You really should watch more tennis. I know, I know, you think it’s too hard to keep up with and you’re so busy. But what if I told you there was a kind of tennis that only had one event a week, and only two people played at a time? Best of all, you can watch it on the internet, and it doesn’t matter when you tune in because everybody always wins. Too good to be true? Nope!
Of course I’m talking about Layer Tennis from Coudal Partners. Each week two talented designers duke it out in a 10 round, no-images-barred match. Designers have 15 minutes to see what their competition has made, come up with an idea and then create a response.
Competitions so far have features some really amazing photographers and designers. My favorite is the first, between Shaun Inman and Kevin Cornell. A great illustrator, a great designer, and commentary by one of my favorite bloggers, John Gruber. Volley after volley of high intensity artwork.
If you have any interest in design, you’ll love it.
Dear Apple Computer,
It’s been a while since I wrote you last. Sorry about that. But it wouldn’t kill you to write back every once in a while, that’s all I’m saying.
So here’s the thing: I like having a photoblog. Lots of people do. And I like iPhoto as well. But there’s no easy way to bring the two together. Oh, sure, there’s Photon, you say. But have you seen the results?
I tried using it to post to my photoblog this morning, and after much fiddling, I got it to post an article. But it doesn’t offer the most basic functionality: thumbnail linked to a full-size photo. Which, one would assume, would be the single most important feature in a photoblogging tool. Right?
But I’m not writing to you to bag on Photon. There’s one guy writing it and he’s giving it away for free - you can’t complain about free. But I can complain that iPhoto, which I paid you for, ought to have something like Photon built in. Right?
Now obviously I understand that you’re unlikely to just cram Photon into iPhoto. It’s got the kind of messy configuration that is still mandatory in the brave new world of blogging. And let’s face it, most of your users don’t need the features it provides. So I’m not asking for that.
What I am asking for is a few hours of your time. Specifically, the time of one of your in-house developers to look over the recently open-sourced Photon code and add in the features that would turn iPhoto into a world-class photoblogging tool. Or at least as good as the overly-complicated setup I was using before.
Why? Well, partly because it would make me happy, but more importantly because it would make happy all of those big name bloggers that have become so influential lately. You know what I’m talking about. A few good words from Kottke and you guys sell a hundred iPods, am I right?
So let’s get to it. You make a developer available, I’ll kiss your ass all over my blog about how great you are. Others will follow my lead, I’m sure. Deal?
Oh, and while we’re on the topic, take a look at Picasa. Steal those features, my friends.
Sincerely,
Jemal
Baltimore, for those not in the know, is a hotbed of blogging:
Of course there are many more - but that should give you plenty to do for the time being. Enjoy!