My Android App Intentions

A couple months ago I purchased a shiny new Android powered HTC EVO 4G cell phone. Prior to that, I was a fairly content Blackberry user. The most important parts of my cell phone experience were phone calls and emails, and BlackBerrys seem to do those things quite well. However, the tinkering, software developer side of me had been eyeing Android phones for a while, envious of the open platform that would allow me to get full on geeky with it. It was only a matter of time until my Android-desire out measured my consumer-guilt so that I could take the plunge.

Well, that time came and went along with my 30th birthday, and let me tell you, I am in love with my Android phone. I have customized it with the Launcher Pro Plus, an ever-changing layout of home screens, and a bunch of cool applications and widgets. This phone fulfills the implicit promise contained in gadget category names like Personal Digital Assistant and Smartphone much more than any other I've used. I've left behind a trail of gizmos including a Palm VII, a Viewsonic PDA, and the aforementioned BlackBerry. Each has improved on the last, but despite my efforts, I couldn't really integrate them into my life so as to gain their full potential. In this regard, the EVO has been a big leap for me.

Perhaps the most significant element of an Androids or iPhones value comes in the form of the App Market. The ability to find and install a multitude of specialized applications at minimal or no cost means that you are just a few clicks from converting a stock phone into a custom tailored multi-tool made just for you. The number of apps available for these phones is truly remarkable, and mainly due to the efforts of Google and Apple to make these phones easy to develop for. Being a software developer myself, my new Android phone is just begging for me to have a go at mobile app development. And my mind must want to answer that call, because my morning-shower brainstorms have become increasingly populated with cool mobile app ideas.

So, I've decided to have a go at it, and I've chosen two of the better ideas to get started with. So far, other than coming to this decision, I haven't really done anything at all to make these apps a reality. I'm going to have lots to do, like finding the best resources to work with, learning the platform, making my first baby steps, signing up on the marketplace, and figuring out how to do some marketing. I plan on blogging it all along the way.

I plan on writing full descriptions / specs for each app as a part of the development process, but I feel like this blog entry isn't complete without at least a minimal announcement for each of them. The app names below are just placeholders. Final names will be decided on and announced once I know how to reserve them in the marketplace.

Finally, I think I should point out that I don't have any expectations for getting rich or quitting my day job based on these apps. Of course, I wouldn't object to making a buck or two. What I'm really looking to gain though is a productive hobby and a new set of skills. I also expect that this is going to be a relatively slow development cycle. I'm a busy guy and I'm not racing anybody that I know of.

App #1: Contacts Grouped by Image

This app is basically a contact browser that uses images or an image map to specify what group you want to view. I think selecting things based on images is very natural for the brain, and there is also potential for a lot of fun here.

I'm thinking the first release might be as simple as being able to select distinct images for specific groups. The images would then that are then tiled and scrollable on screen. Once an image is clicked, the group opens up. But the real intent is to be able to select one or more large images, within which you can specify the clickable regions that link to a contact group or another nested image. I'm not sure if I would use the built in groups or add custom data over the contacts API.

Example case: Imagine you are a Lord of the Rings fan, you launch the app and you are presented with a large overhead map of Middle Earth. Clicking on the Shire might bring up your close family members. Clicking on Mordor might bring up work contacts. Other regions might be linked to certain groups of friends / family as is appropriate for you.

App #2: Personal Data Charting

The idea behind this app is using your smartphone as a kind of quick journal for specific data about yourself that would like to track over time. A smartphone is a great platform for this because it can prompt you to enter the data on a schedule and collect specific data points very quickly. You might use an app like this to record your sleep, food, exercise, work habits, moods, body weight, or any other data that you setup. Data collection would be either scalar values (weight, exercise reps) or scaled values (quality of sleep/diet/etc. on a scale of 1-10).

The app would collect this data by reminding you on a schedule that you specify. I'm thinking the best way to do this is to have that data then sent to a website where you have an account set up. The website would be able to show you charts of your data so that you can discover trends and analyze relationships between your categories. (e.g.: How does your diet/exercise correlate to your sleep/moods?)

One thing I want to be careful of though is overcomplicating these apps, so I might see how far I can take this with a phone only version. If it seems popular or beneficial, perhaps I could invest into an external site. An external site would be very, very cool though if there were very many users of this app. You could use that data to analyze yourself against a larger pool of people. Maybe even look at regional trends, etc. Maybe there's some opportunity for social integration a la Facebook / Twitter as well.

Okay, if you've made it this far, let me know what you think of my app ideas in the comments.

Why the Ping Love?

Apple held a press conference today to announce their refreshed iPods, Apple TV, iOS updates, and iTunes 10. iTunes 10 includes a social element called "Ping". Essentially it adds some level of profile, micro-blogging, and activity sharing with virtual connections made within the Ping network. Many tech sites and blogs seem to be praising their guts out about it, and I don't entirely understand why.

Ping is iTunes Only

Personally, I think there are a couple of stupid things going on here:

1. It's iTunes only. The only way to interact with Ping is via an iTunes client on your computer or mobile Apple device. That's it. No web interface, and as far as I know, no RSS publication. Just iTunes.
2. It's a new network of friends. As I understand it, Ping is about music discovery. Which is really another way of saying "Encouraging You to Buy More". I get this, and I think it's smart. But why not integrate Ping with the existing networks. Why can't I just hook Ping up to my Facebook and blammo, my network is ready to go. Think of this in your Facebook stream: "5 of your friends bought songs from Justin Bieber on iTunes". Aren't they dropping the ball by creating such a closed social network? Ping as it is cannot reach out to those who haven't already bought into the iTunes way of life.

I don't know, I must be missing something, because it seems like other clients and web apps have been shoe-horning social features exactly like this into their products for a long time. I'm sure with the mass of the iTunes economy this thing is going to be a worthwhile investment for Apple. But Ping doesn't look new or exciting to me, and not nearly as praise-worthy as it could be.

Am I wrong on any of these details? Is a new, closed network actually better than integration with established social networks for some reason?

Update 9/3/2010: Today's reports have it that Facebook was a part of the Ping plan, but a spat between Apple and Facebook prevented the service from being worth anything. I would guess that this will be changed rather soon, but Apple can be very stubborn.

A Story About A Cruise

Yesterday I started reading Donald Miller's book A Million Miles In A Thousand Years, and last night I posted about how it made my brain explode. It has too much awesome to hold inside one Jeff brain. Don's brain must be much bigger than mine is. I posted about how compelled I am to find, start, and follow the threads in my life that are working together to weave a story.

Tonight I finished reading the book, and I am still just as excited and energized as I was yesterday. But, I also realize that I'm not going to feel this same thrill forever. There will be mornings that I wake up to feeling that the living a particular thread is more trouble than it's worth. There will be days that turn in which every meaningless distraction that alights upon my mind will have more allure than my own story. And there will likely be plot lines that turn out nothing at all like I'd hoped they would.

I am tempted to say, "There will be sober days." But instead I am convinced that those apathetic days are the ones in which real life, with all of its beauty and potential, is covered by a haze. In the sober days you can see that the work of life is worth the joy. The work of life creates the joy, like an author creates a story.

I will be turning 30 years old this June. For the last few months, my wife has been insisting that such a milestone deserved celebration, so I needed to think about what I would like to do. I thought about having a big party, but I couldn't really get a picture of it in my head that excited me. I thought about doing a smaller party with more intimate friends and family, and that seemed nice, but a part of me knew I needed something more remarkable.

So I listened to suggestions and even tried to have my own ideas (can be quite hard) and eventually I had a string of commercials running through my mind. One for an HDTV, one for a brewery themed adventure, one for a golfing getaway, and a range of ads for a variety of parties. While each commercial was making its pitch in my brain, I would attempt to grab onto its promises and finally make a decision. I would mutter out loud, "I think maybe I want to...", but by the time I got to voicing the thing, I knew it was all wrong.

My wonderful wife did not give up on me. Last weekend she continued to lob a variety of ideas at me, widening her focus, persisting in her insistence that it had to be something that I really wanted to do. One of her suggestions was a cruise. At first it slipped by without even being considered; it's just not the kind of thing I'm into. Cruises are kind of tacky, aren't they? But later, when the imaginary commercial reel started up again, there was a cruise advertisement in there, and I saw something. I saw my wife and I spending the next few months preparing for this cruise. We were excited, we were working out, trying to get in shape so we could get every drop of pleasure out of the experience. And then we were there, on the cruise, sharing an experience that was both silly and grand, and giggling together about it. In my commercial we were proud of each other for all of our preparation, and we were marking a milestone in my life with a memory that would last. I was sold. Sunday, just two days ago, we started shopping for cruises. I sent an email to my boss asking for the time off. As soon as he approved, we would book the trip.

My growing excitement was highly abnormal for me. Internally, I was wondering what all this fuss was about. And in reflection I was realizing that I had become a something of a stick in the mud. What's worse, though, is that I had somehow, without knowing, accepted that being a stick in the mud was just a part of who I am, now and forever. But that wasn't true. I didn't have to be a stick in the mud. I was acting different. Even others noticed. In order to go on the cruise, we'd need a baby sitter to watch our boys. So, in the afternoon I tried to casually bring up the idea about the cruise with my mom. I tried to use my typical, muted, boring manners, but my mom must know me too well, as she later told my wife that I seemed really excited. She was right. I was excited.

True to our plan, as soon as my vacation request was approved, we did it. We've booked a cruise to celebrate my 30th birthday, and I am absolutely giddy about that. I think it's going to be a great story.

Picking Up Threads

My job responsibilities require that on occasion I get on a plane and fly from Sacramento out to Nashville. The trip has become pretty routine over the past six months, and as I gathered my things and walked out the front door this morning into the pre-dawn darkness, I was prepared for today's experience to be completely unremarkable. My only real concern was whether or not I looked as fat as Kevin Smith. But now, as I reflect back over the day, I'm not sure I can wrap my head around exactly how significant this day may be in defining the way I approach the remainder of my life.

Indeed today was entirely remarkable, but not because of any special happenings in a physical sense. There were no achievements or explosions. Except when, not long after the stewardesses started explaining the safety features of the Boeing 737, and not long after I had opened and began Don Miller's latest book A Million Miles In A Thousand Years, my mind blew up.

The book is an absolutely incredible work. The first few chapters read like a funny conversation with an enlightened friend. Don mixes humor and humble honesty into a concoction that had me working hard to suppress outbursts of laughter, while at the same time circumventing my usual layer of detached cynicism and drawing me into his narrative. The next few chapters started comparing and contrasting the tasks of living a life and telling a story. It was all resonating, reverberating, building. And then, all of the sudden, my head exploded all over my seat mates. I had reached a plot twist that extended right out of the pages of the book into my own psyche in some kind of Charlie Kaufman style feedback loop. I was Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction, realizing that I myself had inextricably become the subject of book.

I was also Mel Gibson in Signs, seeing a string of seemingly unrelated decisions, events, and details that suddenly fell into harmony producing a sense of meaning and fate. It even looks contrived; reverse engineered for literary impact. I mean, how else could this book, acquired by a stroke of unusual good luck, and then brought with me as reading material on a whim, so precisely provide a narration of my present day life? Could life itself be like that? Like a well structured and orchestrated story? With direction and momentum and plot threads that bear meaning and build and shape our characters?

Don, through magic, has convinced me that the answer is Yes. Furthermore, his book has illuminated several plot threads in my own story that are just begging to be picked up and followed to their ends. And as with any great story I'm compelled to stay engaged until it's all through with.