I promised I’d respond to the comments I found about my idea that I found on other sites, so here they are. I hope that I’ve already gotten to all the questions raised in the My Dream App Forums. I’ll start with the nicer comments, then respond to the rest at the bottom. Watch out, this post is a long one!
I like Farzad’s Portal idea because there doesn’t seem to be a best practice for working between 2 or more machines. Sure, you can do backups, but isn’t there a different way that would work and be sort of fun? I think Portal, as a product of this community could be that solution that many a mac user is looking for. One day when I work off of more than my MacBook, I hope an idea like Portal is fully fleshed-out and available.
Mostly Musings about Apple and the Mac
I love the way Portal is so up to date with its emphasis on use of Core Animation for its eye-candy.
My Dream App administrator Phillip Ryu noted that during CEO Steve Jobs’ keynote at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference, one of the loudest cheers went up when Leopard’s Time Machine app was demonstrated.
‘I think Portal would be a great compliment to the app,’ Ryu said. ‘and I can imagine some custom crazy futuristic looking windows, rips in the space time continuum delivering future releases of the app to users occasionally, and a lot of tongue in cheek humour, such as claiming the app came to us from the future.’
Portal - Sometime in the future, I will purchase a mighty fine Apple laptop of some kind, and I will use it when I am travelling/at Carrie’s/lying in bed but there will be a point when I want to get all my files back onto my desktop computer so I can work in the Luxury of my 20 inch screen. This is where Portal will come in, and make the thought of synching files just that much sweeter. Offering a similar style interface to the recently announced Time Machine this application will be a must have for any power user who runs more than one computer.
dzarkw wrote:
The Portal app sounds crazy. It has so much potential with the UI and functionality that goes so far beyond what .Mac does for syncing. Portal is getting my vote for sure.
icandiggittoo wrote:
Portal gets my vote too. Totally cool idea — worm holes! Good luck Sadjadi.
And now for the more critical ones:
GCFiedler on theappleblog wrote:
Portal is an idea that’s already out there - DropCopy - minus the eye candy.
Response: I’ve looked at DropCopy, and it isn’t even designed for syncing files, just for easy file transfer (which it looks like it does very well). While the act of transferring files from one Mac to another is included in both applications, Portal does far more in that it includes syncing for files, system settings, and even applications! I see where the confusion was made, but I don’t see DropCopy as Portal’s competition.
Jason Terhorst on theappleblog wrote:
“Portal” might be cool if he drops the pointless “wormhole” style (he added it to simply copy Time Machine).
Response: The wormhole style, while one of my favorites, is but one of many possible animation styles. My hope is that any user who is interested in the syncing features will be able to find a sync animation that suits their personality or needs. A simple progress bar might be nice for an office setting, while the Wormhole would be great for showing off your Mac’s graphics! If you’re really opposed to all the styles, just turn it off entirely and have the sync run transparently. As far as Time Machine, since its the only original use of Core Animation I’ve seen, I guess I couldn’t help but be inspired. Besides, the Time Machine animation isn’t a wormhole anyway.
If you see any more comments out there (either positive or negative), please bring it up in the forum. I’ll do my best to respond to any criticisms. Portal is continuing to evolve even as this contest starts to wind down. My next post will include a new set of GUI options, in response to comments made by Guest Judge John Gruber.
