When my Dad had stomach pain for weeks on end that resulted in emergency gallbladder surgery, I spent an evening pacing hospital hallways crying. Not because I was worried for Dad — I trusted the doctors, and they said it was very low risk. It was simply fixing the problem, and we were more than grateful to finally have a solution.
No, I was crying over the cost, money I didn't see how we could pay. I was in college, juggling grants, loans, and work to make my bills, and here suddenly we had a (seemingly) massive $5k or so bill due tomorrow. And, as huge an expense as that seemed in a private hospital in Thailand, it was hilariously cheap in comparison to what it would have cost in the States, where childbirth costs $30k on average.
Healthcare isn't an option. It's a necessity. It was a necessity when my Dad, a couple years earlier, was in the hospital over Christmas with seizures, or a couple years before that when my sister broke her arm by, of all things, jumping off a sofa onto a carpeted floor — a mistake that cost over $1,000 in an American emergency room. It wasn't an option when my mom needed thyroid treatment, and had to beg and plead to get just the initial visit under $300 in the US. It wasn't an option when I, stupidly, sat on a glass coffee table and gashed my wrist — something that cost me $100 in another private hospital in Thailand. And it sure wasn't an option when my 5 year old nephew needed chemotherapy and surgery and the resulting followups, all of which have been paid for by Thailand's subsidized healthcare.
Somehow, healthcare has turned into a political game, one that had deadlocked Congress to the point that they cannot pass a budget and are shutting down the government. It's become something you're for if you vote for one party, and against if you vote for the other. And that's ridiculous. Keeping people healthy without breaking the bank should hardly be a political issue to be debated, and it absolutely shouldn't be something you oppose because you didn't vote for our President.
The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare to the skeptics, isn't the the absolute solution for America's healthcare woes. I'm personally for (more radically, perhaps) 100% subsidized healthcare, something that's the norm in Canada, Australia, and Europe. The Affordable Care Act doesn't bring that to the US, but it's a start. It's got people thinking about healthcare, and how it needs to be affordable and approachable for everyone. And that's a huge thing for the US. And, of all things, it's modeled on a plan that's working right now in Massachusetts, after it was started by a governor who ran for president on the party that so vehemently opposes the act.
We have free schools and libraries and Smithsonian because education is important. Free parks beaches and national parks because the outdoors — accessible to everyone — is important. Police to protect us for free, roads and bridges for free because transportation is important. And we can't have free healthcare?
Healthcare isn't a privilege; it's a right. Everyone should have equal access to the best healthcare we can offer, and no one should sit at home this winter trying to scare a sinus infection away with hot tea since the doctor is too expensive. No one deserves to go bankrupt because of one health issue.
I'm not a Republican or a Democrat. I'm an American. And I believe free, universal healthcare should come right along with freedom and justice for all.
Everyone in Congress who's brought us to this impasse should be ashamed of themselves, especially now that government employees below their pay grade will go without pay this week over their political games — games over other people's health. That's evil.
Dig through the extensive articles about iOS 7, the roundups of new features and apps (including my own on iPhone.AppStorm), and you'll find a lot of exciting things. Everything's new and interesting. But there's one little feature that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere: iOS 7's new Dictionary.
See, there's been the full Oxford dictionary built into iOS since forever — just long-tap on a word anywhere in iOS, select define, and you've got the full dictionary at your disposal. I've relied on it for years, and never bothered to download another dictionary app since the built-in one works great. But for Thai to English definitions, I always had to rely on apps.
On the Mac, the built-in Dictionary.app (which powers the iOS-style definition popups) lets you enable a number of dictionaries and install new ones (and, yes, I have a 3rd party Thai-to-English dictionary installed in Dictionary.app on the Mac). With iOS 7, the Define tool gets the former functionality, with 14 dictionaries for you to download including the Apple Dictionary of tech terms and Korean, English, and Japanese to English translation dictionaries. Just define any word, then tap Manage on the bottom left, and select the dictionaries you want to download from the cloud.
Enjoy!
Now, if Apple will just add a way for us to install 3rd party dictionaries into the quasi-Dictionary.app on iOS. That, and a way to add new animated backgrounds, are curiously missing right now, something I hope Apple will quickly rectify, because I'd love to add a Thai-to-English dictionary directly to iOS.
Notice which phone is featured? Yup, the 5c. Not the fastest and greatest iPhone, but the new mid-priced iPhone. The 5c the featured iPhone.
That makes perfect sense.
****
Over the past year, a number of people I know have purchased iPhones. I'm an American living in Thailand — a market without subsidized phones — so I have friends and family in both countries. And of everyone I know who bought an iPhone since the iPhone 5 was released, not one person I can think of bought an iPhone 4S. Everyone either went for the iPhone 4 ("free" in the US, ~$350+ in Thailand) or the iPhone 5.
If Apple had continued its normal policy of making one new iPhone and keeping the past two models as cheaper options this year, the iPhone 5 would likely have fallen into the same limbo. The 4S would be free in subsidized markets, and cheap enough to appeal to comparatively budget consumers in unsubsidized markets. The 5s, on the other hand, is the aspirational product, one people will pay extra for no matter which market they're in. Why buy the mid-priced 5 when for $100 extra you could get the newest phone?
Thus, the 5c. Apple's made two new iPhones this year, one that's enough different to attract budget customers and convince them to pay a bit extra. It's the iPhone they're going to market the most, I think, because it's their new shot at mass market. This past year, the iPhone 4 has been their marketshare-boosting model — this year, they want a brand-new iPhone with better margins than any "free" model could offer to be their marketshare-boosting model.
People who want the best will still get the 5s. The fingerprint reader alone will make it the device of choice for corporate rollouts. But for the mass market, a new no-compromises iPhone now costs $99 in subsidized markets and ~$150 or so less than before in unsubsidized markets.
It's not cheap — far from it, in fact. It's just a different product at a different price point. iPad Mini to the 5s' New iPad. MacBook Air to the Retina Display MacBook Pro. Mac Mini to the iMac (and Mac Pro). iPod Nano to the iPod. iPhoto to Aperture. iMovie to Final Cut Pro. All of which get their own updates, and are never seen as the older version of the other. Actually, every software or hardware market Apple's in now has two lines: something entry level that's great on its own, and something bigger/faster/more pro.
That's the iPhone market now: two new devices that in all likelihood will get their own annual updates. A high quality phone that's great for everyone, and a pro-level aspirational phone that's the future of the platform. Notice that the iPhone 5 — a one year old device, but the tech baselevel of the 5c — has all of iOS 7's features aside from Touch ID and the new photo features like slo-mo video, both of which require the hardware in the 5s. Nothing software-wise is limited on the 5c (or the 5) this year, unlike every other last-year iPhone to date.
In that, there's the message: the 5c is a full-featured iPhone. It's the only iPhone you need, and it's just $99. Why get the old iPhone when you could get this year's new phone for $100 extra?
Honestly, they almost could have just called the two devices iPhone and iPhone Pro, but somehow that just doesn't sound Apple-y for a mobile device.
****
The iPhone predictions and leaks this year ended up being precisely spot-on, but the discussion around them was often comically odd. Everyone suddenly became an expert about what would sell well in China and the rest of Asia, about pricing and what the rest of the world could afford, and about exactly why Steve Jobs would or wouldn't have made the 5c.
If we're all entitled to our opinions, here's mine. I'm an American who's lived in Asia half my life, and my wife is Chinese/Thai. We both thought the gold iPhone mockups were gaudy and wouldn't have appealed to Chinese more than any other market. The gold color that was released with the 5s is beautiful, though, and I'm certain it'll fare as well as the silver variant in all markets around the world. But just because Chinese in particular buy gold to store wealth doesn't mean they'd want a gold iPhone. If anything, an iPhone is a status symbol on its own — no gold required.
Then, the brightly colored plastic iPhone 5c isn't any more for China than it is the rest of the world. The c definitely doesn't stand for cheap, nor does it stand for China. It's simply just the 2nd line of iPhones, just like Apple's done with so many of its other products.
The 5s will still be an aspirational product, and the 5c is still relatively expensive. But the 5c is a great product on its own, one Jony Ive seems incredibly proud of (and I have to think Jobs would have been proud of it too — he, after all, introduced brightly colored iMacs and iPods) — and I expect it to sell great.
If anything, it should boost the iPhone ASP, since I happen to think it'll get a ton of customers who otherwise would have opted for this year's free iPhone to pony up a bit more for this year's cheaper brand-new iPhone.
Time sure does fly — and I must apologize again for this issue coming a week slower than I’d planned. We’re supposed to have new issues every two weeks, and both issues 4 and 5 have taken 3 weeks to come to press. It’s been a bit much, taking this on at the same time I have a ton of projects going on at work, but hey — Issue 5 is here. I really think you’ll enjoy it, too. And I shall do my very best to get Issue 6 out within 2 weeks from now. Hold me to that, would you?
But before that, you’ve got some reading to do. First up is a great article from my friend and colleague Phillip Gruneich, another writer you should start seeing more often on Techinch Magazine. He digs into how mobile apps are eating the world, and more, in this week’s feature article.
Then, from yours truly, you’ll find a look at what shaking up TV really means — and no, it doesn’t really mean more apps. We then explore what it means to be authentic on social media, and why Monsters Inc. and U are actually about today.
I sure hope you enjoy the articles — and if you do, could you take a minute and send me a message on Twitter @maguay and let me know what you liked and why? I would really, really appreciate that.
I just wrote up a piece on AppStorm about the Omni Group's new OmniKeyMaster, and how they're letting their App Store customers move to a direct license for upgrade discounts. It's an interesting move for a company that was quick to adapt to the App Store, yet still wants to offer traditional upgrade pricing.
I think it's an interesting development, one that — in my opinion — is hopeful for the future of pro apps. After all, Microsoft and Adobe seem to think subscriptions are the only way to go, and everyone can't subsidize their apps with hardware revenue like Apple can. I'd much rather see app upgrades come to the App Store, but Omni's move is a great one in the mean time.
Update: Well, that was short-lived, and the Omni Team has already had to pull the app. Here's my analysis on what this means for the App Store.
About a month ago, I started using Buffer again to simplify my AppStorm social networking, where I need to post to two sets of Facebook, Twitter, App.net, and Google+ pages, in addition to my own personal Twitter and App.net accounts. It's too much to manage in any one native app, and finally I saw the genius in Buffer — enough that I called it "the best social networking app today" in my recent review of Buffer at AppStorm. It's perfect at one thing: posting on multiple networks whenever you want. That was exactly what I needed.
But now, it's got the holy grail of social networking apps: Google+ integration. Google+ integration has been frustratingly elusive from most apps, and if you're not a regular user of the network but still need to share articles on it (as I do for AppStorm), it's terribly annoying that you can't auto-post to it from your RSS feed as you can to Twitter, Facebook, and App.net from countless apps. Now that Buffer has Google+ integration, though, it's now easy to post anything you put on Twitter to Google+ without ever having to open the site. Just signup at http://bufferapp.com/get-google-plus, add your Google+ page(s), and you're ready to roll.
All that's needed is a bit of IFTTT integration. Fire up IFTTT, start a new recipe with your site's feed, then have it sent to Buffer. Here's the only tricky part: you can only have IFTTT integrated with one of your social media accounts in Buffer. That's good, since it means you can send stuff just to Google+, but it's bad if you're already using Buffer with IFTTT. If the latter's true, I'd recommend making a new IFTTT account just for your Google+ stuff. Otherwise, you're good to go. Just integrate your Buffer account, select your Google+ page from the list of account options, and finish up your recipe.
Now, everytime you publish something, it'll be sent to Buffer to be published on your schedule to Google+, all without opening Google+. That's one less thing to worry about.
(and here's where I start wondering, yet again, when the incredibly handy IFTTT will start charging for pro accounts. Because they should.)
It’s been 8 weeks since Techinch Magazine hit the App Store, and I’m working now on getting Issue 4 published in a few days. But, if you haven’t read anything in Techinch Magazine yet, you might enjoy a sample article — one that many readers said was their favorite from the first issue.
So here is one of the first articles from Techinch Magazine, for your reading pleasure for free. Enjoy.
*****
Perspective
The lost value in today’s rush for the instant.
For all the handwringing over the lack of permanence on the internet, most of the stuff shared online today isn’t really worth saving. Social networks are filled with vapid, off-the-cuff remarks that are posted on a whim. History will have lost precious little if every Facebook update, Tweet, Amazon review, Reddit thread, and YouTube comment were permanently lost.
That’s not simply being dismissive of user generated content. Instead, it’s a statement on the lack of perspective that goes into most opinions foisted online. People rate books — and everything else — by their covers far too often. The opinions you see are mainly reactive, either based simply on what the product claims for itself, or on first impressions.
Movie reviews seem more to state what we expect (ala a conformation that a remake or sequel of a movie couldn’t possibly live up to the quality of the original) rather than showing how the movie fits in its genre and pushes the art forward (or not, as it may be). Software reviews far too often simply parrot the developer’s claims for the app without actually testing them out. News, even, is far too often simply stated directly, without being put into context so the public can grasp the greater picture.
Ours is a fast-paced, live for the moment society. In the struggle to be first to press in the age of Twitter, speed has replaced insight. @BreakingNews can give you as much info as most TV news these days, and it only reports 140 character headlines. Investigative reporting is nearly a lost art.
Nothing built that way will stand the test of time. Our world is more focused on short-term gains, which will only bring a long-term greater loss.
It’s time for a change. We need perspective.
Getting Away From the Echo Chamber
“I think, therefore I am.” René Descartes, 1637
For millennia, the majority of humanity toiled it fields for the very food they ate. Writing and reading - even the very knowledge of what limited world affairs there were - was the sole domain of the ruling class. It was the printing press that sparked the Enlightenment, the time when the wisdom of generations storied in printed words was unlocked for the masses.
The first printed works were of great importance: the Bible, the classics, textbooks, and histories. But as time went on and printing became cheaper, printed matter grew to include everything from newspapers and scholarly journals to almanacs and pulp fiction, tabloids and advertisement pamphlets, and anything in-between.
Then along came computers and desktop publishing. Better yet, the Internet, first with Geocities and message boards. Now, we’re all walking around with computers in our pockets, recording and sharing the minutiae of our dinners and dreams in 140 character messages - on the very same platform reporters are breaking news about life-changing events.
Somehow along the way to instant publication, we lost perspective. We all have. We seem to take everything that happens at face value, without putting it in its greater context. We tweet, but we don’t think. We’re so bombarded with info, nothing can make a lasting change on us.
One minute we’re upset over some injustice in the world, and are signing a digital petition to right the wrong. The next, we’re liking an inspiration picture on Facebook. Then we join in a debate on Reddit about a topic we only heard about 5 minutes ago. That evening, as we’re watching the evening news, that terribly important issue that took up 3 minutes of our lives in the morning is scarcely remembered.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if we had more resources giving us perspective. But we don’t. We crowd out longform journalism with TV news and Twitter, since we don’t have time to read. We Google fast facts, quote the first one listed, and don’t research deeper since we have no time. And what’s filling up our time? Finding yet more trivial information.
It’s time to shut it all out, and choose how we fill our minds and time - or not. After all, you don’t have to be doing something all the time. It may sound quaint to say you should “stop and smell the flowers”, but perhaps that command is more true for us today than ever, now that we’d be more inclined to Instagram said flowers only to have out thoughts interrupted by yet another push notification.
The only way to change is to force the change. You have decide to start shutting out the chatter. There’s only so much our minds can take in and actually process, so you’ve got to turn the spigot off yourself.
Perhaps turn your Internet off for an hour or two a day. Or turn off all but the most essential notifications. Take a day off social networking each week, perhaps, or perhaps trim down the list of people you’ve friended and followed.
Now, make some positive changes. Choose where you get your info, and when. Don’t just browse aimlessly, but proactively choose what you read, watch, and listen to. It’s not that it’s bad news, per se, it’s just that we all get far too much of it. So pick the best and brightest sources, and when you choose to learn about the news, go there.
Finally, start building your own resources to give you your own better perspective. You don’t have to become a librarian or research journalist to do it. Just write down notes in the simplest way for you - on paper, in an app, whatever - about what’s happening. Write what impressed you about a political candidate, or save the articles about a storm that impacted you. Next time around, you’ll have your own resources to pull from to give you insight and perspective on what’s happening in the world.
It’s what we all need.
The original draft of this article was written on an Olympia mechanical typewriter, a reminder of a time when news traveled slower. And — one would hope, at least — a time with more perspective.
*****
This article was originally published in Techinch Magazine, Issue 1. If you enjoyed it, why not download Techinch Magazine on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch and check out the other issues, or purchase an individual copy of any of the other issues?
Frank Chimero's incredible book on design is one of the most thought provoking books I've ever read. I preordered the eBook copy after its Kickstarter campaign was over, and only wish now that I had purchased the hardback edition. Here's what I wrote about it over a year ago: if anything, that doesn't do the book justice. The Shape of Design is an eloquent treatise about what design really means, and how well designed things influence our life. It's a must-read, even if you don't consider yourself a designer.
I was reminded of how much I love the book today while reading over Shawn Blanc's new book Delight is in the Details, where he draws inspiration from Chimero's text. So, I hopped over to The Shape of Design's site again, just to take another look at it, and was surprised to see it now contains the full text of the book in an online eBook. The site's been beautifully designed to make it the perfect way to read the eBook online — much like Matthew Butterick's Practical Typography site — and if anything, you'll likely enjoy reading it more online than in a PDF.
It's incredibly generous of Frank Chimero to make his work available free online, and I can only hope that this will mean more people will read it and take its advice to heart.
Go read it at ShapeofDesignBook.com; you won't regret the time you take to read through it. It's easily worth an afternoon or three of reading and contemplation.
“You’re driving yourself crazy (and going in circles) over how things should be, but if you settle down and look at how things really are, you might figure out how to change a few of them.”
