Previously in this series we discussed the user interface advancement of collapsing emails in the same thread together, and how that can help to deal with a high volume of incoming email. It's worth asking whether this is really a solution unto itself, or if it is maybe just a way to cope with a bigger problem, that of attention fragmentation.

Have you ever found yourself having multiple conversations with the same person (or group of people) at the same time? Most often this will happen in email; you find yourself quickly writing a reply to one thread, and as you send your reply you notice a new update to a different thread from the same correspondent. It also sometimes happens in instant messaging programs, or even social networking sites - and often all of these at the same time. Is this truly more efficient than speaking to people either face-to-face or over the phone? Is it even healthy?

The topic of email as it relates to health is top-of-mind this week, due to a very in-depth article published at the Huffington Post by Linda Stone, titled Just Breathe: Building the Case for Email Apnea, which was highlighted by Robert Scoble. Linda Stone, if you're not familiar with her name, has been an executive at both Apple and Microsoft, and was the person that coined the term "continuous partial attention". Continuous partial attention refers to the way in which we attempt to multi-task, but really end up only giving a fraction of our attention to any one task, project, or conversation. Linda argues that we end up accomplishing less, damaging relationships, and generally accomplishing the opposite of what we intended when we practice continuous partial attention.

The long wait is over: Office 2008 for Mac is now available for pre-order from Apple and Amazon, with a street release date of January 15th.

It seems like just yesterday that Microsoft was on stage at the 2006 Macworld keynote, reaffirming their commitment to making Microsoft applications for the Mac. At that time, Office 2004 was not a universal binary, and could only be run on Apple's new Intel machines through the Rosetta emulation layer.

Office 2008 will be a universal binary, and it looks to be a nice leap forward (as it should be, considering that it was almost four years in the making).

[via TUAW.com]

We all saw Bill Gates sell something no one was buying, and Steve Jobs selling many things people really want in their respective keynotes this week. I am always the kind of person trying to find the meaning in it all. So, what do you think? I think Microsoft is putting out some decent software (Vista, Office, etc) but I think they have largely missed the boat on the digital lifestyle. Apple has that covered. I played with a Zune for the first time over the weekend, and I was actually quite impressed with the interface. Microsoft has done a great job of competing with the iPod, and by this I mean from a strictly device capabilities and functionality standpoint. Zune is just taking off, and the iPod has been around a while so you really can't compare sales numbers...yet. What about these "connected experiences" Microsoft is touting big time? I beg to differ, but I have been having connected experiences for ages now, and to me it seems that Microsoft is pushing old products in new wrappers. I remember the same speech about XP, it will do this better, it will do that better...yeah, but where is the new, cool, blow-me-away innovation? I didn't see it. Until I watched Jobs' keynote. Apple TV? Sign me up, good price, good features, works with PC or Mac, wirelessly anywhere in your house. Can you say "living room killer app." Also, despite Cingular's exclusive, required 2 year contract, and EDGE, the iPhone is also one of the best, most user-centered, all-in-one functional devices ever. It is dead sexy. Tell me, what has Microsoft come up with in this vein, something to create a huge demand or something to blow away the PC world? Sure, there is the XBOX 360 for gaming, but what in the computer space? I don't see the drive, the innovation, the passion for customers needs and fixing problems. I must say I was expecting a bit more from Microsoft. Is it enough that Microsoft only delivers a bit of eye-candy as the best innovation in a new product? I know they have the mindtrust to generate great new stuff, so why is it that Microsoft doesn't try to win anymore? Are they always behind the eight ball, or is this just my imagination? Also, what did you think of Apple's new stuff?

The dust is just starting to settle around Moscone West in SF, so while everybody is enjoying their post-Stevenote cigarette ("Was it good for you?") here's some details on Apple's new announcements.

First up - the State of iTunes address. To date, 2 billion songs have been sold on iTunes, current rate is over 5 million a day. Over 50 million TV shows and 1.3 million movies have been purchased and downloaded, yow! So to top all of that good news, Apple announced that Paramount will be bringing their stable of movies to the iTunes store. I don't know about you, but I'm totally psyched to buy Wrath of Khan once it's available.

Second, the Apple TV (formerly iTV). It's a set-top box (rather than an actual TV), will cost $299 and is shipping next month. Lots of goodness packed into a teensy box - USB 2.0, 40GB HD, WiFi & ethernet, HDMI and component video, analog and digital (optical) audio out, 802.11b/g/n, and the ability to stream content from up to 5 computers (Mac and PC). Be forewarned, it only outputs a 720p video signal, so it may be time to upgrade your TV as well.

Third, one for the history books, the iPhone. Yes, it's very real, and it looks very cool. Time to finally put all of those iPhone/widescreen iPod/Mac Tablet rumors to rest. Available through Cingular starting in June it will come in two models, 4GB ($499 w/ 2 year contract) and 8 GB ($599 w/ 2 year contract). The four main functionalities are phone, iPod (including video), mail and web browsing. It features quad-band GSM, EDGE, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, a 2 megapixel camera, an accelerometer to switch to landscape mode as you rotate the phone, full touchscreen display, and it runs Mac OS X. It is capable of running full desktop applications, so I expect to see lots of iPhone 'hacks' and neat things that people come up with. It has IMAP and POP3 support, features Safari as its Web browser, Google Maps support and of course Widgets! Battery life is reported to be 5 hours (ouch) but can run up to 16 hours for just audio. Check out the iPhone gallery over at Engadget for more pictures.

Also check out the keynote coverage from Engadget and TUAW!

If you a) are an Apple fan (or are just Mac-curious) and b) enjoy refreshing your browser, you should do what I'm doing and head over to our sister blog TUAW, where they're liveblogging Steve Jobs' keynote right now. Speculation as to whether any Earth-shattering plans will be revealed today is rampant as ever--iPhone? iTV? iBex? Tune in to find out. If your reloading finger gets tired and you're a Firefox user, I recommend the ReloadEvery add-on. And when the Stevenote is through, check out TUAW's hot new photo galleries.

Update: Also check out Engadget's Stevenote coverage.

Damien Barrett mentioned Jambo on the last day of 2005 over on TUAW, and since I was going to Macworld, I thought I'd give it a try. The concept seems simple: download Jambo, install, answer some simple questions, and in theory you'll be discovering like-minded Jambo's near you. They even set up a special page just for Macworld attendees. So here's the thing: I never "discovered" anyone. You've got a couple of things going on here, from what I can tell. First, you have to have an internet connection. Unfortunately, that's not very plentiful in the Moscone. Second, I don't see any Bonjour support, which could have alleviated problem #1. Third, only a handful of people are using the service. Being a victim of bad business timing myself (try not releasing an iPod case until after the new one comes out and after the holiday shopping season), I can only assume they had to pitch Jambo quickly before Macworld to get some buzz. Well, buzz or no, it wasn't enough. I'm willing to give it a try next time, in hopes they fix some of these things, and more people sign up. And maybe with more Macs getting Bluetooth, it'll be possible to really make the proximity detector work properly.