John Gruber on the upcoming iOS 13 and what bothers him with the “post-iOS 7” UI:

I don’t know why, but one of those things has been bugging me a lot in recent months: the drab gray color that indicates tapdown state for list items and buttons. Putting aside skeuomorphic textures like woodgrain and leather and the 3D-vs.-flat debate, the utter drabness of tapdown states is just a bad idea. I didn’t like it when iOS 7 debuted, and I like it even less 6 years later.

In classic iOS, when you tapped down on list items or buttons, they’d instantly light up in vibrant color. The standard color was a bright cheerful blue. In iOS 7 through 12, the tapdown state is the color of dirty dishwater.

I agree with Gruber to an extent.

I remember how weird iOS 7 felt when it came out. It was the first major iOS update after Scott Forstall left Apple and Jony Ive took ownership of iOS. Readability was shitty (it used a lot of Helvetica 35 Thin) and there was poor foreground/background contrast in Control Center with greys and whites. It felt like a print designer was designing their first RGB interface. It also didn’t feel fun. Love skeuomorphism or hate it, iOS, up to version 6 felt fun (I hate to break to the the skeuomorphism haters, but iOS still a lot uses skeuomorphism, but that’s for another post).

Fast forward to today and I think iOS 12 feels much more fun. There are more rounded corners (and bigger radii on those corners), and animations have more easing to them. Transitions are not as robotically linear as they used to be.

This isn’t to say there’s not room to improve iOS and make make it more fun.

In an interview with Edge Magazine, Panic co-founder Cabel Sasser revealed Mark Zuckerberg was interested in buying his company (I’m not sure how long ago).

Cabel passed (via Engadget):

“Maybe that’s why we’re put on this planet: to be an example of like, you can move slowly. Make sure you have enough money in the bank, make something good and see what happens. You don’t have to go for world domination.”

The world would be a better place with more Sassers and less Zuckerbergs in it.

Imagine trying to pitch a handheld gaming device with a crank to one of the big gaming companies. Oh, and the screen is black and white. It would get shot down immediately.

But the reality is – based on the reactions I see on Twitter – Panic will have no problem selling this. It does, of course, have to live up to the marketing.

I’ve been a Panic customer for over 10 years. Creating a handheld gaming device is quite a pivot. I love it.

Slate: Democratic Reluctance to Even Utter “Impeachment” Is Becoming Untenable:

The problem with Democratic pointillism is that if congressional Democrats truly refuse to see the big picture, after the staggering proof put forth in the Mueller report, the daily reports of gross financial misconduct and corruption, and the administration’s growing refusal to accede to any form of congressional oversight, one has to wonder which hypothetical red dot or yellow smear might persuade them that, um, crimes. Perhaps some belief in Trump’s infamous boast that he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot a man without losing support has spooked Democrats to the point of paralysis. The reality is that Democrats on the Hill know what criminal obstruction looks like—they are just too terrified to say so.

The other problem with Democratic pointillism is that House Democrats want to look like measured and rational adults in the face of the biggest toddler tantrum ever witnessed in presidential history, one in which the Constitution is being repurposed as a diaper. But as any parent or even uncertified Red Cross babysitter will tell you, every time you decline to impose consequences, you move the line for acceptable behavior a little further. Mueller is himself trying to look measured and rational by demurring from testifying. Looking adult and rational in the face of abject insanity is not always synonymous with bravery, especially when the other side is shouting TREASON and LOCK THEM UP and INVESTIGATE THE INVESTIGATORS.

Our government is a joke.

Khoi Vinh on John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum:

In the Wick-verse this tendency towards bureaucracy literally manifests itself as a bureaucracy. So we see in this latest episode even more of what we began to see in “John Wick: Chapter 2”: more jargon, more prototocols, more paperwork, more dialogue devoted to characters shouting the world’s rules back at one another. The end result is tedium, but what’s really happening is that the beautifully succinct motivation that drove the original “John Wick,” that revenge fantasy that was so simple and effective as to be almost poetic, has become now fully diffused. It’s no longer clear what Wick wants, what he’s fighting for, why he exists. Instead he’s become little more than a tour guide, an excuse for us to shuffle from one tediously “weird” department of the bureaucracy to another. Where this universe used to be about a man who could kill with a pencil, it now instead devotes itself to a morass of tiresome pencil pushers.

It used to be, “All good things must come to an end.”

Now it’s, “All good things must turn into bureaucracies.”

via Kottke

Yesterday Reuters announced Google was revoking Huawei’s Android license, forcing them to use the open source version (I thought Android was open source? I thought “open always wins”? What’s up, Google?).

Today Huawei responded (via The Verge):

“Huawei has made substantial contributions to the development and growth of Android around the world. As one of Android’s key global partners, we have worked closely with their open-source platform to develop an ecosystem that has benefitted both users and the industry.

Huawei will continue to provide security updates and after-sales services to all existing Huawei and Honor smartphone and tablet products, covering those that have been sold and that are still in stock globally.

We will continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem, in order to provide the best experience for all users globally.”

Vlad Savov at The Verge adds:

For its part, Huawei has been making preparations for an eventuality of losing access to software from US companies like Google and Microsoft, and it has been developing an in-house operating system alternative to Android. That may be what the company hints at in the final paragraph of its statement when it says it will “continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem.” Sustainable being the key word.

I can’t wait to see what kind of half-baked trash fire of an operating system Huawei is developing.

Ibrahim Diallo recounts the time he charged $18,000 for a static HTML page.

Great story, but I have one question for Ibrahim: why the fuck did you not revise your estimate after your 20 hours were spent?

The Verge podcast Why’d You Push That Button digs into the reason Apple gives Android users a green bubble in iMessage.

No need to listen, the answer is simple and we all already know the reason. Yes, you know damn well.

Android users aren’t as cool as iPhone users.

Lenovo let Chaim Gartenberg at The Verge get his hands on their new foldable PC.

For me, it all boils down to this quote from Chaim:

Unfortunately there’s just not a lot we can show off here. There is a functional (!) version of Windows running on this hardware, but the deeper software integration from the foldable display just isn’t ready yet.

It’s important to experiment with new form factors for devices, but when you’re bringing a product to market, it’s much more important to have your use cases figured out and your software ready and working.

This reeks of trendy novelty and a complete lack of deep thinking. Lenovo appears to be riding the foldable wave started by Samsung back in February.

What’s the use case for a folding laptop?

Would I buy this to replace a tablet or a traditional laptop?

Where’s the benefit in saying “me first!” with a piece of shit?

Xhakomo Doda

A few weeks ago an interesting question popped up over at Designer News aimed at designers who are 40-plus:

how are you approaching your next career steps to make it all the way to the retirement age (not as a goal, but as an age marker)? Especially if you are currently not in the director/leadership role working in the agency, in-house, or in-house tech. Are you actively trying to get into the management roles (not just a project lead, but leading a larger team of people or business) or are feeling good continuing on the IC (individual contributor) level? Have you felt the push to advance up the corporate ladder?

In comments some people admit they don’t aspire to manage or lead and don’t have retirement plans. While I can understand not everyone is built to be a manager, not planning for retirement is bad. Very bad.

It can seem far, far away when you’re in your 20s and 30s, but retirement is right around the corner. As a 42-year-old designer, I feel the gap shortening every day.

Adam Savage makes bags.

via Wired

Can you make it Flavor Flav size?