Mark Cubin, Bullish on America (via Blog) 2 Weeks Ago via FriendFeed
About Me
"Raffy is a bit of an enigma...", so goes the report card from my Sophomore year in High School.
Hello. I'm Raffy, just another oxygen thief living in Chicago.
Not much has changed since High School, spending my time on what I enjoy, (food, travel, music, art & photography, entrepreneurship, design, hacking) and ignoring the rest. You may read a more thorough introduction if you'd like.
Imagine taking a snapshot with your camera phone, cropping it, tagging it, maybe even adding a bubble quote, then being able to send it to all your friends without using any built-in software or having to install a 3rd party app - Every piece of software you use can live elsewhere and you can jump around from tool to tool as you see fit.
This is an idea that I was getting at when I wrote The Browser is Dead. The browser is helping remove the need for software to live locally on our systems.
“The beauty of browsers, though, is that as the Web evolves, the interface stays the same. Remember when browsers were just HTTP viewers? Now browsers can run applications and display dynamic content.” - BXP (The Browser is Dead #comment-69)
It is not only that browsers have changed, but that web servers have changed. Connect-ability is more important than any specific technology or platform. What needs to happen in order for browsers to become better than an OS?
There are hundreds of little home DIY projects that homeowners need to tackle. Installing a new faucet, fixing holes in drywall, painting, the list goes on. The annoying part is not the the actual act of repair, but going to Home Depot or Menards and not knowing exactly what tools you need. Or the pain of running from corner to corner of the store trying to find what you need. Most of these jobs have a common set of tools, tools apartment dwellers often do not have.
Hardware stores could easily throw these common products into a single bag, slap on a label describing its purpose.
Browsing the internet on my blackberry via an EDGE network is slow. It’s damn slow. But I love it! It actually helps me get more done!
Because of the speed restrictions I think about and question every link I encounter. It is like the anti-stumbleupon. I am more considerate when reading articles and blogs, making them much more enjoyable.
In turn, I actually read more, gather more information in full as I am not skipping, guzzling information, hoarding it as fast as I forget it.
For most early adopters (and all Mac users), the browser is increasingly the only operating system that matters anyway. Windows isn’t really that relevant any more just because of the increasing utility of online applications like Google Docs, which competes with Microsoft Office. - Gartner Says Vista Will Collapse. And That’s Why The Yahoo Deal Must Happen
With the increasing popularity of widgets over the last few years, I honestly believed that the browser was at and end, it had hit a wall. There are even Firefox plug-ins that allow the browser to NOT act like a browser.
The problem is in the general thinking of the OS, as a platform for apps to run. By definition this is true. That’s all it is.
Why the browser is so popular is that it is a tangible interface to the internet. People got the “pamphlet” pitch back when the internet first entered the publics’ conscience.
It is going to take a young mind, someone who sees the OS as something completely different, to bring its next iteration. Not simply as a serving tray for apps.
Seth Godin points out today in a blog post entitled Why downloading Firefox is like getting into college that the act of going to college does not guarantee success, but it is rather a symptom of someone who will succeed at other things. He continues his argument with reference to Firefox users:
…if someone is using Firefox, they’re way more likely to be using other power tools online. The reasoning: In order to use Firefox, you need to be confident enough to download and use a browser that wasn’t the default when you first turned on your computer.
That’s an empowering thing to do. It isolates you as a different kind of web user.
Paul Graham relates such actions to hackers who choose to use the best tools when hacking on their own instead of the tools they are confined to use at work.
Whenever you are passionate about something you are usually willing to go out of your way to learn as much as possible, use the tools you want to, take on projects that are “beneath you” or “over your head” and even jump through hoops if it means you will succeed or get what you want. You do not see them as to-do items, but building blocks to which you climb.
What is it about places of fleet, airports, train stations, etc., that help trash novels sell through the roof?
It’s not that the customer is different, that trash novel readers can only be found at airports, but that they’re in a different state of mind. Whenever I travel I am more willing to alter my habits, even dumb myself down, to ensure my trip will be relaxing and pleasurable.
Where else are we in another state of mind, more open to suggestion?
One of the things I hate most about ordering chinese food is the plethora of plastic utensils, napkins and soy sauce and mustard packs they give you. What do I need with eight knives, five forks and one spoon? It is as if I’ve ordered for a family of ten.
It is not so much that the waste bothers me, but plastic knives and forks are worthless and ineffective. I’m at home, I have plenty of utensils.
Well, I made my first online order through GubHub.com today and to my surprise there was an option to request that no plasticware be added to my order.
Finding newly created folders is cumbersome. Finding re-named folders and files is a pain. File and keyboard actions are not carried across all tools, such as the save dialog. Files are re-associated to different apps too presumptuously. There is also a real lack of built-in file and folder actions.
These are the things I do everyday, not just once in awhile headaches.
Of course, the act of renaming filenames is fantastic.
While The Office keeps getting better and better, the pilot episode, An American Workplace, is still my favorite by far. It is pretty rare for a TV show to get things right from the start, the writers effectively define who their characters are, etc.
