"Jony Ive’s Icon Grid in iOS 7 is Wrong" →

Neven Mrgan:

“Jony Ive’s new “icon grid” is a guide meant to ensure that different apps’ icons look harmonious on the home screen. That’s a lofty goal. The issue of whether a grid can really accomplish that is complex; most designers think that non-block-based designs (so, not paragraphs of text, not photos, not headings) require a lot of “optical adjustment”. This is fancy talk for "tweak it so it looks right."

But whether we accept the idea of a grid or not, here’s the bigger point: no icon designer I’ve asked thinks Ive’s grid is helpful. In that sense, it’s wrong.”

Photographer Peter Belanger on Shooting for Apple →

The Verge interviews the man behind Apple's iconic product images. The Apple stuff is interesting of course, but I particularly liked this part:

“What do you photograph for fun?”

“My kids! I know that sounds boring but it’s not. I’ve been taking a photograph of them everyday since they were born. This is a great outlet for me because it’s very different than my normal work. It’s something I can do and not worry what a client or anyone else thinks. Without that pressure I can take risks and experiment. I’m the dad that shows up to baseball games with a 400mm lens. I can hear my kids say to their friends, "It’s just what my dad does — ignore him.”

'The iOS7 Power User Challenge' →

Frasier Spiers looks at the history of iOS:

“Three times in my career, Apple has shipped software that conventional wisdom said basically couldn't be done. The first was the Carbon layer of Mac OS X: most of the Mac toolbox running on a preemptively multitasking, protected memory Unix kernel. The second was Rosetta: PowerPC apps running unmodified and, for the most part, perfectly well on Intel processors.

iOS was the third. Conventional wisdom said that you couldn't possibly get a desktop OS running on a phone. Conventional wisdom said that you couldn't get rid of a user-visible filesystem. Conventional wisdom said you couldn't require all software on the platform to come through a first-party app store.

Right now, just before WWDC 2013, I think it's important to take time to appreciate exactly what iOS has achieved.”

He presents some fantastic data points, then delves into items he believes iOS should improve on for power users. Highly recommended reading, so grab a cup of coffee and go check it out.

"Very, Very Flat" →

I don't typically dabble in Apple rumors around here, but this one makes me very excited, with only a slight tinge of worry:

“According to multiple people who have either seen or have been briefed on the upcoming iOS 7, the operating system sports a redesigned user-interface that will be attractive to new iOS users, but potentially unsettling for those who are long-accustomed to the platform...”

'Delicate Balance' →

Gruber:

“The last thing Apple should do is ignore Samsung, to just sit there and take it, stoically. I think Microsoft took that stance against Apple’s “Get a Mac” campaign and it hurt them. When you’re the market leader, you do need to be more graceful, it’s harder, but you still need to fight. That’s why Pepsi will trash Coke by name, but Coke will never mention Pepsi. ”

Couldn't agree more. It's kind of hard to believe that, despite the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" campaign from only a few years ago, people thought Apple wouldn't be the type to directly respond to Samsung's recent (and popular) attack ads.

Apple is a company with plenty of fight in it, don't worry.

'Open and Shut' →

"This was the most open decision — in Wu’s sense of the word open — in the entire history of Apple Computer Inc.

And it nearly bankrupted the company."

Gruber doing excellent work, as always.

Samsung Unveils Passbook-Like "Wallet"

Dan Seifert, writing for The Verge:

"The Wallet app is designed to let users store things such as event tickets, boarding passes, membership cards, and coupons in one central location, much in the same fashion as Apple's Passbook app for iOS."

Jordan Kahn of 9to5Google:

"As for the Apple influence, aside from the look and feel of the app and icon (pictured above), the Samsung Wallet app doesn’t seem to provide any additional functionality above and beyond what Passbook already offers."

Passbook has been around for a while now, but I have yet to be impressed by it in my personal life. In fact, I think it was a pretty poor launch on Apple's part.

Say what you want about their penchant for copying Apple, but this could have been Samsung's chance to blow the competition out of the water. Sounds like they blew it.

'Why I Retired from Apple' →

Don Melton:

"What surprised me after I retired was not missing the control and authority I had, such as it was. My ego remained intact. And I didn’t feel diminished. I woke up February 18 without any minions. Of course, I woke up that morning without any obligations either."

The New 128GB iPad

An interesting thing happened today. Although we're only a few months into the iPad 4's product cycle, Apple introduced a 128GB model to the lineup this morning, which will be sold at $799 for the wifi-only model and $929 for the wifi+cellular model.

But the most interesting aspect of this isn't even the mid-cycle thing, it's the idea that Apple is pushing to reframe the iPad as a device for pros. Of course, plenty of professionals already own and use iPads for work, but Apple seems to be strongly suggesting that anyone currently using MacBooks for work should start thinking about making the switch to iPad, and soon.

And why not? A 128GB iPad combined with a keyboard case or similar accessory is certainly a compelling choice even compared to a MacBook Air. I'd wager that most people are perfectly capable of getting their work done on an iPad and have no real need for a laptop anymore. There are limitations within iOS that may keep true Power Users™ using their MacBooks even years from now, but these people are fringe cases and their numbers are ever-dwindling.

Not everyone uses nerdy stuff like Keyboard Maestro macros or TextExpander snippets or application launchers like Alfred/LaunchBar. Most people aren't writing AppleScripts to accomplish tasks. All they need is the right kind of app for a specific task, and iOS is a goldmine for things like that.

I expect the next few years to be pretty interesting, since Apple appears to be rapidly chipping away at Microsoft's iron grip on the work/productivity market.

'Keeping Safari a Secret' →

Interesting story by Don Melton, former Engineering Director of Internet Technologies at Apple:

"Not only was I tasked by Scott Forstall with building a browser and building a team to build that browser, I had to keep the whole damn project a secret. Which, by the way, really complicated the shit out of hiring most of the original team since I couldn’t tell them what they were working on until they took the job. Talk about your management challenges."

via The Loop