Full-screen Web browsing

July 25, 2011
by Riccardo Mori
Software

I agree, full-screen applications are cool. Even before Lion, even before the iPad, I wanted to be able at least to surf the Web in full-screen mode. You can see more content (especially if you have a good-sized monitor), you can read articles without distractions, and places like Flickr are a joy to browse. When I started my investigation some time ago, I found that, for example, Firefox and Opera have a full-screen mode, so I could resort to them, but I never really liked their interfaces. I had high hopes for Shiira, an open source browser based on the WebKit engine. Shiira’s implementation of full-screen browsing is cleaner and hides the application chrome completely. Sadly it appears that its development has been abandoned for a while now, and the last version available (2.3) is still buggy in many places. 

But then I found an interesting alternative. I already mentioned it time ago in my previous blog, but I think it’s worth a reminder: Plainview, by The Barbarian Group. I like it because it’s a lightweight application, it doesn’t suffer from feature creep, it’s based on WebKit, and most of all it works even under Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. I use it a lot on my trusty sidekick, the Power Mac G4 Cube — full-screen Web browsing on the 22″ Cinema Display is really a treat. I also use it as a sort of screen saver by pointing it to this page, which is an HTML5 clock by Icondesign that’s meant to be accessed with Mobile Safari on an iPad, but it looks good even on bigger screens. If you prefer another kind of clock, you can point the browser to Every Time Zone. In addition, I find the Associated Press Timeline Reader perfectly suited to the full-screen experience.

Also, Plainview has a presentation mode. From the FAQ:

What else does Plainview do?
Plainview has a presentation mode – so you can build a presentation of, say, 10 sites you’ve built, and then show them one by one. Skip to the next site by hitting a hot key. We use this a lot for our Dog and Pony shows. We fire up one site we’ve done. Browse around. Show it. Time to move on? Skip to the next site, without opening up a location bar. Seamless, beautiful presentations.

You can also save presentations, add bookmarks, import your bookmarks, exit full-screen mode, open multiple windows, and view Quicktime movies. And check out the slick way we manage popups! 

I’ll let you find out by yourselves about that ‘slick way’, but I really wish more browsers could do the same — it’s a nice detail. 

So, if your Mac doesn’t support Lion, and you’d like to enjoy some elegant full-screen browsing, my humble suggestion is that you give Plainview a try.

Lion’s futuristic and maddening upgrades

July 24, 2011
by Riccardo Mori
Handpicked

If you still haven’t updated to Mac OS X Lion and are collecting reviews, impressions and assorted literature on the subject because you want to be… psychologically prepared for the big jump, then you should definitely add Apple OS X 10.7 Lion roars with futuristic, and maddening, upgrades, by Andy Ihnatko for the Chicago Sun-Times.

I read the whole review constantly nodding in agreement with Ihnatko, especially where he talks about the maddening aspects of Lion in the section titled The Mac as a Big Honkin’ iPad: the stuff that doesn’t work. I already expressed my perplexity regarding the changes in the scrollbars in Lion after watching the demos by Craig Federighi at the WWDC keynote. I pointed out that borrowing from iOS in this particular instance — the look and behaviour of the scrollbars — wasn’t a particularly good idea. I wrote about it in a post in the Italian section of my blog, so let me translate and summarise that part for you:

When both Schiller and Federighi said that (I’m paraphrasing) scrollbars are ugly, scrollbars are no longer needed, I immediately knew where this was going. There’s nothing wrong with the scrollbars. They’re quite useful — to instantly give you a visual clue of the length of a document, of a Web page, or an approximate estimate of the number of items in a folder when you open it in a Finder window. The new solution, borrowed from iOS, which makes the bars appear when you move the pointer and disappear when you stop, might be visually attractive, but the immediacy is lost. It’s nitpicking, I know, but if the goal of a user interface, among others, is to make things easier for the user, then by having scrollbars always in place, you can convey information the user is able to see and process without the need to take any unnecessary action. A nudge to the mouse wheel, a tap on the trackpad, a slight touch on the Magic Mouse, albeit small, are always additional actions the user must carry out to obtain information he/she could already see with the ‘old-school’ scrollbars. 

Here’s what Andy has to say:

On the iPhone and the iPad, scroll bars are only visible when you’re actually scrolling. As with the iPad’s multitouch shortcuts, that’s a great idea because there’s really no alternative. The iPhone has a teeeeeeeeny little screen and iOS can’t afford to waste a whole column or row of pixels on a scrollbar.

There’s no such limitation with a Mac screen. Even the screen of 11” MacBook Air is perfectly functional. And yet, Lion hides scrollbars unless you’ve actually scrolling.

Can’t stand that.

Even when they’re actually visible, they’re much narrower and harder to see. […]

A scrollbar isn’t decorative fribble. It’s a fundamental element of a GUI. When I’m editing a document, for example, the position of the scrollbar’s thumb and its size instantly tell me two things: that I’m about halfway through the document and that there’s probably only three or four more screenfuls of text to read. All at a glance. Why force me to expend actual effort to get that information?

And don’t forget that a scrollbar is a functional element as well. I want to zap straight to a certain section. Well, thanks, Apple: you made this tiny coin-slot of an indicator a lot harder to grab onto. 

I’m glad I’m not the only one to be annoyed by that. I didn’t want to be too vocal about it because I haven’t actually used Lion, not even a beta, so mine was just an opinion out of observation, while Andy speaks from direct experience. Same goes for certain multitouch gestures like the ‘reversed scrolling’. But I won’t spoil you further — please go read the whole review, it’s really worth your time.

A hardware update that matters

July 23, 2011
by Riccardo Mori
Tech Life

Last Wednesday will be remembered as a milestone for the introduction of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, and indeed Lion was at the centre of everyone’s attention; the increase in chatter in my Twitter stream was remarkable and keeping up with the various bits of Lion-related information was exhilarating. Many have stressed how important Lion is, and how its changes and new features are going to have a serious impact in the way we interact with the operating system. But with my brief observations here, I want to focus on the new hardware that’s been introduced along with Lion, for I think there are some details worth emphasising.

The new, faster MacBook Air

Basically, only the case remains unchanged. Inside, the new 11″ and 13″ MacBook Air are all new: faster CPUs (1.6 GHz and 1.7 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processors, with the 1.8 GHz Intel Core i7 as BTO option), a Thunderbolt port replacing the previous Mini DisplayPort, backlit keyboards, new graphics chip. Looking at some preliminary benchmarks conducted by Bare Feats, ‘faster’ isn’t just marketing speak — these little buddies are indeed snappy. 

In just a couple of iterations, Apple has managed to neutralise the somewhat negative image customers had of the first-generation MacBook Air: slow, not enough powerful to perform ‘pro’ tasks, not really cost-effective (many felt they were paying a considerable sum just to have a very light, very slick Apple laptop). I also remember how last year there were people claiming that the MacBook Air line was doomed just because Apple wasn’t refreshing it as frequently as the other MacBooks (more than 16 months passed between the mid-2009 MacBook Air and the late-2010 11″ and 13″ Airs).

Rest in peace, white MacBook

Not only is the Air not doomed, it has finally killed for good the white MacBook, and now the $999/€949 11″ MacBook Air with the 64 GB Solid-State Drive and 2 GB RAM is the new entry-level model. The whole Mac family of desktop and portable products is even more streamlined and, I’d say, chromatically coherent, since it’s all aluminium/black. Some people asked me why, in my opinion, Apple has decided to discontinue the white MacBook instead of, say, keeping it but at a drastically reduced price (e.g. $649 or even $599); keeping its tech specs unaltered, with its ‘old’ 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and at that price it would make for a hell of a netbook, no?

Well, no. Remember, when you say netbook Apple replies with tablet. Look at the prices of the iPad 2 models: $499/$599/$699 for the 16/32/64 GB Wi-Fi version, $629/$729/$829 for the Wi-Fi + 3G version. There is no space for a cheap MacBook. Not in Apple’s view, at least.

The new Mac mini

The Mac mini, too, got its ‘Thunderbolt refresh’ like the MacBook Air, sports a faster processor and costs $100 less than the previous mid-2010 model. But the real screamer is the new Mac mini Server, whose processor upgrade is more than a mere speed bump. The previous model had a dual-core 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU — the new one has a 2.0 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 with 6MB on-chip shared L3 cache. Again, I remember time ago, in some forums and mailing lists I used to follow, how some considered the Mac mini — just like the MacBook Air — another ‘doomed’ Mac with no interesting future ahead of it.

Where do I put the DVD?

Actually, what seems to be doomed here is the optical drive. With the discontinuation of the white MacBook and the new Mac minis that don’t have one, if you want a Mac with a built-in CD/DVD-RW SuperDrive, your cheapest option is either the 13″ MacBook Pro or the 21.5″ iMac. In this article by Jim Dalrymple you can read what Apple’s executives have to say regarding the elimination of the optical drive:

A new Mac mini was also released with faster processors, and surprisingly to some people, no optical drive. Apple said the popularity of the Mac App Store helped with that decision.

“We found that the majority of customers don’t use the optical drive on a regular basis,” said Moody. “Things are changing. The Primary use for the optical drive was to install software, but the mac app store provides a more efficient method for doing that.”

You can still purchase an external SuperDrive for the Mac mini if you like or you can use the optical drive sharing function built-in to Mac OS X.

John Gruber, reporting this article, commented: Optical drives are the new floppy drives. While it’s hard to deny such an observation, I only want to point out a couple of things.

  1. People use the optical drive for many other things, not just for installing software. To watch their movie collection on DVDs, to make small backups of essential documents on a support that’s more durable than a hard drive or a USB memory stick. Sure, Apple will tell you that now you can rent or purchase movies from the iTunes Store, that watching movies streamed via the Internet is the future, but this may be easier for customers in the USA. The ability of renting/purchasing a movie from iTunes has been only a recent introduction in non-US iTunes Stores, and at least from here in Spain, I still can’t purchase episodes of my favourite TV Series — I watch them on DVD.
  2. I know there are workarounds. Trade-offs usually beget workarounds. I know I can add an external SuperDrive, or share the SuperDrive of another Mac in the household, or rip some of my DVDs on a SuperDrive-equipped Mac and transfer them to the drive-less Mac mini, but, at least in the mini’s case, it kind of defeats the purpose of having such a compact, living-room media-centre friendly Mac that can’t read DVDs directly. After the announcement, a friend of mine who was holding off the purchase of the mini hoping in a refreshed lineup, emailed me a bit disappointed and told me “For my media centre project, I’ll try to get a previous-generation mini, at this point. I’ve more than 450 movies on DVD, I’m not going to start ripping stuff now. Being able to just insert the DVD and watch is much easier”. Can’t really argue with that either.

The importance of the new Apple Thunderbolt Display

This is an amazing device. Yes, device, because calling it just a monitor is a bit of an understatement. In my view, the only flaw is that it’s basically a huge expanse of reflective glass. Were it matte, I’d be in line to buy one instead of an iPad. Also, it’s the perfect companion for the new MacBook Air. Connection-wise, it’s impressive, it has all the ports the MacBook Air has not, and then some: Three powered USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, Thunderbolt, and even a Gigabit Ethernet port. Plus, as its predecessors, it can recharge the MacBook Air/Pro with its MagSafe cable, so you won’t need to use your MacBook AC Adapter. The combination of the display and a MacBook Air makes for a very capable workstation. Don’t forget the Thunderbolt factor: it’s not just for the video signal, you can daisy-chain different devices like external hard drives or even another Thunderbolt Display (the MacBook Pro can handle two), and all with the benefit of the fast speeds the Thunderbolt technology can deliver. 

There should be more of these

With this kind of flexibility, I believe that Apple should add at least another, smaller Thunderbolt Display to the family. Earlier I was musing on Twitter that not everybody has the space or the need for a 27″ display. Adding a smaller model — a 21.5″ display, for example — I think would be a great move and I would gladly buy one. For my work I have to read and write for hours and hours, and a 27″ display on my desk would be too impractical to work with comfortably, but a display in the 20″-23″ range would be perfect. I hope Apple will offer more choices for this kind of monitor.

Conclusion

So why do I think that this hardware update matters? Well, it’s one of those updates which clearly demonstrate the direction Apple is taking. The line of portable Macs is reshaped and simplified. The MacBook Air, the very machine many derided in the past for being slow and underpowered, is now given a more prominent role (and much more power and flexibility). The lack of optical drive in the new Mac minis is an unmistakable signal of the next thing Apple will remove from most (if not all) of its Macs. The new Thunderbolt Display redefines the importance of the external monitor — no more a simple extension, or just a peripheral, but a powerful docking station which makes the MacBook Air a complete desktop machine, with a sort of interoperability and versatility that more than vaguely reminds me of the good old PowerBook Duo line. Mac users are indeed living in interesting times.

Safari 5.1 un po' più italiano

July 21, 2011
by Riccardo Mori
Mele e appunti

Circa un anno fa, sul vecchio Autoritratto con mele e appunti, mi lamentavo della scelta grafica e della pessima localizzazione della sezione Estensioni nel pannello delle preferenze dell’allora appena uscito Safari 5.0.1:

La bruttezza di quell’interruttore, e l’assurda scelta di “Inattivo” e “SÌ” (notare: tutto maiuscolo) sono raggelanti. Dà quasi l’idea di essere un elemento dell’interfaccia buttato giù alla meno peggio perché c’era fretta di far uscire l’aggiornamento. Così come sembra stata fatta in fretta e furia la tremenda localizzazione italiana.

Voglio dire, il contesto parla di “Estensioni”. Femminile plurale. “Inattivo” cosa? Il pannello? E quel “SÌ” tutto-maiuscolo urlato cos’è? “SÌ, SÌ LE VOGLIO!”?

Che male c’era fare il pannello più grande, creare più spazio e usare diciture come “Attivate / Disattivate” o “Attiva / Disattiva” o “Abilitate / Disabilitate”…?

Fortuna che, non avendo intenzione di usare le estensioni in Safari, potrò continuare a ignorare questo piccolo obbrobrio di interfaccia utente.

Questo era il pannello incriminato, che è durato fino alla versione 5.0.5:

Safari 5.0.1 — 5.0.5: Inattivo/SÌ

Oggi ho aggiornato Safari alla nuova versione 5.1, uscita anche per Snow Leopard. Per curiosità sono andato a dare un’occhiata alla sezione Estensioni. Piacevole sorpresa:

Safari 5.1: Inattive/Attive

Direi che un piccolo passo avanti verso un uso più corretto dell’italiano è stato compiuto.

U&lc Volume Ten is available

July 21, 2011
by Riccardo Mori
Handpicked

 

Allan Haley, at the Fonts.com blog:

While I had been writing for U&lc for some time, the first article that carried my byline also showed up in Volume Ten. It was about Morris Fuller Benton, and was the first of many biographical sketches in the “Typographic Milestones” series. There is a backstory here too. Maybe I’ll write about it in a future post.

And while we wait for that story, we can download Volume 10 of U&lc, available as always in both high and low resolution PDF files. If you’re into typography or just love everything about typefaces, you can’t miss these volumes which are being made available in electronic form by the great guys at Fonts.com. (Consider this: the PDF files are searchable, they’re not just a collection of scanned pages from the magazine). Here you can find all the U&lc related posts.