Brushed metal?
Two users of Ghost Action have emailed me expressing their strong dislike of the brushed metal theme used in Ghost Action. I’m a little surprised that the mere look of an application evokes so strong emotions. After all, the brushed metal theme is used extensively in OS X 10.4.
It appears that Apple will abandon the brushed metal look for most or all applications in OS X 10.5 Leopard, in favor of a new look similar to iTunes 7. However, the new look is not available for non-Apple applications in 10.4, so the alternative to the brushed metal look would be the normal aqua look, as used in for example System Preferences and Dictionary. The brushed metal look is what Ghost Action currently uses and is also the look of iCal and the Finder, for example.
Which style do you prefer? Please give your vote and comments here, and you will help me decide which look I should use for Ghost Action. (Please only vote if you are actually considering using Ghost Action).
Update: The poll I decided to use from Question Pro just disappeared all of a sudden. To bad, but I had time to peek at the results before they were gone, and they were clear: 8 wanted the normal look, 1 didn’t care and nobody wanted brushed metal. So brushed metal “will have to go,” as one user said.
November 4th, 2006 at 7:27 pm
For me personally, it doesn’t matter much - I am using UNO to unify my system’s look, so Ghost Action looks okay for me, except for the button style.
What’s more important for me is the feature set. And for now, Actiontastic handles the “Next action” issue much better and only shows me what’s important NOW.
November 5th, 2006 at 12:49 am
http://www.kaboomerang.com/images/beta1.jpg - that one looks similar to Ghost Action - but much nicer. More streamlined, yet also more classy. But, your app syncs with ical at present, which I seem to recall that Actiontastic currently does not.
I use neither of your apps currently. However, I am awaiting what you guys (Midnight Inbox, Omni Focus, Actiontastic, Ghost Action) come up with in the end, as a final 1.0 version. What feature set etc.
+++:
What I’d like, is if you developers would think more outside-the-box, and less GTD-dogma. GTD is cool and great, but I don’t believe it to be an application. It’s a productivity-philosophy, a mehod. So let’s have something that does something different. The contexts and all that crap is less inspiring/impressive than what Llamagraphics did in Life Balance several years ago. Let’s have something new. Something kick-ass.
I’m diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, and have trouble sticking with anything, as I’m searching for stimuli everyday, as I otherwise get extremely bored. I need some still undeveloped app, but … Reason I’m telling you that is because I’d like to see an application that *encourages* me to do the important stuff. Why not, instead of “yet another GTD app” make an app, that is like a personal coach? A rough idea would be:
When I get up in the morning, the app asks me a few questions, and determines my overall mood. Somedays I’m depressed and moody, yet still try to do my to-do list items, even though I really need a coach that would tell me to do something that requires less effort - like watching the tutorials I bought, but have not seen yet - or finish reading one of my many unfinished books, instead of trying to be a productive webprogrammer, when I simply don’t have that kind of energy that day.
The app could also try to coach in an NLP-like fashion - based on the stuff I input into it about my goals etc. Think interactive Pzizz vs. Life Balance fusion!
If my main goal is to get rich, why not build in an opportunity manager / forecasting / pipeline / budget feature? So I can “rate” my projects: How much do I expect to earn from this particular project… Nothing? $200? $3000? And then encourage me to work on the most profitable project instead of procratinate with the useless but intriguing crap-project I always wate my time on. Focus!
Speaking of goals, I find the GTD system good, but quite “cold” - it lacks the focus, warmth, human touch of Steven Covey’s First Things First mind set. I often do stuff that
Why not make an app that is flexible, yet simple. In other words an application that adapts to ME - not the other way round.
Do that, and You may not end up as the developer who did yet another GTD app, but maybe with an app that inherits a USP - Unique Selling Proposition. Which is what true branding (=money) is all about.
I have a good feeling with your work though. I hope my words are comprehensible, it’s late, and I’m ADHD, and have had a depressed day today;-)
November 5th, 2006 at 6:12 am
If you’d look around a bit, one of the most disliked aspects of recent versions of osx is the lack of update to Finder to get rid of metal. So yeah, it’s still used by Apple, but not appreciated. But I understand why you’ve used it. Clonging another app, you do your best to distance yourself from that other app. So you stick with metal to give the appearance of not cloning the other app.
November 6th, 2006 at 3:11 am
It is still possible to get the look of iTunes in 10.4, for example the actiontastic screenshot above.
Or you can change the whole UI with this: http://gui.interacto.net/.
Result is brushed metal windows are all like iTunes. Much nicer.
November 6th, 2006 at 3:50 am
You might also want to see: http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/221/flex-your-hig.
November 6th, 2006 at 11:19 am
mGee >
Who says Ghost Action is cloning Actiontastic?
November 7th, 2006 at 2:30 am
I say. Who else’s opinion do I need, but my own. It’s a clone. Just look at it…. aside from the brushed metal.
November 9th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
Adam, thanks for the excellent links. They might come to good use. I’m a little reluctant though to use to many special hacks just for the look, since most of it will probably come for free with Leopard (at least I hope so).
January 15th, 2007 at 8:08 am
I don’t think it’s a clone. I’ve been running the two side by side, and I’d say each has unique features and are a bit different in the logic they use. They might look the same on the surface, but not really beyond that. They both draw their inspiration from the same source, the GTD teachings, so obviously the terms and sequence will be the same.
As for the look, I like anything that is alluring, with a creative and artistic ui. I’m an artist, so that’s what appeals to me, not worrying about aqua, metal, whatever; it’s just how the whole thing is done.
June 27th, 2010 at 12:49 am
Wordpress Themes…
You need to see this good post today….