Why I’m Leaving Google Apps

So you might be thinking, “Why would he do that?” First of all, I must say that I have enjoyed using my google apps account with my own private domain. Very easy setup, it is easy, convenient, and free!  It provides a quick and easy solution to those not interested in the finer details of managing email.

What makes me want to leave google apps are based on my needs.
*Control of my data
*Separation of google account/services from my mail account
*Difficulty in using google apps accounts with google tools/services.

My Needs
I am a small business that wants control of the finer details.  I want to keep my personal google account separate from my professional email. I want to own my data, and it wasn’t terribly easy to move to another email provider.  Even though google says that their users own their data, they have not gone above and beyond to make this an easy process.  They have this web site dedicated to data ownership, but even as a developer, I had to dig to figure out what to do.

The more I dive into the developer side of my life, the less I like having someone else having control over my data. When I pay a company to host my email, I know that I own the data and I can make regular backups of that data. I can freely move to another provider if the one I am using shuts their doors. Similarly, I have seen the same preference in syncing notes. I am a huge, HUGE fan of @evernote. They are such a great team of people. Some reason, I have gone from the biggest fan of Evernote, to the one who wants more control of my data on @Evernote. Now pay attention, I didn’t say that I dislike Evernote. I dislike not having total control of my data.

Although, I don’t have a complete solution to taking the place of google apps, I have made steps towards what I ultimately want to have in place. Right now, I have control over my data. Yes, I still have my gmail account which I use for google services like google+, I never intended on getting rid of that. The difference is that I hold on to the data that I value.
What are you thoughts on google apps? Who do you think of as their audience?

The Apps I Deleted Today

The Apps I Deleted Today

So, you may be wondering just what in the world this article is about.  This is going to be the first of a series of blog posts about apps and why I removed them from my iOS device(s).  There are so many guides and best apps articles out there.  I wanted to do something different.  This came about out of my daily life.  I tend to keep things I don’t need.  You can ask my wife this and she would gladly say yes.  When it comes to apps, I used to keep as much as I could keep on my phone.

People would look at my phone and would gasp!  How many apps do you have?!?!  I would then explain to them my passion for mobile apps and mobile development in layman’s terms.  The more apps that arise in the app store the more the approach to keeping every app, “just in case” becomes a poor habit.  Now that Apple has so brilliantly allowed its users to see what apps they have purchased on their mobile device, this eases some of the pain of deleting apps.

The worst thing that could happen now is that I would have to redownload the app if and when I needed or wanted it.  I have found that keeping things around for the one chance that you might need them weighs you down.  Not only on our precious iPhone, but in life as well.  I commit to having two pages of apps and no more unless there is some sort of major paradigm shift.  I download many apps a day and it is simply logical to delete apps in the process.

So, instead of just focusing on the opposite side of the story.  I am going to tell you why I didn’t keep certain apps.

I want to know what apps you delete and why?  So comment back or find me on twitter @appscient .  You can also email me at mail@appscient.co

webOS Dead In The Water

So the news today.  The much beloved webOS is killed off by HP in their press release yesterday. HP Press Release  So what does this mean for webOS?  From reading the press release it appears that HP will try to spin it off or sell it to the highest bidder.  My question is this, would this be a good acquisition for Apple?  Would HP sell the IP that came with webOS?  If so, how would this benefit Apple?

This is another example of how ever-changing the mobile market is today.  Marco Arment made a comment on his podcast Build and Analyze regarding his reluctancy to invest in other platforms until they prove profitable.

What are your thoughts??

Teaching Kids to Be Entrepreneurs!

Teaching Kids to Be Entrepreneurs

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

I love this idea!

Explor App – Don’t Miss It!

From my friends at @explorapp. If you haven’t checked their app out, do it now!

They are filling a need that a lot of app search apps just don’t get. I don’t like long reviews unless the product warrants it. This app is simple. You tell explor what apps you like and it suggests ones that you might be interested in. It also lets you share your findings with your friends. Oh, and yeah it’s free!

Explor – Discover and share amazing apps (iOS) from Daniel Morgan on Vimeo.

Welcome

Hello Everyone!
This is the first post and is meant as an introduction to Appscient. Appscient is a place for those passionate about Apps, app design, user interfaces, user experience and mobile development. It is not dedicated to one platform, but most of our experience is in the iOS realm.