iOS 5… by Microsoft?

The parts that are new in iOS 5 look and feel like they were designed by Microsoft.

Here’s what happened when I upgraded:

• All music is gone.
• All apps are gone.
• All PDFs are gone.
• All ebooks are gone.
• All TV shows, movies, Podcasts are gone.
• Updating to iOS 5 reset my iPhone 4 to factory settings. iTunes warned me that it would do that, but it also assured me (in the same window) that it would back-up my iPhone.
• * I just bought a new MacBook Pro, and this is the first time syncing it with my iPhone. I thought that could explain the problems. But five friends (without new computers) reported the same problems.
• iTunes backed-up my phone… but to where I don’t know. None of my stuff is in iTunes.
• All my bookmarks (and the folder they were in) were kept or re-added (I don’t know which).
• All the photos and video in my Camera Roll were kept/re-added.
• The move from MobileMe to iCloud did not work. I had to make sure every device I would want to use with iCloud was upgraded to the latest release, which took over an hour. Then iCloud tripped at the last step. Literally. The “Finish” step. It said it could not complete it at this time and I should check my service status (or something). Clicking on the link took me to a page I had never seem, which simply said that all services were working.
• I started the moving process again and again and again. The fifth time worked. (That could be a slogan!)
• None of my logins work. Long story short: I had to manually change my iTunes, App Store, and Game Center logins on all devices.
• I had to re-download all apps, ebooks, TV shows, movies, podcasts from their various homes.
• I had to re-load all music (from an external hard drive).

Total time to upgrade to iOS 5 and iCloud: 4 hours. (“The Fifth Time Worked!”) Reminds me of upgrading earlier versions of Windows.

Now, for the first time, the OS feels hacked together and is ugly in places.

• There is now a Video app. But it doesn’t have videos from the camera in it. Those are in the Photos app. The iPod app is now the Music app. No videos there.
• The new iPod app gets a new, horrible, Microsoft-esque icon. I am embarrassed for people to see it. The value and intensity of the color do not fit (with the rest of the Apple icons). The design, color, and thickness and drop-shadow of the music notes on the icon are wrong. Apple’s design philosophy is (still) “White”… except for that wart of an icon.
• The new ways that notifications work is quite a mishmash, especially for Apple.
  • The original alert was “Fisher Price” style. And we still have those one-at-a-time, rounded-corner, pop-up alerts.
  • But there are two other options. You set these options individually by app, so you can easily have all three styles!
  • The new fold-down, box-at-top alert is “Android” style—dark and small.
  • But there is a third(!) alert option: the pull-down from the top, which has the same dark theme as the fold-down, box-at-top, but the pull down window does not fold down, it is a third, different action. It really feels like using three different UIs… all at once. Ugh.
  • Did I mention that the Lock Screen notifications look (slightly) different than other notifications? Fun!
• “User be damned!” The “List – Date” buttons at the top of the Reminders window provide backwards visual feedback. Other buttons throughout the UI looked pressed when pressed. These twin buttons look neither pressed when pressed nor unselected when the other is pressed. Grr.
• Many people report that they need to triple-click the home button to get the camera button on the lock screen. But other people report that they need to double-click the home button.

Did this come from Cupertino or Redmond?

I upgraded to iOS 5

Well, I upgraded my iPhone 4 to iOS 5.

And had terrifying flashbacks of the ’90s when Apple kept shooting themselves in the foot.

When I connected my iPhone 4 to my Mac and opened iTunes, I had to wade through several confusing, seemingly-contradictory windows to upgrade to iOS 5. One window said that upgrading would restore my iPhone to factory settings (That doesn’t sound like what I want), but that same window also reassured me that my iPhone would be backed-up first (That sounds good).

Except upgrading to iOS 5 did restore my iPhone 4. It removed every app, song, and video. But… It kept all the bookmarks I had saved to the Home Screen(!) And it kept all the photos and videos in the Camera Roll(!).

The flashbacks became more vivid.

Next, I tried to move from MobileMe to iCloud. This did not work. I had to make sure every device I would want to use with iCloud was upgraded to the latest release. (Hour-long pause to get every device upgraded.) Then iCloud tripped at the last step. Literally. The “Finish” step. It said it could not complete it at this time and I should check my service status (or something). Clicking on the link took me to a page I had never seem, which simply said that all services were working.

So I started the moving process again. And again. And again… The fifth time worked. (That could be a slogan!)

The flashbacks continued, however, as none of my logins worked. Long story short: I had to manually change my iTunes, App Store, and Game Center logins.

Total time to upgrade to iOS 5 and iCloud: 4 hours. (“The Fifth Time Worked!”)

I posted a short version of this tale on Facebook and five friends commented. All had similar problems.

I now have iOS 5. And stomach-tightening flashbacks.

There is now a Video app. But it doesn’t have videos from the camera in it. Those are in the Photos app. The iPod app is now the Music app. No videos there. Is this better or change for change’s sake?

With its new name, the iPod app gets a new icon. An embarrassing icon. It looks like Microsoft designed it. The value and intensity of the color do not fit (with the rest of the Apple icons). The design, color, and thickness of the music notes on the icon are wrong. Apple’s design philosophy is (still) “White”… except for that wart of an icon.

Speaking of warts. The new ways that notifications work is quite a mishmash, for Apple. The original alert style was “Windows 7 / Fisher Price”. And we still have those one-at-a-time, rounded-corner, pop-up alerts. The new fold-down box-at-top alert style is “Android”–dark and small. But there is a third(!) alert option: the pull-down from the top, which has the same dark theme as the fold-down, box-at-top, but the pull down window does not fold down, it is a third, different action. It really feels like I’m using three different UIs… all at once. Ugh.

I also have to mention the “List – Date” buttons at the top of the Reminders window. They provide backwards visual feedback. Other buttons throughout the UI looked pressed when pressed. These twin buttons look neither pressed when pressed nor unselected when the other is pressed. Grr.

If this were from any other company in the world, I would notice but move on. But this is from Apple. The one company that cares about all the details.

Please make the flashbacks stop.

A global outpouring of grief and gratitude.

As MG Siegler alludes to, the response to Steve Jobs’ death has been different than for other deaths.

Different than when a celebrity dies, and folks scramble to get in on the news, and the media shows images of the celebrity’s life.

Different than when a politician dies, and one country mourns, but others celebrate.

What we are seeing is a global outpouring of grief and gratitude and recognition.

“He’s someone who will be talked about a thousand years from now.” – MG Siegler

The response fits the person lost.

(This is a second draft of my earlier post.)

More than anyone ever.

As MG Siegler alludes to, the response to Steve Jobs’ death has been different.

More people are commenting on it, and not just “have you heard the news?” comments. More people are grieving it, and many of them are surprised by how it has affected them. More people are affected by it, whether they realize (or will admit) it or not. A strong case can be made that Steve Jobs changed the world more than anyone ever. Can you think of another person in history who affected the world as much as Steve Jobs… much less affected it positively?

“He’s someone who will be talked about a thousand years from now.” – MG Siegler

The response fits the person lost.

What we now know about Steve Jobs.

We never knew much about Steve Jobs. Which is a stark contrast to most icons. Most of them crave the spotlight and fame. Most of them say “Yes” to invitations to be on TV. Not Steve Jobs. Few speeches, few interviews, no TV shows.

But since his tragic passing yesterday, some details about him have emerged.

In the midst of the eulogies and memories, I have noticed two details shining.

First, Steve stayed closely, personally connected to people. Walt Mossberg talked about Steve calling him almost every weekend for a decade. Walt talked about taking walks with Steve. Vic Gundotra talked about getting calls from Steve on a Sunday morning. Steve Wolfram talked about meeting with Steve on many occasions and about receiving tons on specific input from Steve Jobs on Wolfram’s projects. Sergey Brin talked about Steve being a mentor and being available. Larry Page talked about Steve Jobs reaching out to him. Larry Brilliant talked about Steve Jobs caring for him when Larry was diagnosed with cancer . Steve Wozniak talked about Steve Jobs being a good friend. And there are dozens more of such stories.

“The defining character of Steve Jobs isn’t his genius, it isn’t his talent, it isn’t his success. It’s his love. That’s why crowds came to see him.” – Larry Brilliant

The second thing that has become clear is that Steve Jobs knew he had created a special legacy. The LA Times reports that for years, Steve has been working on an “executive training program called Apple University that Jobs considered vital to the company’s future: Teaching Apple executives to think like him”. Steve told Larry Brilliant that he would be “happy to have people talk about him.” Other such stories have emerged.

“Steve was looking to his legacy… No other company has a university charged with probing so deeply into the roots of what makes the company so successful.” – anonymous Apple employee (from LA Times article)

I look forward to reading the authorized biography that comes out later this month. But for now, I just feel grief. And gratitude.

Steve Jobs. 1955-2011

Steve Jobs did what he set out to do: “Change the world” and “Put a ding in the universe.” We are fortunate to have lived when he did.