Havoc Pennington

litl and computer frustration

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 2:30 -0500

Nat Friedman has interesting results up for his informal survey on computer frustration, noting that "About a third of these issues could be addressed by webbook efforts like ChromeOS and litl, although the webbook model will probably raise new issues as well."

Seems like a good time to discuss how we designed the litl webbook to reduce computer frustration.

Design with a computer-frustrated audience in mind

We designed litl OS with Cooper, Pentagram, and our own design team. Cooper contributed a set of personas, adding to our own thinking about who would love the litl. We focus on busy families at home. While we have big dreams for how litl OS can evolve, for now we didn't think about work computing, ignoring the needs of business travelers and IT guys.

Windows will ask hundreds of questions busy families don't care about understanding. It's not that they can't understand, but they do not care. (The most famous example might be Vista's overzealous need to "Allow or Deny?"). We can say definitively that our audience doesn't care about this stuff, and so we don't ask it. Period.

As geeks, who have been spent our entire adult lives using and administering PCs, we tend to think the entire world is like us... the more the better... we want total control. Our research (and our own families) have shown that there's a huge portion of the world, such as busy moms, who only care about results. They don't care about tech specs, and they don't care about tweaking what Tufte calls "computer administrative debris."

As software developers, we don't realize how much worthless debris we put in front of people. Stuff they don't care about or don't need to know. At litl, we're trying to take a different approach.

Make the OS automatic

If your favorite web app or web site fixes a bug, it isn't nagging you about whether you want the fix. You simply get the fix. We approached litl OS in the same way. litl OS is smart about avoiding updates while you're using the webbook, and quietly updates itself while you sleep.

Hide implementation detail - manage it for you

File management is one of the more complex features of traditional operating systems, and litl OS avoids it entirely. Web apps just store their stuff, they don't ask you where to store it. We continue the entire OS in that spirit.

Sandboxed Sites and Channels

Applications on the litl don't have free run of the operating system. We have two kinds of "app"; web apps running in our browser, and channels. (Channels are a special kind of app with three states, one for lean-forward/laptop, one for lean-back/easel, and one widget-like state in card view.) Channels are run by a custom flash player in their own process.

This gives us a number of tools to control malware (since we don't have to distinguish it from "normal" unsandboxed apps), and it throws out all kinds of complexity associated with installing and updating traditional application software.

Sandboxing eliminates a whole class of "system integration" issues where applications interfere with one another or with the OS. On the litl, web pages and channels can't (and need not) install their own annoying updater software. They can't add tray icons to your screen. They can't break other apps in unforeseen ways.

Hardware/Software Integration

Building for a single hardware platform throws out whole domains of complexity. There's no mess of interface on the litl related to hardware drivers; we know about our hardware already. We know which buttons are on the keyboard (and incidentally, a bunch of useless ones are not). We know the screen resolution.

This means no setup or configuration to start using the litl. It means our help and instructions can be precise - instead of "look for the key that says..." we can say "press the big blue key in the lower left." It means we can ship the litl preconfigured with information entered during the ordering process. It means any number of OS features "just work" instead of requiring tuning to the particular hardware the customer has.

Eliminate the hard drive

The hard drive is the number one point of failure in PCs, and when it breaks, it's a disaster - you lose all your stuff. Best practice is to use the hard drive only as a cache, keeping a backup copy of everything on some web service. litl does this by default, going further to automatically manage the cache so it only has what you're actively using. No hard drive failures; no data loss; no setting up or managing backups.

A new issue: web service integration

The webbook model isn't all positive complexity-wise (yet) - as Nat says, it may raise new issues. Here's one: a litl OS design principle is to use any and all existing web services and apps, rather than reinventing the wheel. We decided to use web mail rather than create our own litl mail app, we decided to use Flickr and Shutterfly rather than invent our own photo storage and sharing site, and so forth. We see our goal as improving the web, and helping people use the web, rather than replacing the web with a "walled garden" of litl-branded services.

There's no question that a "walled garden" of services we controlled completely would be simpler and easier to use. But we don't think our customers would be happy as hothouse flowers. We want to be the best OS for using the whole Internet, rather than a limited appliance.

A Challenge: Internet and WiFi setup

Internet and WiFi setup are tough to address, because problems on the access point side are outside litl's control. Still, on the litl itself, wifi configuration couldn't be simpler - we start with a big list of access points, instead of a tiny little tray icon. People need to recognize their network name and know their password. If they have those two things, we automate everything else.

Personal anecdote: I recently helped my sister fix her wifi; there were two problems, and both were caused by Windows complexity.

First, Dell had installed some garbage "wifi manager" software that interfered with Apple's AirPort software. On the litl, we don't ship OEM crapware.

Second, when you add a network, Windows opens this absurd, verbose dialog that makes no sense; she'd clicked the wrong answer. litl OS does not ask this sort of question, by design. If we don't think our customers care about a question, we don't ask it. (This has nothing to do with the webbook model per se; but it does have to do with our well-defined target audience. We know our customers don't care about this question.)

Only the beginning

We've come a long way with litl OS, but there's a lot more we could do. Nat's survey mentions printing; we could automatically discover printers with no driver installation. He mentions performance; we could manage CPU usage of sandboxed sites and channels to keep the "too much stuff" problem (too many open sites) from degrading performance. We could much more extensively lock down the OS using SELinux-style technology, to further restrain malware. There are so many possibilities because the OS is truly managed on behalf of our customers, not managed by our customers when they have better things to do.

To be sure we get this right, we're planning to rotate the litl development team through customer support, giving every software developer firsthand knowledge of our customers.

We would love to hear your ideas on how to further reduce computer frustration - let us know!

Is the litl webbook a netbook?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:30 -0500

We've had lots of great comments on the litl webbook (see here and here for samples). Some discussion about whether a "webbook" is really different from a "netbook." Here's why litl webbook is not a netbook.

litl OS is completely different from Windows 7. You can't even run Windows or Linux very well on the litl because our custom hardware is missing legacy keys and ports. litl OS is entirely managed, all state stored online, with web apps and channels only.
No hard drive. And you don't need one. There's no way in litl OS to even see how much disk space you have, because in litl OS disk space gets used like a web browser cache. You never manually create or delete anything. The hard drive size affects how often we'll get a cache hit. Otherwise, who cares. Web apps don't store files on the hard drive.
Comes with online storage and services. litl OS syncs its state to the server, supports sharing any card (web page or channel) to anyone in your friends network, and has a friends network integrated into the OS. Backup and sharing are built-in, trivial, and automatic. There's no subscription fee.
litl webbook is a fabulous photo frame. It has a nicer screen and nicer software than this $650 frame for example. Family and friends can share new slideshows directly to your litl webbook, which will show all your own photos and those shared with you in one big slideshow. (Or add channels with just one album, if you like.) Deep integration with photo services you already use means you don't have to do anything special to see photos on the litl. Most photo frames end up in the closet because loading new photos is a manual process. With the litl webbook, your family members post new photos and they appear as a channel on your litl. No work to do.
litl's build quality and design blow away netbooks. Most netbooks are "cranked out," with the engineering done in a few months with an eye to minimal cost. litl's engineering was highly refined over time, with an eye to quality, ease-of-use, and aesthetics.
Screen size and quality. Only one or two netbooks have a screen as large as the litl webbook's, and none have a screen with the same brightness or viewing angle. The litl's screen quality enables "lean back" mode with photos and channels.
Mobility within the home. The usual use-case for a netbook is travel. We designed the litl to live at home. That's why it has a larger screen, and displays useful and attractive channels when you leave it sitting around house.
Hardware/software integration. The software is finely-tuned to the hardware, and the flippable hardware inspires one of litl OS's core features, that it's both "desktop" and "media center" all in one smoothly-integrated UI. The litl "look" spans the beautiful packaging, hardware, and software.
100% legacy-free. No caps lock. HDMI, not VGA. etc.
Amazing guarantee. litl's included warranty is better than the service plans you have to pay extra for when you buy a netbook.

Here's how litl webbook is like a netbook:

It uses an Atom processor. litl webbook uses Atom because it makes the webbook smaller, lighter, thinner, and quieter; not to mention more efficient, saving some trees.

Here's my question: when you go shopping for a cell phone or set-top box, is your first question which CPU it runs? Would you choose iPhone vs. Blackberry based on which one had the fastest CPU clock? Or would you instead first look at what the device does, and in particular look at the details of the hardware and software experience?

Fast Company says

But litl isn't selling hardware specs; they're selling a stone-cold brilliant design. And to appreciate it, you have to be able to play with the device.

But for now, litl is only being sold online. And therein lies the problem. Without handling it, you'll never appreciate the thoroughness of the design language--the scroll wheel on the laptop, echoed in the scroll wheel of the remote; the perfectly weighted hinge which doubles as a handle and hides the battery; the sturdiness of the case; the brightness of the screen; the way the packaging and branding looks domestic but not quite feminine; or even the fact that when the power pack is plugged in, a tiny, embedded LED illuminates the dot of the '"i" in "litl"

Which piece of big government are you against?

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:30 -0500

If you're against big government, it's time to be specific. You can see the budget pie chart at Wikipedia. Over the next decades, remember that Social Security and especially Medicare become ever-larger slices of the pie.

As an against-big-government activist, how many of the following will you have the integrity to advocate dropping:

21%: Social Security
16.6%: Defense
13.3%: Medicare
11.2%: Unemployment Insurance and Welfare
9.0%: Interest Payments
7.2%: Medicaid and SCHIP
5.0%: War on Terror

Total of the above: 83.3%

Everything else is rounding error in terms of cost, though important in terms of impact (education, highways, court system, national parks, bailouts, etc.)

There are two options here.

Option One: You are in favor of eliminating or deeply cutting several of the Big Items in the list above: Social Security, Defense, Medicare/Medicaid, or Unemployment Insurance.

If you believe we should eliminate Social Security, Medicare, Defense, and other stuff with 60-80%-plus public support then I respect your argument and your integrity, but let's face it, you probably aren't a politician facing re-election, and you're advocating something that's not going to happen soon.

Option Two: You are not against "big government"; you are in favor of "let's trim 10-20% off the government while leaving it pretty big" or something like that.

If you really mean "let's trim 10-20%" can we please stop being so melodramatic? As I've whined before, moving government size, or tax brackets, by a few percent is not the difference between capitalism and socialism.

Libertarian: government should be 5% of its current size.
Socialist: government should be 200% of its current size.
Republicans and Democrats judged by actions not rhetoric: government should be 105% of whatever it just was. Disagreement on where the new 5% goes.

Politicians are obligated to be in favor of cutting taxes while raising spending, because the public in the aggregate is in favor of that impossibility. Ridiculous, right? But if you oppose the vague abstraction of "big government" without bringing up which of the big programs you're wanting to cut, you're part of the problem.

There are only 7 areas accounting for 83.3% of the budget. Should be pretty easy to pick one and encourage cutting it as a concrete path to meaningful government-ectomy. It's time to get specific.

Moving

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:00 -0500

Twitter (and mirroring it to Facebook) seem to be replacing this blog. I like what Valerie Aurora writes on her home page:

For those of you born after 1980, a "homepage" is an ancient form of social presence on the web which has been superceded by more structured social networks like MySpace and Facebook. One of the main problems with a homepage was that it is easy to forget to update it. My current homepage is mostly an archive of the past and a collection of pointers to my current active Internet presence. Hope you enjoyed your history lesson!

Awesome.

Because impending parenthood and working for a startup aren't enough stress for one year, we've decided to relocate. (This has been the plan for several years, but stuff kept coming up. It seemed a bit now-or-never at this point.)

If you've seen the movie Away We Go, we did a trip like that in 2007 and again this year. The movie is about two people exactly our age, traveling around deciding where to live while expecting a kid. (Aside: the main characters in the movie made sense to me, but critics described them as unbelievable personalities. It seems movie critics don't know a lot of extreme introvert couples. Maybe we should get out more.)

Last year I got a lot out of a book called Who's Your City, which is a kind of flip side to The World is Flat. Who's Your City sounds like a "decide where to live" book but in fact it's about economic geography; Richard Florida argues that cities are essential to knowledge work, and that economic growth in recent decades has been due to knowledge work in regional centers (finance in New York, tech in Silicon Valley, sales in Chicago, etc.) ... the geographic clustering allows people to network, jump jobs, launch startups, exchange ideas, and in general get things moving. This book claims the world is becoming less flat, with a widening economic and cultural gap between urban knowledge workers and everyone else. You can understand a lot about people's gut reactions for or against Barack Obama from this one.

Relevance to our move: economically, it's near-insane for software developers in the US to live outside Silicon Valley, with a very short list of second-tier options (Boston, Boulder, RDU, Austin, maybe a couple others). And I love startup-type work environments, groups of smart people, and all that tech industry goodness. Amy's nursing specialty creates a similar situation; it's only found in large hospitals.

Aside from work, though, these places don't match us very well. (Work is not the only factor.)

It turns out that litl's parent company has a (small) office in Asheville, NC, a city on our short list for many years - it's near family, pretty, not too large, not too boring, affordable, lots of outdoor stuff to do. We enjoyed North Carolina when we lived in Chapel Hill.

The downside of Asheville is that it's not a tech industry kind of place. That's the risky (insane?) bit of the move, but I'm hopeful it will work out. Oddly enough, in practice it's almost more convenient to Boston than where we live now ... instead of being two hours from litl's Boston office, I can be five or fifteen minutes from the office in Asheville, complete with a fancy video link to the team in Boston and London. Going into the Boston office two days in a row was already 8 total hours of commuting, flying to Boston for a two-day trip isn't notably worse.

This will continue our North-South ping-pong, for me Georgia, Chicago, Chapel Hill, Boston, Asheville. Amy was there too except for the Georgia part.

Long story not short, we'll be in Asheville in a few weeks, but I'll still be in Boston often for work. And we'll see how it goes.

Spring is here

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 20:45 -0500

Haven't had time to blog in months ...

Have been working on litl during nearly all available hours... it took some time (doesn't it always?) but we have a great team assembled and it's a ton of fun to focus on writing the code rather than hiring, and see the rapid progress a complete team is able to make. (If you want to pile on, we aren't urgently hiring, but we probably will be at some point especially for the right person, so we'd love to see your resume.)
There is nothing better than getting high-quality work done with a high-quality group of people.
Clutter is rapidly approaching 1.0 ... spent some time this weekend patching the remaining issue that was driving me crazy, hoping to get it in under the wire. Emmanuele may be owed beers.
It's gratifying that the new default home screen of Facebook looks a lot like Mugshot.org, a site some of us came up with at Red Hat. We coded Mugshot's personal-lifestream-thingy before Facebook's news feed came out and before FriendFeed came out. Not saying either site copied us, but it's still nice to know at least our idea was good (even though there were lots of reasons we weren't the ones to get anywhere with it).
It used to be that the cool kids claimed to have listened to R.E.M. before Document (these are cool kids 20 years ago, I guess). I was listening to mutual fund manager John Hussman before he showed up on fivethirtyeight.com and in the Wall Street Journal. Am I a cool kid? Ha.
New York Times tries to explain why people get distracted by small(er) things like millions in AIG bonuses, while missing large things, like billions to bail out AIG's bondholders. Possible Occam's razor answer: most people don't know what a bond is, but they know what a bonus is.
Some spammer selling Hewlett-Packard products took over my Twitter account "hp", and now Twitter seems to have deleted it - and allowed someone else to grab the account. I emailed Twitter a while back asking them to fix it but all I got was an autoresponse saying "we've taken two weeks and still haven't gotten back to you, let us know if you still need help." I rarely twittered anything anyway, but ... lame.
Funniest thing today was a random snark on Ayn Rand that Miguel reposted.
Why is it reasonable to pretend that socialist or libertarian principles can guide a decision between 35% and 39.6% tax rates? Sure, 5% vs. 80% is an ideological debate. But 35% vs. 39.6% is a pragmatic debate. The vast majority of American voters agree on the main government spending items - social security, medicare, defense - that eat up most of our tax revenues. Controversial spending items are too small to affect the tax rate much. And the vast majority of Americans are opposed to 50-60% tax rates. We're going to stay right about where we are because big tax hikes and big spending cuts are both third rails. Here's some historical perspective; tax rates are much more stable over the last few decades than they have been over the last century.
Amy discovered Cake Wrecks (scroll past Sunday, they have non-wrecks on Sunday). Awesome.

litl at summit this weekend

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:58 -0400

For GNOME summit attendees we're buying some coffee, dessert, and snacks on Saturday afternoon from a local French restaurant. litl's founder John Chuang plans to drop by as well to meet people and learn.

This isn't a talk or a big announcement (litl will still be in stealth mode post-summit) - the idea is to say thanks to the developers behind GNOME and introduce ourselves.

The litl devel team will be around all weekend, doing some hacking. As you may have guessed we have quite a bit of code written in JavaScript, with a C/C++ core. We've invested a few weeks splitting the JavaScript/gobject-introspection bindings out of our codebase and rebasing to newer gobject-introspection. By Saturday we hope to have it compiling and posted, so we can hack on combining our work with Alex's gscript API among other things. We might also sign up for a technical talk about the bindings if people are interested in learning more.

Why the credit crisis matters

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:58 -0400

In an effort to outdo other software developers in nerdiness, I read a blog called Accrued Interest, subtitle "Come for the analysis and research on the U.S. Bond market. Stay for the geeky Star Wars references."

Accrued Interest has a nice explanation of how the credit crisis affects everyone.

Here's another good one from the New York Times.

A less ideological health plan

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:45 -0400

I've been wondering for a while why nobody contrasts Obama's health care proposal with some of the past Democratic proposals. It's a market-based, incremental proposal, that makes use of existing programs and existing insurance companies.

Today Obama's campaign has a new ad making this point, so I guess I'm on their wavelength. After my What happened to John McCain? post, the next day Obama ripped that off, too, for a negative ad.

Finally fixing health care would make a huge difference for quite a few people I know. It may be the single most consequential thing the government could do.

If you watched the debates, see factcheck.org's coverage. They ding both candidates on multiple claims.

Yikes

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:15 -0400

Worst stock plunge in 20 years.

Here's a relevant post from last year, when the stock plunge was much less dramatic.

Lessons for the next bull market (yes there will be one eventually):

Low interest rates and high liquidity do not mean stock prices will stay up. Those things are indicators of insufficient risk premiums, not indicators of permanent demand for assets.
If companies have 2x their long-run average profit margins, something unsustainable is going on. Abnormal profits don't last forever in (more or less) free market systems, due to competition and the business cycle. Anytime you read an article that mentions a P/E ratio, without discussing normalized margins, run away in fear. (The inverse goes as we most likely head into recession. P/E ratios will become misleadingly high, while in the bull market they were misleadingly low.)

Tax policy

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:15 -0400

Nice, factual, 1-chart explanation of the competing tax proposals. (Thanks Luis.)

Barack Obama's policy proposals.