hillel

Or maybe just nuanced communication doesn't work with most people independent of scale.

@MBCook you are correct. I have no problem with being able to make a choice. I have a problem having to make that choice out of the box between two pieces of software shipped by the same company. It's like they couldn't be bothered to settle it so they just punted the decision to me.

I would have thought this experience to be anachronistic as well as I thought Android had plenty of time to polish their experience since those stories 2-3 years ago. That's part of the reason I jumped into trying Android. I thought it would be a good experience - just different from iOS, which I welcomed.

As for doing good UX for apps on Android, i think that's almost no different than doing good UX for apps on any smartphone platform. Aside from dealing with the back button and a few other platform specific issues, it's the same set of challenges around touch-based devices and limited screen real estate.

Voicemail shouldn't be a carrier specific experience. Is there something so differentiated about the t-mobile voicemail experience vs. the verizon voice mail experience? Shouldn't there just bean android voice mail experience that the carrier can direct at their back end as appropriate?

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that a core feature (like voice mail) should work out of the box with no additional installations on my part.

My issue is not that I abhor choice. Choice is fine and sometimes good. My issue was that I was confronted with these choices out of the box. And the impetus for this was Google's business choices at the expense of a seamless user experience.

I don't disagree with the notion of being efficient and getting out of the way. But I do think remembering that you're talking to a human being is important.

To the author of the article, Mr. Clemens, and other academics annoyed by Mr. Khan's compressed description of important topics, I ask the following question:

Other than criticize this new source of education, what are YOU doing to address the needs of people hungry for learning other than continuing on the same well worn path that you've been on for decades?

Professional academics whining about Khan Academy ignore the fact that their customers are telling them something by flocking to Khan's videos. They're saying that higher education today doesn't always meet their needs, and they need these services packaged, priced, and delivered in new ways.

If Mr. Clemens doesn't like Khan's treatment of a particular topic, how about recording your own video that does it right.

It does seem easier to criticize and keep to your own cloistered little world rather than put yourself out there and try to innovate. But that's just my perspective.

I'm sure there are many writers that I like whose views I would disagree with if I knew them. That said, I just can't read anything this guy writes since he so vehemently opposed gay marriage.

So essentially, my little corner of Seattle is wasting the equivalent of a gulf oil spill EVERY YEAR!. Ugh. At least there's no damage to the environment from our waste... oh wait... :(

I agree, and luckily that's not necessary. The 888 number is large on every page of the site (except for the intro page for unregistered users). And it will be there soon too.

Exactly.

wow. amazing. you're absolutely right. it's on every page but the homepage. Woops. We just built a new homepage, and I forgot to make sure it was up there. Every other page has it. I've made myself a to-do item to fix. Thanks!

or have voice mail.

you can also specify on the site which hours you are open. We have a dynamic indicator on our site showing when the phone line is 'open'.

As I learn more about running a startup, I can see what a great plan the EnergySavvy guys have in terms of generating leads for greentech contractors using their excellent software tools. I think it's something other entrepreneurs in any category can learn from.

Agreed. With enough demand... we'll add more versions. :)

Right. That's why we made Thrilled for You as a client app that requires no internet connection. Internet is still so flakey... it's the last thing anyone should have to worry about.

If there are enough requests we'll definitely consider making a Windows version. :)

Here's the announcement blog post:

http://www.jacksonfish.com/blog/2010/02/07/thrilled-for-you-...

Basically, a year and a half ago we decided to focus more on software we could charge for (vs. ad/sponsorhsip supported). At the top of our list was a storytelling app called A Story Before Bed (www.astorybeforebed.com) which we shipped this past November. But Jenny (our co-founder) was getting married last August so we paused our development on our primary product and spent some time developing Thrilled for You - a video guestbook for Jenny's wedding reception.

Things have calmed down a little since we shipped A Story Before Bed, and we realized we still have the app we wrote for Jenny. With wedding season coming in a few months we did some more testing, tweaked the UI, came up with a bunch of themes, and put together the website for Thrilled for You (www.thrilledforyou.com) and offered it for sale as of yesterday. :)

There are so many things we love about having our own startup... the ability to do things like this is definitely one of them. We feel the software we make is so personal when it comes out of a need we had ourselves.

Thanks for asking for more details. :)

Thanks so much. As for the licensing, working with the rights holders is the only way I know how to do it.

Yes. You got it exactly. And for the folks who were confused by the opening sentence on our site, we've updated it in an attempt to reduce confusion. Check it out now and see what you think. :) (clear your cache when you reload the page to make sure you get the latest ;)

FWIW, three children. Ages 3, 6, and 8. We live in Seattle. Their grandparents live in Massachusetts and Maryland.

Agreed. It's in the works. And thanks. :)

Great idea. :)

Maybe when the apple tablet comes out? :)

Thanks. We think this is appropriate for parents who are on business trips, grandparents who live far away, split family situations, parents stationed in the military, etc. We also have gotten reports that people are interested in using it to record kids reading books to show off to their remote grandparents.

More like... your spouse/partner is on a business trip. Your child misses them and wants a story read by them. But they're not there to do it. You sit on the bed and show the child a video of the absent parent reading a story to the child.

I don't think we ever positioned the site as a replacement for a parent or grandparent who is there. That said, my three year old requests stories to be read to her "on the computer" where we record them together and then she watches them back sitting on my lap.

@axod: You're right. This isn't a replacement for 1:1 storytime. But sometimes that's not possible. Like when a parent is on a business trip, or stationed abroad in the military, or with remote grandparents, or in a split family situation.

@jhancock you're right. we're working on an iphone reader so the site is more "bed-friendly". :)

This analysis is sorely lacking perspective. I could pick on a bunch of things but I'll just choose one to make my point.

Cringely's assertion that Google should fear making Google search not work on Windows PCs is ludicrous. Period. Anyone who seriously thinks any broadly successful (public) company would pull a stunt like that and piss off the vast bulk of their users has lost touch with reality.