It's About Learning
Putting Learning First
Thoughts on Flash – Steve Jobs Open Letter
May 3rd
In his recent letter Thoughts on Flash Steve Jobs attempts to explain why Apple does not and will not allow Flash on iPhones, iPods and iPads. Jobs provides the following six reasons:
- Openness – Flash is proprietary; web standards such as HTML5, CSS and JavaScript which the iPhones, iPods and iPads use are open.
- ‘Full Web’ myth – The Flash that is primarily used on the Web is also available in a more current H.264 format that does play IPhones, iPods and iPads. Furthermore with Youtube, Neflix, ABC, NBC, CNN, Fox and many other media publishers iPhone, iPod and iPad users aren’t missing out.
- Reliability, security and performance - Jobs states: “Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash..”
- Battery life - Twice the life with H.264 videos which play for up to 10 hours, while videos decoded in software play for less than 5 hours.
- Touch format – Flash is made for a mouse-driven PC, and not Apple’s touch-based interface.
- Substandard development – Third-party developers are primarily interested in their own needs and not the needs the entire platform. Jobs states: “For example, although Mac OS X has been shipping for almost 10 years now, Adobe just adopted it fully (Cocoa) two weeks ago when they shipped CS5. Adobe was the last major third party developer to fully adopt Mac OS X.”
Perhaps Jobs’ concluding statement sums up his argument best:
Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.
Apple can never be accused of falling short in looking to the future and were one of the first companies to move away from Floppy drives and to other mass media formats so their record is consistent. Furthermore, Apple has always put the user experience first and controlling that experience is extremely important. They have been able to charge a premium for that user experience and anything that detracts from that experience lessens their unique selling proposition.
While I can appreciate some aspects of Adobe’s argument and would question Apple’s openness I tend to agree with Jobs that the most advanced and innovative platform is what we need to create the best apps. Ultimately we want technology to get so good it goes away and simply allows the user to do what they need or want to do. Mobile devices like the iPhone, iPod and iPad are getting us much closer to this state of technological development and if we need to leave Flash or any other technology behind in order to advance, then that is what we need to do.
Potential iPad Rival?
Apr 29th
HP Slate with webOS: The potential iPad rival from HP’s acquisition of Palm | The Toybox | ZDNet.com via kwout
When people starts using a one device to measure another it generally means the device being used as a measuring stick is either a standard or the best of the breed. The iPad has very quickly become the defacto standard for tablet/slate type mobility and is perhaps currently the best of the breed. The HP Slate is not yet out but with HP’s purchase of Palm the potential of porting of the WebOS to the Slate could provide a potential competitor for the iPad. This is good for everyone because competition and constant measuring will force Apple and the entire industry to improve.
Time will tell–fortunately with the rapid acceleration of development in mobility it won’t take too much time for everyone to start reaping the benefits.
We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint
Apr 27th
In the New York Times article We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint Elisabeth Bummiller points to a series of articles and exchanges with Military leaders that show that the use of PowerPoint as a significant internal threat. Gen. James N. Mattis explicitly states that:
PowerPoint makes us stupid
Similarly General McMaster said in a telephone interview:
It’s dangerous because it can create the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control…Some problems in the world are not bullet-izable.
Perhaps the most telling tidbit from the article is the notion that:
Senior officers say the program does come in handy when the goal is not imparting information, as in briefings for reporters. The news media sessions often last 25 minutes, with 5 minutes left at the end for questions from anyone still awake. Those types of PowerPoint presentations, Dr. Hammes said, are known as “hypnotizing chickens.”
This isn’t the first or last article dealing with the challenges of PowerPoint. There is even a Wikipedia entry for Death by PowerPoint and the following youtube video by Don McMillian Life After Death by Powerpoint 2010 that point to the fact that most people use PowerPoint wrong.
So if PowerPoint presentations are so poor or ineffective then why are we still using them in our classrooms, boardrooms other venues. Alexi Kapterev offers a Death by PowerPoint presentation via slideshare.net that attempts to answer this question. Kapterev argues that bad or ineffective PowerPoint is due to a lack of:
- Significance
- Structure
- Simplicity
- Rehearsal
I find it interesting that we keep on coming back to problem with significance or a lack of significance and am reminded of the Anti-Teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance post in which I point to Micheal Wesch’s article with he same title. We will we (the academy) learn.
The Optimist is first to publish on iPad
Apr 26th
Together with student programmers and student designers from across our campus, the ACU’s student newspaper, The Optimist has created a first-of-its-kind application for the Apple iPad.
Lectures as an outmoded form of education and news
Apr 23rd
Jeff Jarvis’ TEDxNYED lecture about lectures as an outmoded form of education and news.
Please note there are three instances where Jeff uses foul language for effect (I wish he wouldn’t) so please review the video before you pass it on to anyone else.
Please Note: I am not endorsing Jarvis’ use of foul language and thought about not putting the video up–BUT the message he is relaying is very important–important enough to deal with his use of expletives.
You can view the script of his presentation at: TEDxNYED: This is bullshit
