Topics include technology, software development, project management, new apps, Apple, family stuff, travel, and beer; you name it, we babble about it at some point over the course of a week.
It was during one of those conversations that Gabe suggested we turn all of it into a podcast. The seed of the idea is simple we get one or two beers that both of us have on hand, open them up, and talk about what we think of them. Then we let our conversation range far and wide.
If you don’t like beer, don’t worry. The beer talk is a bookend on the proceedings. If you really only like beer, skip the middle parts.
The whole thing is what we call “Nerds on Draft”, an open and honest conversation about the things that make up our lives in a way that I hope interests you.
Filed under technology, beer
I think Gabe hits this one right on the head. Despite what I notice as a strange communal sense of relief that custom keyboards have finally come to iOS, when I look into how they work, all I see is another vector of attack or misuse of personal data.
For example, if SwiftKey were to get bought by Facebook or Google 1, these companies would potentially gain access to a treasure trove of your information – basically everything you’ve ever typed. And even if SwiftKey were simply storing data about how you write and what you type to help your typing accuracy, having your writing tendencies in Facebook’s possession would provide major assistance in tuning the content (read: advertisements) on your Activity Feed.
Maybe I’m paranoid, but giving a company that kind of trust seems like a recipe for disaster. As a consumer, when you look at the custom keyboards available on the App Store, it’s hard to know what they’re doing behind the scenes. As Gabe mentions, we willingly put ourselves in the position of relying solely on the App review process to protect our data and privacy. Since we have seen Apple reviewers allow the release of knockoffs consisting of a few screenshots, I worry that they don’t have a tight enough grip to give us an airtight bubble around our personal data. Some of that responsibility falls to us. Because allowing something to watch what I type isn’t risk-free, I’m not going to take the chance.
Smaller, Not Larger, Phones
Here’s a good piece by Clark echoing many of the same thoughts I have about the seemingly inevitable larger iPhone. The gist is that I would prefer a more efficient, smaller iPhone. The thought of a giant, pocket-stuffing smartphone is annoying and goes against my goal of minimizing what I carry around every day.