Recently in ob·ser·va·tion Category

My Dad always used to say shit travels downhill, and no where is this summed up better than Rynair. Or as you generally would have heard me refer to them "I hate Ryanair".

Most companies take their attitude, or their corporate DNA from the founder or the CEO. And clearly Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary hates you.

I remember seeing an interview a few years ago asking but mobile phones on planes. The reporter asked something along the lines of, "do you think allowing cell phone usage on planes would disturb other passengers". To which O'Leary replied "I don't give a fuck as long as it makes me money". And the attitude prevails in almost everything he says.

The Metro: Fears that new Google software will spy on workers

Google has been accused of putting a spy in everyone's pocket by launching software which maps the location of mobile phone users anywhere in the world

We're going to make up facts and deliberately mislead you because that way it makes an existing front page story instead of a dull tech middle of the paper story.

The internet giant is marketing its Latitude download, which is released today, as a way for friends to keep in touch or for anxious parents to keep tabs on their children.

Why wont anyone think of the kids? We tried to put in the pedophiliac angle as it's way scary even if Google doesn't mention kids anywhere on the Latitude Site

But critics fear it will evolve into a spying tool for employers who want to track their staff or suspicious partners who want to check up on their other halves.

The same critics also believe that "someone is watching them", and have a picture of a someone else on their Facebook page, and question the whole "man on the moon thing"

Simon Davies, director of human rights group Privacy International, said: 'Many people will see this as a cool technology but the reality is it will be a privacy minefield.'

"We still use fax machines here" he says, because "anything cool is really Satan's tool".

Also doesn't "privacy minefield" sound really scary.

Latitude will be available in 27 countries and will work on most mobile phones and Blackberries, although not iPhones.

I have not actually read the Latitude website properly.

Users will have to sign up to the service and they can agree to give contacts their precise location, their city or no details.

Only the most recent location is given and none of the information is stored, Google says.

I know this contradicts all my warnings about how this will destroy your life, but watch how easily I can ignore the reality to scare you.

But Mr Davies said most people would join the network only through peer pressure.

I have no friends.

Anyone who left their phone in a bar could be 'covertly opted in', he claimed.

Like that one time, I was 'covertly opted in' to 15 beers and kissed a girl and someone told my wife. That was bad.

'I would be concerned about any integrated use across Google services as their security is so poor and it's becoming the world most pervasive system,' said Mr Davies.

If I give no facts about how their security is 'so poor' I bet everyone will believe me and shake in their shoes.

I love the words "pervasive system" it makes it sound like a bad guy in a James Bond film. And we know those guys are evil.

Google has a moustache and a white cat too.

Unions said they would 'strongly oppose' any attempt to use the system as a way to track workers.

I forgot to explain what "opt-in" means to the unions.

I know google will force them to sign up, download and install this software. They are evil remember.

A spokesman for data watchdog, the information commissioner, said: 'Customers opting into the service should be made aware of how their information will be used. We will be monitoring the system closely.'

We like people to take no personal responsibility for reading about what a service does. We'll protect people from them selves you can trust us.

Also we're sorry we forgot to tell you that Yahoo! launched the same service called FireEagle ages ago but they are falling apart and no one cares. Much easier to scare people with Google.

Also Fire Eagle doesn't make sense to us. And we've never hear of Ze Frank.

But Google .. yes google is subverting your will. They control your mind.

[beep]

We interrupt this broadcast to welcome our new robot overlords.

I used to describe twitter to non-users as “Facebook status, but just that and nothing else”. But that description is not that good and doesn’t impart the real value of Twitter.

Twitter is much more than just status, as it seems to connect people emotionally. I know much more about friends of mine on Twitter than friends on Facebook. Or in real life for that matter. I know who’s having a shitty day and who’s not. Who’s in a playful mood and who’s drinking and who’s working. I don’t know who’s getting laid, but give it time.

My real life friends I have no idea what’s going on with them at all. Unless they/we call or email and everyone is too busy to do that, so I only find out when I see them, when we have plans. Which these days (wedding, beddings (kids) and buidlings (house moves)) is greatly reduced.

On the other hand shooting a few 140 character updates doesn’t take time out of the day, and once you start using twitter actually enhances the day. It enhances it because of the interaction between twitters.

It’s just this tiny little thread that shifts it from being a flat medium like facebook status to a social medium. It’s that difference that connects you to people rather than positions you as mere observer. And whilst the observation thread is nice, by itself it starts to die as it isn’t self sustaining. Where as the observation with interactivity grows and gets stronger. |t means I become a participant in my friends lives occasionally even if that participation is just Stuart getting coffee

I guess Twitter is more a small version of Facebook wall than a version of Facebook status. Of course where it really kicks Facebooks arse is where Facebook is trying to be a walled garden (come to our site come to our site come to our site) Twitter is just a node to be accessed.

I can consume and publish via the web, via IM, via text, via applications (I ♥ Twitterific), via via via via via. Which means it’s both very easy to publish, to observe and to interact with my friends on Twitter. And because it’s non time consuming (I can wack out 140 chars in a few seconds) and I can use it anywhere and any time it’s a running constant in my life.

Compare that to Facebook, which only offers an RSS feed. So when someone has something about me in their Facebook status don’t even see it. Plus because twitter has no other shit it does I only follow people I want to. Where Facebook is kinda of a storage system for people I know, people I sort of know and people who I want to sleep with.

I know lots of people bored with Facebook. Twitter on the other hand is part of my daily life.

I just wish more real friends would use it. As it really does connect people (especially busy people) socially and emotively.

Collection of adverts Facebook has hit me with over last week.

Think they’re hinting at something?

As a side note, I’ve recently thought it’s curious how most techies/geeks and the like seem to be against DRM, yet it’s something we’ve accepted and been happy with for years. We just called it shareware.

When I redesigned my site I need a graphics program. I’ve have no real design skills, but I still need to manipulate some images. I used to use ACDSee Photo Editor which came with ACDSee Photomanager. This was perfect till about version 8 or 9 when they have it too much functionality and turned it to shit and I went to mac.

I wanted something the same level for my Mac, but couldn’t find anything till recently. Photoshop/Ilustrator are too expensive, GIMP is like photoshop, but eye pokingly horrible too use and not very mac like. Please don’t comment on how great GIMP is I’d rather eat butter coated turds than use it. I can’t stand open office either. Don’t bother.

Anyway recently a raft of image/photo editing software just came out for the mac that was (potentially) just what I was looking for.

Acron, DrawIT, Pixelmator, Iris and LiveQuartz.

I’m not actually going to review any of these (I might do it later but this isn’t the purpose of this post).

What I am going to do is talk about evaluating these.

I have no problem with the concept of shareware. I have no problems with paying for software. In fact I’ll pay for just about anything under $20, and be pretty easy going up to $50. One might say I’m largely an ideal candidate for shareware.

However, like iTunes Video Rentals I think the terms of the shareware not conducive to adoption. Most shareware has most of if not all the following conditions

1. 15-30 day trial period (then mostly or totally stops working)
2. Annoyance (30s nag window)
3. Limited functionality (can’t print or save)

Now I fully understand this. We’re having the same debate at work and the need to generate revenue has to be balanced against getting users to use your products.

The problem with the above limitations is they don’t get users to use the products. And sometimes they get users to stop using the products. But mostly they just get users to evaluate the products.

What’s that I hear you say? “But we want users to evaluate our products”. Um … no you don’t. I remember reading a good article a few years ago, where someone was saying the problem with software reviews is that they are by reviews evaluating the software. So they install it, play it for a bit, write the evaluation and stop using it. Which is not the same as using it. I mean really really using it.

See the problem with a 15-30 day trial, is I normally download something, open it up. Have a look see and then shut it down. 10 days later when I open it up again, half my trial has gone and I have barely used it.

And well annoyances are annoyances, and I either get used to blindly ignoring them, or I de-install.

Take for example my blog. When the time came to use a graphics tool, DrawITs of trials was up and Acorn would put an annoyance watermark up after 15 mins, so I had to try working in 10 min goes. Eventually I paid up to discover it was half baked and so I now resent them

I think shareware developers need to look at what it takes to get passed the learning curve on their software and really be a user. On a saturday when redoing my blog I might have used Acorn for 3 hours over a 9 hour period. So instead of a 30 day evaluation, give me 30 hours. But 30 hours of actual use. Not since opening it, not sitting in the background. But actually using the tool. And hell while you are at it, double that number. Give me 60 hours.

If I’ve used your tool for 60 hours and am still using it, odds are I’ll buy it. And if I only use it for 60 hours in a year, give it to me for free. Or for $5, or $10% of the price. Because if I’m barely using your program throughout a year, even if I use it intensely for a weekend every now and then, I’m not going to pay. There are plenty of shareware apps, I would pay $5 or $10 for. But for something I ‘m going to use once I month, I’m not going to pay $50 for.

So you could be getting $5 from me. Which is not the same as losing $45, as you never were going to get it anyway.

I understand what a balance this is. We’re trying to get this right at work, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we got it wrong a few more times before we got it right. But I do know we want people using our solution over other solutions. And the best way to do this is to get people using it. Not to get people blocking it.

Do you think it’s by accident that Apple laptops and computers are all unlocked in their stores and online. Because unlike their competitors (who make less revenue per square foot of retail) they’re know that what needed to get people to buy machines is for them to play with them. Not for them to look at them. Even if people are sitting on them facebooking and hotmailling. They are using them. And thet’s what counts.