robin huber

Marketplace will decide. Significant creep factor to me. Saw my first guy fiddling with Google glasses of some sort recently while waiting for a plane. Looked both creepy and ridiculous. Maybe with time . . .

Streaming UI’s all generally suck. In my opinion TiVo has the best combination of user interface and remote. I wish Apple, Prime, Hulu, Netflix and the rest would put as much money and thought into that as to content acquisition.  

Apple in particular has an awful record in this regard. The original remote was as bad as their original iMac “puck” mouse. It’s finally been improved, but is still difficult to use. Navigating on screen without a cursor requires some other cue to make it clear just where you are. Currently the rounded rectangle icon you select doesn’t respond obviously enough to draw your eyes to it. It gets subtly larger—that’s supposed to get your attention. It needs  more. Maybe a highlight around it or a jiggle. And then something nearly al such UI’s fail at is prioritizing shows according to your viewing habits. Shows that you watch regularly should appear up top next time you open the app, not go back to being buried in their categories! A “Continue Watching” feature should be square one. 

My Epson printer control app broke. 

I chose that too, but with a nagging echo from the past that has never gone away. My first laptop was the PowerBook G4 Titanium. Looked great, but the material, touted as strong and light, cracked on the hinges. If there was a recall, fix, or rebate I never learned of it. My college paid for it but I eventually got a new one as an officer from my union. Always have been leery of titanium claims since then. 

I volunteer twice a week at my local State Park doing native plant restoration work in the field and nursery. Involves a lot of grubbing around in dirt and chopping through invasive plants. The iPhone in my pants pocket regularly gets tiny seeds, sand grains, and other debris in the Lightning port. I have accumulated a small arsenal of specialized tools to remove it. Hoping USB-C will make it better, or at least not worse. I know I could buy an expensive Otterbox type of protective case, but don’t want to have that on the other 90% of the time. A small easily removable plastic port plug would be great, but haven’t found one.