Accella Website » Tom Coin http://www.accella.net Website & Mobile Application Design & Development Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:39:12 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Embrace the Touch-Screen http://www.accella.net/embrace-the-touch-screen/ http://www.accella.net/embrace-the-touch-screen/#comments Fri, 08 Oct 2010 17:17:44 +0000 Tom Coin http://www.accella.net/?p=1075 Minority Report uses a lot of TouchscreensIf you ask me, one of the best features of the Apple iPhone is the touch-screen. Touch-screens have been around forever; at least it seems that way to someone who just turned 30. The thing is, for as long as they’ve been around, I’ve pretty much preferred not use them. They just always struck me as a gimmick. Maybe you disagree. Maybe you had been waiting patiently for a chance to tap at an unresponsive screen over and over, while simultaneously distorting your view and getting your fingerprints all over the screen. I know what you’re thinking, “Tom, you don’t have a problem with touch-screens, just BAD touch-screens.”  That’s true, but it’s weird that you refer to me by first name in your thoughts. Then I tried  the iPhone and subsequently the iPad, and I hopped on the touch-screen band wagon.  In my mind, they are far and away the best touch screens I’ve ever dealt with.  They’re responsive and precise, and somehow my fingertips are  always able to slide easily over the screen like…a fingertip on an iPhone screen (sorry, best analogy that I could come up with).  But the point of this post isn’t to praise the iPhone, pretty much the greatest phone ever made. The point is to remind all of you out there who are looking to make the next “Angry Birds” to play to the iPhone’s strengths.

Apps that use the touch-screen often and well are easier and just plain more fun to use.  Too many apps have a forward button, a back button, and menu buttons. Too many games just ask you to use the touch screen like a video game control pad (which ends up being adequate at best). Give me lots of buttons! The beauty of the touch-screen is that buttons can be everywhere, yet most apps confine them to the top or bottom of the screen.  And don’t stop at buttons. Let me pinch, pull, drag, tap, shake, double tap, the whole deal.

Remember in Minority Report where Tom Cruise has that hologram computer that he waves his hands all around to operate? Give me that!  Imagine if he had just sat there, tapping a next button.  He’d never have caught the real killer, who I think was himself, or his boss, or Colin Farrel.  I haven’t seen it in a while.   Everyone is trying to think of the next great app idea, which they should, but take a look at the top 25 in the app store.  It’s loaded with apps and games that are simple and make great use of the touch-screen.

Angry BirdsGoing back to the game, “Angry Birds”, this thing has been the top seller for what seems like forever.  It’s about sling-shooting birds at block houses!  Does that sound like the next great app idea to you?  But it’s fun, and a big reason why is how well it uses the touch-screen.  So when the idea for the greatest iPhone app ever made comes to you tonight in a dream, I ask you to do two things:

  • Call Accella!
  • Think about how you can make good use of the touch-screen.
]]> http://www.accella.net/embrace-the-touch-screen/feed/ 0 Using Django as a framework for a complex websites http://www.accella.net/using-django-as-a-framework-for-a-complex-websites/ http://www.accella.net/using-django-as-a-framework-for-a-complex-websites/#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:39:56 +0000 Tom Coin http://www.accella.net/?p=522 Platforms like WordPress can serve as excellent bases for sites primarily driven by database content. Occasionally, however, WordPress can lack the necessary level of complexity needed by a web site. Using a framework like Django gives database driven sites the complexity they may need without forfeiting too much programming efficiency and ease of use. Django is a python based open-source web application framework. Django emphasizes the “Single Point of Truth” – that programming information should not be repeated. Repetition of information just makes the programming code that much more difficult to understand. Furthermore, repeated information slows down application alterations and even initial creation, because developers must make sure that every instance of those pieces of information match exactly.

Django offers several useful features that prevent this repetition of information and increase productivity, all while producing a site with the desired level of complexity. Included in the framework is an object-relational mapper, allowing for easier creation of database layouts, and a dynamic database-extraction API, enabling databases to be accessed without the use of SQL code. Django also allows the creation of clean and usable urls for your site and includes a built-in simple-to-use administration system. With a solid variety of useful features, Django is a great alternative to less efficient basic coding languages. Plus it allows users to create complex content-driven sites with minimal time and effort.

If you would like more information on Django or would like to get a proposal for a Django implementation, please contact us.

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