Muse: Code-free web design

This past week, I received an email from Adobe that introduced the beta of their new web design software, code-named Muse. Here's a link to the introductory video, through Adobe TV: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/muse-code-name-feature-tour/meet-muse-and-the-people-behind-it/.

What is Muse?

Muse is web design software that allows you to design a Web page purely with design tools, as you might design something in a desktop publishing app like InDesign. There is no coding involved. All coding is done for the user on the back end, in the background.

You can create master pages to distribute elements across multiple pages on your site. You can add Flash videos. You can add photos and other design images from Photoshop and Illustrator.

While I know some HTML coding, I never got into web design, simply because coding is not my life. I'm more of a design person. I want to be able to pull in my elements and rearrange them visually, and see what it's going to look like in design mode or in a preview mode in my browser. This tool is exactly for people like me.

I haven't tried the beta yet, but I already love what I see from this product. The beta is public, so anyone can download the software to try it out. If you're interested in designing Web pages from a purely design side, I suggest you give it a try, too. It's free until version 1.0 is released, which is projected to be sometime in early 2012.

Adobe's Muse site is here, if you want more information about the product: http://muse.adobe.com/.

Desktop PCs: Not ready to exit yet

In episode 1529 of CNET's Buzz Out Loud podcast, Molly Wood mentioned first a story about Intel's Ultrabook Fund and then a story about IBM's Mark Dean, who has declared that PCs are "going the way of the vacuum tube, typewriter, vinyl records, CRT and incandescent light bulbs." Ms. Wood followed these stories up by saying that she felt the era of the desktop computer is over.

As someone typing this blog post on an HP desktop, I must respectfully disagree with the ideas that Ultrabooks are the only way to go, that tablets are the future and will replace desktop PCs and laptops, or that the era of the desktop PC is over.

While I won't argue that a desktop has the disadvantage of not being portable, there are many things I love about my desktop. I should add that I also own a couple laptops and a Blackberry Curve, so I have points of reference at my disposal.

What do I love about my desktop PC?

• It's fast. I don't have to turn up any power settings for it to get through updates quicker than my laptops.
• It's quiet. Whether I'm playing a GPU-intensive game, watching a movie, or updating a spreadsheet, I barely notice any fan noise.
• It's sleek, but unobtrusive. I like the look of it, but it's still low-profile enough to blend into the rest of my office.
• There isn't a laptop taking up space on my desk. I don't need to worry about making space for my PC on my desktop. My Acer flat-screen monitor has a small footprint, and my Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse don't clog my desk with wires and tuck away when not in use.
• No worries about dropping it. If you drop your desktop PC and break it, you're using your desktop PC wrong.
• If the display goes, I just buy a new monitor. One of my laptops' display is going out. If I want it fixed by someone other than me, I need to send it out and wait four to six weeks. No thanks.
• Above all, it was way less expensive than a gaming laptop with similar qualities.

For now, in my opinion, there isn't a substitute for a desktop PC in the gaming world. You could buy an Alienware laptop for $1,500 or more, which will look cool on your desk, but it's overpriced, too heavy to really be called portable, and the battery life is awful.

I'll take my $599 HP desktop any day. (Monitor and replacement keyboard/mouse add an extra $220, still almost $700 less than the Alienware on sale.)

And, to Mr. Dean, I also still love vinyl records and my incandescent light bulbs...

Sony is missing their comeback moment

The heat has finally started to fade after Sony's hacking scandal which exposed millions of users to potential identity theft through the PlayStation Network, Qriocity, and other Sony online services. I, like many other PlayStation fans, found myself looking forward to getting a look at the next Sony portable product, first dubbed the NGP (Next Generation Portable) and then the Vita (to less enthusiastic responses). I looked forward to it even more after its debut at E3. However, it was recently revealed that the Vita will not be available in the U.S. in time for the Christmas season.

While I want them to put out the best product that they can, rather than rush it to market in time for the holiday season, product readiness doesn't seem to be at issue. The Vita will be in stores in Japan by Christmas. U.S. gamers will have to wait until early in 2012. 

This is a profoundly bad move for Sony. Rather than being able to boost their holiday sales with a larger release of the Vita, Sony is assuming that gamers will hold onto their holiday cash until the 2012 release of the Vita. With the recent $80 price drop for the Nintendo 3DS, I say again that Sony is making a mistake.

Yes, some gamers, myself included, are less than likely to buy a 3DS in place of a PlayStation Vita. I have no use for a 3DS, frankly. However, when faced with the choice to put a 3DS or an I.O.U. for a Vita under the tree or next to the menorah, many parents will opt for the box with the 3DS inside.

If Sony wants to make sure to sidestep another blunder and boost their slipping sales, I think they should strongly reconsider their schedule for the holiday Vita release, and not leave the U.S. out in the cold.

Cool stuff overload?

On Tuesday, Slate.com's Farhad Manjoo posted an article about restaurant websites and their general overuse of Flash videos, auto-playing music, roll-over button labels, and other web developer add-ins that once were considered the mark of an edgy, top-of-the-line page. After reading the article, I also remembered a recent podcast from CNET's The 404 where Justin Yu made a side comment about websites having too many ads these days.

I find myself wondering if we've reached the "cool stuff overload" point.

While Flash videos can still be a nice addition to a website, using them in moderation is key. When it comes to roll-over button labels and music that auto-plays, the less these are used, the better. The exception to the music rule is for websites dedicated to a music artist, band, symphony, etc. But, use of roll-over button labels needs to die out as quickly as possible.

In general, people are in more of a hurry on the Web than they were when some of these "innovations" were rolled out. Websites need to adapt to the times. Most website audiences want to find the content they're looking for as fast as possible and want to read only what is necessary to tell them what they need/want to know. Perhaps this has made us jaded in our Internet experiences now, but it is what it is.

Many sites use ads to either boost or generate revenue for a site. Many sites that aren't linked to a saleable inventory use ads as their virtual inventory. I do believe that we are near a breach-point with ads, however. For my own blog, I try to keep the ads to a minimum, especially those that employ Flash technology. I mean, who wants to click on a site link and be confronted with twenty blinking ads displaying twenty different sales happening on twenty different third-party sites? Not me, that's for sure.

Nowadays, overuse of Flash and other web gadgets is what the popup ad became: a big annoyance. Please, web developers, try out the "less is more" motto when building a page. The public thanks you.

Dell Inspiron Duo: Flip or Flop?



Image credit: Wired.com



While flipping through articles on Wired.com, I came across an article about the Dell Inspiron Duo (pictured left).  The article was from February of this year, but this was the first I'd seen of this laptop/tablet hybrid. The Wired article gave it a middle-of-the-road rating, citing the 3-lb weight, which can make holding it for extended periods of time difficult, and the fact that Windows 7 isn't really made for a tablet platform. There were other reasons behind the rating. like the battery life and Atom processor, too.

However, despite Wired's lukewarm response to the Inspiron Duo, I found the reader feedback to be mostly positive. Many of the commenters claimed that the processor speed was on-par with other netbooks they'd used (and that's essentially what this is), and they liked the flexibility of having a tablet as well as a solid keyboard when they need it.

I can't say I disagree with the flexibility factor. I've said before that I don't necessarily see the point in purchasing a tablet, and the lack of a physical keyboard is a major reason behind my hesitation. But, I definitely like what Dell is trying to do with the Inspiron Duo.

I can't say I'm ready to go out and buy one just yet. Although, I'd be much more likely to purchase a Duo rather than, say, an iPad or a Kindle. What really excites me about this design is the possibility once Windows 8 is released, which is designed to be run on a tablet platform, and does some fantastic things on the platform as well. If Dell were to combine the duo design with Windows 7, that would make a device I could really get behind.

In case anyone is interested in seeing Windows 8 in action, I saved this link from a June article on CNET. The video really piqued my interest, I have to say.



And, a quick tip for anyone looking to purchase a Dell Inspiron Duo, but is concerned about trying to use it in bed with that 3-lb weight - if you pair it with the Audio Station, it adds the functionality of a vertical docking station. So, you can list to music or watch a streaming movie in bed, or just read the newspaper.