tech

iPhone on Rails – Creating an iPhone optimised version of your Rails site using iUI and Rails 2

iPhone on Rails – Creating an iPhone optimised version of your Rails site using iUI and Rails 2: After upgrading trawlr.com to Rails 2 I thought I’d make use of some of the new features and attempt to create an iPhone version of the site. With Rails 2 you can create a mime type specifically for the iPhone and then use that format in a respond_to block (along with views such as index.iphone.erb). [IPhone therefore I am. Actually not yet… but I’ll get there.]
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adaptive path » blog » Todd Wilkens » Why usability is a path to failure

adaptive path » blog » Todd Wilkens » Why usability is a path to failure: Recently, I’m even coming to believe that focusing on usability is actually a path to failure. Usability is too low level, too focused on minutia. It can’t compel people to be interested in interacting with your product or service. It can’t make you compelling or really differentiate you from other organizations. Or put another way, there’s only so far you can get by streamlining the shopping cart on your website. [Interesting but overly simplistic. Lots of interesting comments.]

E-junkie Shopping Cart for selling downloads & tangible goods

E-junkie Shopping Cart for selling downloads & tangible goods: E-junkie provides shopping cart and buy now buttons to let you sell downloads and tangible goods on your website, eBay, MySpace, Google Base, CraigsList and other websites using PayPal, Google Checkout, Authorize.Net, TrialPay, 2CheckOut and ClickBank.

For merchants selling downloads, we automate and secure the digital delivery of files and codes. If you are selling tangible goods, we automate the shipping calculation and inventory management. Our shopping cart has a built in sales tax, VAT, packaging and shipping cost calculato [Looks nice.]

Apple, where are the rentals?

Apple, where are the rentals?:

Over the past few weeks, the studio bosses have been reversing course and praising apple again.  Warner Chief, Edgar Bronfman recently got caught praising Apple’s iPhone and iPod lines.  Jon Gruber at Daring Fireball reports on  Doug Morris‘ admission that the Entertainment industry had/has no idea what they are doing technology-wise.  In fact they were so stupid that they couldn’t even know who was smart enough to hire to figure it out.  That is Calculus Integral stupid – and it seems about right. Quote:

"There’s no one in the record industry that’s a technologist," Morris explains. "That’s a misconception writers make all the time, that the record industry missed this. They didn’t. They just didn’t know what to do. It’s like if you were suddenly asked to operate on your dog to remove his kidney. What would you do?"

Personally, I would hire a vet. But to Morris, even that wasn’t an option. "We didn’t know who to hire," he says, becoming more agitated. "I wouldn’t be able to recognize a good technology person — anyone with a good bullshit story would have gotten past me."

[It’s amazing that these folks can’t even get to let’s try a whole bunch of things and see what works and what doesn’t — including Apple’s solutions. Shameful…]
Source: 9 to 5 Mac – Apple Intelligence