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Seems like a remake of their Draft app with a chalky UI. To really make a mobile web app be cool, it's still gotta work on the web. Otherwise, it's not cool. I

by jbail 16y ago

Seems like a remake of their Draft app with a chalky UI. To really make a mobile web app be cool, it's still gotta work on the web. Otherwise, it's not cool. I'm making that a rule right now. Visiting a URL that says I have to be on an iPad is not cool. It's like saying I need to install a plugin that costs $500.

thenduks 16y ago
I don't think they care if if it's 'cool'... It's just an experiment/toy that they decided to blog about.
- jbail 16y ago
  Yeah, I don't care either. I'm saying it's not cool because I can't even play around with it.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
derekdahmer 16y ago
Its still a work in progress, but check out my project http://blotjot.com http://blotjot.com Its a collaborative whiteboard that works in any browser that supports canvas, including mobile safari on the iPhone and iPad. Runs on node.js + socket.io Example: http://blotjot.com/heyhn http://blotjot.com/heyhn
- jbail 16y ago
  I made a little canvas demo app myself about a month ago. Works on web or mobile (least on Dolphin Browser in Android). I haven't tested a ton though. http://napnote.com http://napnote.com It's more of a concept app to draw on Chipotle or Starbucks napkins than a serious endeavor. Some fellow engineers and I were joking about it at lunch one day and I promised to make a kick ass web 2.0 app that did indeed enable you to draw on napkins. Then I added some other backgrounds because it seems that whatever medium you draw on affects your thinking in subtle ways. So yeah, it's more or less pointless. Google wouldn't even give me AdSense for it. :)
- tjarratt 16y ago
  This is pretty neat, but you should make it so that if you click, you create a small dot. Right now it looks like you only render when the mouse moves, but not on the initial mouse down event. (tested with latest safari and chrome). I've been working on a similar idea with canvas, node.js and socket.io - it's amazing how many people are taking these same technologies and solving similar problems.
rauljara 16y ago
I understand where you're coming from, but touch changes how you interact with a device. I personally wouldn't want people judging my work based on their experience dealing with an interface I never designed for. Everything about the project screams fast and easy, and I'm cool with people doing fast and easy things for fun that don't work on all platforms. edited to add - and I don't own an iPad.
- jbail 16y ago
  I disagree for two reasons: 1) Chalk is a paint app that uses touch (finger painting you might say). We've had paint apps that use mice for as long as I can remember (which is the Apple IIC). The translation between dragging your finger on a surface and clicking a mouse and moving it across the screen is very similar. 2) I wrote a little tutorial on this thread that shows how easy it would be to add mouse event support using the exact same jQuery event binding they are using for the touch events. I actually suspect now that making the app iPad only is just to get more attention for 37Signals. There isn't a compelling technical reason for doing that other than marketing ploy.
  - jasonfried 16y ago
    "I actually suspect now that making the app iPad only is just to get more attention for 37Signals. There isn't a compelling technical reason for doing that other than marketing ploy." Cynical. There's no ploy here, there's no big picture plan here re: releasing this just for the iPad. It was just easier. For a proof of concept, easy was the goal. A couple of guys spent a few days messing around and this is what came out. We're really happy with it so we figured we'd share it with everyone else too. We just went with the iPad because it was a lot easier to build it for a specific use case. We knew the exact dimensions, for example. We didn't have to think about how it would scale if the browser was wider or narrower. We could put everything exactly where we wanted it. It just works all the time since the iPad browser size is the same all the time. We also didn't think it would be that fun to use with a mouse. Finger painting is more fun.
tvandervossen 16y ago
I have to agree, especially since it’s pretty easy to make this kind of app work in modern desktop browsers too. Here’s a preview for a drawing app I made this summer for the iPad and iPhone that also works fine on the desktop in Safari, Chrome, and Firefox: http://stuff.vandervossen.net/temporary/sketch.html http://stuff.vandervossen.net/temporary/sketch.html On the iPad it supports up to 11 touch points (don’t ask) and it has some pretty neat curve smoothing to deal with the rather low resolution of the touch events compared to a native app.
andybak 16y ago
http://twitpic.com/33c0ph http://twitpic.com/33c0ph
toolate 16y ago
Agreed, this is exactly like the old "you need Netscape 3.7.5.1 to view this page", except this time you need to shell out $500 for a whole new device.

by jbail 16y ago

thenduks 16y ago

I don't think they care if if it's 'cool'... It's just an experiment/toy that they decided to blog about.

jbail 16y ago
Yeah, I don't care either. I'm saying it's not cool because I can't even play around with it.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

derekdahmer 16y ago

Its still a work in progress, but check out my project http://blotjot.com http://blotjot.com Its a collaborative whiteboard that works in any browser that supports canvas, including mobile safari on the iPhone and iPad. Runs on node.js + socket.io Example: http://blotjot.com/heyhn http://blotjot.com/heyhn

jbail 16y ago
I made a little canvas demo app myself about a month ago. Works on web or mobile (least on Dolphin Browser in Android). I haven't tested a ton though. http://napnote.com http://napnote.com It's more of a concept app to draw on Chipotle or Starbucks napkins than a serious endeavor. Some fellow engineers and I were joking about it at lunch one day and I promised to make a kick ass web 2.0 app that did indeed enable you to draw on napkins. Then I added some other backgrounds because it seems that whatever medium you draw on affects your thinking in subtle ways. So yeah, it's more or less pointless. Google wouldn't even give me AdSense for it. :)
tjarratt 16y ago
This is pretty neat, but you should make it so that if you click, you create a small dot. Right now it looks like you only render when the mouse moves, but not on the initial mouse down event. (tested with latest safari and chrome). I've been working on a similar idea with canvas, node.js and socket.io - it's amazing how many people are taking these same technologies and solving similar problems.

rauljara 16y ago

I understand where you're coming from, but touch changes how you interact with a device. I personally wouldn't want people judging my work based on their experience dealing with an interface I never designed for. Everything about the project screams fast and easy, and I'm cool with people doing fast and easy things for fun that don't work on all platforms. edited to add - and I don't own an iPad.

jbail 16y ago
I disagree for two reasons: 1) Chalk is a paint app that uses touch (finger painting you might say). We've had paint apps that use mice for as long as I can remember (which is the Apple IIC). The translation between dragging your finger on a surface and clicking a mouse and moving it across the screen is very similar. 2) I wrote a little tutorial on this thread that shows how easy it would be to add mouse event support using the exact same jQuery event binding they are using for the touch events. I actually suspect now that making the app iPad only is just to get more attention for 37Signals. There isn't a compelling technical reason for doing that other than marketing ploy.
- jasonfried 16y ago
  "I actually suspect now that making the app iPad only is just to get more attention for 37Signals. There isn't a compelling technical reason for doing that other than marketing ploy." Cynical. There's no ploy here, there's no big picture plan here re: releasing this just for the iPad. It was just easier. For a proof of concept, easy was the goal. A couple of guys spent a few days messing around and this is what came out. We're really happy with it so we figured we'd share it with everyone else too. We just went with the iPad because it was a lot easier to build it for a specific use case. We knew the exact dimensions, for example. We didn't have to think about how it would scale if the browser was wider or narrower. We could put everything exactly where we wanted it. It just works all the time since the iPad browser size is the same all the time. We also didn't think it would be that fun to use with a mouse. Finger painting is more fun.

tvandervossen 16y ago

I have to agree, especially since it’s pretty easy to make this kind of app work in modern desktop browsers too. Here’s a preview for a drawing app I made this summer for the iPad and iPhone that also works fine on the desktop in Safari, Chrome, and Firefox: http://stuff.vandervossen.net/temporary/sketch.html http://stuff.vandervossen.net/temporary/sketch.html On the iPad it supports up to 11 touch points (don’t ask) and it has some pretty neat curve smoothing to deal with the rather low resolution of the touch events compared to a native app.

andybak 16y ago

http://twitpic.com/33c0ph http://twitpic.com/33c0ph

toolate 16y ago

Agreed, this is exactly like the old "you need Netscape 3.7.5.1 to view this page", except this time you need to shell out $500 for a whole new device.