By now, everyone has heard of Apple’s new iPad. Google quickly followed up with an announcement that they would bring the ChromeOS to a tablet. Tablets are really nothing new, since even Apple in the 1990s had the Newton, which was far too large to be considered a PDA by recent standards. Even touchscreens, the darling wonder of the iPhone and iPod Touch, have been in use with restaurant and checkout point-of-sale systems for years–sometimes in conjunction with computers running DOS! Sure, everyone wants colors and games and music, but are ebooks really the defining feature of tablets?
One thing is for certain: without innovation on the part of the greater community, tablets will remain a static way to consume information, and serve as an entertainment kiosk. One Lifehacker editorial pointed out the Achilles’ heel nicely–the iPad is a completely closed system. Gone are the days of kids at home programming apps and hacks for their computers. All roads lead to the app store, and sure you can sign up for the developer’s program with a little help from your parents and a lawyer, but you still have to program apps on a separate computer and sync constantly or use a simulator to see what you’re getting. In order for tablets to bring something new to the table, innovation needs to continue outside of a closed system.
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Posted by Paolo | Posted in design | Posted on 06-09-2009
Creately is a new web based design and collaboration tool that lets you create flowcharts and diagrams by yourself or as small group projects. It’s a nice supplement to Zoho and Google Apps, and if you don’t keep a design or page layout program on your computer but sometimes need to make a chart, Creately will probably do the trick.
It’s currently free for public charts (don’t put your sensitive data there!) and the paid accounts will be rolled out soon to beta users.
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Posted by Paolo | Posted in design | Posted on 04-08-2009
If you know a little about web design, and have an eye for it but perhaps not the most up-to-date coding skills, you should consider the wide world of HTML templates.
No longer stuck in the 1997 frames-and-tables mode, you can now find a wealth of XHTML-compliant, beautifully CSS’ed templates all over the internet. Most recently I’ve been using some from ThemeForest, where you can find one for most any site design, including e-Commerce, for around $12.
The only downside is their stupid account refill system, which only lets you put in denominations of $20, $30, or $50, while most templates are not charged in multiples of $10. On the plus side, you can use your credit at any Envato site, which includes FlashDen, which has customizable Flash code and tools.
These days a template can be a great starting point for a design, and a lot of template designers will include original Photoshop files so you can customize to your heart’s content.
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