"The best user interface is the one you don't notice."
Walt Mossberg's quote emphasizes that an ideal user interface (UI) should be intuitive, easy-to-use, and unobtrusive. In other words, it should seamlessly blend with the user's experience, allowing them to focus on the task at hand rather than the means of interacting with the system. A well-designed UI should function like a silent partner, guiding users efficiently without causing unnecessary distractions or confusion. This principle is essential in creating enjoyable and productive digital experiences that prioritize usability and user satisfaction.
"Average is the new good."
The quote "Average is the new good" implies that as technology advances, what was once considered exceptional or superior may become more commonplace, thus setting a new standard for what is deemed 'good'. It suggests that rapid progress can lead to an elevation of the average baseline, meaning that something that used to be extraordinary might now fall under the category of being simply average. This quote encourages us to accept that in the face of technological advancement, our expectations and standards should also evolve.
"The goal of news is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."
This quote by Walt Mossberg suggests that the purpose of journalism or news is twofold: it aims to provide relief (comfort) to those who are already suffering or affected by some issue, while also challenging (afflicting) those who are in a position of comfort or power, particularly if they are responsible for the affliction. In essence, this quote captures the role of news as both a source of information and a catalyst for change, holding powerful individuals accountable for their actions and empowering the less fortunate by bringing their stories to light.
"If it's not in the cloud, it doesn't count."
The quote by Walt Mossberg, "If it's not in the cloud, it doesn't count," highlights a shift in digital storage and accessibility towards cloud-based services. Essentially, he suggests that if data or content is not stored online (in 'the cloud') and therefore accessible from anywhere and on any device with an internet connection, then it may be considered less valuable or relevant in today's digitally-focused world. This sentiment underscores the convenience, flexibility, and ubiquity that cloud services offer.
"The software always ships. The developers don't."
This quote by Walt Mossberg emphasizes that finished software products are what ultimately gets delivered to users, rather than the developers themselves. It underscores the idea that despite human imperfections, teams, and even individuals, it is the software they create that matters most in the end. The implication is that software, once developed, becomes an independent entity available for use by anyone, regardless of who created it initially.
In August of 2011, Steve Jobs, the tech icon who disrupted a string of traditional industries, called me and told me he thought he'd figured out a way to revolutionize TV. He invited me to come see it at Apple in a few months, but he died just six weeks later, and that meeting never came to pass.
- Walt Mossberg
The products I review are typically lent to me by their manufacturers for a few weeks or months. I return any products I am lent for review, except for items of minor value that companies typically don't want back. In the case of these items, I either discard them or give them away to charity.
- Walt Mossberg
There are lots of reasons email persists, even as faster and simpler forms of communication proliferate and your personal communications likely have mostly migrated elsewhere. But one big one is that new types of media channels rarely totally kill off old ones, even though everyone predicts they will.
- Walt Mossberg
For many years, even as users became more sophisticated, personal computers took too much effort to use without problem-solving, keeping alive the yearning for greater simplicity. Microsoft's dominant Windows platform, in particular, was a home for all manner of bugs and problems that required IT people to straighten out.
- Walt Mossberg
We need a wireless mobile device ecosystem that mirrors the PC/Internet ecosystem, one where the consumers' purchase of network capacity is separate from their purchase of the hardware and software they use on that network. It will take government action, or some disruptive technology or business innovation, to get us there.
- Walt Mossberg
The next time you're driving from New York to Boston on I-95, you should make a little detour in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to visit the Old Slater Mill national historic landmark. It's the site of what is considered to be the first successful water-powered textile spinning mill in America.
- Walt Mossberg
Though the S8, like all premium Samsung phones, runs Android with the basic Google suite of apps, Samsung keeps trying to duplicate Android functions with its own software. It wants to be a software platform like its rival Apple, but it uses someone else's operating system and core apps. Awkward.
- Walt Mossberg
If you buy the Chromebook Plus and intend to use it mainly as a Chromebook, I expect you'll have a good experience. But if you plan to rely heavily on Android apps, you're basically buying into the start of a journey, replete with odd-looking presentations of familiar apps, bugs and crashes.
- Walt Mossberg
In the tech world, you can reel off great products in several ways. You can have the once-in-a-lifetime gut instincts of a Steve Jobs. You can have the brainiac coding skills of a Bill Gates, Larry Page, or Sergey Brin. Or, I learned, you can have the deep intellectual curiosity and stubbornness of a Jeff Bezos.
- Walt Mossberg
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