Tag iPhone

Systems + Desired Traits

We were talking today about how the openness (or closedness) of a system affects the attributes that the system creates, fosters, or otherwise cherishes.

In my mind, a more closed system seems to enable (promote?) design, and open systems seem to enable better performance.

In the case of Apple – a famously closed system – apps are held to stringent design standards, perhaps to the detriment of their performance. And when I pick up an Android-powered phone, I’m always super stoked on the speed of the apps, but super disappointed in their design/interface.

Certainly you could say design is a part of performance, but for the sake of this discussion, keep them separate.

Do you find this to be the case?

Ego iPhone App

ego-iphone-application
I downloaded the “Ego” iPhone Application yesterday. It’s quite nice. A single interface for all your social things. It works quickly, even grabs your daily visits/pageviews from Google (before they’re reported in the Analytics interface) and…get this: it can pull your Mint “Net Worth” into the dashboard. Which I’ve not done, as I don’t want you guys to feel like po’ folks.*

How’s that for social currency?

*I’m just kidding. And here’s a link to the app.