It is interesting to note that the user interface on the iPad is not as effective as in iFlex due to the limited range of control provided by the original iPhone gestures list. On the iPhone the swipe gesture was only used to spin through a list. As a result the only swipe gestures provided are either horizontal or vertical to spin through a displayed list. You can not swipe up and down in a list that is displayed as sequence of horizontal screens.

In the iFlex user interface the user moved within an article by using the arrow keys to scroll vertically and with the left and right keys to scroll to the next article in the section. This provided a great user experience as scrolling down within an article was natural and scrolling left to right to skim the above the fold view of each article provided ideal article surfing.

With the restriction to a single left right swipe for the scroll through a list, the developers have been forced to only allow scrolling through an individual article, and then forced the user to use a very awkward button to return to the front page. Pressing a button is not directional, so doesn’t allow the next or previous article to be selected, and interrupts the surfing experience with the need to press a small button instead of using a swipe.

In the absence of multi-dimensional swipe, the iPad has a drag gesture which would allow movement both vertically and horizontally with gestures. It isn’t clear if the iPad presentation layer would allow this to be used to flip to the next item rather than providing a location for a moved object but this may provide an interim solution. The long term solution would be to switch to a swipe gesture which allows movement in both dimensions and a return to an elegant surfing of the content.

Dan Smith Will Teach You Guitar

If you have ever lived in New York you will vaguely remember the posters of Dan Smith offering to teach you guitar. It is posted in every shop window across Manhattan. What it does to an individual to have such a public persona I can only guess at but over several variations of the poster he has presumably found that it is a message that works. It is quite noticeable that several others have tried to copy his general format for other services such as a local PC repair guy.

I always I assumed that he had some distributor posting the flyers up. There are several groups who post posters on temporary construction walls around town for record companies and film studios. However I would have been wrong. According to an article here by a David Kaufmann, who applied for lessons in order to get the back story, he actually manages to post all of the flyers himself. By doing so he is able to charge double what several reputable schools charge for guitar lessons and has people pre-book for a course.

The latest version of his poster with a milder demeanor and a seated position can be found on flickr here.

The prevalence of his marketing campaign has also let to a number of spoofs including for the film, The Love Guru, but an impressively long list was collected by tinagirlspy@flickr.com below. I’m very impressed that one person is able to get so much publicity and operate it all as a one man band.

Everything from songs….
www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/music/boutique/da n_smith_will…

To interactive internet games…..
pixtrak.com/

To youtube videos…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBFV7HjHlnU
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGwywSdq1M0

To countless imitators and/or parodies of his flyers-here are just a few…..
www.banterist.com/images/dan_edelweiss.jpg
bp1.blogger.com/_I2Yp45zmusc/RbDLiIUP4FI/AAAA AAAAADU/yb34…
bp3.blogger.com/_I2Yp45zmusc/RauSG4UP4DI/AAAA AAAAAC8/SwPL…
beersforbarcelona.blogspot.com/2007/01/dan-sm ith-will-tea…
thecrespo.blogspot.com/2005/11/new-york-fans- of-guitar-le…
bjornturoque.com/images/134579482501_3300.jpg

However, these ones are the only ones that are actually funny:
www.planetofthegrapes.com/pages/publicity.php
…but that’s because the guys in Nuclear O’Reilly ROCK!!!

Not to mention various blogs and articles – and two of the writers took a lesson with Dan just to write about it! Check it out:
www.nytimes.com/2005/04/17/nyregion/thecity/1 7guit.html
gridskipper.com/travel/new-york/dan-smith-has -taught-me-g…
www.reuters.com/article/sphereNews/idUSN28577 49420080228?…

Even John Mayer has gotten into the act…..
nymag.com/news/intelligencer/21352/

He now has a video up along the same lines as the flyer at: www.dansmithwillteachyouguitar.com

It took me some time to get to putting my own photo at the top of this blog and a suited photo on the corporate site I still find to be one of the scariest disembodied photos on the internet. It really does appear that every small consultancy shows their principal, management or leadership team but there are also some examples of people who maybe took it too far, as maybe Dan Smith has. The variety ranges from the tasteful to the salesy to the excessive. Or maybe they all work!