May 11, 2010 Posted by alan jones

How much is the cloud costing you?

In the bright new world of Software As A Service (SAAS) our software sits on a server somewhere and is made available to us in a web browser or a client app, connected over the internet. Nobody doubts that this is the future of software, least of all me, since I’m a habitual early adopter and I would rather keep all the disk space on my MacBook Pro available for music, photos and video That said,... read more

April 15, 2010 Posted by alan jones

No less than five completely unhelpful options from iCal

Just a small post but here it is: 1,233,522 seconds? 1,233,522 seconds? WTF? Quick, in your head, how many hours is 1,233,522 seconds? Anybody? I didn’t think so. I’ve seen iCal do some stupid things before but this about takes the cake. What’s worse is I don’t know what I did to deserve this or what I need to do to get my hourly reminders back. For Pete’s sake. Hey, Apple?... read more

November 18, 2009 Posted by alan jones

I don’t want more iPhone apps, I want better iPhone apps

Fred Wilson writes in The Power of Instant Approval that Apple is risking its lead in the smartphone app market by forcing app developers to wait on approval from Apple before publishing their apps on iTunes Store. It’s a growing industry concern — does Apple risk being overtaken by competitors? I think Apple understands the consumer relationship better than any competitor in the smartphone market... read more

August 11, 2009 Posted by alan jones

Apple Mail image attachment is bad UX

Apple Mail image attachment is bad UX Two things I don’t love about Apple Mail: It embeds images in the content of the email instead of making it an attachment, leading to calls from Outlook-using friends who don’t know how to get the image out of the email so they can use it. It would be great as an option, but I’d like to be able to choose ‘attachment’ instead of... read more

June 29, 2009 Posted by alan jones

Can’t afford a CRM? Address Book may be all you need

I’m more than a little forgetful. I have a mind like a… well, one of those things that let the water out but keep the spaghetti in… what are they called? Never mind. Over the years I’ve developed a number of coping strategies to disguise my terrible memory. I would love to have the time and the money to use a full Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, but I don’t (and... read more

April 23, 2009 Posted by alan jones

Internet Explorer 8: the unfaithful ex-girlfriend

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer IE 8 showing up now is like an unfaithful ex-partner showing up a long time after you’ve found someone better looking and less likely to break your heart. Wrote this post after Amnesia Razorfish asked me to write about IE8, for Microsoft’s http://microsoft.com.au/ie8debate. You can find other opinion-leaders and read their leading opinions there (warning:... read more