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Alex Jones

The Web site of Alex S. Jones, community catalyst, user advocate, Web technologist, barbecue acolyte & information junkie

Thoughts on A Complete ExperienceSeptember 23

I recently posted a quote from Steve Ballmer discussing a key difference between Apple and Microsoft, which I titled A Complete Experience. Having spent a bit more time thinking about it, I thought I would capture some of those thoughts here. This is basically a brain-dump, so it is by no means comprehensive, or for that matter a fluid discussion.

For Ballmer to claim that Microsoft is committed to choice doesn’t match their past business practices. I’d love to see them truly commit to changes that support real user choice and a better end-to-end experience. The subtle knock of Apple (a “narrow” experience) is to be expected, though again it stretches the truth.

OS X, Apple’s computer operating system is not as broad as Windows in terms of configurations and options (six versions of Vista to choose from - two for OS X, one of which is targeted for servers - no confusion there), but that’s a very good thing for the people who buy and use computers. Windows provides every possible configuration option just in case one person out of 10,000 may want it. That’s pretty cool, except for the fact that it often clutters the experience for the other 9,999 folks.

Apple has gone the other route, making a vast majority of decisions for the users - focusing on normal people instead of edge cases. Power users can dive into the command line and utilize the full power of the BSD subsy

Mmm Bacon Ice Cream [Flickr]September 4

baldtechnologist posted a photo:

Courtesy of Jason F. A very tasty treat on a hot day.

This Ain’t Right: Fight the Orphan Works ActJuly 23

A Sunday Guinness [Flickr]July 21

baldtechnologist posted a photo:

Not a spectacular shot, but the beer is damn fine.

Recent Links: July 06 to July 13July 14

Here are the most recent bookmarks that I have saved to Ma.gnolia.

Anxiety - Lightweight To-do Management

Anxiety is a super-lightweight To-do list application for Mac OS X Leopard that synchronizes with iCal and Mail. Its aim is to provide a streamlined, easily accessible interface to add and check off your tasks, while remaining poised to melt into the background at a moments notice.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: os x, applications, utilities, gtd, task lists

“Gorilla” Usability Testing

“In my never-ending search for interesting interface design, I had a chance to chat with Andy Budd, of Clearleft, about their new desktop application, Silverback. I believe it can bring usability testing the masses and will be the go-to application for basic usability testing. It’s simple, focused, thoughtful, polished, and a joy to use.”

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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