well, back in my day we used to…

After seeing a tweet from Antonio Lupetti, @Woork, asking everyone what they used to do before the web  was born, it made me think back to the early days of the web and how far it has progressed in very little time. From the sounds and tones of AOL’s dial up connection, awful-table-tacky-depthless website designs, to the time it took you to load up a webpage and make a sandwich and brew a cuppa tea; we have progressed beyond imagination. Amazing to think what another 10 years will bring us, huh?

It also made  me think back to the early days of surfing websites and what site I used to browse the most. Mine was definitely good-tutorials.com. Learned all my Photoshop tricks and secrets from it, back when I started out with Photoshop 7. Look at us now, eight versions later (CS5 was just announced and will be releasing shortly).

I also asked my Twitter friends if they remember some of the websites they used to visit most often when they first discovered the web. Here’s what they had to say:

• @kapriforce – WBS Chat
• @sarahfrance – ‘Manystuff‘ design blog
• @designinformer – LOL! Early 2000’s, it was a social networking site called Asian Avenue.
• @lynseydesign – yahoo.com, it was the home page in our middle school computer lab.
• @idesignstudios – I was always on http://webmonkey.com/ – lots of self-teaching going on in the early days!

Feel free to share some of your finest memories in the comments. Don’t worry, we don’t judge age here!

strong opinions aren’t free

“If no one’s upset by what you’re saying, you’re probably not pushing hard enough.”

– Rework by Justin Fried of 37signals

FULL QUOTE: Strong opinions aren’t free. You’ll turn some people off. They’ll accuse you of being arrogant and aloof. That’s life. For everyone that loves you, there will be others who hate you. If no one’s upset by what you’re saying, you’re probably not pushing hard enough. (And you’re probably boring, too.)

ipad: redefining media consumption

Ok, so I did it. I jumped the bandwagon, drank the Kool-Aid and bought an iPad. First thoughts you ask? Extraordinary!

First off, I, as well as all of you I’m sure, continue reading mixed reviews about the iPad. One negative review that keeps showing up in particular is the statement that “it cannot replace a laptop.” What bothers me about this statement is that it does not go into how people use their laptops or any computer for that matter. Most of those writing reviews are people who live and breath technology; people (Trust me, I can spot one when I see them; I’m one of them) who work constantly and obsessively on them—at home and at work—for professional reasons. Now let’s consider the opposite.

Out of my group of 10 close friends—all within the age range of 24–30 years old— I’m the only one that works, plays and lives off my computers. Most of my friends come home from work (some use computers at work, others do not) and they use their laptop to check Facebook, send out a few Tweets, download and listen to music, read online magazines and publications, online shop… They strictly use their home computers for leisurely purposes; or as I’ll label them, media consumptionists. In short, the technologically-hungry writers reviewing the iPad are misleading those who only use their computers for consuming information and media, not work related tasks.

The iPad hands down redefines they way I consume media. I can no longer imagine reading my RSS feeds on my 27″ iMac, or 15″ Macbook Pro screen. It feels much more intimate reading while holding a device in my hands. I watched the iPhone 4.0 keynote the other day on my iPad; it was enjoyable laying on the couch after a long day and watching the hour long keynote. Waking up in the morning while eating cereal and scrolling through Tweets from when I was asleep is now an incredible way to jump start my day. For some reason I’ve even been finding that scrolling through inspirational resources (for those un-familar with me I’m a graphic designer) such as Dribbble, ffffound, and FlickrDesign is much more pleasing to interact with on the iPad; sort of like flipping through pages in a book of inspiration.

Surfing the web

Honestly, surfing the web on the iPad feels so natural as if this was the original way was meant to be consumed when the World Wide Web was born. Again, it comes down to making browsing more personal and engaging. You have to use one for a day to understand what I am fully expressing, and I’m certain that those that have know exactly what I’m talking about. Websites (most of them anyway) just fit and look so nicely on the 9.7-inch screen—and damn scrolling and zooming is fast— much more so than scrolling and zooming on the iPhone.

The Apps

The interfaces of many apps that are out right now for the iPad, make you never want to view the standard website. YouTube looks amazing. The Maps app is just wow! Instapaper makes for a great, easy on the eye read of saved web content. The reason that these look so great, opposed to their native web-based forms, is that they were designed to fit specifically on one screen and one device so they are customized to look and work exactly the same, all day, everyday. When viewing the native website, depending on what computer, browser, screen size, etc. everything will look different. On the iPad, not the case. The apps just look beautiful (with exception to a few I’d assume)! The Apps are what makes and will continue to make the iPad a major success.

Even Auntie will love it

Warning: The next few paragraphs are one-hundred percent true. My Aunt never owned a computer is the 60+ years of her life. There were two main reasons for this: Reason one being that they were too difficult to use, and reason two being that for the cost of one she didn’t use/need a computer all that often. However, for the past 2 years has had more of a need for a computer.Although again, the two reasons continued to hold her back from a purchase. I recently showed her and talked to her about the iPad and two days later she called me up to say she just purchased her very first computer.

Let’s face it, the touch screen interface is much easier to use and interact with than a computer. There’s no right click, double click, single click, etc. The touch screen on Apple’s devices is flat-out intuitive. I’ve always considered it to be used the way you use and interact with elements in real life. If you want to see more of a page you just push it on up. If you want to visit a link you just point to it. Also, at the moment, it doesn’t support multi-tasking. For the non-technical savvy, this is perfect. Having been a software trainer at Apple for 3+ years I know first hand that people have enough confusion with one task let alone two or more at a given time. Granted, I am pumped for the multi-tasking that will be available in the 4.0 update due out in the Fall, but again, I am a technological-whore so multi-tasking is for me and my people.

The other reason my Aunt purchased her first computer as an iPad was because of the reachable price point. Wait… before you say or think it: I know she could get a full PC for around the same price and do media consumption as well as work, but who the hell wants a PC? I’ll just leave it at that. For $499, most people can do all their leisurely tasks on it and be completely happy. My mother is now considering an iPad and selling her 9-month old Macbook, as all she does is online shop, read/write emails and check Facebook (I know, I know… everyone is on Facebook these days). Her Macbook acts as a desktop, since she does not enjoy sitting with a heavy(er) laptop on the couch, since it sits on her desk as she “consumes” her media. The iPad would also be perfect for her — just your average computer user.

So can the iPad replace a laptop? You better believe it! It’s all on how you use it and what you do with it. Let’s get passed the reviewers who are married to their workhorses at the job and home and really truly appreciate the beauty and simplicity of this thing. Holding and using one feels like the future.