I would be remiss if I didn't point out the Macsparky.com review of OmniOutliner for iPad. He's a bit more upbeat about the release but notes some of the same gaps. We both still like using the app but look forward to the infamous Omni Group iterations on design.
The Omni Group The Omni Group has produced some of the best iPad and iPhone apps available. By “best”, I mean that they have both a highly polished asthetic quality as well as a sophisticated and inventive user interaction design. For example, OmniGraffle for the iPad is an absolutely stunning achievement. The app is better than most desktop diagramming tools. It is comprised of clever little multi-touch and tap interactions that make working with it a breeze.
Reeder is a terrific, albeit unique, RSS feed reader. The unusual take on organizing feed groups into stacks of unread articles takes some getting used to. I have been using it exclusivley on iOS for some time now. However, I’m always eager to check out a new app that is garnering some attention so I gave Mr. Reader a try.
Over all, Mr. Reader is quite good.The feed organization is logical and easy to navigate.
The iPad keyboard works quite well for general typing. Where it falls short is accessing the extended keys such as @, *, #, [ and alike. Forget trying to type a tab character on the standard iOS keyboard. It’s not available in most applications. The tab requires a developer to implement a custom keyboard like Nebulous Notes (which is rare). Consequently, a user is required to tap the “.?123” key on either side of the space key to access most of the special keys.
By now, it has become fairly obvious that the latest round of iPad competition has made little impact on the public mindshare that Apple occupies. One thing that I have heard repeatedly from Apple supporters is that Apple needs competition to push their products. I have generally taken this for granted, but I have now changed my opinion.
Looking over the Apple product line, it is evident that they are only competing with themselves.
While the current pace of innovation seems breathtaking, here’s something to consider: 100 years ago, we were not even sure what an atom was. Ernest Rutherford had to show us, with a pretty simple set of experiments, that the atom had a nucleus. 100 years later we have taken the atom for granted and criticize new tablet computers for not having a better camera. I feel like science is dissolving into the background of technology in a way that is both amazing and depressing.
I listen to a large number of Podcasts. My queue of podcasts has almost doubled since Dan's 5by5 really started pumping out quality material. While I love the increased variety, managing and sycning has become a mjor stumbling block to getting the latest content. Even if I charge my iPhone all night, I still need to connect it to Mac to sync with iTunes every morning before I leave for the office.
I bought into the Simplenote world from the moment I read John Gruber rave about it. Since then I have relied heavily on the Simplenote platform for both personal and professional note taking and list making. The beauty of Simplenote lies in its unique restriction to plain text. I have been tempted by the luxuriousness that is Evernote. However, after a brief project to extract all of my notes from Evernote into a file structure that would outlive the hosted service, I realized that there was safety in simplicity.
OmniFocus from Windows
There's no doubt that OmniFocus by the Omni Group is the quintessential mac app. It's elegant, easy to use and simply makes work easier. It has nearly solved the digital ubiquitous capture problem. It's an iPhone app, it's an iPad app, it's desktop app, it's a whipped topping. Unfortunately it is not a windows app (yet).I spend most of my work hours on a Windows machine. I have developed a couple of rountines that allow me to integrate OmniFocus with my workflow on Windows.
I think a large number of folks have already established the Pinboard.in is an excellent bookmarking service. Now, comes the task of getting immediate and convenient access to those bookmarks. I have been happily using the app DBD Delicious Bookmark Discovery ($1.99 on the Apple app store) for that very purpose. While the name indicates that it is a tool for Delicious bookmarks, it is a top notch tool for accessing Pinboard bookmarks.
