Comments on: The Device/Desktop Opportunity http://www.globalnerdy.com/2009/01/09/the-devicedesktop-opportunity/ Tech Evangelist Joey deVilla on software development, tech news and other nerdy stuff Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:25:05 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: martha http://www.globalnerdy.com/2009/01/09/the-devicedesktop-opportunity/comment-page-1/#comment-6447 martha Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:36:18 +0000 http://www.globalnerdy.com/?p=2614#comment-6447 Brookstone Digital my life photo album has a pro=blem with software . I located pictures, imported them to resizer, chose album. That part went according to instructuions. My problem: No ready bar or resize button on the screen. What is wrong? Brookstone Digital my life photo album has a pro=blem with software . I located pictures, imported them to resizer, chose album. That part went according to instructuions. My problem: No ready bar or resize button on the screen. What is wrong?

]]> By: Sogen http://www.globalnerdy.com/2009/01/09/the-devicedesktop-opportunity/comment-page-1/#comment-4899 Sogen Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:37:04 +0000 http://www.globalnerdy.com/?p=2614#comment-4899 Another thing is, when you lost your Photo Resizer CD, there is now way you can download it again. Could anyone here, please send me the software. Another thing is, when you lost your Photo Resizer CD, there is now way you can download it again. Could anyone here, please send me the software.

]]> By: Ray http://www.globalnerdy.com/2009/01/09/the-devicedesktop-opportunity/comment-page-1/#comment-4772 Ray Sun, 31 May 2009 00:10:05 +0000 http://www.globalnerdy.com/?p=2614#comment-4772 Greetings, The interface could use some work as you suggest. What I found was something very different. I am running Windows Vista Home Premium. When I plugged in the cable and connected it to the running album, it took 2 minutes for the computer to recognize that the new device was connected. I couldn't get it to work any faster. That seems strange. Then what I found really suprised me. The photos that I resized and uploaded were displayed in a different order than anything I had seen. I changed names but it still didn't make a difference. I Then changed the shooting date, resized and uploaded and got the same results. Anyone out there have a suggestion? TIA Ray Greetings,

The interface could use some work as you suggest. What I found was something very different. I am running Windows Vista Home Premium. When I plugged in the cable and connected it to the running album, it took 2 minutes for the computer to recognize that the new device was connected. I couldn’t get it to work any faster. That seems strange. Then what I found really suprised me. The photos that I resized and uploaded were displayed in a different order than anything I had seen. I changed names but it still didn’t make a difference. I Then changed the shooting date, resized and uploaded and got the same results.

Anyone out there have a suggestion? TIA

Ray

]]> By: Joshua http://www.globalnerdy.com/2009/01/09/the-devicedesktop-opportunity/comment-page-1/#comment-2937 Joshua Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:39:13 +0000 http://www.globalnerdy.com/?p=2614#comment-2937 I think we geeks, being somewhat more familiar with the tools than the problems, find it relatively easy to tweak an existing tool to do the job, than to "suffer" with Yet Another Not-Quite-Adequate Problem-X-Solving Tool. On the other hand, I'd like to see something akin to the "driver" concept, in the old geek hardware world. That is, a new device came with the software responsible for interfacing that device with existing tools. In the new lingo, that might mean "iPhoto and Picassa plugins" for a photo device, or "SANE drivers" for a scanner device. These days, it seems this only happens when a) a platform-dominant software exists and b) supports a plugin-style architecture. On a related note: I got a Flip Mino camera over the holidays and I liked that the necessary software (3ivx codecs for iPhoto, something for Windows?) was stored internally on the device's drive. Nice way to use the product itself to carry the software! I think we geeks, being somewhat more familiar with the tools than the problems, find it relatively easy to tweak an existing tool to do the job, than to “suffer” with Yet Another Not-Quite-Adequate Problem-X-Solving Tool.

On the other hand, I’d like to see something akin to the “driver” concept, in the old geek hardware world. That is, a new device came with the software responsible for interfacing that device with existing tools. In the new lingo, that might mean “iPhoto and Picassa plugins” for a photo device, or “SANE drivers” for a scanner device. These days, it seems this only happens when a) a platform-dominant software exists and b) supports a plugin-style architecture.

On a related note: I got a Flip Mino camera over the holidays and I liked that the necessary software (3ivx codecs for iPhoto, something for Windows?) was stored internally on the device’s drive. Nice way to use the product itself to carry the software!

]]> By: Darren James Harkness http://www.globalnerdy.com/2009/01/09/the-devicedesktop-opportunity/comment-page-1/#comment-2934 Darren James Harkness Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:57:13 +0000 http://www.globalnerdy.com/?p=2614#comment-2934 Funnily enough, I wouldn't have put Picasa in the 'geek' range of tools. Most of the photo geeks I know use tools like Aperture. Picasa seems relatively low entry to me for most users - though it sounds like of won't really solve the DPI problem you're facing. I tend to rail against the notion of creating yet another application to solve a problem when there's already something already out there that will do the job, which is where my comment originated from. ;) Funnily enough, I wouldn’t have put Picasa in the ‘geek’ range of tools. Most of the photo geeks I know use tools like Aperture. Picasa seems relatively low entry to me for most users – though it sounds like of won’t really solve the DPI problem you’re facing.

I tend to rail against the notion of creating yet another application to solve a problem when there’s already something already out there that will do the job, which is where my comment originated from. ;)

]]> By: David Janes http://www.globalnerdy.com/2009/01/09/the-devicedesktop-opportunity/comment-page-1/#comment-2932 David Janes Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:55:04 +0000 http://www.globalnerdy.com/?p=2614#comment-2932 The application I would love for this is a Calendar! I maintain the family calendar (quite tricky with kids) on the computer but it would be very handy Joanne and Trinity-Anne to be able to tap onto it in a picture frame. The application I would love for this is a Calendar! I maintain the family calendar (quite tricky with kids) on the computer but it would be very handy Joanne and Trinity-Anne to be able to tap onto it in a picture frame.

]]> By: bunnyhero http://www.globalnerdy.com/2009/01/09/the-devicedesktop-opportunity/comment-page-1/#comment-2928 bunnyhero Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:40:42 +0000 http://www.globalnerdy.com/?p=2614#comment-2928 this would also be a nice project for a simple AIR app, methinks. this would also be a nice project for a simple AIR app, methinks.

]]> By: Joey deVilla http://www.globalnerdy.com/2009/01/09/the-devicedesktop-opportunity/comment-page-1/#comment-2927 Joey deVilla Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:34:45 +0000 http://www.globalnerdy.com/?p=2614#comment-2927 <strong>@Darren James Harkness:</strong> Largely because photo management apps like Picasa have been off my radar. Even when I had a Mac, I never used iPhoto, I simply copied files from my camera card to the appropriate year/month/group directory in the <strong>Pictures</strong> strong. Picasa or any photo-editing app could easily perform those tasks -- it's simply resize the image, and click <strong>Save As</strong>. The problem is that a lot of the non-techie users I've witness don't like doing things the "geek way": using general-purpose apps or utilities or even just the OS with their devices. They seem to like applications that are as single-purpose as the device to connect to them. For the "My Life" digital photo album, I'm envisioning an app that lets you easily pick the photos you want transfer, pick album 1, 2, 3 or 4, and then click a button called "Go". I downloaded Picasa and took it for a spin. While I was able to easily downsize the photo to 320 by 240 pixels, I couldn't find a control to adjust the dpi in the export dialog. The "My Life" photo album displays an error message for any photos that aren't 96 dpi. Even if Picasa has a feature to change the dpi of a photo during export, I still think that there are still opportunities for developer to create better "bridge apps" for devices that people hook to their computers. @Darren James Harkness: Largely because photo management apps like Picasa have been off my radar. Even when I had a Mac, I never used iPhoto, I simply copied files from my camera card to the appropriate year/month/group directory in the Pictures strong.

Picasa or any photo-editing app could easily perform those tasks — it’s simply resize the image, and click Save As. The problem is that a lot of the non-techie users I’ve witness don’t like doing things the “geek way”: using general-purpose apps or utilities or even just the OS with their devices. They seem to like applications that are as single-purpose as the device to connect to them. For the “My Life” digital photo album, I’m envisioning an app that lets you easily pick the photos you want transfer, pick album 1, 2, 3 or 4, and then click a button called “Go”.

I downloaded Picasa and took it for a spin. While I was able to easily downsize the photo to 320 by 240 pixels, I couldn’t find a control to adjust the dpi in the export dialog. The “My Life” photo album displays an error message for any photos that aren’t 96 dpi.

Even if Picasa has a feature to change the dpi of a photo during export, I still think that there are still opportunities for developer to create better “bridge apps” for devices that people hook to their computers.

]]> By: Darren James Harkness http://www.globalnerdy.com/2009/01/09/the-devicedesktop-opportunity/comment-page-1/#comment-2926 Darren James Harkness Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:47:35 +0000 http://www.globalnerdy.com/?p=2614#comment-2926 Out of curiousity, why not suggest using Picasa, and just export selected photos to the USB device using its built-in export functionality? It's a pretty easy process and also gives your mother-in-law an excellent, free photo management application that'll let her organize the photos and do minor photo edits. Out of curiousity, why not suggest using Picasa, and just export selected photos to the USB device using its built-in export functionality? It’s a pretty easy process and also gives your mother-in-law an excellent, free photo management application that’ll let her organize the photos and do minor photo edits.

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