One Fused Life » On the Web

Google+ an immediate threat to Facebook?

Lasha — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 07:16:18 +0000

While I do love the visual transition that Google is making with its apps, including Google+, I think that Facebook's UI is near perfect. It has come a long way with negative feedback after every update, but the fact is that it works. Facebook has an iconic look and feel that people have come to expect, while Google is building theirs out out from scratch, pretty late in the game.

I came across an article on TechCrunch, written by MySpace Co-Founder, Tom Anderson, regarding Facebook's strategy, the new Skype partnership, and so forth. Read: Why Mark Zuckerberg’s First Public Response To Google+ Is The Right One. He points out may positives about what Facebook has going for itself.

The new "Circles" approach of organizing friends is something Google+ users will have to learn/get used to. We are generally good with adapting new methods, but there has to be an obvious "return" value. Why should we put effort into your new product when Facebook already works well?

"Facebook’s Groups were designed in a way to overcome the friend list problem. They’ve grown quickly, even if 95% of the user base can’t be bothered to make their own groups.... Create a Group feature, and let the 5% create the groups for the other 95%. It’s like Mechanical Turk, but we’re not getting paid." — Tom Anderson.

I've been using Google+ for several days now, and it's still confusing to me. I see absolutely no benefit to using Google+ at all, for now. I cannot communicate with whomever I want as easily as Facebook. More random people have added me in a couple of days than all the random requests from years of Facebook-ing.

One of Facebook's key goals is efficiency, as mentioned in the quote above. With no effort from most of Facebook's users, groups are built, allowing direct communication with specific people. This is a huge feature for me, and Google+'s "Hangout" feature is far from being an alternative. The same applies to Photos, Events, and Messaging.

Facebook has a user base of 750 million. Every feature that will ever launch will be instantly battle-tested, and as of today, Google+ isn't quite at that level. Some people say Facebook is ugly, but it seems they disregard critical usability points. Visuals alone will not build a social networking empire, but the combination of useful features will.

So, is Google+ actually useful to an average Facebook user?

Apple’s iCloud will be the next Facebook

Lasha — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 10:29:04 +0000

What the heck? Why? How? — Questions that are probably running through your head after reading the title. Carry on reading if this prediction somehow interests/angers/enlightens you. If not, well, your loss!

Apple's advantage in the cloud game is that so many Mac and iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch owners already use the core applications that iCloud will seamlessly integrate into, such as iPhoto, iTunes, Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and so forth. The keynote explained that, because of the seamless integration, people won't have to learn anything – it'll just work. Maintaining total synchronization will require no effort. No web apps to log into, no new interfaces, buttons, etc.

Facebook has achieved a comparable level of integration, but in its own sense. It has become a truly integral part of people's lives, as well as for the Internet itself. Facebook can never "fail" unless it was deliberately shut down. Too many people have too much already invested into it to just switch to another platform. Sharing photos, event planning, communication, entertainment, promotions, and gossip is apparently a winning formula. More after the jump...

Why Facebook is 1st in Social Media, probably forever*:

Everyone and their Moms (literally) are on Facebook.
Facebook Apps & Games are extremely addictive. 90 million active users!!
Marketer's dream come true (Read this article to get a feel of what Facebook is worth). What's a "like" worth, anyway?
Deeply rooted into MANY websites (likes, sharing, memberships, comments system, promotions, etc.).
Cloud 9 for Advertisers looking for targeted promotions. FB knows you better than your Mom. So does Google, but Facebook more so. Oh!

* = Until the priorities of today's users of the Internet change, and some new service/platform beats Facebook to the punch to accomodate them, Facebook is not going anywhere. The brilliant talent that Facebook has been hiring will be put to the test in a matter of time. Chances are, they'll be fine.

"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." — Oliver Wendell Holmes

The above quote by Mr. Holmes is one that has stuck with me for years. In our case, it means that nobody will ever accept anything less than what they are already used to. It's one of the luxuries of the Internet; bitching and whining about something you don't like or want. This is the very reason why there's an uproar every time Facebook changes the layout. People lose what they worked so hard to learn and get used to, only to realize that those changes were actually pretty good (usually), thus end up liking the updates after all.

A true competitor is one that offers a superior product, puts more on the table, and goes for the jugular (the target's mind and heart).

Apple will continue its dominance...

Apple gives you the experience they think you want, before you even want it. Admit it, you usually do want it!
You subconsciously grow dependent on the Apple products you use, and when it's gone, you cry. It's love.
You fall victim to Apple's marketing, because their ads are flawless, and based on truth.
If Apple knows how to do one thing well, it's integration; iTunes, iOS, App Store, and now iCloud.
Apple takes existing ideas and makes them better, functional through minimalism and simplicity. Think Different™

Meanwhile companies will continue trying to figure out why the iPad is selling so well, and why their technically superior devices are not.... Apple understands how to engineer great experiences, not just pretty looking hardware. This is what will emotionally lock users in (just like Facebook) and help Apple build a reliance on iCloud, to the point where no one can afford its failure, therefore mimicking the Facebook model.

Once you get used to your devices constantly and seamlessly being synched with your photos, calendars, documents, contacts, and apps, anything less will simply be unacceptable. iCloud failing is equivalent to Facebook losing its photo sharing ability, ergo leading to its epic collapse. People's lives are ingrained into Facebook's services, and the iCloud is aiming to do just that.

Why people secretly love change

Lasha — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 10:53:59 +0000

Everywhere you look, you find people complaining about things that change; Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Applications, and so forth, but rarely do they ever do anything about it. In fact, in most cases (with the exception of Digg), time spent on them increases.

Every time Facebook changes its layout, everyone and their grandmas throw a tantrum, complaining about how they want the old layout back. A week goes by, and it's as if nothing happened at all. They're still using Facebook with all of the same features, if not more. After all, Facebook spends millions creating the optimal interface (at least I hope they do) for an increase of addictiveness.

A few months ago, Twitter drastically underwent a major interface overhaul. As per usual, a ton of people complained saying it was too complicated, slow, etc. Well, has Twitter reported a loss of user activity? Nope. An increase of user activity? Yep...

My point here is this; I think most people secretly, subconsciously love change. Our extroverted personalities show that we are so protective of things, especially when we've developed comfort with them. When this comfort is stripped from us, we get scared and start complaining, but we also become adventurous at the same time! We start learning new things, discovering features, and finding reasons to like something.

We, as humans, are born to be naturally curious creatures. We also happened to be pretty damn good at learning and adapting to change. One can argue on the contrary, but that would then get into many unrelated aspects of why people fear change. Habituation of a linear and non-changing lifestyle is one of them (I know this because my family is so).

So, to softly reiterate my point, I stand by the ground that, because our nature is to learn and adapt (primitively, for survival), we subconsciously like change, even in the little things in life (like Facebook!). This is not an argument against people complaining and demanding what's right, but rather, an encouragement! We must honestly think about our emotions, why we feel the way we do, and how to progressively and positively advance.

Project 10 to the 100th is helping us change the world!

On the Web: Penzu – Free Private Journal & Diary, Revisted

Lasha — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 12:15:13 +0000

About 2 years ago, I blogged about Penzu, a web-based private journal and diary. Today, Penzu is alive and well, and better than ever! Recently, a mobile web version was unveiled (pro accounts), compatible with iPhone, iPad, Android, and Blackberry. This is HUGE for Penzu, because now users have a dedicated interface for an optimal journaling experience. It even uses the latest HTML5 techniques that allows you to access and write entries when you're offline.

What is Penzu? A quick overview.
It is an online private journal and diary. Every entry is private by default, and not viewable publicly unless you specify. Entries are auto-saved as you write so you don't have to. You can upload photos from your computer, or insert them directly from Flickr. If for some reason you want hard copies of your entries, you can print them out, too. More after the jump...

For the passionate writers.
There are many cool features available with the Pro account; exporting entries to PDF and TXT files, tagging entries, and best of all, the mobile interface support. If you're serious about journaling, the $19/year Pro account fee shouldn't be a big deal. Penzu's "why" page points out a lot of positives about keeping a diary/journal, which you should definitely check out.

The interface.
As Penzu evolved throughout the last couple of years, the design hasn't changed much. You still have the ruled looseleaf writing area, entries browser, and a set of buttons above the looseleaf for printing, sharing, inserting photos, and so forth. Virtually no learning curve. Check out Penzu.com.

On the Web: Penzu, Free Private Journal & Diary

Instant portfolio site, Flavors.me

Lasha — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 22:09:06 +0000

A few weeks ago I discovered Flavors.me - a website that allows you to quickly create and customize your own website. You can link your existing blogs and website feeds, Flickr, LinkedIn, Netflix, and so forth, all in one simple interface. Here's mine: flavors.me/lasha

Flavors.me is a GREAT way to get you started if you don't have your own website, and a great addition to your online presence. It allows a decent amount of customization such as colors, fonts, and various options for Facebook, Flickr, etc. With this service, you can link people to just one page and have them access everything else. Great for potential clients and networking.

On another note, I'm getting decent traffic from my Flavors.me page back to this blog. I don't know how that happened... haha.

Firefox, with you when your computer isn’t

Lasha — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:45:02 +0000

Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, IE, Camino, Netscape... all good browsers in their own way, but to me, only one stands out: Firefox. I have a bad habit of keeping 50+ tabs open simultaneously, almost all the time. Last night, I browsed to a site that caused my Mac to have a meltdown. The Mac wouldn't even shut down! Waited hours before I had to hold the power-button for 5 seconds.

This morning I turned on the Mac, launched Firefox and saw this:

They admit their fault, even if it wasn't theirs to admit. They offer a smart interface to deselect the tabs that may have caused the crash. As you can see by the side of the scroll bar, I had A LOT going on. I deselected a bunch of tabs, hit "Restore" all without a bit of worry.

This level of attention toward functionality to provide an excellent user experience should be mimicked by other developers. When I'm conceptualizing new ideas, this is the type of quality I incorporate. Thank you, Mozilla.

Which browser do you use, and why?

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Reasons for using Twitter

Lasha — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:38:27 +0000

By now, you have probably heard all you think you need to know about Twitter, and you either love it, or hate it. There are a million and one ways of approaching and using a service like Twitter. Some of the obvious ones are:

Staying in touch and up to date the minute with your friends
Following big-time celebrities like Oprah, Jimmy Fallon, Al Gore, Britney Speakers, and you name 'em!
Keeping up with the news way faster than traditional print and TV media (ie; Iran Elections).

What I'm trying to get at is that Twitter is a lot more than what the average person thinks it is. It is not only a social networking service, but a tool for business, professional networking, resource mining, and virtually endless knowledge.

Since I am in the Graphic and Web Design field, I will be talking about its relationship with Twitter and all of its benefits. More after the jump...

Following established Professionals: Being a web or graphic designer means that you have to stay up to date with the industry, and what the professionals are doing by keeping up with trends, news, and so forth. Most of the people I follow on Twitter directly or indirectly relate to my field. These people share their latest designs, talk about the latest trends, and link to countless inspirational and educational resouces. The amount of new knowledge I have discovered since I became active in the Twitter community is priceless.

Having a well-developed Twitter network: Say, one day, you run into a problem that you can't get a good grasp of, you Tweet a question and someone in your network is bound to respond with an answer. If they don't, then work on building up your network even more (you should never stop building, really).

On top of Twitter having professional benefits, it also has great socializing pluses. When you follow like-minded people, whether or not they're in your field of work, it's a given that you will be curious about what they're up to, and vise versa. When people in my network Tweet about things like social events and design conferences, I immediately take interest. These are the types of places and events that will help me professionally, and allow me to meet great people!

Finding jobs and hiring talent on Twitter: If you're new to the whole Twitter revolution, you'll find it surprising that people actually find jobs and talent (depending on what you're looking for) for work. When you're a part of an active network, someone is always looking for something. A few months ago, I was searching for a team of iPhone App developers. From the moment I Tweeted about it, I had 5 responses from interested candidates by the end of the day.

If you're a freelancer looking for some gigs, or even part/full-time jobs, you'll be surprised to find that Twitter is a good job search engine. I keep getting back to the point of networking with like-minded people. To put it simply, it's the best advice I have to offer. You will not only have fun interacting with people who you respect, but, along the way, you will gain life-long knowledge.

What's to come: I am currently working on a follow-up article that discusses even more (and fun) ways of taking advantage of Twitter.

Please subscribe to my feed and follow me on Twitter to get the latest updates. Also, if you have anything to add, I URGE you to comment below.

On the Web: Plurk

WWDC 2009 – Future of the iPhone, Mac OS X

Lasha — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:16:54 +0000

To many, this year's World Wide Developer's Conference will be the most exciting and future defining Apple event to date. When Apple unveiled the iPhone 3.0 software on March 17, I knew that the iPhone was going to go beyond the existing lead it already held over its competitors.

Before the unveiling of the iPhone 3.0 software, I was absolutely certain that the Palm Pre and the Android platforms were going to give Apple a run for their money. Boy was I wrong. I always preach the idea that if a company doesn't keep a heavy eye on its competitors, it will begin to fall short. When Apple set a goal to sell 10 million iPhones within the first year, they stuck to it and sold well over their desired mark. This is simply because they have an ingenious R&D department that knows exactly what needs to be done to stay ahead of the game.

Okay, enough about the software. The iPhone is close to hitting the 2-year mark and we have only seen 1 hardware update that wasn't too significant (addition of 3G, GPS, and a flush headphone jack). Rumors around the web are going nuts trying to predict what the next major hardware update is going to be like. The original iPhone set a new industry standard for the things that should be expected in a smartphone. There have been no major performance upgrades in the last 2 years, yet the iPhone still outperforms most phones of its kind to this day. If the next version of the hardware is unveiled come the 8th, I cannot imagine how ahead of its game it will be.

Now to talk a bit about what's to come for the Mac OS. More after the jump...
I think Apple couldn't have said it better when making a statement about Mac OS X "Snow Leopard" on their Snow Leopard page:

"Taking a break from adding new features, Snow Leopard — scheduled to ship in about a year — builds on Leopard’s enormous innovations by delivering a new generation of core software technologies that will streamline Mac OS X, enhance its performance, and set new standards for quality."

Apple will be expanding the 64-bit technology to tremendously increase performance and increase RAM support up to a theoretical 16TB (yea, I know!). They will also be optimizing the Mac OS to take full advantage current multi-core and multi-processor technologies by advanced allocation of tasks, and so forth.

This is fantastic, in my opinion, but when Apple announced this about a year ago, they didn't know that Windows 7 would be stepping up their game in the OS wars. I am certain that Apple is going to throw in a thing or two to even things out (high hopes, yes).

What's upsetting is that people aren't as excited about Snow Leopard as they should be. Imagine getting twice the performance out of your exisiting machine just by upgrading your OS! That's equivilent to buying a brand new computer, which is something people don't really want to do these days. All in all, I can freely state that I am ecstatic about all that will go down at WWDC 2009.

MacHeist App Bundle – An offer you cannot refuse

Lasha — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:09:07 +0000

In a little under 20 hours from the time this post was published, your chance to get your hands on this amazing app bundle will be up. First thing's first, click the link below to view the MacHeist page with ALL the information.

View the MacHeist Bundle information, and buy it!

Yes, I have purchased this myself and strongly believe that it's steal, not the mention that 25% of every sale's proceeds goes to a charity of your choice. Whether you're a designer, blogger, an online show host, or an advocate of all things cool, in this package you will find something that greatly impresses you.

For $39, it's probably the best investment I have ever made! Well, what are you waiting for? Check it out already!

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iPhone future looks stronger than ever, thanks to Palm Pre

Lasha — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:54:07 +0000

Just before the iPhone 3.0 software was announced, I was ready to publish an article saying how the Palm Pre was going to give Apple a lot of trouble. Then, I realized how wrong it would have been if I had done so. Now I will tell you why I think the iPhone is here to stay, and push the competition out of the way.

The Palm Pre, for the longest time, had the biggest chance to put a little fear in Apple. And so it did. Just a couple of weeks ago, the iPhone 3.0 software was revealed and most of the iPhone's nuances have been eliminated. I actually believed that if the Pre kept up its game, it would force me to switch, but thankfully, that is no longer the case.

Palm has claimed that OS X on the iPhone is not a true mobile platform, thus it will never be as speedy and sleek as what they are cooking up. I respectfully disagree! Let's just put it this way; Smooth scrolling and seamless portrait/landscape transitions is not what makes a great device. Yes, the Pre certainly competes in the visuals department, but that will only take the device so far.

More after the jump...

The unveiling of the 3.0 software is proof that Apple is keeping their eye on the market. The iPhone is clearly not without any faults, but Apple is constantly looking to improve. The maturity and the level of development the iPhone has reached is phenomenal. I am surprised that, to this day, phone companies have miserably failed to compete with the iPhone, except the Pre. After 2 different iPhones, and countless updates to the iPhone OS, companies can't seem to get it right.

Now let's take a look at a recent video of the Palm's WebOS in action:

Judging by this video, it looks like the next few months are gonna be very interesting for both Apple and Palm. I like the fact that 3rd party apps can access the WebOS core and have multiple apps talking to each other. I would love to see this feature being taken advantage of in greater depth on both platforms.

Dare I say the imminent success of the Pre is largely due to ex-Apple employees like Jon Rubenstein being on the team?

Rumors about the next iPhone:

Multi-core CPUs and GPUs: The fact that the next generation iPhone may have multi-core processors is exciting as ever! It would open up countless possibilities, such as video, background apps, live-video streaming, and other various intensive tasks.
3.2 and 5.0 Megapixel camera censors: For the new iPhones, and for an unknown product, respectively. This shows that Apple is getting serious with video with their upcoming products.
Video editing and ability to publish videos: In conjunction with the previous 2 rumors, this would work out quite well. A mini iMovie built into the iPhone, with the ability to upload your creations virtually eliminates the need of a computer for video bloggers and others alike.

Exciting times are ahead in the mobile industry. I can't wait to see what twists and turns the industry will take along the way. I would LOVE to see what you have to say, so please comment using the form below. Thanks!