The concept of full-screen apps seems archaic.

An application that eliminates the OS, including the time, you handy email notifier, and everything else that helps you get your work done. It wasn’t since the eighties that computers could only run one piece of productivity software at a time, isn’t this why Windows was created in the first place? However, just as it’s valuable to redefine a concept, it’s important to re-evaluate that paradigm.

I remember when I was about eleven years old, watching my mum type a document in Microsoft Word. She made a spelling mistake, which it helpfully highlighted with an underline. She ignored it and kept going, so I helpfully pointed out ‘Mum, you spelled that word wrong’. She (calmly) said that she knew and that she would deal with it later… and she refrained from highlighting how irritating I was (thanks Mum!).

Software has become a lot like an annoying child, interrupting and pointing something out to you.

Even if it doesn’t point something out to you, it offers you treats and delights. Like a bowl of snacks, each individual bite seems harmless, and every time we check Twitter, Gmail and Facebook it seems like such a tiny bite size time investment to be superficial, but it can kill creative flow.

So, in turn, I’m excited to see a small push from Apple towards ‘full-screen apps’ with the Mac App Store, as well as its own full-screen mode in iPhoto. The iPad, too, helped to exhibit how nice applications could be in full-screen, and I think we’ll see some nice developments in this area.

As I type, I’m using ‘Dark Room‘, a windows based clone of WriteRoom on the Mac (Dark Room is free, Write Room is $25, I use both). These applications present plain text against a black background, and that’s all (although you can run them in a window too, if you prefer). I dabbled with these applications for a long time, but only this year did I really appreciate how the distraction free interface helped the creative process. It’s not as though I’m a loss for words (anyone seasoned with forums and email tends to be almost too handy with verbal diarrhea), but I know that until this task is done this is all I will be looking at, and all I will be thinking about.

It’s not a matter of using redundent technology in order to be cool or different. It’s not a fixie bike for hipsters, I can still go up hills.

Over the years I’ve come to love full-screen modes in software. When web-browsing in Firefox/IE/etc, on the PC you just tap F11 for full-screen joy. Zoom with Ctrl -/+, makes certain content all the more pleasant. In Photoshop, once you’re used to the shortcuts, it can be wonderful to tap F a couple of times and go to full-screen mode. If you’re shy you can just tap TAB to hide the menus.

The important part is that the user is already comfortable with the interface, so losing the GUI and main OS is not intimidating. Meanwhile, software like Zbrush forces you into full-screen against your will, and has a peculiar approach to GUI in general! Similarly, 3D Studio Max features an expert mode that almost all amateurs stumble into by pressing Ctrl X, a common shortcut for ‘cut’ in other software, sending them tumbling into an inescapable abyss.

It’s not relevant in all cases. Even video-games benefit from the multi-window approach sometimes, such as playing puzzle games whilst still keeping an eye on social networks, or indeed using spreadsheets and FAQs when playing RPGs. Sometimes we just want to have the TV on, sometimes we want to be fully absorbed by a movie.

My hope is that software improves to make working in a distraction-free environment more appealing. Avoid stripping the interface so far that the user is uncomfortable, but reduce things so that creative work has the opportunity to be akin to curling up with a notebook on a settee with a cup of tea, rather than being hunched over a desk covered in papers.

My website got hacked, oh-no!

Unfortunately I had to end my ‘business partnership’ with them, but I have decided to leave their contact details if you want to contact them about ‘trusted generic medicine’.

Mary will handle all correspondence, and you can see clearly from mary.jpg here that she’s a trained medical professional. It’s good to know that they have satisfaction guaranteed. Why would you get medicine from anyone else?

It must be weird to design these sorts of website for a job! My website is all fixed now, it’s always frustrating to lose a chunk of day to something like this, but it happens to everyone once in a while. Going to do a thorough upgrade of my site over the next few days to help prevent this.

The new Mac App Store is a very exciting development for Software Developers, especially those of us selling directly to our customers. It offers a Steam-like interface, yet the developer still has the freedom to control their price point and offer updates. Also the Mac App Store is not limited to video-games, and offers a great new opportunity for all sorts of productivity and creative software. It introduces new users to a convenient means of purchasing, downloading and updating their software.

However, this isn’t without its difficulties.

Digital distribution is the most important development for the software industry in recent years, and has allowed new types of product to exist, which otherwise wouldn’t be viable to produce. However, digital distribution is also the means by which piracy is most prevalent.

In turn, this has lead to DRM heavy games (Digital Rights Management / Copy Protection), many of which have a heavy dependency on the service provided by the distributor. Steam is one such example of heavy DRM, which periodically stops you from playing any of your purchased content due to one server problem or another, and Steam is still the least egregious example.

The enemy of piracy is convenience.
Lots of people buy music from iTunes because it is more convenient than pirating it!
Lots of people buy games from Steam because it is more convenient than pirating it!
Lots of people keep their iPhone free from ‘jail-breaking’, and pay for the apps they use, because it’s more convenient than pirating it.

Our best purchasing experiences are through shops we trust enough to keep our credit card details on file. Almost everyone buys products from Amazon, so even if the same item is a pound or two more elsewhere it will take extra time, effort and a certain degree of risk and worry to use the new service. When selling digital downloads directly to a user this is a similar situation, and whilst Paypal has certainly gone some way towards pacifying this experience, you still aren’t guaranteed whether the app will install properly, or whether you have to go through any further annoying steps.

The largest concern remaining is on behalf of the customer, and their freedom to access their purchases in the future.

Recently ‘Outrun Arcade’ was announced to be taken down from the PSN and XBLA stores, because the license with Ferrari had expired. As a customer of this product, it makes me wonder about my options to transfer this item to a new piece of hardware in the future. I can’t download it again, so hopefully I can copy it to an external device and validate it again. Similarly with any content I bought on the Wii, I expect will be difficult (or at least complicated) to transfer to another device.

Software is only available on the App Store so long as developers/publishers maintain their developer membership with Apple. If I were to let my $99/yr membership lapse, people would not be able to download my games anymore. Many people take it for granted that they can access the iPhone apps they bought, and even delete them from their device with the intention of re-downloading, but if that application is no longer available and they have no back-up, then they lose all rights to their purchased software.

Despite the difficulties, the Mac App Store represents a fantastic new step for software developers and consumers, and it should set the stage for Microsoft introducing their attempt at the same thing in Windows 8. It’s a scary and exciting time for everyone.

Recently I had the honour of being a guest on the Shift Run Stop podcast! I’ve been a fan of the podcast for a long time, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet Dave, Roo and Leila whilst they allowed me to pontificate about the splendors of video-games. I also touch on the topic of comics, talking about my own work and others. It’s a fun episode, I promise!

Get the podcast here, or grab it from iTunes!

You should probably subscribe whilst you’re at it. Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s a Commodore 64 podcast, it’s actually an amazing weekly podcast touching upon all sorts of geekery. Not limited to reviewing chocolate bars and crisps, they always have the most fascinating guests! It’s a wonder that I slipped through the cracks!