Really..."damned if you do, damned if you don't"? There are easy ways to approach women without worrying if you've crossed the line on your initial remarks. While you might have to be a mind-reader, at times, to know if they like you, you certainly don't have to be psychic to know if your remarks are offensive or rude.
It's an interesting article and I love how they're approaching app sales. There are some successes out there that are doing well with this sales model (the most recent download I've had like this is Outwitters: http://onemanleft.com/). It is hard to see where the app sales ecosystem is going though (and if consumers will really dictate this path).
I like the framework you layout. It's always good to have a method for walking through problems because it conveys a cogent thought process (reminds me of SAT multiple choice problems or Spelling Bee questions about word origins).
Thanks for compiling this. It helps get a bit more depth out of the article and at least strive to hear what Miles was talking about (although some of it honestly still alludes me).
Jesse, I think you missed the point. It's like the old Consulting axiom: If you can't be part of the solution, there's good money to be made prolonging the problem.
I bounce back and forth on this line thinking that Kyle, while not aware of his social abnormalities, is helping or hurting society. By having someone look at "us" all differently he sheds an interesting light on the individual, but it also is unnerving and crosses boundaries that we would never have thought someone could so easily broach. It is one of the problems with being too close to any subject you're working with (art, a patient, a paper, a project): you get desensitized to anything odd about 'it', but others are just experiencing the phenomena for the first time.
They've already been doing this in chat, I suppose this is a logical extension. That said, is it really necessary to see this or is it a step beyond what is necessary?
They're probably running out of things to implement that people want, so are now trying to shoehorn things in that people probably don't want. Probably as a result of new-found shareholder pressure.
The biggest barrier to using Facebook as a communication tool is not knowing how often other people check their messages or groups. This feature solves that and will increase the usage of messages and groups.
A very good point and something that needs to be built into the Kickstarter framework. Some way of keeping ideas 'easy' to fund, but still hold the initiators to a high standard for excellence/delivery.
Hm...don't know if I was the only one, but I thought this topic was going to be about the broader consumption of 'entertainingly educational' information (think Vi Hart vs. StumbleUpon or Khan Academy vs. TED Talks). While some are just information there is a growing glut of edifying and consumable information. I guess I'll have to write something on this topic to satisfy my own reading interest.
I think the problem with this concept is your premise is based around functionality while your reasoning is based around purchasing. Frankly I almost never think about the app icon once purchased, it’s like reading names in books. I almost never know how to pronounce characters until I have to say them aloud, then for the life of me I have no idea how they sound. Case in point: (until the movie came out) how you pronounced “Hermione” (weird example I know). Back to the point, the icon itself gets it recognized for purchase…making it more harmonious with your app experience once downloaded is an ancillary benefit at best?
Regarding names in books, I find that I often learn to recognize names by the vague shape of the composing characters, and am unaware even of the exact spelling of the name.
If your users feel better about your app, they are more likely to tell others about your app. That's far more likely to get you found and purchased than popping slightly more than the next guy in the app store. That said, it's not clear just how big an impact a cleaner icon has, and the likelihood that your users will be talking about you in the first place probably depends on what your app does, &c. It does seem a good thing to keep in mind, though.
