Recent posts in my Apple Category
December 18, 2012
“Three approaches to making money from selling digital newspapers and magazines” - Eric Villemin at ‘Les Victoires de la Presse’
At yesterday’s “Les Victoires de la Presse” awards, digital media consultant Eric Villemin outlined three very different approaches to making money selling content on Apple devices.
November 21, 2012
“Platform wars” - Charles Arthur at Online Information
At Online Information this year Charles Arthur was talking about the platform wars that he has recently written a book about, inspired by a call from a publisher’s agent who observed that Apple, Microsoft and Google “always seem to be fighting each other.” Here are my notes from the session.
November 6, 2012
“Brazil’s newspapers close ranks against Google and Apple” - Caio Túlio Costa at #TAS12
Two talks at the Tablet and App summit in Frankfurt addressed the issue of national newspaper groups coming together to challenge the established digital distribution channels of Apple, Amazon, Google and the like. The first of these case studies came from Brazil - Caio Túlio Costa explaining how the newspaper industry had challenged Google and Apple.
November 4, 2012
“Taking Stern magazine to the iPad” - David Heimburger at #TAS12
David Heimburger was speaking at the WAN-IFRA Tablet & App summit about how Stern magazine has become a digital property, in a talk entitled “850 000 print copies per week, 7 million readers, and the challenge of reproducing print miracle for tablet readers.”
February 9, 2012
“Great for users. Great for publishers. And great for Apple” - Alex Watson on Newsstand at news:rewired
One of the panel sessions I attended at news:rewired was devoted to the notion of paid content. It featured some interesting insights from Alex Watson of Dennis Publishing and Tom Standage from The Economist, as well as some scrutiny of the Guardian’s business model, which, for those of us who work there, made for some uncomfortable listening. Here are my notes from Alex’s talk about Apple’s Newsstand.
December 14, 2011
UXmas at the Guardian
Last night we threw open the Guardian’s door for “UXmas” - a chance to meet people from the UX and design teams, hear a couple of talks, and eat some mince pies before retiring to the pub.
December 1, 2011
“From Print to Pixel” - John-Henry Barac at UX People
John-Henry Barac is someone I have worked closely with at the Guardian on projects like our iPhone and other mobile apps, and he has written several thoughtful essays about the app and touchscreen user experience on his blog, so I was really looking forward to hearing him talk at UX People. He was discussing his personal journey from print design to “literally pushing pixels” through the touch-screen interface. Here are my notes from the session.
October 17, 2011
How the Guardian’s iPad app changed the way that I consumed news
We’ve had a lot of products launch over the last few weeks at the Guardian, including Android and Windows phone apps and our Facebook app, but none have been as high profile as our iPad launch. With a design team of Mark Porter, Andy Brockie, Barry Ainslie and John-Henry Barac, you wouldn’t expect it to be anything other than beautiful, and using it has changed the way that I consume news.
July 26, 2011
“Tweet a vulgar picture” - differing reactions to Microsoft, Apple and the Huffington Post ‘cashing in’ on Amy Winehouse’s death
The Huffington Post, Microsoft and Apple have faced differing levels of criticsim for attempts to cash in on the sad death of Amy Winehouse.
May 24, 2011
Is the New York Public Library’s “Biblion” app actually the paleofuture of iPad magazines?
Alexis Madrigal asked in The Atlantic if it was “the magazine app of the future”, and I’ve been playing around with Biblion, the app produced by the New York Public Library. Although it has generated some rave reviews, I thought there were some flaws and missed opportunities in the app.
March 31, 2011
"Protect the public sphere": Paul Bradshaw on the importance of net neutrality for journalism
This is the last of three blog posts inspired by attending Paul Bradshaw’s inaugural lecture at City University. So far I’ve published my notes about what he said on news organisations and online communities, and on the problem of ego in journalism. Today I wanted to look at what I think was the most interesting aspect of Paul’s talk. It was the most passionately I’ve seen someone frame the arguments around net neutrality and issues of ISP regulation directly with regard to the tools and practice of journalism.
March 29, 2011
A peek behind the scenes at the design process of The Times' Eureka app at Hacks/Hackers London
At Hacks/Hackers London last week Design Editor Matt Curtis and Picture Editor Madeleine Penny from Eureka, the science magazine app from The Times, gave a brilliant presentation about how they had gone about developing it for the iPad.
March 22, 2011
"Neither TV station nor repurposed website" - Sky News app for the iPad
My first impressions of the Sky News app on iPad have been very positive. They’ve promised that it gives “new ways to deliver news to our users”, and it is a very different visual approach.
February 25, 2011
The iPad, iA Writer, and prolific blogging
A few people recently have asked me “the secret” of my prolific blogging output, and a recent factor has been using the iA Writer app on my iPad which is enabling me to blog through my commute.
November 23, 2010
Erm, so The Beatles didn't storm the charts then? I told you so. 3 years ago.
It isn't very often I get to write "Here is something I blogged three years ago, and it has been proved right"...but..."Here is something I blogged three years ago, and it has been proved right".
November 16, 2010
The Beatles on iTunes? (slight return)
As everyone is speculating again about The Beatles and iTunes, I thought it might be worth pointing people to three blog posts from the currybetdotnet archives...
July 26, 2010
Should the BBC have entered the iTunes store without a full Public Value Test?
Last week the BBC Trust gave permission for the BBC to launch applications into the iTunes store. As someone who has worked on The Guardian's competing iPhone app, and given the fragile state of the news industry business model, I couldn't help but be disappointed that the BBC Trust did not put the proposal through a full Public Value Test.
July 21, 2010
Flipboard: Great app, but is it yet another way for publishers not to get paid?
Personalised social magazine Flipboard for the iPad is a compelling proposition for the consumer - assembling a collection of content based on what has been discussed and shared in your social network. However, due to the way it re-packages content, is it just yet another opportunity for content producers not to get paid for their work?
May 31, 2010
Future of Web Design conference iPhone app review
I recently spent a couple of days at Future of Web Design in London. Beforehand I downloaded the iPhone app, which put the conference programme straight into my pocket, and allowed me to share which sessions I was planning to attend. It was, though, missing one key feature.
May 28, 2010
Future of web design: Tips on iPhone design and wireframing with Sarah Parmenter and Brad Haynes
At 'Future of web design' in London, Brad Haynes gave a session on tips for wireframing, and Sarah Parmenter delivered an excellent set of 10 tips for iPhone application design. Here are my notes from the sessions.
April 30, 2010
The mobile digital general election - official party iPhone app review
As part of their election campaign, the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green parties have all launched official iPhone applications. I've reviewed and compared them.
April 23, 2010
News apps on the iPad - my first impressions
I had my first real grapple with an iPad this week, checking out applications from the New York Times, BBC and USA Today. Whilst I found some things about the device impressive, I also had some concerns about the rush to 'replicate the print experience'.
March 30, 2010
Why the BBC Trust simply had to examine the BBC's iPhone plans
The decision of the BBC Trust to examine whether the BBC's iPhone application plans need further regulatory oversight is the right one, and the only that could have been made.
December 15, 2009
Real-time web provides real-time feedback on The Guardian's iPhone application
Real-time web gives real-time feedback on Guardian iPhone app
Twitter is transforming the way that digital products are launched.