2007 / June 14^th/ Point of view

It’s funny, for the first time in a long time WWDC didn’t generate a strong vote of positive or negative. It kind of sparked both. We have the comings and goings of Safari, the iPhone “SDK,” the (lack of) hardware updates, and the features of Leopard. In any case, there’s a ton of stuff flying around the blog-o-sphere and I thought I might weigh in my vote.

Safari

The debate here seems to be mostly revolving around whether a software company should respect the OS, or their own design patterns. It is quite ironic to me that an Apple application is noticeably un-windows like in its type rendering, graphics, and functionality. It’s very Mac-like, indeed. Which says something for all those Mac users who complain Firefox is too Windows-like and not Mac-like enough (indeed, following the design patterns of Firefox; not OS X).

Honestly, I couldn’t care less about all the above. I am really disappointed in this announcement because I have always had a horrible view on Safari. I believe it has been a driving force in ruining the interactive web through its disrespect towards web developers; supporting meaningless tests like Acid 2, yet ignoring practical attributes such as line-height. While I understand Safari 3 is a huge step beyond Safari 2, Apple’s track record for doing what is theoretically correct vs doing what is practically correct in Safari disappoints me. More Safari means more headaches for Web Developers.

iPhone

Here’s where a ton of misinformation has been circling. For those that do not know, Apple announced iPhone will use standards-based markup and javascript to power 3rd party applications.

Let’s review a few things:

• HTML + Javascript does not mean downloaded from internet. (Shame, Dave). Widgets are HTML + Javascript. They are not downloaded at runtime. They are downloaded once; just like a cocoa app.
• The iPhone will use WiFi if it is available. You will not be using most of your bandwidth from your carrier; you will be using it from your DSL/Cable/etc.
• Allow widget-type apps opens up the iPhone to web developers as a platform. This says to me that Apple is going to be pushing the mobile web.
• Ever tried to develop an app for a mobile device in circulation today? I’ll welcome HTML/Javascript over Java any day of the week.

To me, this is kind of a double-edged sword. I love the fact that we can write apps without knowing Cocoa. I don’t love the fact that we can’t tap into core animation and GUI features. Not to mention the raw speed of a Cocoa app vs a Javascript app.

It’s clearly not a perfect solution: but then again I view the iPhone as a stepping stone. Not a destination. We’re fighting the evil carriers guys… remember that.

Hardware Updates

A lot of people were disappointed in no Hardware updates. Well, in my opinion that’s just fine. Apple’s still rolling out updated hardware at a great pace. Nothing’s really left behind. Hell, even my 1 year old MBP still feels top-of-the-line to me.

Leopard

I do not get the horrid negative connotations towards Leopard right now. I’ve seen people bashing the features as “nothing new” and “Steve Jobs lied.” Those are some pretty harsh words for an operating system that isn’t even public yet. We don’t know anything about Leopard right now.

From what I’ve seen / used (only used the pre-WWDC builds), it’s a great update to the operating system and I can’t wait for it.

Apple.com (!!!)

Notably unnoticed was the redesign of Apple.com. A lot of people seem to be pretty unscathed by this behemoth attempt. I’m not sure they realize that Google knows of a 3/4 million pages. We’re talking about a site that houses dozens of completely unique designs ranging from pro to students to iPhone to the new Downloads section.

Overall, the redesign brought the larges unification to a non-commercial site (I view the store as a minor aspect of the site) I’ve seen to date. Apple.com has and always will been one of my favorite sites for a great number of reasons; but this redesign is amazing. The use of vertical balance is great. I know a lot of the Apple team went through hell for a while on this site: but the end result is great!

1. 

   Sherlock

   June 14^th | #

   I believe it has been a driving force in ruining the interactive web through its disrespect towards web developers; supporting meaningless tests like Acid 2, yet ignoring practical attributes such as line-height.

   line-height is already supported in Safari.
   http://developer.apple.com/internet/safari/safari_css.html

2. 

   Kyle

   June 14^th | #

   Sherlock: Yes, but incorrectly.

3. 

   Web developers

   June 15^th | #

   Regarding apple.com redesign, Are you sure the non functional X occupying the bulk of the screen is fine with you ??

4. 

   Adam C.

   June 15^th | #

   The big X has a function. It links to the big section about OS X 10.5 Leopard. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?

5. 

   Dave Hyatt

   June 15^th | #

   Hi, I am one of the Safari developers. You say that line-height is supported “incorrectly.” Could you please file a bug at http://bugs.webkit.org/ and attach a test case? Or perhaps just elaborate here? To the best of our knowledge, we support line-height correctly, so if you have found a bug in its implementation, we’d appreciate knowing about it so we can fix it.

   Thanks!

6. 

   Dave Hyatt

   June 15^th | #

   If you are referring to line-height being used in the font shorthand, this has been fixed in our trunk and will be in Safari 3 final.

7. 

   Kyle

   June 15^th | #

   Dave: Indeed I was referring to a bug in Safari, not the Webkit nightlies. Make no mistake, I understand that Webkit is nearly a different browser than Safari 2 at this point and I’ve been quite impressed with its progress. But, in the grand scheme of things I feel it’s a little too little, a little too late. Safari 2 has set its roots deep, and won’t be gone for a very long time.

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