you. That is one of the things that makes you wanna complete more and more. Excellent work in visual and aural cues.
- The overall level of polish, given the fact that it’s still in beta (I cannot get over Things prohibiting me from dragging stuff to the sidebar).
I have heard many people comparing The Hit List to Things, but this is like comparing your sexy new girlfriend to your interesting-looking, but pyjama-wearing ex. Yes, THL is a polished task management app like Things, but fares better in almost everything in my starry eyes.
Be sure to download it and give it a go if you’re into it. And check the default Learn The Hit List project for more insight.
* If you don’t get NKOTB, jesus. I’ve gotten way old.
Because they are.
I have a black/grey Griffin Nu Form case for my iPhone 3G, bought some months ago, along with one for Stelios. Both cases are now broken, in exactly the same place: just below the top left corner.
I know I’ve never dropped the phone so far, I don’t put it in my pocket, and 90% of its idle time, the iPhone is lying around on my desk or being securely tucked in one of my bag’s pockets. I don’t treat it hard nor I remove the case often. Then why is it broken, all of a sudden?
I should add that the included screen protector is kinda thick and moves a lot around, creating little Newton rings below and making the screen very hard to read sometimes. But I digress. I could live with that if the damn case would not break so easily.
I’m not pleased with this purchase. I’d like to replace my case (I have now gone back to a simple silicone one) but I don’t know of any quality but not wallet-draining cases. Any ideas?
