Meet The New Boss

Alright, I'm finally jumping off the Blogger ship in favor of Wordpress. I give thanks to Blogger for being so easy to use, but, being a graphic designer, I can't live with having a blog that looks like shit. Check out the new blog here:

http://blog.thomasjquinn.com/

Sometimes You See Something, and It Makes You Happy To Live In A World Where It Exists

Image from The Daily Mail.

iPad

If you've read my blog at all, you know that I am an Apple fanboy of the first degree. But I, like many others, am pretty underwhelmed by today's announcement of the iPad. While I will admit I'm still curious to see one for myself, and I'm not ruling out the possibility of getting one, it just doesn't live up to what we expect from Apple.

From the very first image they showed, the home screen, something seemed a bit off. All of the rumors about the impending Apple Tablet described it as a 'big iPhone', and they really couldn't have been more right. The thing that bothers me most about it is how lazy the home screen setup is. They just used the same old iPhone buttons on a bigger screen. If the iPhone didn't exist, and they designed a tablet from scratch, the home screen wouldn't look anything like the iPad home screen. There is so much empty space. And they just put the same home button from the iPhone in the same spot as it is in on the iPhone? This is supposed to be a cross between a phone and a laptop, and it seems to me like it is pretty much just the iPhone with a more powerful processor and iWork. Margot Harrington from Pitch Design Union said it reminded her of the level from Super Mario Bros where everything is huge, and that is pretty dead on.

Couldn't they have come up with something more like this:

Image from The Unofficial Apple Weblog.

Something that displays your unread emails, your calendar for the day, and the weather, with the buttons for the apps taking up just part of the screen.

Now, I don't care much about a lot of the gripes I've been hearing about it not having a camera, or the keyboard, or the name (by the way, remember how much criticism the Nintendo Wii got when they announced it? Then everyone got over it in, like, a week). But the lack of Flash is a major problem. It is a problem for me on my iPhone on a daily basis when I try to watch any video other than YouTube, but for something that is supposed to resemble a laptop, it is unacceptable. The lack of multitasking has been a bit overblown, but for something that is allegedly "magical" and "revolutionary" the idea that you won't be able to listen to Pandora while reading through email is pretty weak.

I hate to say it, but for something that is supposed to create a third category of mobile device between a phone and a laptop, it sure comes off as a big iPhone.

Everything Spike Jones Does Is Awesome

The iPhone Killer

The Blackberry Storm Samsung Instinct Palm Pre Motorola Droid HTC Touch HD Nexus One is definitely the iPhone killer.

UPDATE: Turns out, the Nexus One is not the iPhone killer.

Moustaceh-A-Thon 2010

I just finished up the logo for this year's 826CHI Moustache-A-Thon. More details to come...

Best of 2009

I know it is kind of a cliché, but I like making a 'Best Records of the Year' list as much as anyone else. Therefore... (links are for iTunes)

Best Albums of 2009

10. The Botticelli's : Old Home Movies

9. Tegan and Sara : Sainthood
8. Superchunk: Leaves In The Gutter
7. Kings of Convenience : Declaration of Dependence
6. Bon Iver : Blood Bank
5. Telefon Tel Aviv : Immolate Yourself
4. Grizzly Bear : Veckatimest
3. Animal Collective : Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. The XX : The XX
1. Handsome Furs : Face Control

Best Songs of 2009

10. Polvo : Beggar's Bowl
9. Telefon Tel Aviv : The Birds
8. Superchunk : Misfits & Mistakes
7. Dinosaur Jr. : Pieces
6. The XX : VCR
5. Kings of Convenience : 24-25
4. Julian Casablancas : 11th Dimension
3. Bon Iver : Brackett, WI
2. Handsome Furs : Talking Hotel Arbat Blues
1. Animal Collective : My Girls