Tag: Riccardo Mori

smartwatch or dumb idea?

The parallelism ‘from pocket watch to wristwatch’ = ‘from smartphone to smartwatch’ doesn’t really work as seamlessly as the author suggests. On the one hand, you have the same object, a watch, that’s made practical by strapping it to your wrist instead of being in your pocket and attached to your trousers or waistcoat. It changes location, but not its inherent functionality.

On the other hand, moving a smartphone from the pocket to the wrist poses multiple design challenges, but in a nutshell you simply can’t have on your wrist the same object you now carry in your pocket, because a smartphone does a thousand things more than a watch. It’s not that simple. Not even for Apple.Riccardo Mori

Ricardo and Marco express my feelings about the arguments for a smartwatch quite eloquently.

Riccardo Mori » Drop support, but leave old versions around

Riccardo Mori commenting on Brent Simmons post about Dropping Support for Older OS Releases

I don’t see any significant downsides in leaving older versions available for download. They can focus on perfecting their app for the most up-to-date audience, while leaving virtually no one behind.Riccardo Mori

I can think of many. Even though the developer may clearly state that only the latest version is supported, users will still attempt to engage the developer to get support. I’ve seen it on the support forums for some apps. I know from my involvement with a local Macintosh Users’s Group. Some of the members complain to me that they can’t get a fix for a bug in some piece of software they are still using on an old G4 running OS 9. OS 9!

I agree with Brent:

Yes, you will leave some small number of people behind. It’s worth the trade-off, though, because it’s your job to make the very best app you can make.

Selective enthusiasm

... from what I can see, a large part of today’s technological buzz is what I call gadgetry and a lot of what I read about it is bathed in self-indulgence and navel-gazing. A lot of people in the tech world look mesmerised by all these digital toys and it seems that all they’re interested in are newer, cooler toys to keep playing with...

My enthusiasm is all for new discoveries and technological advances that really make things advance, that really make me feel there’s true progress.Riccardo Mori

I've only recently discovered Riccardo's writing through another contact. I like the way he writes. His articles are thoughful and well articulated.

I understand what he's talking about. Six years ago I would say that I was definitely one of these over-enthusiastic geeks. Everything that Google or Apple did -- no matter insignificant in the grand scheme of things -- was received with glee. But I started to change when I found it harder to explain my excitement to my non-geek family, friends and co-workers. They started to aks questions like "How is that useful?" or "Why do I need that?". I started to realise I had no answer.