http://www.goodnotesapp.com (I'm not the maker, just a really big fan)
56 karma · joined March 11, 2010
UI Designer and Product Manager at 37signals
http://feltpresence.com
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http://www.goodnotesapp.com (I'm not the maker, just a really big fan)
Native is good for high fidelity interaction, animations, responding to gestures. However the native APIs are bad for designing "documents" -- that is, layouts where elements flow within a container and push each other around. That means that things that are extremely easy on the web can be painstaking in native UI without much upside.
Web views have limited interactivity, but they have other advantages:
* Faster iterations. You don't need to push a build when a webview changes.
* Document-style layout, as mentioned above.
* Higher density. We found it easier to show more information on the screen with HTML/CSS than the native controls. Looking at other apps out there makes me think it's an attribute of the medium, not just us.
* No need to sync data or duplicate logic. Sending HTML down the pipe is simple.
Finally yes, we get the multi-platform advantages because the web views are also served to people who hit the regular mobile web version of the app without any wrapper.
For example, how can you judge two presidential candidates' positions on foreign policy when you don't know what other nations have been up to?
The OP doesn't discriminate between junk news, entertainment news, and knowing what is going on in the world.
This doesn't mean the product manager must understand code. It means there's a trade-off. If they don't understand software implementation, they need somebody on the team who does (what the article calls a "Technical Product Manager.") Adding another person is possible, but it hikes up the overhead and communication costs while dragging down the speed of development and decision-making.
The best case is a product manager who can understand a given implementation if and when it bears on decisions about what is possible in the interface or the production schedule. That person can make informed decisions because they understand all the factors.
It's fine that not everybody can do all three, but imo we should stay conscious of the trade-off and keep the bar high.
Despite the cocktail title, there still isn't a clear "path of authority" or anything like that. The buck stops at the partners, and the rest of us function like a meritocracy. The ones with a track record or expertise on a given topic have a respected voice, and there is always opportunity for expertise to shift or widen over time. It's that fuzzy-edged quality to the role that makes it feel experimental for me.
If you look for Buddhist groups, you'll find different kinds. The best way to avoid new-agey or flakey groups is to check their sources. Do they have a teacher who is a good example? Who was the teacher's teacher? Authentic Buddhist lineages of teacher and student trace themselves back for generations, and the teachers praise their teachers -- not themselves.
There are many authentic lineages. You'll find Japanese Zen schools which prefer a lot of discipline. There are also four Tibetan schools. The school of the Dalai Lama is called the Gelug school. It is the newest of the four schools and strongly emphasizes study and theory. The older Kagyu and Nyingma schools specialize in meditation and direct experience. In my experience, Kagyus tend to be more "learn by swimming" types and the Nyingma prefer a broad overview and more distance. I don't have experience with the fourth school, the Sakya.
I've meditated in the Kagyu school for six years now as part of the Diamond Way centers (http://www.lama-ole-nydahl.org/diamondway-buddhism/). Which group you find isn't important. The important thing if you want good results is that you find something authentic which fits you, and if it fits, stay with one thing without mixing. Different Buddhist schools use the same words for different things and different words for the same things, and it gets even more confusing if you mix Buddhist and non-Buddhist sources.
Good luck!