Better late than never, right? That's going to be a bit of a recurring theme for the first few items on this week's hit list, as we wrap up our new iPad coverage and dive head-long into the rest of the week that was. So let's not waste any more time...
New iPad triple play
It took us a while to get our massive new iPad review up and I make no apologies for that. We worked, literally in many cases, around the clock for over a week making sure we used our new iPads, tested them, challenged them and got a sense of how they really worked in the real world. That took time. So did the the Mobile Nations round table, and iMore community report card that went with it.
I think it was time well spent though. We only get a few new devices a year at iMore, so when we get them we want to cover them well. That means not only technology, but usability and experience.
And that takes time.
Resolutionizing
We've been slowly but surely updating iMore so it looks insanely greater on the new iPad's Retina display. Our last redesign transformed a lot of the layout to CSS, which automagically renders in HiDPI on Retina. For the persistent graphical elements, like the header logo and sidebar icons, we've embedded the images at 2x size. They're small enough that 60px vs 30px doesn't make a huge difference to load times or bandwidth costs (for us or our users who may be on limited data plans).
We're not sure how we're going to handle the big post heroes or screenshots yet. We're looking at media-query and other options, and when we settle on something, we'll let you know.
We also did a special edition round-table on the last episode of Iterate all about Retina design, if you want to hear a lot more from a lot smarter on this.
No Daisey at all
While I was busy with the new iPad, reporters were busy finding out that Mike Daisey's The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, wherein he painted a sensationally horrifying portrait of Apple's place in the Asian economy, wasn't so much journalism as drama. That he was an actor doing a play was, apparently, lost on everyone until now.
Daisey shares some of the blame for that by intentionally putting himself into stories where he had no part, portraying his work as fact when it was fictionalized, and for giving interviews where he, like Sascha Baron Cohen, remained bizarrely in-character. The media shares some of the blame as well, for being so eager to put Apple into the headlines that they rushed to publish before looking into the very real problems in Daisey's accounts. The rest of the blame falls squarely on us, the public, and our hunger for juicy, controversial, Apple-related stories. It's the Bruce Lee cover I wrote about earlier this week, and it's not going away any time soon.
In the end the story both helped bring attention to the issue of Chinese factories and working conditions and then clouded those very real issues in convolution, confusion, and even more controversy. Daisey wasn't and should never have been the story. Lesson, hopefully, learned.
That's not 4G
Speaking of lessons in need of learning, Apple got in some trouble this week when it turned out their 4G LTE iPad didn't work on International 4G LTE networks... which is precisely what Apple said during the new iPad event back at the beginning of March. That pesky little 4G term, however -- the one US carriers late to the LTE game like T-Mobile and AT&T started using for HSPA+ and the one Apple carefully avoided at the iPhone 4S launch but seemingly embraced and extended at the new iPad launch -- came back to bite them on the ass.
While Apple was clear about who was getting LTE up front, using 4G on the packaging turned out to be a problem in Australia and Europe and where carriers aren't as liberal with the term. No doubt it was easier for AT&T (and T-Moble) to tack 4G onto their marketing than to build out an actual LTE network, but there was no reason for Apple to follow that same line of folly.
This is especially true when it comes to the iPhone indicator, which since iOS 5.1 was released says 4G for AT&T, despite the radio hardware remaining entirely the same. It's even more perplexing, given AT&T promptly thanked Apple for the concession by NOT giving Apple tethering plans for the new iPad. No one seems able to figure out FaceTime over cellular data either, despite Skype and every other similar service doing it freely.
Apple is already changing course on international marketing. Maybe they can change course on AT&T's indicator as well?
Comment clarity
At the top of every comment entry box on iMore it says:
Note: Comments must be civil, respectful, and on-topic. If a comment does not add to the conversation, if it contains spam advertising, or inappropriate language or content, it will be removed. Insulting the topic, author, staff, site, network, or other commenters will result in the comment being marked as spam and potential prevent future comments from appearing on the site. Do not post as a business or your comment will likely be confused with spam. Comments containing links may be held for moderation. Relax, enjoy, and share in the discussion.
Yet despite this, we still have a problem with trolls. We're working on fixing it, and on making the comments more productive and enjoyable for readers who are here to enjoy and be productive.
Regular readers shouldn't have to put up with trolling any more than people who go to parks should have to tip-toe around a mine field of dog poop. And if someone lands on the iMore home page, or finds an article through search, their first experience shouldn't be immediate introduction to the worst aspects of the greater internet f-wad theory (NSFW-L).
We should all be able to disagree without being disagreeable, love a device or platform without hating people who love a different device or platform, allow someone else to be right without thinking it makes someone else wrong.
We don't plan on shutting comments off or hiding them the way some other sites have. We plan on raising the level of discourse on iMore. Bring your A game.
Forum fun
As much as we'll be working hard on the comments, we'll be doing even more on the iMore forums. We've just reorganized them to help all of our new members more easily find what they're looking for -- be it assistance with a new device, or solutions to problems with apps or iCloud or iTunes, or discussion about the technology they love and use.
Mobile Nations has also upgraded the backend considerably, giving the iMore forums some of the same great features our Android Forums have been enjoying for a while. And there's much more to come.
Features
Lots of great stuff this week:
- How to create stunning panoramic photographs with your iPhone. Leanna just keeps knocking these out of the park and, frankly, into orbit. If you've ever wanted to capture more than your iPhone camera app still easily allows, check this out.
- All I would have wanted was a faster iPad. Georgia dares to say she preferred the nature of the iPad 1 to iPad 2 upgrade over the nature of the iPad 2 to iPad 3 upgrade. Some of you may have run for torches and pitchforks.
- How to DIY replace the vibrator assembly in an iPhone 3G & iPhone 3GS. Ally continues to fight for the users of older devices by showing how to keep them running longer, better.
- The iPad mini. Yours truly goes over the latest round of 7-inch iPad rumors and tries to sort the sane from the sensational.
- Angry Birds Space review: Entering iPhone and iPad orbit at the speed of rage. Simon straps on his rockets and enters the cosmic pork vs. fowl wars.
- Will the tablet market be more like the PC market or Smartphone market?. Chris takes a look at the iPad and tries to figure out if it will end up more like the iPhone or the iPod.
Recommended reading
- The digital-physical by Craig Mod describes the process by which Flipboard was brought to the iPhone.
- Photoshop CS6 improvements by my Iterate co-host, Marc Edwards, tells you why, if you're a Photoshop user, you want to upgrade.
- Readability Directs Shared Articles To Own Servers, Cuts Out Original Publishers by A.T Faust III of App Advice catches Readability doing the wrong thing, and now the right thing.
- Google will abandon Android by Matthew Panzarino at his new side-gig, Robot Tuxedo.
- Samsung Galaxy Nexus my way and Working from my Transformer Prime by Jerry Hildenbrand highlights just what you can do with mobile. And a beard.
- Reality Check: RIM is not giving up on the consumer market by Chris Umiastowski takes the media to task for botching the BlackBerry earnings announcements. I'd add that RIM should have been far more careful in framing their comments as well.
- The Feature is Marco Armenent's new name for Give Me Something to Read, so if you're still thirsty of more, head on over and check it out.
And.. scene
Now that I've literally gotten blisters from typing and track-padding so much this month, I leave you to the rest of your Sunday. A Game of Thrones season 2 premiere anyone?
