Last week I asked Cult readers for their nominations for new Mac app of the year. Things, 1Password and Dropbox seemed to be the consensus choices, all of them excellent new software products.
It got me thinking, though: how has my computing behavior changed during the last 12 months? What new software am I using that I wasn’t using last Christmas, and why?
It turns out that my habits have changed a great deal this year, and largely because I decided to buy an iPhone. Consequently, I’m using new software on the phone as well as the desktop, and it’s been on the phone that I’ve seen the most innovation and most interesting new ideas.
So then, what software am I using now that I didn’t use 12 months ago?
Transmit has become my default FTP client, after several years with Cyberduck and Fetch. I still keep Cyberduck around, just in case.
MarsEdit has been my greatest discovery of 2008. As more of my professional output ends up on blogs or non-blogs powered by blog-like CMSes, MarsEdit has been invaluable as a means of handling posts in draft, then getting them uploaded to the right place with the right categories. I couldn’t live without it now. I couldn’t work without it.
ThisService takes any script and turns it into a system-wide Service. This is how I’ve added nifty extras to my MarsEdit editing environment, like “Convert selected Markdown to HTML” and “Grab selected text, Google it, get the top link and insert here instead”. Essential.
TapeDeck didn’t grab me at first – I couldn’t see what use I’d have for it – but then I found a use and it’s been frequently used ever since. I use it to record speaker-phone interviews. Then I’ve always got an audio backup for the times when I can’t read my own shorthand. Oh yes, I can do shorthand. Old school journalism.
Some apps, of course, have become old friends and I’d be hard pressed to switch away from them: WriteRoom, TextMate, and the best browser around, Camino. I did spend a week trying out Opera 9.something, but subsequently came crawling back to Camino’s forgiving arms with my tail between my legs.
These are all trivial compared to the change of behavior I’ve undergone when away from my computer. Before my iPhone, I simply didn’t bother trying to be online while out and about. The iPhone has changed all that, but not completely because of software.
No, the most important thing about my iPhone is the generous unlimited data aspect of the contract. Too many phone contracts here in the UK put a limit on the amount of data you can transfer in or out of the phone handset, a limit that usually prevents all but the most restricted use of text-only applications.
But Apple knew that the iPhone was a data device, and that it would be bandwidth-hungry. Thankfully it managed to persuade network operator O2 to go with the unlimited data option, and it’s that which has had the most obvious impact on my personal computing this year.
Thanks to that, I’ve had no hesitation about checking my email and Twitter accounts whenever I fancy it. No qualms about calling up the odd web page if I think it ought to be read. No reason not to upload photos straight from my phone to Flickr or Facebook or anywhere else I think they ought to go to.
Another thing the iPhone has done – something I never expected it to – is turn me into a games player once again.
I own a Nintendo DS and plenty of games for it, but rarely got the chance to sit and play many of them for very long. Partly because I have the same busy life that most parents have; partly because my son took every opportunity he could to play Lego Star Wars on it.
That no longer matters. My boy can play Lego Star Wars as much as he likes, because I’ve got my phone to entertain me during those short spells when I have the time and inclination to be entertained. Games like Topple, Wurdle, Jelly Car, Trism, Enigmo, and more recently I Love Katamari and Rolando are just the kind of games I like and need: they make few demands on my time, but offer plenty of fun even if played for just a few minutes at a time.
This year, as last year, I find myself a happy computer user. I have a simple system for managing all My Stuff, I have a set of applications I can depend on, and I have backups for the day when my hardware dies. So far, so good.
Merry Christmas to you all, you gorgeous Cult readers.
There’ll be plenty more weirdness to report next year, I’m sure.
