GJ said
I am accustomed to good books from O'Reilly/Pogue Press, so I just bought this one, without checking it out first. BIG mistake. The book no doubt will please some users (as other reviews attest). This is most likely due to the fact that it is admittedly very pretty, and its small, pleasant format that fits snugly in your hand is very "user friendly" and cute. Although I think there are some legibility issues (compact, grayish font next to some pictures IS hard to read), if I were to rate the book's graphic design, it would be a well-deserved 4 stars.
However, as a software book, and especially one published by O'Reilly, this title has two rather serious, unforgivable flaws:
1 - NO INDEX: This is the only O'Reilly-published book I own that has NO INDEX. So, if you are trying to find out if there is a n app to TRACK your PACKAGES sent though UPS or FEDEX (all caps would be potential index entries), you are out of luck: you will have to flip back and forth through this small, but still 200+ pages long book and try to find the answer (the answer is: there is). I do understand this is not "Photoshop Bible" or "Real World InDesign," and I did NOT expect a similar degree of index detail, but no index at all makes this pretty useless, especially if its declared aim is to let you find apps you need for a specific purpose.
2 - Arbitrary selections, which make me think the author simply didn't do his homework very diligently, are the book's real, core problem. Take something as simple as UNIT CONVERSION apps. The author chooses Convertbot as "best" in this category. But what he really does, is choosing the PRETTIEST conversion app. Yes, I love to play with Convertbot too - it's VERY, very cool, and beautifully designed; and it makes futuristic sounds like something right out of Transformers. And it works just fine for many things. But just wait until you have to actually USE IT for converting things such as type. It's obvious the author doesn't realize the apps failings, which only become obvious if you put it through its paces, and actually use it. Try converting 40 points to picas using Convertbot, and if you are a designer, you will know what I mean when I say that the result calculated is 3.333. Yes, there are apps that convert things like that BETTER (3 picas 4 points is more practical to know), but they aren't as pretty as this one.
I am not trying to say that the book is not good simply because I disagree with many of the author's "best in category" choices - that's NOT my point - a good book would tell you that while Convertbot looks pretty, and might be "overall best" it's not recommended for designers who work with type (and it would tell you what is); it would also tell you that the most popular conversion app you will see in the app store (Convert) has serious deficiencies in currency conversions, so it's not a good choice for an overseas trip to Central Europe.
Another example would be time-tracking apps. Once again, we get a recommendation for a nicely designed, attractive-looking app (Jobs), which unfortunately cannot tell you how much time you spent today (overall) on project X, or tell you how many hours (total) you spent working for client Y LAST WEEK. There are apps that can easily do that, including specific ranges of time or other parameters for export, but they aren't even mentioned here. So if you follow the author's recommendation, and buy Jobs, and you need to get daily total of times worked on all projects, you will not be very happy. Postino for E-Post Cards? Yes, sure, if you don't mind the fact that the post cards arrive in your friends' e-mailbox with fairly obnoxious company branding (even though its a paid app), and from an address your friends are likely to direct right to their spam folder. Many descriptions are misleading (although I am sure not intentionally), for example the author doesn't tell you that the "databases" some of them use are sumply "crowdsourced" user submissions, which means that while some metropolitan areas like NY or SF might be well covered, many other areas may not be(e.g., OpenTable, SotOrSquat).
Although it is inevitable, some information is already out of date (of recommended RSS readers NetNewWire has discontinued service, and TweetDeck, one of the most function-rich Twitter apps is not even mentioned in the book, etc.)
The list goes on, and although I do NOT know all the apps listed in the book (but I have at one point tried about 85-90% of the non-game apps mentioned in the book) the point is not that I do not agree with the choices, the point is that the descriptions frequently omit shortcomings that are serious enough to make many apps unusable for many people, and omit choices that are likely to work better.
I am accustomed to expect useful advice from O'Reilly (and Pogue) Press books and I found this book (like many apps it recommends) pretty, readable, and pleasant, but seriously lacking in functionality and substance. It goes back.
K. Fontaine said
Anything that can make my life easier or make me more productive is a smaller amount of time gets my vote. I have downloaded several of the apps and love them. I wish he would follow up with a newletter to keep us abreast of the latest and greatest.
D. Greenbaum said
With well over 56,000 apps of this writing, the iTunes app store can be intimidating. There are just so many apps out there one doesn't really know where to begin. Staring with the top 10 or top 25 is a great place to look, but too often the gems are buried in the middle and nearly impossible to find in that stack of 56,000 apps. Even if you just stick to the top apps, you don't get manuals or easy instructions with them, making purchasing apps that much more of a frustrating experience.
"Best iPhone Apps" fixes both problems. Author Clark has a good mix of popular apps such as Yelp and Facebook, but also includes some off-the-wall ones such as What The Font which helps you identify a particular font using your camera. Each app receives one dedicated page of explanation and a screen shot - which is a heck of a lot more than iTunes or many developers provide. Additionally, there have been some more expensive popular apps I've been afraid to purchase because there are no demos in the App store (a fatal flaw in my opinion). An example of this is Jaadu VNC. This $24.99 app sounds great, but does it work? I bought it and couldn't quite figure it out until I read this book.
Unfortunately, while the book is iPhone 3.0 aware, it was published before iPhone 3.0 software and the iPhone 3GS came out, so some of the information is slightly dated. Nonetheless, the apps that are great now will continue to be great. This book is perfect for a non-technical new iPhone or iPod Touch user who isn't quite sure where to begin. A vast majority of the apps listed in the book are free or low-cost so there is little risk in trying and exploring these apps.
Overall this book is perfect for a new iPhone user or a more experienced user who wants to take the time to learn about some new apps
Pros: Covers a wide variety of apps in depth
Cons: Quickly will become outdated
Robert K. Volk Jr. said
Ordered this in advance and received it from Amazon. It is chock full of apps and will fit anyone's needs. I know apps change daily but this book gives you a good foundation. Well written, and easy to understand. Also gives details which helps to decide which apps to download. Recommend it. Probably boring for iphone experts but not for non-experts.
John Jacobson said
If you own an iPhone, you need this book. It lists 7 categories (at Work, On the Town, At Leisure, At Play, At Home, On the Road, For Your Health) of apps (applications or programs you can use on your iPhone). Under each category it lists 10-25 sub categories of apps, and it picks the "best" app and "honorable mention" apps as well. The writing is clear and informative, the recommendations are practical and to the point.
Forget buying another more extensive manual to replace the owner's manual, buy this book instead, and enjoy the power of the app! And don't forget, most of these apps can be used on the iPod Touch as well.
Highly recommended.
Comments