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Instapaper Founder’s Journey From Bagel Jockey to Publishing Pioneer→

Instapaper Founder’s Journey From Bagel Jockey to Publishing Pioneer

I learned the value of giving people little delights [while working at the bagel shop]. Those small details and experiences are the reason why people like luxury cars. They are full of those little delights. You can do the same thing with any business. With a Web and iPhone app, I try to find new and tiny ways to delight my customers. They may not notice, but it helps drive goodwill and makes your product remarkable.

I’m looking forward to what’s coming next for Instapaper.

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You’re Too Stupid To Review The MacBook Air If…→

You’re Too Stupid To Review The MacBook Air If…

It’s important for reviewers to remember that they are supposed to be offering readers valuable information. Putting out some false bravado and this feeling of superiority that comes with many reviews really doesn’t help anyone. The fact you can knock a product — any product — because it doesn’t measure up to a higher-end product really doesn’t take much skill.

Jim Dalrymple knows what’s wrong with hardware reviews on the internet.

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Apple’s Next Macintosh OS→

Apple’s Next Macintosh OS

Compare the bulldozer approach to what Apple did when it designed the A4, the “dark inside” of the iPad. Apple’s next Mac processor could be a multicore (or multi-chip) ARM derivative. And the company has proven time and again that it knows how to port software, and its support of the Open Source LLVM and Clang projects give it additional hardware independence. We all know the Apple Way: Integration. From bare metal to the flesh, from the processor to the Apple Store. Hardware, OS, applications, distribution… Apple knows how to control its own destiny.

And indeed, they’re committed to making a centralized integrated ecosystem the bet on their destiny.

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The Addictive Allure of Instagram→

The Addictive Allure of Instagram

But Instagram is, maybe more than anything else right now, a community of people who enjoy making & taking charming photos, sharing them with their friends and seeing what their friends have shared. It is a community that lives on top of other, existing communities, and has pulled this off seemingly without any pain or friction. The Instagram community is composed of people from Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Flickr, which of course has helped it tremendously in gaining widespread adoption so quickly.

Starting where Camera+ left off, the Instagram developers have a huge opportunity on their hands.

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Should Lion Be Distributed On USB Keys?→

Should Lion Be Distributed On USB Keys?

A Redditor wonders if Apple is going to ditch the CD for the new OS distribution:

The new MB Airs ship with their restore software on a USB key, as they have no optical drive. Obviously those machines will need a way to upgrade to 10.7, and the remote disc stuff, while it works, doesn’t seem very Apple-ish. We know next to nothing about Lion at this point, and I’m not convinced that Apple is out to kill the optical disc. But I wonder: Will the next version of Mac OS X ship, not on a DVD, but on a USB key?

Obviously DVDs are cheaper and faster to print. But if you think about Apple and the “dangerous” decisions they made in the past, this kind of makes sense.

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The Value Of “Pro”→

The Value Of “Pro”

I say ‘Pro’ makes more sense only if you develop an app that has two versions, one free and one paid and the free version is made to be a scaled down version that can stand on its own (meaning you don’t run out of “levels” as you would in a game). You are in effect giving away a full version of your app for free, and selling a version with more features as a ‘Pro’ level which is in line with what the consumer mind expects.

Either route you go I doubt you will get rid of the rude comments that plague the App Store.

Game developers won’t stop using the “Lite” tag. But I also can’t picture an “OmniFocus Pro”. The Mac App Store is going to be an interesting subject.

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“The Mac App Store Isn’t For Today’s Mac Developers”→

“The Mac App Store Isn’t For Today’s Mac Developers”

But a huge new market is about to open next door. And yes, it’ll probably be dominated by Angry Birds and other inexpensive, often trivial apps. When this happens, a lot of traditional Mac developers are going to look down on it. But those with a bit of free time to develop their own inexpensive, often trivial apps might have a different viewpoint entirely when they see their sales numbers.

Marco Arment nails it.

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A Black Menubar in Lion?→

A Black Menubar in Lion?

Neven Mrgan:

A suggestion for Mac OS X Lion: since the team is trying to integrate the menubar into the desktop a bit more, to make it less prominent - the translucent menubar was an attempt at just this - why not go all the way and make it black?

I’ve always wanted such an option, and it would fit with the latest trend of monochromatic icons. The new Airs don’t come with black bezels, though.

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