Writing about business, technology and design.
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Design Shack
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I spent yesterday putting the finishing touches on the book I’ve been working on for the past few months, tentatively titled How to Be an iPhone App Entrepreneur. Writing it has been a great experience, and introduced me to a whole range of fascinating iPhone developers.
I imagine that it’ll be a month or two before the official release, but you’ll be able to pick up a copy courtesy of Rockable Press.
The only thing worse than not reading a book in the last ninety days is not reading a book in the last ninety days and thinking it doesn’t matter.~
Jim Rohn, quoted by Barbara J. Winter in Making a Living Without a Job. It’s a great read for anyone who is remotely entrepreneurially minded, and I couldn’t agree more with the above advice.
Thanks to Patrick Rhone for indirectly recommending this at some point (I can’t remember where or when).
This is, hands down, one of the prettiest websites I’ve seen in a long time.
After attending DIBI a few weeks ago, I felt like I wasn’t really ready for another design conference just yet. I love meeting like minded people, and watching great speakers, but at the end of the day it’s important not do to indulge in these at the expense of actual work.
I’ve attended Carsonified events in London before, and have always found them to be enjoyable. This year, however, I really felt like the company really went an extra mile. A wonderful venue, top speakers, and generally more thought and effort than in previous years lead to a fantastic few days.
I met countless passionate freelancers, many talented designers, and left feeling inspired from the general buzz of the event. Heading home, I really felt like I was leaving a bubble. It also re-inforced how many people have heard of Envato, in some form or another. Almost everyone reads a Tuts+ site, uses one of their Marketplaces, or has encountered AppStorm.
The whole experience hammered home how grateful I am to be working as a freelancer, and doing what I love. I’ve posted up a short article about this on A Better Freelancer, which I hope you’ll enjoy.
Microsoft spent seven times as much as Apple on R&D over the past four years.~
(via Gruber)
It just goes to show that piling an endless stream of money into a problem isn’t necessarily the way to develop something innovative.
We may have a dozen or more things we have in our queue to do at the moment, but we can only focus on one task at a time. To multi-task and actually get two tasks done at once, you need to be two people.~
Entrepreneurial Seduction: Indie Multitasking
I recently took the step of hiring my first full-time employee, and it has been one of the best decisions I have made in my career so far. I feel like I’ve received a new lease of life now that I’m sharing my workload with an incredibly talented colleague.
After managing to put it off for a few years, I’ve decided that the benefits of buying a car have finally started to outweigh the negatives.
I’ll be the proud owner of one of these in around ten days.
Shiny.
Your company’s story, product descriptions, history, personality — these are the things that go to battle for you every day. Your words are your frontline. Are they strong enough?~ Why is Business Writing So Awful? - Jason Fried on the problems inherent in business writing. A great read.
Only iPhone developers can advertise on the touch network. There’s only one ad per app, custom and natively integrated into each app. Tapping on the ad will take you directly to the App Store. Every time.~ Chris and Michael launch the latest phase of Fusion Ads, with an incredibly well thought-out model.
Conferences - whether design, development, or anything else - are difficult to get right.
I’ve attended a few Carsonified events over the past two years; both their larger FOWA London/Dublin conferences, and a smaller FOWD Tour in Leeds. Judged purely on the quality of the speakers and content taught, these were all excellent events. But it’s not all about the content.
After spending the last 48 hours in Newcastle for DIBI, I feel like I’ve experienced a design conference organised, and executed, brilliantly. Not only did they put a wonderful lineup of speakers together (including Andy Clarke, Tim Van Damme, Dan Rubin and Sarah Parmenter), they clearly invested a plenty of thought and time into the smaller details.
Things like an official pre-event party, reliable Wi-Fi, great food, free Field Notes books for attendees, and a well spaced-out schedule that gave speakers plenty of time to get into their subject.
Although I usually leave any conference feeling inspired and excited about my work, this is the first time I’ve left with such an overwhelming positive impression.
DIBI 2011 is taking place in June next year and I’ve already purchased my ticket to go back. I really can’t recommend it highly enough.
