The verdict was in Apple’s favor. Of course.

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Since I like Apple I am aware of that there are a lot of lawsuits about patent infringements, but at the same time I haven’t got enough technical knowledge to understand the details. The largest lawsuit of them all, with Apple versus Samsung and also Samsung versus Apple is however of another dimension. Thanks God the jury made the verdict that Samsung has copied Apple’s iPhone on purpose. By some reason the verdict was not the same for the iPad?

I have written about Apple and the copycat Samsung before in my blog.

To me it’s obvious that Samsung has copied Apple in a way that seriously damages their rights as innovators and originators. How hard can it be? You can chose to develop your own products with a sovereign ”personality” made out of technical features, design and choice of materials and then you make sure that you stay outside the greyzone where doubtfulness about copying may occur. Or you do like Samsung, analyze which smartphone is the best on the market and then make sure to copy it, piece by piece – which obviously is what they have done. The goofs even emailed about this so that anyone can read about how their ”development process” was performed.

There will always be an amount of ”inspiration copying” in the overall development. But then it’s in a sound way. One sees how someone has solved a problem, sees how someone else has solved a similar problem and you melt it together to something new. That’s a common way to define creativity. If you follow the development och tech stuff from the beginning then you will naturally see that at certain type of solutions follow each other during the years. But when it’s done in a sound way, everyone makes their own interpretation, so to speak.

My first question is how Samsung could be as bold as they have been? My next question is how Samsung could be as stupid as they have been? I think they have burnt their candle in both ends. A lot of their products will get banned in US which is a considerable part of their market, they will have to pay more than $1 billion to Apple and they have nurtured a lot of developers who have been forced to specialize in copying in stead of innovation and at the same time they have became enemies with one of their biggest (if not THE biggest?) customer for electronical parts… Do you fancy buying a Samsung share? Well, I would not think so…

I wonder how many of Samsung’s devices that will get banned from the US market? How did they dare to take that risk? And yet you hear the choir of complainers go on about the verdict being a lose for the american people, it will reduce their options and the verdict will make it difficult for the developers. Oh, wow… Of course it should be difficult for the developers! Isn’t that part of the job as well as coming up with good solutions? What kind of lazy persons have done this ”copy-developing”? If they really want to make a difference then they should all be happy now when the border for what is allowed has found a perfectly clear contour which means they are forced to think in new ways. Think outside the box. In fact we can all cheer upon the fact that the world now can look forward to another type of development that might give bigger opportunities for developers to test real innovations so that we all can gain from the new ideas instead of the lame copying that used Apple as the motor.

Furthermore, Samsung is not the only one that is occupied with copying among the Android developers. Google has just been too tame by giving access to Android development. The believers have talked warmly about how fantastic and open and optional the Android world is compared to Apple. Of course it is when they can ran around like maniacs without showing any consideration to others… Add the fact that not even developers like to develop for Android because the android users don’t real like to pay for apps – they expect everything to be free. Iphone users however, like to pay. Apparently they appreciate the work that is behind the apps.

I expect Microsoft and Windows 8 to gain from this verdict. They have tried to develop a operating system with a sovereign ”personality”. Cred to Microsoft! Unfortunately it seems that Windows 8 is not so warmly welcomed, but I keep my fingers crossed to make sure they go on and make it better.

Because, I don’t think that the world gets any better if Apple are the only ones being innovative. Apple could also become lazy. To see other’s good solutions gives you energy to perform better. I am glad that the verdict made the rules clear. Let’s all be happy!

The unboxing magic

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We love Apple in my house. That’s why it’s a holy moment every time we unbox a new Apple device. We open the box carefully, admires the clever way the package is done and we enjoys it.

The video below is quite the opposite but of course, it’s not Apple… Oh my… they really need to work more on the box.

I have the pleasure to coach an old lady in how to use her iPad. I had quite an unboxing experience with her. She doesn’t live in the ”Apple context” like I do. She doesn’t know all that about design, elegance, beauty, form and function. To her this iPad is just yet another item to own. It was a healthy experience to watch her unbox her iPad. She took off the lid and in the second when I expected her to carefully lift the little plastic tab on the side, she just flipped the whole box and the iPad popped out in a blink of an eye. Wow!

I was shocked. But it was funny! Old folks doesn’t have enough time to spend on non-essentials.

Oh, one more wish to Apple!

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I just realized that I actually have one more wish to Apple. It’s not a small wish. It’s a wish that’s really hot and if my wish comes true I will jump and scream and there is a chance you will see a tear in my eye.

What I want most of all dear Apple, is a big iPad Pro. I love to sketch and draw on my iPad, but the tools are not yet precise enough. If I want to make an illustration for professional use, I have to use my Wacom tablet. I know that it’s possible to buy touch sensitive screens that I can connect to my MacBook Pro, but as I have become used to working on my iPad, everything else starts to feel a bit clumsy.

A big iPad Pro includes a Digital Pro Pen. I would also like to have a stand for it and a separate keyboard so that I also can use it like I use my iMac today. It also includes cooperation by Corel so that they will optimize Corel Painter for this iPad Pro.

Somewhere deep inside I have carried this wish for a long time. I know it’s about time I buy a new Wacom tablet, but I can’t make myself to do that, because I believe so strongly that Apple will deliver this big iPad Pro very soon. If not in 2012 they got to do it in 2013. It would be a natural development of their devices.

I beg you Mr Tim Cook, please make my wish come true! *smiling very nice*

Dear Apple, please make my wishes come true!

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In April I wrote a blogpost about iCloud and some features I wished for. At WWDC 2012, on June 11th I was happy to hear that some of the features I wished for actually had come true. Like an easier way to move documents from your Mac computer to iCloud. But I still have more wishes.

Dearest Apple, you know that I have been in love with you since April 1989 when we got our first MacPlus. I am one of the most loyal Apple customers you have on this planet. But, I am starting to get a bit annoyed about two things.

  1. iCloud and the possibilities to move stuff between my devices. You have come up with iCloud as the solution, but it’s hard to understand how to use that solution and even harder to explain to others that are not as experienced as I am. The solution is not crystal clear and the fact that it only works for documents made in Apple’s own software, iWork makes the situation complicated. That’s why every iPad user I know also use DropBox. Please Apple: we are a lot of people using your devices that need simple solutions to move documents between our devices (or get access to them from different devices) and we also have the need to share documents with others. 
  2. iWork; I get the feeling that you have stopped developing the OS versions of iWorks because you have been so excited about the iOS versions. And of course, I appreciate your enthusiasm about iOS – but we are a lot of people outside Infinite Loop that like to work with Pages, Keynote and Numbers, we are professionals and we want our software to work as fine as we expect from a company like Apple. I notice small faults all the time. Today it was about the spelling check in Keynote. It doesn’t matter how much I try to change the language from Swedish to English – the spelling check still goes for Swedish. I try to report the faults I notice when they occur, but, today I realized that I no longer expect iWork to work flawless. And that is a bad sign.

Otherwise I think you do a marvelous job and I am especially happy about Tim Cook and his way to handle things. Apple is in good hands and I have confidence in you.

BTW – if you want my opinion, you know that I’m always available, right? *nod nod hint hint* (Like if anyone at Apple should ever read my blog, but a Gotlandic woman can always make a wish…)

App-test: Drawing and painting on iPad

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I think one of the nicest thing with my iPad is that I also have a Wacom Bamboo Stylus Solo so that I can draw on it. There are two situations when I want to draw or paint.

  1. When I sketch ideas. Like ideas for projects, books, speeches etc.
  2. When I want to create and paint.

Obviously those are different situations. When I sketch ideas it can be good to not have so many choices. When I create I really need a lot of choices.

Both of the situations requires tools with an easy UI (User Interface) so that I don’t get frustrated but find what I need to find and understand what I need to understand quite easy.

In this test two apps disqualified immediately because of their UI: SketchBook Pro and Auryn Ink. Escpecially SketchBook Pro has been praised and I expected that app to be really competent but every time I try to use it I get annoyed. The UI doesn’t come natural to me. I give up. Auryn Ink was fun when I first got my iPad and I thought it was nice to be able to paint with watercolor. Though, I always expected that I would find out more about how to use it, to understand all the buttons and settings. But I didn’t.

I have used Painter since 1993 or 1994, I’m not sure exactly when I started but I know that back then it was called Fractal Painter and nowadays it’s Corel Painter. I also used a Wacom Pen since about that time. That means I have very high standards from what I expect from the ability to draw and paint on an iPad. I think that a lot of people have never tried to use a pen like they now can do on their iPad and part of their joy when they draw on their iPads is because it’s so fun to be able to do it. They are easy to please because they don’t have so much expectations.

Today I have tested to create a red heart on a blue-grey background in seven different apps. I have tried to use chalk-like tools for half of the heart and covering-tools for the other half. I have also tried to blend the colors from the halves in the middle. Then I have drawn a thin black line around it. These are the result from my test. The apps that I think are the best will come in the end. I begin with the ones that I don’t find so useful.

Muji Notes. When I first got my iPad in December 2009 I got happy when I found Muji Notes. I liked that I could both write with the keyboard and sketch. If you want to do simple sketches it stills works pretty nice and I like the possibility to get an overview of all the pages and being able to change the order. But remember: this is a notebook. When I tried to paint the heart in Muji it was a hard test on the capacity – the app almost stopped. So, you can use Muji Notes for sketching, but you better not cover the whole page with paint like I did. Sadly, the tools doesn’t work well. The UI is a bit confusing and the pen is not as precise as I expect it to be. As you can see the colors were not so easy to choose. I could have out more time into it – but the small square that one pick the colors from is just too small for my patience.

My advice is: don’t use Muji Notes. There are better options.

Paper. People seems to be stunned about this app, but I don’t like it. I tried to make a blue-grey background with the watercolor, but the result is clumpsy. I want watercolor to be smooth and wet so that the strokes blends. In fact, you can’t blend any colors in Paper, which is a shame since the color set is so limited with just 9 colors to choose from. If there are other ways to get more colors – then I haven’t found it and then I think it’s to blame on the UI.

I think people fall in love with this app because the way you can open your sketchbook and ”run-through the pages with your fingers” is lovely! It really is. And the ink tool also makes lovely lines. But that’s about it. Otherwise I can’t find any use for Paper. I don’t know if I should call it a notebook or a paint tool – but I think it doesn’t really work for any of these categories.

I also got very annoyed when I downloaded the app. To start with it was free – but once I opened it I found out that I only could use the ink tool. If I wanted the rest of the tools I had to pay for each of them. I think they are fooling people to believe that they get an app for free and then they have to pay more from start… Not nice!

My advice is: you can enjoy Paper by looking at the videoclip on their homepage, but to actually use it is not enjoyable. Don’t download it!

Bamboo Paper. Well, this is another note book. Limited colors. Limited use. I think Wacom is the best when it comes to create digital pens – but I don’t think they need to do notebooks-apps as well.

My advice is: Don’t bother. (That goes for Wacom too – don’t bother creating notebooks apps, but please continue to create fantastic, digital styluses)

Sketch Club. Now, this is an app you can draw and paint with! To start with the UI confused me, but once I understood it I think Sketch Club might be useful. As you can see I have used both chalk and coverings pens. It’s possible to smudge the colors but I don’t like that the colors gets dirty. It’s also possible to work with layers.

My advice is: close, but no cigar!

ArtSet. I like this app! I like that I can work with chalks, oil, pens and other tools and that there a several ways to blend the colors like water, sponge or a clot of paper. But, those blending techniques are not as good as I expect them to be. I also wish they had a covering ink to choose from. But even so, for a long time I preferred this app when I wanted to paint and create.

My advice is: Buy it if you want a cheap app. You can do plenty with it – but it has some limitations.

Noteshelf. This is a notebook in which you can both draw with a pen and write with the keyboard. It has a limited choice of colors and only two tools, but you can choose the size of the pens freely. I think it’s really easy to use and it’s fun to sketch ideas in this app.

I create a notebook for each project and I have bought some extra covers and papers for fun – but you get as much as you need from start. I also like that I can protect some of the notebooks with password and it’s handy that I can export my sketches to Evernote and then copy Evernote’s url and send to someone I want to look at my sketches.

My advice is: Get Noteshelf! It’s the best notebook app I have. It’s easy to use and have practical functions. You will not be able to draw fantastic paintings with it – but it will help you to visualize your ideas.

ProCreate! Taraaa, here it comes, the winner in my paint app test. I bought it yesterday and I am happy. At last an iPad app that works with elegance. The UI is really easy. As you can see the chalk and the covering ink works fine and so does the blending. I also like the thin black line. I have used layers as well. This is just my drawing I did for this test. If you look at it closely you can see the structure of the paint.

My advice is: If you like to paint – then buy ProCreate.

I end this blogpost with the first picture I painted with ProCreate yesterday.

I hope you liked my test! If you click on a picture you can watch them all as a slideshow.

(PS. Naturally you can’t compare these apps with Painter and especially not if you illustrate professionally. Painter is a digital upgrade from natural media. These apps are happy efforts to imitate reality – but so far it’s mostly just for fun.)