Mac user working in a Windows company

Back when I worked at a large company (before my current job), there wasn't a huge issue using a Mac except for some tasks like version control as this was a time before the browser wars. Now over 10 years later, I sometimes feel like an outsider using my Mac.

For the most part, I'm isolated from a lot of the infrastructure as I'm remote and am pretty self sufficient. I do, however, use Microsoft Outlook on the Mac as it works nicely with our Exchange server and the Mac's built in support, despite what Apple says, is pretty poor. For instance, if I change my password, I only have to change it once in Outlook; with Mail, iCal and Address Book, I have to change it a total of 3 times. Also, scheduling is much easier with Outlook as I can look up people's availability quickly.

Many things make it hard to work in this environment and frustrate me. It starts with the ancient logins that prefix my user name with a domain (you'd think that someone could fix the system such that the domain isn't used since everyone in the company uses the same domain), to the sites that say "For best results use IE", to the sites that don't even work in Safari. Also with the single sign on that many companies employ today, you'd think you could login once and be authenticated across the board until being signed out; unfortunately I think single sign on means that you have the same username across the board, but still have to enter it a dozen times. Internet Explorer may handle single sign on better.

Today my frustration was trying to watch a webcast; I clicked the link that said "Mac users click here", but it failed to work and running Windows under Fusion didn't help either. Looking back, the issue may have been connecting via the VPN, but I had watched a webcast in the past. If we were using the HTTP streaming standard, this would not have been an issue due to HTTP working well over a VPN, but someone chose a "standard" that is very Windows centric and only has limited Mac support.

I'm not advocating that the company switch to all Macs or even Mac servers (I wouldn't wish a Mac server on anyone), but making systems work across not just platforms, but browsers would give people a choice. There are basically 3 choices of browsers on each platform, Safari or Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox. Why not give employees a choice and make it easy to use any one of these? Yeah, yeah I know the answer; supporting one browser is the easiest for IT support as most users aren't as technically savvy as I.

Luckily, I only have to deal with these Windows centric systems every once in awhile. Every time I do have to use the systems, I'm reminded how far we've come with technology in some ways, but how stuck in the past we are in other ways. I guess I should be happy I don't work for the federal government where I suspect that they still use DOS in various agencies.

The art of user interface

Years ago I thought I had the ability to design a decent user interface. Back then, the concepts were quite easy as the screen sizes were limited (Palm OS) and we were dealing with essentially black and white. As long as I followed the UI guidelines, the interface looked good. These days, I don't think I could design a user interface to save myself. The flexibility of iOS, high resolution screens, full color displays and multi-touch add so much complexity to user interface design that it takes a professional, in my opinion, to design good user interfaces.

I'm quite lucky that I work with designers and artists do the design work which lets me concentrate on what I do best, writing code and solving problems. The lack of my own design ability makes it quite hard for me to come up with my own titles to publish. If I came up with a good idea, I'd need to find a good designer willing to take payment in the form of a split of revenues; good design isn't cheap!

Developers need to keep this in mind when releasing applications; a good idea even well implemented is only half of what makes a good app. The other day I looked at an app that had the beginnings of a decent app, but the UI had a lot to be desired, so it quickly got removed from my device.

Does experience count in mobile development?

The other day, I was instant messaging with someone and jokingly questioned why anyone would listen to what I had to say about mobile development. Then I realized that I've been doing mobile application development for almost 17 years! Just writing that sounds unreal. I wrote my first mobile application my senior year in college for the Newton. On a tangent, how did a college student get a Newton and the quite expensive developer tools? The Apple Personal Interactive Electronics (PIE) group licensed my NotifyMail application and exchange, I received a Newton MessagePad 110 and the developer tools when developer tools cost way more than the $99 Apple charges to join the iOS developer program.

The application was quite basic; it counted down the number of seconds until I graduated from college. Yes, I was tired of school and ready to graduate! I guess I kind of got hooked on mobile development and that's where I've spent a majority of my career; first Newton, then Palm OS, and now iOS. I've played with Windows CE/Mobile and WebOS, but never wrote anything for those devices.

I don't think I could write Newton or Palm OS code these days, but some of the concepts are still the same, such as limited screen size and limited memory. However, iOS is so much more advanced, it's unbelievable.

On the flip side, some may say that my experience is also a hinderance as I may be stuck in my ways. This may be true, but I'd like to think that it isn't the case. Hopefully my long history of mobile development continues to serve me well.

Life, a year later

It's been almost a year since I left my job running IT for a small company. As I've written before, leaving the job was probably not the smartest move as I didn't have another job lined up. However, it turns out that the move was one of the best moves in my career. Through a series of events, I ended up with my current job where I'm quite happy. Sometimes it surprises me how much work influences life, but considering how many of my waking hours I spend working, it really shouldn't be a surprise.

I'm not sure what was the actual trigger for leaving my last job, but I'm quite lucky that everything has worked out.

Life is good.