Officially Getting Too Old For Hardcore Gaming

I enjoy playing video games. They've been a part of my life since I was a little kid. There's a photo somewhere of me, age 4, sitting there playing Blaster Master on my NES while all my relatives are gathered around my new baby sister, who had just been brought home from the hospital. This picture probably speaks volumes about my life.

I've owned a lot of the big consoles: Atari, NES, Sega Genesis, various Game Boys, PSX, PS2, Wii, Xbox 360, PS3. Of course, I also spent a good amount of time at friends' houses where they owned an SNES, Nintendo64, GameCube, or the original Xbox. In fact, most of my friendships as a kid were based around video games. All we ever did as a group was get together and play Counter-Strike, Halo, GoldenEye, Mario Kart, Street Fighter, or even WCW/NWO Revenge (yes, we watched wrestling and played video games based on it). LAN parties were a big part of my "social" life.

During my teenage years, I could have been considered a "hardcore" gamer. I was subscribed to several different gaming magazines at one point or another, including GameInformer, NintendoPower, GamePro, and the official Playstation magazine. I was the kid who could tell you all about upcoming games before most people knew they were even in development.

I spent an embarrassing amount of time in mall arcades in high school. I was a pretty fucking excellent Dance Dance Revolution player. I knew all the air-juggling combos in the Tekken series. My Honda Civic Type-R in Initial D (which I might still have the card for somewhere) was tough to beat. I could beat Time Crisis without ever having to insert additional tokens.

I went through a phase where I spent countless hours playing Japanese RPGs on the PSX and PS2, like Xenogears, Legend of Legaia, Brave Fencer Musashi, Legend of Dragoon, Lunar: Silver Star Story, Parasite Eve, Star Ocean: The Second Story, and Wild Arms. I had a bit of an obsession with the Final Fantasy series, namely games VII through X. I owned the soundtracks to a lot of these games (I still get a fuzzy nostalgic feeling whenever I hear something from the FFVII soundtrack).

My latest obsession over the last few years has been the Call of Duty series, starting with Modern Warfare 2. Each time a CoD game comes out, I play it so much that I can predict where enemies will be spawning at any given time and my kill/death ratio is consistently in the 2.0-3.0 range. Other players have accused me of cheating (something I've never done), which is like a badge of honor.

[There's a bunch more I could go into, but I think I've made my point.]

Why does any of this matter to you? So that you'll understand the shift I've been experiencing in 2012.

My son is a little over a month a way from his first birthday. In the past year, my wife and I have gone from doing whatever we wanted with our time to spending most of our time caring for this little guy. Making sure he doesn't hurt himself in a thousand different ways (seriously, why is he obsessed with power outlets?) and trying to teach him about his surrounding world at the same time.

Rather than immediately starting up a video game when I get home from work like I used to, we now focus on preparing dinner, cleaning up the house a bit, then sit down together to watch a couple episodes from one of our favorite shows on Netflix or just play on the floor with him. After that, it's time to get him ready for bed: giving him a bath, changing his diaper, maybe reading a story to him, and then my wife nurses him to sleep.

I have sometimes taken advantage of nursing time to play some CoD, but this time has increasingly been spent writing for the blog instead, or reading a book for a while before I go to sleep. This helps me go to bed at a more sane hour, rather than 2:00am on a worknight because I'm wired from playing games.

I find myself caring less and less about anything game-related as time goes on. I let my gamer mag subscriptions end a long time ago, I no longer keep up with development cycles, I don't know what big games are on the horizon, I don't mind not having the highest score, I no longer take pride in completing a game on the hardest difficulty after repeating frustrating missions over and over, and I certainly have no desire to ever buy new titles for $50-a-pop anymore.

What I do care about is being there for my family, spending time with them instead of being absorbed in a game that doesn't matter. I feel bad for the early days of my relationship with my wife (then-girlfriend), when I would spend more time playing games than experiencing life with her. Sometimes I wonder why she ever decided to stick with me.

I just don't feel that gaming has a large place in my life anymore. Do I still enjoy playing from time to time? Of course! I'll probably even play the occasional game with my son when he's a bit older. But I now see it for the addiction that it is and will strive not to let him become as obsessive about it as I have. My parents, despite being great role models in most other aspects, never really set restrictions on my gaming time and I now look back and see that this was an error.

I'm still working on other addictions in my life, which I'll write about soon. For now though, I feel more content with how I spend my time. Rather than racking up meaningless digital points, I'm accumulating better life experiences, and that matters more to me than anything.

Unretrofied Gift Guide 2012

Welcome to the first annual Unretrofied Gift Guide! The holidays are right around the corner, and I thought it would be fun to put together a gift guide for the geek(s) in your life.

This isn't meant to be a comprehensive of all the great gifts available this year, but it's a good starting point. If you don't buy anything from this list but it inspires you to get something else, then I've done my job.

Hope you enjoy :)

Gadgets and Tools

1. iPad Mini

Thinner and lighter than any previous iPad, the new iPad mini is the ideal choice for gamers, students and travelers. Also works well as an e-reader. ($329)

2. Kindle Paperwhite

If you're looking for an e-reader but hate being distracted by all those flashy games and apps, or if your budget is simply too low to afford the iPad mini, the Kindle Paperwhite offers the best experience, hands-down. ($119)

3. Studio Neat Glif Tripod Mount & Stand for iPhone

This thing is invaluable to anyone wanting to take their iPhone photography to the next level. Currently only available for the iPhone 4/4S, but you can preorder the new iPhone 5-compatible model and it will ship toward the end of November. ($20)

4. Cocoon Grid-It Organizer

Ever get tired of keeping track of the various tiny items in your bag? We're talking charger cables, thumb drives, writing utensils, screwdrivers, mice, guitar picks, Apple remotes, and the list goes on and on. Well, now you can use the Grid-It Organizer to keep everything strapped down in a single, convenient place! Easily one of the best purchases I've ever made. ($20)

5. Joby Gorillapod (Flexible Tripod)

This is a must-have in any photographer's kit. The flexible legs and overall portability allow for a wide variety of ways you can setup the tripod and get that perfect shot. Stand it upright, wrap it around a tree branch, hang it upside-down...the possibilities are endless. Works very well with the Glif tripod mount listed above. ($11)

Coffee

1. Baratza Encore Conical Burr Grinder

Looking to up your coffee-making game at home? The first thing you'll need is a quality grinder. Put away that can of pre-ground Folgers, grind your own fresh coffee beans only as needed, and enjoy a better cup. Baratza grinders are the top choice for many coffee connoisseurs, due to their high quality design and the company's fantastic customer service. ($129)

2. Aeropress Coffee Maker

The Aeropress is one of the easiest methods for brewing a single cup of coffee. Seriously, it only takes a few minutes, and the resulting coffee is fantastic. It's also well known for being extremely easy to clean up. Highly recommended. ($26)

3. Chemex Coffee Carafe

If you're looking for an experience that's about as easy as the Aeropress but need to prepare larger batches of coffee than one cup, go with the Chemex pour-over method. ($37)

4. Hario Buono Drip Kettle

Whichever of the above brewing methods you go with, the Hario Buono drip kettle is the perfect way to get a smooth, accurate pour of hot water. ($53)

5. Toddy Cold Brew System

While it is entirely possible to make an excellent cup of cold-brew using an Aeropress, I personally enjoy using the Toddy system to brew large batches of the stuff that I can drink over the course of several days. Always delicious and a personal favorite treat during the summer. ($36)

6. Contigo Tumbler

Now that you've brewed your coffee, obviously you need something to drink it with! I recommend this Contigo tumbler because it's double-walled and it auto-seals. You can toss the thing around and not leak a single drop until you actually press the button to take a sip, which is handy for traveling. This thing can also keep drinks hot or cold for several hours. Love it. ($17)

Books/Graphic Novels

1. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

The story of a former graphic designer who ends up working at a book store but discovers strange occurrences going on within its walls, and soon finds himself tangled in a web of intrigue, adventure, and secret societies. Chosen by Amazon as one of the best books of the month. ($17)

2. Cloud Atlas

Author David Mitchell weaves a rich tapestry that connects the lives of six different protagonists and stretches from the 19th century all the way into a post-apocalyptic future. I recommend reading the book before seeing the movie. ($9)

3. Daytripper

This profound graphic novel follows the different possible paths that lead to Brás de Oliva Domingos' death. Each chapter features Brás at different points in his life, bouncing back and forth between his youth and adulthood, but all ending with his death in one way or another. Every story is gripping yet tragic, beautiful yet melancholy. ($13)

4. Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share

Exactly what the title implies (although it's obviously perfectly suitable for Geek Moms too). Features projects ranging from exploding-drink practical jokes and wi-fi signal boosters, to composting and homemade cartoons. ($12)

Movies

1. The Dark Knight Trilogy

Perfect for the fan who wants all 3 films but doesn't need some sort of Ultra Super Deluxe Collector's Edition. Available for pre-order, and ships on December 4th (get it now while the price is low!). Includes bonus features for each film, as well as an excerpted form of the book, "The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy". ($30)

2. The Hunger Games

I was pleasantly surprised how well the novel translated to the film. Well-acted and perfectly cast (even Lenny Kravitz was great as Cinna). Don't dismiss this as a teenybopper flavor of the week, it's actually quite good.  ($19)

3. Prometheus

A sci-fi spectacle that takes place in the same universe as—and acts as a sort of precursor to—the Alien films. Worth watching for Michael Fassbender's fantastic acting alone. ($25)

4. The Avengers

Easily the best comic book movie to come out of 2012. ($25)

5. The Amazing Spider-Man

This one was another pleasant surprise for me. I had pretty low expectations from a Spider-Man movie being released so soon after the previous trilogy ended, but I loved every minute of this film and Andrew Garfield has quickly become my new favorite Peter Parker. ($19)

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There you have it! If you liked this guide and would like to see others like it, let me know. Share it with others, too. I might make this a recurring feature if enough people are on board.

iPad Mini First Impressions

I wanted to write this post up yesterday, but things didn't really go according to plan. I had to go into the office for most of the day, and when I finally made it to the mall where our local Apple Store is, the entire place was so packed that I couldn't find parking, and the baby was screaming anyway so it just wasn't in the cards.

A little later in the evening, while on a dinner run for my wife and I, there was just enough time to stop at a Best Buy on the way (where the parking lot was practically empty, *snicker*).

I found that this clearly wasn't the ideal way to check out the iPad mini, because their display table keeps the devices tethered in such a way that it requires actual effort to keep the thing in your hands without it snapping back to the table like a bungee cord. I wanted to see if the thing was as light as everyone keeps saying, but it was nearly impossible to tell. Oh well, at least I got to overhear a Best Buy associate refer to another customer as a "moron" so the trip was still worth it.

I was determined to make it to the Apple Store today to check this thing out properly, and managed to do so just before the mall closed. I just returned from there, and here are my thoughts.

First of all, the iPad mini truly is amazingly light. I was blown away at how easy and comfortable it was to hold one-handed. Reading in iBooks and across the web felt very natural, and since reading is likely to be one of my primary uses for the device, I was pretty excited that they nailed the experience so perfectly. Now I see why people are being so forgiving of the lack of Retina display.

Even without Retina, the screen is actually quite crisp to my eyes (the disclaimer being that I have appalling eyesight without my glasses, of course) and I had to put the screen up to my nose to really make out any pixels. I managed to find a demo area where an iPad 4 and mini were sitting right next to one another, and it was only when comparing the two side-by-side that I noticed the difference.

Many companies have tried releasing "iPad killers" over the last few years, but I think the only real threat to the standard iPad would be an iPad mini with Retina. That product will absolutely dominate the market when—not if—it releases.

While I had the 4 and the mini side-by-side, I decided to try some basic speed tests, such as opening the same apps simultaneously, visiting web pages, that sort of thing. Overall, the lack of an A6X processor doesn't seem to hurt the mini in the slightest. In fact, there were certain apps that opened even faster on the mini than on the 4, although I admit that could also be chalked up to whatever the 4 was running in the background at the time.

Typing in portrait was way more comfortable than I expected, and landscape wasn't too terrible but I did have to stretch my thumbs a bit when accessing the middle of the keyboard. Not uncomfortable, but it dampened my typing speed somewhat.

A few smaller observations:

• The mini was quite cool to the touch, while the 4 was bordering on hot. This may be an instance where not having a Retina display is actually a benefit rather than a drawback.
• Due to the slimmer lengthwise bezel of the mini, picking it up off a flat surface while the screen is on can be somewhat awkward, and may still require two hands if you don't want to accidentally tap something on-screen in the process. I don't personally feel negatively about this, but felt I should mention it.
• On-screen elements on the mini were noticeably smaller than they were on the iPad 4. It's a bit odd holding something the size of a tablet and having to tap things that are sized equivalently to what you'd see on an iPhone screen, but again, this wasn't something that bothered me personally. Your mileage may vary.

After getting to see the device in person, I now realize that my concerns about a lack of Retina display were unfounded. The iPad mini is definitely the one I'm going to purchase, and I would recommend the same to anyone that doesn't require an iPad for professional purposes. If you're a web designer or professional photographer, or even a cafe owner using it as a Square register, I'd say stick with the larger iPad.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the iPad mini simply becomes the standard iPad one day, while the larger device becomes the "iPad Pro," in the same vein as MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

I'm truly impressed with the iPad mini and can't wait to pick one up soon.

The Unretrofied To-Do List

As the title implies, here's a list of things I would like to accomplish for the site. Probably won't be that interesting to anyone but myself, but I've heard that the best motivator for getting things done is making them public so that I feel more accountable.

Anyway, here goes:

• Have a logo designed.
• Design a nice t-shirt or two, with the logo on at least one of them.
• Write more long-form pieces instead of link-blogging so much.
• Focus more on writing product reviews than before (this will require actually purchasing stuff I want to use, but I don't make a ton of money and I tend to like nice things so this could be tough without support from readers).
• Get better at writing in Markdown.
• Write about my Evernote setup.
• Finish that review comparison of Instacast/Downcast/Pocket Casts/etc.
• Come up with some sort of paid membership that provides readers with additional content/features of some sort. This will be inexpensive, likely $2-3/month.
• Set up RSS sponsorships. Will only approve services I personally love to use.
• Interview some of the web personalities that I look up to, mainly writers but also some designers and podcast hosts.
• Start a podcast of my own.

I expect the list to keep growing, but this seems like a good start. If you guys have any feedback or ideas, I would love to hear it.

'No One Cares'

Harry Marks at his best.

“A better title would’ve been, “DEAR APPLE: I wish I knew how to quit you.””

iPad Mini Reviews (and Some Thoughts)

John Gruber:

“If the Mini had a retina display, I’d switch from the iPad 3 in a heartbeat. As it stands, I’m going to switch anyway. Going non-retina is a particularly bitter pill for me, but I like the iPad Mini’s size and weight so much that I’m going to swallow it.”

Jim Dalrymple:

“In addition to using the iPad mini in my normal daily tasks, I also found that I would pick up the mini and use it where I normally wouldn’t use the iPad. For instance, if I’m on a phone call, I would typically use my iPhone to look things up while I walk around or type notes, look at Web sites and things like that. Now, I’m using the iPad mini because it’s compact enough to carry around, but not so large that it’s cumbersome.”

Joshua Topolsky:

“But to think of the iPad mini as a companion to the 3rd or 4th generation iPad — some kind of secondary player to the bigger version — would probably be a mistake. With a price tag starting at $329 and heading all the way up to $659 (with LTE and 64GB of storage), this isn’t really a step down from the existing iPad (well, the iPad 2 at least) as much as it is a step to the side.”

So far, every review I've seen of the iPad Mini has been very positive. Lately, I've been thinking about finally picking up an iPad (I've never owned one), but now I'm a bit torn between the Mini and the iPad 4.

The Mini would be the clear choice if it weren't for the fact that it doesn't have a Retina screen. As noted above, Gruber's willing to make that tradeoff for the incredible lightness of the device, but after being used to the Retina display on my iPhone 4S, I don't know how much I would like taking a step backward. Plus, since this will be my first iPad ever, I want to make sure I'm absolutely making the best choice, and having a Retina display is more likely to make me keep the device around for a few years longer.

Either way, I will probably opt for an LTE-capable model, but I'm still unsure of what size HDD to get. My iPhone 4S is a 16GB, and it seems to do okay most of the time, but every so often it will reach max capacity due to all the photos and videos I capture with it. Otherwise, I do a lot of streaming via Spotify, Instacast, and sometimes Netflix/Hulu, rather than storing a bunch of media on the drive itself.

I figure that I probably won't be using the iPad camera nearly as much, so that won't be a problem, but on the other hand I might be more inclined to start purchasing the occasional movie from iTunes and syncing them with the device, something I don't feel compelled to do with my iPhone since I don't watch many movies or shows on it. In addition to that, I've heard a lot about how iPad apps take up more space than their iPhone counterparts.

At this point, I'm leaning towards a 32GB + LTE model of whichever iPad I finally choose. Now I just need to sort out whether I want the iPad 4 or the Mini, and also which color (black or white). My iPhone 4S is white, and I love it, but maybe I'll want something different for a change. We'll see.

Once I get the device and use it for a day or two, I'll let you guys know what I think.

'The Long Shot'

A fascinating read from 2009, describing how a group of astronomers is attempting to locate Earth-like planets outside of our solar system.

“RV shifts are how the vast majority of extrasolar worlds have been discovered, but only because these planets, called “hot Jupiters,” are extremely massive and in hellishly close orbits around their stars. Their stellar wobbles are measurable in meters per second; seeing the much smaller centimeters-per-second wobble of an Earth twin is orders of magnitude more difficult. For the Alpha Centauri system, the feat is akin to detecting a bacterium orbiting a meter from a sand grain—from a distance of 10 kilometers.”

Add it to your Instapaper queue and enjoy sometime.

'An Alternate Universe'

Marco Arment describes his first experience with the Microsoft Surface:

“But it’s not for me at all. Not even for testing, experimenting, or curiosity. It feels too much like using a Windows PC, which was exactly Microsoft’s intention, and it will appeal to people who want that. But that’s a world I fled 8 years ago with no intention of returning”

Apparently the store itself was also bizarre:

“My demo was interrupted as another employee walked through the store, shouting enthusiastically, “WE HAVE WORKSHOPS IN THE BACK!” Nobody followed him there.”

Thanks to Marco, I now know pretty much all I need to know about the Surface. Go check out the full story.

Microsoft's Stage Presence

​Watching the Windows 8 announcement live, I can't help but notice the stark contrasts between Microsoft's and Apple's presentation styles. A few thoughts so far:

• ​There's no theatricality. No "magic". Just bland statements about upcoming features.
• They hardly even display any of these new features while talking about them. During Ballmer's own presentation there were slides on-screen behind him for several minutes, never changing to reflect whatever he was talking about at the time.
• I don't think I saw Ballmer smile once *during* the presentation, only briefly as he came on stage and when he left. Seemed almost bored with what he was talking about.
• ​Other presenters were stumbling over their words, as if they hadn't rehearsed enough. In fact, I think Ballmer might have been reading from a prompter on the floor.
• At one point, the stage was practically littered with the various products that Windows 8 will support. It looked like a miniature Best Buy showroom up there.​ The presenters had to weave in and out of the various pedestals like some kind of obstacle course. Bizarre.

​I found myself getting bored watching these presentations, and that's a bad thing. I actually think Microsoft's products lately have displayed some interesting concepts, but that won't be enough to get any iPad owners to switch to a Surface. There are tangible benefits to having some showmanship, and Microsoft has always been lacking in that area.

Not once did I find myself drifting out during the Apple Keynote, because they know how to keep things interesting from start to finish, even when talking about products I'm not necessarily interested in buying.

Donation Link

Just a brief announcement: I removed the Paypal donation link from the About page and replaced it with this link to a Space Box donation page, which runs on the Stripe payment platform. This option is equally as secure as Paypal, if not more, and the process for donating is much more streamlined.​

If you happen to try it out at any point, let me know what you think.​

Loren Brichter's New Game, 'Letterpress'

Loren Brichter, creator of Tweetie (now known as the official Twitter client for iOS), is back to developing apps independently. Today, he has released a new game called Letterpress for the iPhone and iPad.​

(note: both of these screenshots display the 'Retro' theme and not the default 'Light' theme)

It looks a bit like SpellTower, but the mechanics are totally different. The object of the game is to take turns with another player, creating words on a 5x5 board of letter tiles. As each player creates words, letters on the board are highlighted in their respective colors, until either the entire board is colored or both players have passed their turn in a round.​ The biggest difference between this and SpellTower is that you can create words using letters that are not connected together in any way.

The rules as explained in the app:​

• Words must have at least two letters.
• Words may only be played once.​
• Words may not be a prefix of a previously played word.​ For example, if Player 1 plays the word "QUILTS", Player 2 cannot play "QUILT" (but "QUILTED" and "QUIT" would both be fine).

​The sounds and animations in the app are charming, the asynchronous nature of the online multiplayer makes it easy to pick-up-and-play whenever you feel like it, and even the typography is pleasant.

The game itself is free, but you can also unlock the full version for $0.99 within the app, which allows you to have multiple games going and also unlocks the other themes. I definitely recommend this game.​

Letterpress (App Store Link)​

Update: MacStories did an interview with Loren, wherein he described how he created the sound effects used in the game. Not what I expected.

Ah, Entitlement

Speaking of publishing, Roger Cheng (writing for CNET) has decided to abuse this privilege to complain about the new iPad.

“Apple, I thought we had a deal.

I buy one of your products, and I’m guaranteed roughly a year feeling like I’ve got the latest and greatest that Apple has to offer. That’s primarily been your product cycle, and it’s worked out fairly well for everyone.

Which is why I’m shocked, and more than a little annoyed, to see a new iPad unveiled a half a year after I bought the “new iPad.””

I'm always in disbelief after reading something like this. What planet do people live on where it truly matters that the thing they bought months ago isn't the new shiny thing anymore?

The question one should ask themselves is this: "Does [x] meet my needs?" If the answer is yes, it's time to be quiet and stop writing these whiny pieces. Having an "obsolete" thing is not something any sane person should even think about, much less be ashamed of. Cheng even goes on to frame a quote from someone else like this:

“Vaknin compares the pain to what Android users have to endure:”

"Pain"? "Endure"? Give me a break.

Update: I also just noticed that he filed the post under "Legal." Yeesh.

Another New Era in Publishing

The history of the publishing industry is a fascinating subject. With the invention of the printing press in 1440 and its subsequent adoption throughout Europe, ideas could spread faster and farther than they ever could before. Nearly two centuries later, somebody took this idea and applied it to the current events of the times, inventing what would later become known as a "newspaper."

For most of the 20th century, people were still relying on newspapers, books, and magazines for information. In the late 1990s though, something called the "internet" (you might've heard of it) came along and gave people another tool to spread their ideas: the blog.​ Blogs have become a wonderful resource for all sorts of information. They can be about current events, the happenings in someone's personal life, reviews of products, helpful information on any number of subjects known to man, archives of history, and much more. These are incredibly powerful tools.

We've even found that a miniature form of blogging (i.e. Twitter) can still be enormously useful, especially because even someone in a 3rd-world country whose only access to technology is a dumbphone from the 90s can still use it. Never in history has it been easier to make your voice heard across the globe.

And now, we've entered another phase of idea-sharing that involves both content curation and self-publishing. As for curation, I'm not talking about people who call themselves curators just because they run linkblogs. I'm talking about a few specific projects that have been unveiled in the last several months (like Evening Edition, The Brief, NextDraft, and Circa) who are making a point of taking long-form news articles and/or other topics, and condensing them into more digestible form for readers who want to keep updated on current events but may not have the time to read long articles from multiple resources constantly.

With self-publishing, we have projects like The Magazine and the Read & Trust Magazine, which are monthly publications that require a small fee from the reader. Rather than curating content from elsewhere, they contain collections of articles submitted every month by a group of paid writers.

Sounds like any other magazine subscription, right? But there's a BIG difference: these projects are organized and published by individuals (in this case, Marco Arment and Aaron Mahnke, respectively) rather than entire media companies or news outlets. The internet, and tools such as Newsstand, have given people the opportunity to become their own publishers and make decent money without having to work under someone else's editorial vision, all from the comfort of their home.

I'm excited about what people are accomplishing on their own in the world of publishing, and hope to see more efforts like these in the future.

Newsweek Goes Digital-Only

Tina Brown:​

“We are announcing this morning an important development at Newsweek and The Daily Beast. Newsweek will transition to an all-digital format in early 2013. As part of this transition, the last print edition in the United States will be our Dec. 31 issue.”

About time a news organization had the guts to do this. I think this is a smart move and I'm looking forward to what this might mean for the printed news industry.

On Tweetbot Pricing

​Yesterday, the guys at Tapbots announced the official Tweetbot app for Mac.  To fans of Tweetbot, this was fantastic news, but there apparently exists a vocal group of people who felt the need to make it known that they weren't about to put up with the $20 price tag.

The comments section of that blog post is riddled with people complaining that the app is too expensive and that they won't be purchasing, or even going as far as saying Tapbots has "lost a customer." This is utterly ridiculous behavior and it needs to stop.

First of all, no one cares if you don't have $20 to spend on something, or even if you have the money but have some kind of moral objection to spending it on a piece of software. iOS engineer Alan Zeino put it best:

People complaining that they can’t afford Tweetbot on their blog: do you walk up to staff in shops and yell about stuff you can’t buy?

— Alan (@alanzeino) October 19, 2012

Secondly, the only reason people have this kind of opinion is due to the race-to-the-bottom mentality engendered over the years by the iOS App Store. No one wants to pay any amount above a couple bucks even for the best apps anymore, now that people are selling entire games for only a buck. And don't even THINK about coming out with a paid upgrade for an existing app (like Loren Brichter did for Tweetie 2 back in 2009) or people will riot.

"Pfft, your competitors are selling their Twitter client for two dollars, why can't you?" This kind of attitude absolutely reeks of self-entitlement. You don't get to set the price for an app, the developer does. If you don't like it, go away.

Heaven forbid a group of people who worked long and hard to produce something great actually asks to be nicely compensated​ for that work! They probably don't have families to feed or anything.

Review: Apple's Earpods

​I haven't had a lot of luck with iPhone earbuds over the years. The inline microphone and buttons tend to break, which sometimes causes the right earbud to stop playing sound anymore. My right ear is apparently oddly shaped anyway because it's hard to keep that earbud from constantly falling out (which my left ear never has a problem with).

As for my most recent set, I left them at a hotel on accident. For the last couple months I've been entirely without any earbuds, instead relying on a set of mediocre Skullcandy headphones I inherited a while back. Once the iPhone 5 was announced, along with the alien-like Earpods, I figured it was about time to pick up a new pair again.

[Just to be clear: I'm not getting an iPhone 5, so I've purchased the Earpods separately. The 5 is nice but I'm not so impressed that I'm ready to ditch my 4S yet.]

I was especially encouraged by all the great reviews I had seen from people who found that the new earbuds stayed in their ears better. After picking up a pair the other day, I have to say, that's still not the case for me. Even with the new design, I have to angle the right earbud a certain way for it to stay in my ear, and even then it still falls out every once in a while. No fault of Apple's really, just something I have to deal with. I know I should probably just get some in-ear headphones to alleviate this, but I've never found a pair that wasn't uncomfortable after a few minutes of use.

Sound-wise, these things are a slight improvement over the old earbuds, but I wouldn't say they live up to the claims made by Apple during the iPhone 5 announcement keynote. The bass is a bit nicer but that's all I've noticed. I'm not an audiophile though, and they're perfectly serviceable for my needs.

I guess I would say my favorite part is, oddly enough, the new "clickyness" of the inline buttons. They actually feel like three very distinct and responsive buttons, rather than one big muddy-feeling button. The sound quality of the mic itself seems about the same as before but I haven't tried it in extremely windy weather yet. Since the mic is totally encased in plastic instead of having a little exposed hole, I imagine it will work pretty well.

​Overall, these are a decent set of earbuds but I think $30 is a tad bit much to pay for them. You can find earbuds of similar or better quality for much less. I just hope this pair doesn't break on me.

A New Look

I'll try to keep this brief. If you make a habit of visiting Unretrofied rather than reading it via RSS, then you will notice that I've been making quite a few design changes in the last couple days.​

It's not as big of a change as the last redesign obviously, but I think it's much nicer. I'm happier with the typography (now with serifs!), pages should render more nicely on e-ink displays like the Kindle, and I've started categorizing posts like I should have been doing this whole time, which means things will be easier to find from the archive.

I will also finally start using links in post titles if I'm directing the reader to another person's site. In those cases, if you would like to link to one of those posts here instead of linking the external site, you can use the timestamp link provided at the bottom of each post. I've already gone through some of the more recent posts around here and changed them to the new format.

Let me know what you think!​

'Implementing Smart App Banners'

Helpful tip by David Smith, ​showing web developers how to show an iAd-style banner at the top of their mobile sites that point to their companion app, rather than using a popup message that has to be dismissed.

“That’s it. Anyone visiting your site will now get this clean and context aware banner. If you are an app developer please take the 2 minutes needed to implement this. Gaudy popups promoting your app were detestable before but are now downright inexcusable.”

Hopefully more companies will start using this method of advertising and quit doing this:

'Regarding Passbook'

Rene Ritchie, writing for iMore:

“With Newsstand, Apple didn’t go the iTunes or iBooks route, didn’t establish a specific format and present the content is a consistent manner. They outsourced to publishers, and the experience suffered. With Passbook, Apple didn’t offer the iTunes transaction system, didn’t establish a specific process in a consistent manner. They outsourced to retailers, and the experience suffered.”

Couldn't agree more. I was one of the users who had problems with Passbook after upgrading to iOS 6, because tapping the App Store button at the bottom of the empty "wallet" would give me an error. Even when it started working days later, it was unclear what exactly I was supposed to be doing.

I went in expecting a seamless experience, but what I found is that you have to actually download all these other apps you don't need just so you can tell those apps to add a card to your Passbook. The whole point of Passbook, in my mind, was to eliminate the need for those dozens of other apps. It's pretty disappointing that Apple took such a great idea and released it this way.

Go read the rest of Rene's post, it's full of other insights.

'Remembering Steve'

Today marks one year since Steve Jobs passed away. Can't believe it's been that long already, it feels like only weeks ago.

​In memory of Steve, Apple has put up a short, sweet tribute video on their site, which is followed by a message from Tim Cook. Worth checking out.