edu.Mac.bytes

March 11, 2010

Link: Why iPad Is the 'Children's Toy of the Year' - PC World

“Another trend I’ve noticed is that when adults upgrade to new phones, they’re increasingly handing their old iPhones to their children — after loading them up with kids apps and canceling their wireless plans. The kids love owning their own iPhone, and the parents love not constantly handing their new phone over to the kids to play with. Everybody wins.”

This is exactly what we did in our house when I upgraded from the original iPhone to the 3GS. We plan on doing the same thing with my wife’s 3G phone when she upgrades to whatever the next iPhone model is.

1:42pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/441587754/link-why-ipad-is-the-childrens-toy-of-the-year-pc

FILED UNDER: iPhone kids

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March 10, 2010

Video: “iPad Demo for Digital Ranch Productions”

This video officially makes the Kindle look ancient…

“Demo for the iPad that features a book called ‘Missions to the Moon’ by Rod Pyle and how it could look like as an app for the iPad.”

iPad Demo for Digital Ranch Productions from andreas kronenberg on Vimeo.

I hope that publishing companies watch this video. Especially Penguin.

11:11pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/440440618/video-ipad-demo-for-digital-ranch-productions

FILED UNDER: iPad Video

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Simple Desktops

I love these desktops…

10:01pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/440290278/simple-desktops-i-love-these-desktops

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March 9, 2010

iPad iMagineering - Penguin Books - DK (via PenguinDigital)

The Great:

“The Human Body” (Sweet!)
“DK Travel Guides” (These look extremely useful for travelers.)
“Starfinder” (Winner: Best of Show…at least in this vid.)

The OK:

“Spot” (What is the deal with the finger/cursor paint brush?)

The Not Great:

“Baby Touch” (Painfully basic; I hope we see more depth than this.)

10:42pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/438188653/ipad-imagineering-penguin-books-dk-via

FILED UNDER: iPad

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via iPod Touch helps children with communication issues | WDNU

10:07pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/438137490/via-ipod-touch-helps-children-with-communication

FILED UNDER: ipod touch communication video

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March 8, 2010

School Solutions: Students Use iPod Touch As Educational Tool | digtriad.com

7:51pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/435657814/school-solutions-students-use-ipod-touch-as

FILED UNDER: ipod touch

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"I’ll go so far as to predict that by the time Monday April 5 rolls around, it’ll already be an established meme that non-iPad-optimized iPhone apps are to the iPad what Classic apps were to Mac OS X — something you’ll make do with “for now” but can’t wait to abandon for the real thing."

— John Gruber

7:42pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/435641088/ill-go-so-far-as-to-predict-that-by-the-time

FILED UNDER: Ipad

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Class in Touch with technology | London Free Press

“For example, while studying the Canadian novel the Cellist of Sarajevo, students in another of his Grade 12 classes went to Sniper Alley, where the book is set, using Google Earth. Then, using YouTube, they tracked down the real cellist.”

7:40pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/435635885/class-in-touch-with-technology-london-free-press

FILED UNDER: iPod touch

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Write in Markdown with TextMate, Sync Everything with Notational

Lately I find myself writing more and more text for the web in Markdown.

This link has some useful information if you happen to already use Notational Velocity and Textmate.

7:22pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/435600378/write-in-markdown-with-textmate-sync-everything-with

FILED UNDER: Textmate Notational Velocity Markdown link

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March 5, 2010

“How Penguin Will Reinvent Books With iPad”

via Paid Content

9:50pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/429375409/how-penguin-will-reinvent-books-with-ipad-via

FILED UNDER: ipad

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"The essence of the new opportunities on iPad is that this class of device is a natural home not just for the viewers and small utilities we’ve seen on our phones, but also for creators and editors as we see on desktop platforms. Productivity applications, and sophisticated workflows. There are entire genres of applications which haven’t been truly feasible on an iPhone OS device until now; this is an opportunity to literally pioneer a high-profile touch-screen version of those applications."

— Matt Gemmell

9:26pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/429334902/the-essence-of-the-new-opportunities-on-ipad-is

FILED UNDER: ipad

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March 1, 2010

Read Across America Day: All “Dr. Seuss” Applications on Sale

In celebration of Theodor Geisel’s (Dr. Seuss) birthday, and Read Across America Day, all Dr. Seuss iPhone applications are on sale for $0.99. This is a great deal considering the eBook applications normally are $3.99, the Dr. Seuss camera apps are normally $2.99, and the Grinchmas! game is normally $1.99.

Here are the 6 applications for sale:

(Links open in iTunes)

Check out “The Cat in the Hat” in action below:

9:28pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/421071361/read-across-america-day-all-dr-seuss-applications

FILED UNDER: iphone dr. seuss learning reading kids

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February 27, 2010

App Developers: Please have a support contact e-mail address…

There is a popular storybook application in the App Store called “Three Little Pigs” by Kidzstory (Stepworks) that has a minor error on one of the pages. Nothing huge. The narrator for the page reads the sentence correctly. (“No one ever saw him again.) The problem I have is not specifically with the error. We all make grammatical errors. No one is perfect. I bet version 1.1 will correct this error. The problem I have with this situation is that there is no place to contact the developer directly on their “support site”.

The only link on the page is for their Facebook page.

I really like the application and so does my son. It is a cute story (classic as well), the illustrations are unique, and the narration is lively. I want to leave a positive review for the application in iTunes… and I still may… but Kidztory, who has many of the top storybook apps in the App Store, really needs to do a better job providing support communication for their applications.

Lesson: Don’t cut your users off from reaching out to you directly if there is something they have to suggest. support@thenameofyourapp.com is a necessity.

Three developers that exemplify excellent customer communcation are Jesse from HogBaySoftware, Steve from KidCalc, and Darren from Touch Screen Preschool Games. All three are proactive and responsive to their customers. Kidztory can do this too!

9:14am | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/415393182/kidztory-needs-a-support-contact-email-address

FILED UNDER: developers kidztory children suggestion support contact

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"One focuses on user-research to find out what people need/want. This approach is exemplified by Microsoft and is used mostly to mitigate risk. The downside of this “user testing” model is that users can lead you astray. For example, if you ask everyone what their favorite color is the average will be gray."

— LukeW

7:15am | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/415264705/one-focuses-on-user-research-to-find-out-what

FILED UNDER: Design

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February 26, 2010