Extra Future

Hi, I’m Phil Nelson, a writer, developer, and audio-visual maker of stuff. I have been making stuff online for over 25 years. I run RetroStrange and Set Side B. Good to see you.

Blog Archives

Tag: apple

  • The Evolution of the YouTube Progress Bar (2005-2025)

    Over on Kottke there’s a fun visual history of the YouTube progress bar. From the comments: the design evolution of iTunes.

  • Apple pulls ICEBlock from the App Store

    If we can’t trust Apple to stand up when the stakes are low, how can we trust them to stand up when the stakes are high?

  • All 54 lost clickwheel iPod games have now been preserved for posterity

    Kyle Orland for Ars Technica. Real Soccer 2009 was the last one, and was described as “especially cursed,” by the preservationists. Check out the GitHub repo for all the games before Apple takes it down.

  • iOS 11 has a ‘cop button’ to temporarily disable Touch ID

    Now that’s what I call usability.

  • DuckDuckGo to be included as default search option in Safari on iOS and OS X

    Straight from the Apple’s mouth. It’s already in the Safari betas! This is great news. I’ve been using DuckDuckGo as my search provider for awhile now, and their new design is the bees knees.

    Unlike some other search engines they aren’t in the business of selling your personal data.

  • Dear Samsung Senior Vice President of Product Development and Marketing Kevin Packingham

    Kevin,

    You recently declared “[consumers want rectangles][con].” and I’m glad you finally figured out that [Round Rects Are Everywhere][folk], only 31 years after Apple did.

    It’s good that your knockoff hardware designs are based on more recent stuff, like the iPhone. Maybe if you browse [Folklore.org][lore] a little, you’ll find some more insights that you can shamelessly pretend are your own.

    xo,
    Phil

    [con]: http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/30/3204611/samsung-apple-patent-trial-rectangle-design-kevin-packingham “Samsung product development chief on Apple patent trial: ‘consumers want rectangles’”
    [folk]: http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Round_Rects_Are_Everywhere.txt “Round Rects are Everywhere”
    [lore]: http://folklore.org “Folklore”

  • Apple’s Solution To Image Resolution On The Web

    [The image-set() function][link], which was submitted to the css4-images public mailing list earlier this year.

    [link]: http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2012Feb/1103.html “[css4-images] The image-set() function (for responsive images) from Edward O'Connor on 2012-02-22 ([email protected] from February 2012)”

  • OS X Mountain Lion

    [Apple announces the next major version of Mac Oh Es Ten, code-named Mountain Lion][link]. Among the features interesting to me:

    * Messages, which I assume is the replacement for iChat, and integrates with iMessage on iOS.

    * Flickr sharing inside the OS via the new “Share Sheets” feature.

    * Notification Center, which is the Growl-killer we’ve all been expecting for some years now.

    Full list of stuff at the [Mac OS X Lion Features page][feat].

    [link]: http://www.apple.com/macosx/mountain-lion/ “Apple – OS X Mountain Lion. Innovation comes back to the Mac.”
    [feat]: http://www.apple.com/macosx/mountain-lion/features.html “Mac OS X Lion Features”

  • “The Next Steve Jobs Will Totally Be A Chick”

    [Comedian Louis C.K.][link]:

    >The next Steve Jobs will totally be a chick, because girls are No. 2–and No. 2 always wins in America. Apple was a No. 2 company for years, and Apple embodies a lot of what have been defined as feminine traits: an emphasis on intuitive design, intellect, a strong sense of creativity, and that striving to always make the greatest version of something. Traditionally, men are more like Microsoft, where they’ll just make a fake version of what that chick made, then beat the shit out of her and try to intimidate everybody into using their product.

    I agree, except she won’t be the next Steve Jobs. She’ll be the first and only whoever she is. via [Daring Fireball][df].

    [link]: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/161/louis-ck-on-female-culture “Louis C.K.: The Next Steve Jobs Will Be A Chick | Fast Company”
    [df]: http://daringfireball.net “Daring Fireball”

  • How to bring good design to a platform

    [Marco Arment is, once again, on point][link]. One of the largest problems with Android is the same problem Windows has had since its launch: The lack of attention to detail, nuance, and usability focus in the built-in applications and OS make developers feel like they can be lazy.

    Based on my experience with the Android market 90% of all Android apps would absolutely not make the App Store, much less sell many copies.

    [link]: http://www.marco.org/2011/10/20/how-to-bring-good-design-to-a-platform “How to bring good design to a platform – Marco.org”