Nolan Bushnell Was Right

Years ago – yes, I remember it – I saw a quote from Nolan Bushnell that went something like this:

“As soon as the computer is as easy to use as the telephone, everyone will have one.”
Nolan Bushnell
Founder of 18 companies, including Atari Inc. and Chuck E. Cheese Pizza

Over the years, this quote has popped into my mind on several occasions, and until recently, I considered it insightful, but probably a bit beyond possibility. Until the iPad.

When Apple released its iPad, I thought it eye-catching, impressive, and potentially very useful. And while it’s all of those things, it’s far more. I can’t even begin to describe all the things you can do with it; it just has to be experienced. If you haven’t gotten your hands on one yet, stop by an Apple store and try it. Take a test drive! And be ready to be impressed with how useful a device it really is…and how fun and easy it is to use.

Nolan Bushnell was right. The future is now.

All the best,
Mark

For more information on Nolan Bushnell:
MIT Inventor of the Week entry
Wikipedia article: Nolan Bushnell
GamePro interview with Nolan Bushnell

“Stickies” – Digital Post-Its™

One of my latest obsessions is an application for Macs called “Stickies.” Ever used a Post-It™ note? Welcome to digital Post-Its. Stickies is a really simple but cool application that allows you to put little notes on your desktop — well, they’re not really on your desktop, but as long as you have the Stickies application open, they show up as if they are. You can type whatever you want in them and then change the text to look however you want — font, size, even color. As if that isn’t nifty enough, you can also change the color of the note itself, as well as the size of the sticky, so you can have some vertical, some horizontal, whatever. Then you can move the sticky around your desktop and put it wherever you want it. Here’s a screenshot of what my Stickies look like on my desktop (my apologies if you’re not a Hannah fan):

Even though it’s pretty simple, the Stickies application really doesn’t “get old” any faster than using Post-It notes does — which means, while your immediate-obsession may go away, you’ll probably keep using Stickies until Apple comes up with something newer, bigger, better. Until then…Stickies rule!

-Andrea