Walled gardens are no fun. They are even less fun than that when they cost money (for premium services) and they only do what you are let to do. On top of that, you are often stuck with someone else’s vision of what a UI and UX should be for their product or service, and as a particularly glib parent might say to an unruly child, “You’ll get nothing and like it.” So true. So true.
I’m downloading my Google Photos from my “non-Fi” account, which along the way was getting photos automatically uploaded from my Android device(s) over the years. One of the UX failures, actually, it was too-easily possibly to switch the active auto-backup account, which I had done many times along the way, and so there are many many photos I would like to keep, in their original form if possible, and now is the time to deal with it (because Google, true to form, is executing a Crazy Ivan on their Photos service, removing features for non-paying users in June (ie Real Soon Now). Always a joy to behold.
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Let Me vs Enable Me
How often do you see a review, an announcement, a likely-paid promotional article (native ad), or similar, claiming that the newest gadget or web application or whatever, will “Let you do ____” as though you should consider yourself fortunate for such allowance. Sometimes I think, or hope, that this is just habitual use of the word let, but language has meaning and so it is something to consider.
I contend that products and services should “Enable you do ___” and set the user of that product or service free to make use of it so it meets their needs. When I think about the Google Photos situation, I’m reminded of good ol’ Flickr, for which I have paid to be a premium member since December, 2004 (I just checked) and while it has been a while since I made proper use of the Flickr feature set, I remember from their very early days (pre-Yahoo, certainly pre-Smugmug) that they were actually enabling people to use their services, with a substantial API, huge amounts of storage, and some experiments with things like machine tags. I should use Flickr more, they enable me afterall. Their mobile application is not good, unfortunately, but there are other ways to accomplish what I need to there.
Are you using products or services (technology or otherwise) where you feel as though someone somewhere has let you use these things the way you want or need to? It’s probably my more recent experience in the world of Makers, or maybe it’s my long-time experience in the world of makers (engineers and nerdles in general tend to be potential Makers, its in their nature, some go all in, some dabble; I would call myself a dabbler, though I have had bursts of implementation of physical manifestions now and then over the years) but I have really become more and more aware of the use of the term and the thinking behind it, and it’s not good.
Your vehicle enables you to get from here to there as an alternative (or augentation) to default biolocomotion. Your local ordinances let you do that at a particular velocity, along particular thoroughfares, and so on.
We’ll talk about this more… but as I mentioned during this week’s episode, there is a world of configurability and creative assembly of tools and services made available to the tech savvy (usually developers of other tools and services), when will the so-called End User be afforded such flexibility by design? Maybe not in the form of a yaml script or a golang plugin, but enable people to get from A to B!
Take Back My Tools
I have posted a message or three on Twitter about my transitions from tools I’ve used for a while to arguably better tools that I should have been using all along. Sometimes these tools were good but turned less so, sometimes they were all that was available, there are a variety of considerations made initially and over time. But here we are, and here’s the rundown of late:
Facebook replaced with Substack, email in general, blogging, direct messages, etc. I hadn’t had the mobile application installed for many years.
Instagram app removed, browser access only, replacing with Flickr!
Twitter app removed, browser access only, vestigial, migrate to a variety of other primary tools
LastPass premium canceled and removed, replaced with Bitwarden
Feedly premium canceled and removed, to be replaced with (more on that later)
IFTTT free canceled and removed, to be replaced with (more on that later)
Evernote premium canceled and removed, replaced with Joplin and other tools
Facebook messenger uninstalled, responses possible if I log in to FB in a web browser
WhatsApp account closed and removed, replaced with Telegram, Signal, and Element/Matrix
Other lesser-known applications and services have been replaced here and there along the way, call these Misc.
I was a viewer of Snap and TikTok content for a few minutes, but those didn’t stay installed for very long. There are some obvious features the canceled items have in common, such as privacy concerns, user trends (political angst, anyone?), bad support expecially for premium accounts, etc.
The replacements (or successors, but mostly replacements) tend to be open source or at least some form of open, they support Linux directly, and they can be programmed or automated. Interesting… these tools enable users!
Why be let when you can be enabled? Ponder…
Story Time
This week the story was one from my time at Palm, makers of various pocket computers over the years and engaged back then in a sprint to re-enter the mobile device space with the Pre. It was an extremely interesting and educational time, but definitely tiring.
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Episode Art
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