Is This the Droid for Which I'm Looking?

Originally posted on 11-12-09

At first I was impressed with the screen, the quick interface and the impressive package. But when you get just below the surface, Motorola's (and by association, Google's) new Droid is guilty of chasing the Apple inspired fashion of sizzle over substance, of image over content. For me, it's not as much about how it LOOKS. It's more about how it WORKS.

I've always held the position that one shouldn't "upgrade" just because there's a new release of anything. I generally wait until there is significant improvement. Because of this, I'm often "pushed" into upgrading just to remain compatible with critical applications. Such was the question last year when Palm introduced their new Web OS, and turned their back on the classic Palm OS. I can hold off for a while, but it's just a matter of time until I will have to move to something new.

I've been using the Palm OS since 1996, when I bought a Palm Pilot three days after introduction. The Palm WAS a significant improvement over my Sharp Zarus. The most impressive thing was it's ability to sync my content with my desktop computer. I can't remember how many times over the last 14 years either my computer OR my phone crashed and had to be reformatted - but NEVER at the same time. Yes, I still have files from 1996 on my current Palm Centro.

If you wonder what was so great about Palm, here's a link to a retro-view of Palm's design philosophy:

The Zen of Palm 03-10-13

Anyway, back to the Pre.  I spent about an hour with the Palm Pre and was also dazzled by it's UI. But Web OS didn't support memos - nor their syncing. Plus the screen and keyboard were small compared with the state of the art. Also, Palm, like Apple had made the development less open. When I heard that you were REQUIRED to upgrade Web OS within one week of any new release or your phone was disabled, that was the deal-breaker. My love affair with Palm was over and my hope was the Droid would offer a significant advancement using a more open approach, and finally take me away from my old Palm.

You may have guessed where I'm going with this. Even though Google's Android (and the Droid phone) do a great job of syncing the Calendar and Contacts, they too forgot all about Memos. Not only did they forget to sync them, they didn't even INCLUDE an application to edit text. That's right, there is no memopad, notepad or wordpad included with the Droid. Sure, you can compose an email to yourself in Google's cloud, but then things get mixed up with thousands of other emails and it's clunky to get into those drafts because mobile drafts don't show up on the desktop.

Has America quit writing? It seems so. And Apple's partly to blame. The first iPhone didn't even have Copy, Cut and Paste. I guess we're now supposed to express ourselves in 140 characters or less. I obviously haven't yet learned how to do that. So far, memos are the missing sync of the Droid.

But what about all the sizzle of Flick, drag and pinch? Yes, the Droid (and Palm Web OS) deliver in this area. Well, except for pinch to zoom like the iPhone does, which I'm sure Droid will add shortly.

And the Droid does indeed dazzle. The music, the movies and all the media deliver. Sky Map is fun. And everyone's talking about the nav features, which ARE impressive. But where are the topos for hiking? With such a beautiful screen, GPS can finally deliver on it's promise in the wild. Why not some topos?

Like the iPhone, web surfing on the Droid is indeed a significant improvement, even though still slower than a PC. Still, it's fast enough to be useful and way ahead of the Centro. The camera and the keyboard are not as bad as all the reviews suggest, but can be improved.

That's what I have so far. I'll continue to update this post as I discover new features.

And failures.

12-09-09 Update

Yep. I kept the Droid past 30 days so I'm now committed. The sizzle continues to dazzle, and memos are still the missing sync, but I am now using 3Banana's social post tool as a memo solution. It a bit clunky on the Droid, but better on the desktop browser. Still not bad considering how I'm bending it to my purpose.

In almost every other area, the Droid continues to amaze with it's app base. WeFi helps with the battery and WiFi typically improves web performance. Advanced Task Killer is helpful in managing resources. I've gone for more than a week without rebooting - not bad considering all the apps I've tried.

Aldiko is a nice book reader; Listen is great for grabbing podcasts; Pandora works great; RPN Calculator works great but needs bigger buttons. So far, I haven't found a bad app, but I've been careful to cream the list. There are also lots of great games from what I've had time to try. The good news is, the Droid hardware is solid, and new apps are coming fast, so I'm hopeful all my needs will soon be met. I already wouldn't go back to my Centro. Palm, RIP.

The Droid hardware is a solid 8 on the 10 scale, software is 6 and climbing.

Let me know what YOUR experience is.

11-06-10 Update

DropBox finally solved the file synch problem and I can now use any desktop editor INCLUDING Sudden View.  :)

Sudden View Reviews

I just ran across this and decided I need a place to collect feedback on my text editor:
Jason Scott's Review of Sudden View

Live Ink offers better way to read text online

Live Ink is a truly new idea - which is rare these days.

I've been searching for the optimal comprehension column width for years and have reached different conclusions at different times.

Live Ink goes beyond column width to find and display the rhythm of the content. My first impression is that they are on to something here.

It'll be interesting to see how this works out.

Stay tuned

The Right Text Editing Tool for the Job

(Posted to some board re: Sudden View but it's a nice summary and I should have a copy here)

Believe it or not, most text in cyberspace is manipulated by this little web box I'm typing in right now, or a similar one from AOL, MS or Yahoo mail. Think about it. Most writers don't even bother with WordPad. So much for picking the proper tool.

But for the one tenth of one percent (about a million users) out there who spend more than an hour a day editing text the choice becomes important. That's where matching the tool to the job is not only important, it can be critical.

I see the choices as multiple lines reaching out from a common point which is notepad (or Yahoo mail). Each line had a primary purpose with the most complete tool for each purpose at the far end.

Programmers tend to Zeus, vim etc.

Writer tend to Open office, MS Word etc.

Web monkeys tend to Front Page or one of the HTML tools

Bloggers blog with blog things.

Each application (and line) has it's choices.

It's best to keep an open mind.

Cyberspace is a moving target.



Sudden Disruption

The Strange Significance of Sudden View

Sudden View has been described as strange. And it is. But it used to be MUCH stranger. And that's significant. Here's why.

The whole point of Sudden View's design was to start with a clean sheet of paper and try to find the VERY best methods to edit text. I think I found some.

When I started there were fewer standards between programs. Editing was a toss up between Insert and Replace mode. Menus were just starting to drop down, and the mouse was a fresh toy. The entire Graphical User Interface (GUI) was a new idea, one I thought needed challenging.

For this reason, I assumed almost nothing. Each element of Sudden View's design was considered. From the shape of the mouse cursor, to the way the menus worked, I created what I believed (and
still believe) are better alternatives.

Over the years, things have changed a bit. GUI won out over almost everything that came before. Insert became the editing mode of choice. And "Properties" evolved to exploit the right mouse button. Sudden View evolved too.

When I did the Windows port, once again I reviewed each design element to see if I needed to conform. Or not.

The test I applied is something I call "Significantly Better". There's no point if you can't make it significantly better. Yes, I realize that's a bit subjective, but most people know it when they see it. "Significantly Better" is well this side of "Why Bother?".

And if I HAD converted all of Sudden View's features to the Windows GUI standard, I would have produced just another Windows editor. This would have definitely been in the "Why Bother" territory. See how this works? What would have been the point? No, Sudden View still has the unique features that make a difference. But I did make SOME changes in favor of the Windows standard.

The Insert Editing Mode was probably the biggest concession. Still, I preserve a bit of Implied Editing Action with a right click placement of the text cursor to invoke the Replace mode. Try it, you'll see what I mean.

Another obvious change from the original was conforming to the Windows Clipboard. Here, there was no downside, and it provided a critical way to communicate with the rest of the world. There are some minor differences, but in general Sudden View also conforms to the standard Control X, C & V keys for using the Clipboard.

And I DID reversed mouse button use. They used to be opposite. Again, there was no downside in conforming to the Windows block selection using a left drag. But that's where familiar
ground ends. Just about everything else using the mouse is unique. And better. In my opinion.

From Variant Block Selection, Block Move & Paste Buffer to the toggling of mouse button functions, this is still vintage Sudden View. I did add cursor key activation to Block Moves. It's a fun
feature and helps learning about Dynamic Arrangement.

I also used some Windows Dialogs where it didn't matter much. But not in the Find function. This was in the Status Bar WAY before it became popular. The original Find remains. The world caught up with Sudden View in this regard.

Power Menus are still easier to learn, and faster to use than drop down, even when using the mouse. With hands on the keyboard, it's no contest at all. Power Menus stayed.

The view Bar and Abstraction were added after the original design, but this approach is still a more visual way to navigate a file. It too violates the Windows standard. Oh well.

There are lots of other subtleties to be discovered in Sudden View. Most won't be found in a Windows program. From the way the text cursor blinks to Control key selection, there are significant
advantages for each feature. I'll explain why as this blog continues.

Yes, I realize there's a bit of a learning curve for Sudden View.

Some things ARE worth what they cost.

Let me know what you think.

Sudden Disruption

Sudden View...
the radical option for editing text

Beta test now in progress...
http://www.sudden.net/

Why is Sudden View so radical?

If you've tried Sudden View, you may be startled by how different it is. This may lead you to wonder why. But if you spend enough time to get a FEEL for it's methods, it will begin to make more sense.

Sudden View is a tool that puts the actual editing first by focusing on the primitives. My objective was to re-explore the very nature of the editing process, then create a UI (User Interface) that reflected these actions.

If you take an honest look at most text editors you'll see they are steeped in their own history. GUI editors are simply screen editors with menus. Screen editors were simply line editors for a glass Teletype. Navigating and altering text still uses the command / response model of ancient TECO. This creates a barrier between the user and his content.

When the Apple MacIntosh came along, Steve Jobs touted Direct Manipulation as a new method to make the user a part of the process. His paint program demonstrated this with impressive results. Unfortunately, he didn't apply the concept to his text editor. The only thing it Directly Mannipulated was the mouse cursor itself. That's when and why I decided to try something new.

With Sudden View I focused on what we do most with a text editor - enter, navigate and alter text. As with all good design, the most direct and effective controls should activate the most common functions. This means the mouse should be reserved for navigation and text manipulation.

I applied the right mouse button to do Direct Scrolling and I made it work ANYwhere in the text window, not just on the scroll bar. I replaced the scroll bar with a ViewBar so the user could simply point and click at where he wanted to go.

Next I applied Direct Manipulation to actually moving text around the screen. Finally I promoted Copy, Cut and Paste to mouse activation. All of this takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do, you tend to forget about HOW you are editing and focus on WHAT you are editing. Sudden View removes the barrier between the user and his content.

There are lots of other challenges to the standard GUI in Sudden Veiw. I'll discuss them in future posts. The point I want to make here is, Sudden View wasn't designed this way just to be different. It was done in order to find a better, faster and more natural way to edit text.
Let me know what you think.

Sudden Disruption

Sudden View...
the radical option for editing text

Beta test now in progress...
http://www.sudden.net/

Why This Blog?

The reason for this blog is Sudden View.
The reason for Sudden View is this blog.
More specifically...

The primary reason for the creation of this blog is to support the text editor Sudden View, and to explain the why of it's design.

The second reason for this blog is that I like to write; and I like to write about all kinds of things, which is the primary reason for the creation of Sudden View.


Sudden Disruption

Sudden View - for the art of editing text