Google disillusionment and smartphone convenience

After hearing about a prominent user's hacked digital life, I turned on Google 2-factor authentication.  I did notice that in order for my smartphone to continue accessing my email without needing to enter a code SMS'd to the phone, I needed to create an "application-specific password" for my smartphone email client.  Momentarily I sensed there was a security weakness here.  But because I had a general positive feeling that Google was very security-conscious, I thought the smart people working there had probably closed all the loopholes in this situation.  Then today I became aware of Google's ASP password issues.  Now I have to re-think if I have any very sensitive data stored in Google Drive.  I also no longer consider Google above and beyond the other online companies out there in a security sense:  Google has sunk to the depths of Dropbox and Sony. 

I believe that one of the big reason that users love their smartphones and tablets is because they don't have to re-enter their passwords.  I use a lot of cloud services like Evernote, various web email services and social networking sites and whereas the web version of these services will prompt me to re-enter the password on a frequent basis, the native smartphone versions NEVER prompt me.  Google had to preserve this convenient experience for users of Gmail, Google Calendar, etc. on smartphones despite implementing 2-factor authentication, and they were screwed because of their poor implementation.  How to get rid of passwords and still have security is the issue plaguing the digital industry. 

Windows Phone web browser malaise

Dropped by our local Microsoft store located at WEM on Monday and since my toddler was with me, only had time to try the Ringmark mobile browser features test on the latest Windows Phone 8 phones.  Both the HTC and Nokia were unable to make it past Ring 0.  My WP7.5 phone also can't pass Ring 0 and although there was improvement in the results with Windows Phone 8, they remain dreadful.  By contrast, the new Blackberry Z10 nearly passes Ring 1. 

If a platform is lacking in apps (relatively), it must have a web browser that is leading the pack and able to use web apps as they are currently deployed and implemented.  Very disappointed with Windows Phone and this is another step away from the platform for me.

The ergonomic and social problems with tablets

Without a stand, tablets are inconvenient as they need to be propped up or continuously held with one hand.  With a stand/folding case, they are great in meeting rooms as they don't obstruct the view of the tablet user from the other meeting participants.  I think this is equivalent to keeping your hands visible during an interview and in my opinion, it speaks to a subconscious need for people to know that your hands aren't hiding weapons, etc. (only slightly tongue-in-cheek).

Tablets are good when you have an arm rest to support the hand holding the tablet.  But in my experience and looking at other people, they are terrible on public transportation.  When sitting down, there are no arm rests and it is tiring to hold a tablet with one hand and mash your finger against it with the other.  If standing up, you have to hold onto something in case of sudden stops or swerves.  In the meantime, you also have to hold your fragile tablet and navigate with the other hand.  Touch screen phones are much nicer for public transportation because they are capable of one-handed use.  

Compared to traditional laptops, tablets are great for presenting information to others.  I think of them as useful for doctors making the rounds, realtors showing houses to their clients, and for salespeople on the sales floor.  When you have to be mobile, you're on your feet, and you want a large screen to view information and show to others, a tablet is ideal.  When a table is available, depending on the stand, they are also better than traditional laptops in that they have a smaller footprint.  This can be an advantage when the table is small (I'm thinking at a coffee shop or restaurant) and you're trying to share something on the screen with another person.  

One place where tablets are not socially acceptable is in public washrooms.  A tablet, 7" or larger, is difficult to discreetly take into a washroom.  Again, in this situation, smartphones win out.  Bringing a newspaper or tablet into the washroom may continue to be frowned upon for some years to come ...?

Notes on Spark 198: Brontobytes, Babysitters, Gamification

• The show 
• Diane Zorn points to studies that show that gamers learn leadership skills, how to be a team player, etc.  I'm not a gamer so I look at this proposition with skepticism.  Games are purposefully designed to keep the player engaged even when they "die" or fail.  Real-life is not like that:  setbacks like a failed project, losing a job, getting ripped off are not part of any grander scheme.  While the ultimate level or goal of a game may take weeks to achieve, much like real-life projects or endeavors, in a game, along the way, there are many smaller accomplishments specifically designed to entice the gamer to keep playing.  Real-life doesn't normally have instant gratification built into it, and when it does, it usually is bad for your health.  
• While I think that gaming does help with certain intellectual development and problem-solving skills, I worry for my toddler, who will probably be gaming in the future, that he may miss learning to cope and tough it out through adversity, to deeply concentrate and organize thoughts outside of a game situation, and to truly bounce back from real-world failure, if he spends too much time gaming.  
• In another part of the podcast, where Nora Young interviews Elizabeth Lawle, they talk about intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.  Extrinsic rewards are grades, year-end bonuses, etc.

Spark 195: Pagination, Education, Participation

• Listen here
• Two main discussions of interest:  Enhancing education with technology and online collaboration. 
• Classrooms will/should become "hacker spaces" or "creative spaces" where students come together and with some guidance from the teacher, they build stuff.  This seems to make sense for classes such as industrial arts and computing science, but what about language arts (I'm thinking grammer) and social studies (I'm thinking history)? 
• The identity of "young people" today is "what I've built, shared, and what others have built upon".  Corporations will hire these digital leaders based on these attributes.  I argue that the same criteria can/should be applied to professionals currently in the IT industry
• Greater importance of imagination over creativity.  Whereas creativity is thinking about how to do something better, imagination is thinking of an entirely new way to approach a problem (thinking outside the box?)
• Rather than viewing the world as entities competing against each other, the natural way of the world may be collaboration between entities. 
• The "group IQ" of a collection of people is not most influenced by the IQ of the individuals but by the diversity of the group.  Having women in the mix also increases the group IQ
• If we look at the world we live in, if we were competing more than collaborating, would we have our cities, hockey leagues, the United Nations?  If competition was the driving force, I think it would be more of a Mad Max world, but without vehicles, since these probably would not have been invented

Spark: Interview with "Future Perfect" author

• Listen here:  cbc.ca
• Free market forces know the problem to solve and are very efficient, for the short term, but don't do well with planning long-term projects (e.g. widening a bridge in anticipation of increased traffic volumes).  This is what governments are good for.  Can decentralized peer networks plan and execute long-term projects?   
• Media likes to put one person on the cover of Time, etc. when actually the work of thousands may have contributed to X project.  This gives an inaccurate view of how projects are successful.  Projects are not successful based solely on the heroics of one person and even when a project was led by one individual, for multiple successive projects, heroics often cannot be repeated.
• Although I have not read the book, it seems that what is described is also evidenced by the success of open source software that powers the innovation happening on the Internet.  That is, source code written by one person can be freely adapted or enhanced by another developer, without patents and royalties to contend with.  This reflects the saying "[building] on the shoulders of giants".

Web site compatibility

I don't do a lot of web site development now but I was under the impression that in recent years, people's experience with different web browsers (IE, Firefox, etc.) was pretty consistent.  Then I started to use Opera (2010) and noticed its problems with Google Docs spreadsheets.  Then we tried to use the PS3 browser to surf the Internet on our HDTV (when we finally purchased an HDTV in 2011) and realized what an abysmal web browser that is. 

When I started using an iPod Touch (4th generation), I was surprised at how well its Safari browser displayed most web pages.  Besides a very intelligent mobile Safari implementation, it appears it was because of the dominance of its cousin, the iPhone, that caused web sites to bend over backwards to accommodate it.  For example, Google Docs presents a very usable interface for spreadsheet editing to the iPod Touch. 

I finally started an ongoing list of how well certain "unpopular" browsers render web sites that I use.  In summary:

• Windows Phone 7 has problems with more "complex" web sites that don't have a mobile version.  But I am sometimes surprised that it is able to handle image oriented web sites such as those found on Tumblr.
• Blackberry Playbook renders most web site excellently, probably because of its Flash support; surfing the net with the Playbook is much like using your desktop computer although there are gaps. 
• I don't have time to fill in the PS3 column but in general, it sucks.  Don't let the included web browser be a selling feature to you.  I have not researched how other game console web browsers such as on Xbox compare