KISS is the Best! Are You Listening, Apple Computer?

-
Keep it Simple Stupid... how many times did I hear that in high school? We'll distill this down to keep it simple, period. I'm not a fan of calling anyone stupid -- although some moments warrant the descriptor or moniker depends on how you use the name. So here is my real point. I've been learning our back-end systems at 3L Publishing, which includes the remittance functions for our vendors. Money is important after all. So in my intrepid exploration of the systems, I have constantly run into Apple-related (I won't be kind because honestly they earned it) stupidity. I am specifically talking about their two silos, which should be one system (take a hint from Kindle): iTunes Connect and iTunes Producer. First, let me express my disappointment that any Apple-related product be this disconnected and "dysfunctional". I'm a Mac diehard since the Mac resembled an over-sized lunchbox turned upright on my desk. I use all Apple products. I'm a fan.

I am NOT a fan of iTunes Connect or Producer! Why you ask? For the very point these two systems are silos. Why? Kindle is one system -- yaye! Nook is one system -- yaye! Oh, but noooooo! Not iBooks. No, Mac enthusiasts some "stupid" person at Apple thought this was clever somehow. "Hey Shyler (can't use a traditional name here for a geek), let's make the system not one BUT two!" "Makes sense to me Fredo." So not only do I have to work in two systems -- one to upload titles and another to manage -- BUT and get this one: I have to FIGURE out their sales system. Could they have just made a simple reporting feature? You know a list: you sold this many (named) titles for this much... not hard, right? Oh no again. Not if you're Apple iBooks. You sold this total. No list. No this title for this much. Nope! Someone at Apple who also probably ranked genius somewhere said, "Hey, Berryessa I think we should be brilliant. Just give the people a total!" "Clever, Sanford let's do it!" Now let's go back and smile about Kindle and Nook! Their less-than mad scientists did exactly what the KISS theory commands. One list, title, month, and holy smarts Batman, the total. And here we are. Me praising the competition and scratching my head over my all-time favorite product maker. Apple! Hello! What the heck were you thinking? Oh, yeah ... you were over-thinking. KISS!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Step-by-Step Building Sexual Tension Between Characters

-
We'll do a kind of mini-workshop on the blog to show you how to build sexual tension either in a book or script. Watch the two methods I employ between Brea and her love interest Drew. Read it below, and I will deconstruct it for you to show you the slow progression and build up. Please notice, I know the entire storyline between these two, so I'm working by making subtle gestures that only an informed audience would notice, which is why you need to know where your story is going and how you intend for it to end so you can build the foreshadowing into the story. I'm not suggesting you don't let some parts of the story organically evolve, but I do know that to build the story arc you need to the end game and character flaws and motivations. So, let me deconstruct that scene for you. Notice a lot of looks pass between them (keeping the focus on the eye-to-eye contact, which is one of the keys to building sexual tension). And mind you, nothing is sexier than a forbidden
Read more

Can I Pick Your Brain?

-
I am blogging about this in response to another blog I saw on the subject. I didn't completely read that author's total opinion, but I read enough to post a big, "You tell 'em sister!" In my line of work as a publisher and marketing specialist, I run into prospective clients who basically through the excuse of preliminary research, put my staff to work to put together proposals, get print quotes, ask endless advice, ask for multiple meetings, etc. -- all under the guise of "picking our brains" and potential business. While we've gotten better about discerning the difference between real business opportunities and those who make endless requests only to spend time drinking coffee with us and going nowhere fast ... except off to either another publisher with our materials (usually one that in their minds is less expensive) or to try and self-publish (again, using our materials). Whether people set out to deliberately use and run, isn't the point.
Read more

In Loving Memory -- John Andrew Gamble, 1962-2011

-
Image
I rarely discuss my private life on my blog, but I wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to my brother who passed unexpectedly sometime in July in Wasilla, Alaska . John was a true mountain man. He wasn't the least bit materialistic and never cared about worldly possessions. In the last 20 years after he moved to Alaska, I saw him three times, so we were not close; but I admire that he decided to live life his way up in the wilderness fishing for endless numbers of day. I always wondered how he seemed to never bore of it. He would catch so many salmon, he would live off fresh fish year round. He loved to cook, and I honestly have no idea why he got a degree in marketing from Sacramento State. Looking back on it, I think he would have made a terrific ranger. From an early age, he loved nature. He used to catch trout with his hands up at our family cabin. We would wander the forest together. When we were little, we spent sometimes two to three weeks up there, hiking around the w
Read more