Darren Rolfe (Twitter) is the genius behind the MacSparky and
original Mac Power Users logo. I’ve known Darren for years and consider him a friend. (Darren also loves his daughter, Ella, very much.) In addition to his amazing graphic design work, Darren pens his own online comic, The Mighty Monocle. So Darren, show us your home screen.

What are your most interesting home screen apps?

I think Planetary is the one of the most interesting, original and beautifully simple apps I’ve seen yet. It was a gift from a fellow iPad owner. The best way to describe it, is that it’s an intergalactic visualisation of your iTunes music library. You need to see it, to believe it!

Sketchbook Pro is also an interesting and extremely powerful app. I’m still adjusting to using the iPad for drawing. For my web comic I still use traditional ink and paper and I doubt if that will ever change. But, I want to be able to try and sketch rough panels/ideas on my iPad when I’m commuting. 

What is your favorite app?

Well I’m fairly new to this new-fangled iPad shenanigans. But so far, my favourite is the BBC iPlayer (UK only) app for the iPad. It gives you access to the some of the latest and greatest BBC television and radio shows. 

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

I don’t think any of my apps are “guilty pleasures”. However, I did push the boat out and blow the budget on the case for my iPad. I opted for the DODO case. They’re hand-crafted in San Francisco with traditional book-binding techniques. Essentially it’s a moleskine outer cover with a precision cut bamboo inlay. I love it!

What is the app you are still missing?

Alas, I can’t think of one. Which frustrates me immensely! I could be rich… Mu, ha, ha, mu, ha, ha!

How many times a day do you use your iPad?

All the time! I usually take it with me on my commute. Later, when I get home it is always being used by someone in the house. Me, my wife or my 6 year old daughter. 

What is your favorite feature of the iPad?

The sheer versatility of the device. As I mentioned I’ve only recently jumped on the iPad bandwagon. But now I have, I truly had a “lightbulb switching on” moment when I started to use it. What can’t you do with it? 

If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?

Firstly, SORT OUT THE LACK OF FLASH SUPPORT ON THE IPAD!  

I don’t know how? Buy Adobe or develop something else I don’t care, just make it happen. 

Secondly, I’d create a “Long Term Loyalty to Apple Award” for all those people who stuck with Apple through those dark, dark days back in the late 80’s. Me included! Perhaps, something along the lines of a gold-plated SE?

Anything else you’d like to share?

You can find my web comic “Mighty Monocle” at www.mightymonocle.com. It currently updates once a week. 

One last thing… The background wallpaper for my iPad home screen was designed for me by my daughter using Granimator for the iPad. Granimator is another fantastic FREE app that combines music with these surreal pieces of artwork!

Thanks Darren.

For more home screen posts, clicky here

I have this distinct memory of being in a dark place about two-thirds of the way through Mac at Work and discoverying this article by Michael Lopp (Twitter). Michael’s tips for finishing a book were critical and came at exactly the right time in my life. In addition to saving my bacon, Michael publishes Rands in Repose and has already authored two of his own books, Being Geek and Managing Humans. So Michael, what is on your home screen?

What are your most interesting home screen apps?

I’ve currently got the photography bug, so the most interesting apps to me are Instagram, Camera+, and TiltShiftGen. The combination of the three make me feel like I’m a photographer although I’m taking pictures with, ya’know, my phone.

If you asked me this question in another month, my answer would  be different.

What is your favorite app?

I’m late to the game on Camera+, but I’m loving it. It’s well thought out, it provides unexpected value, and it’s easy to use. Unfortunately, they fully missed the boat on social, so I’m constantly using Camera+ to post to Instagram since that is where my people are which seems like a massive missed opportunity. It’s douchey to say, but I’ll say it “Social matters more than you think”.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

Guilty pleasure. I’m going to interpret that as “app that provides provides disproportionate vice-like pleasure”.  I’m going to go with Boxcar because I’ve set it up to provide me various ego-based alerts whether it’s retweets in Twitter, mails from important people, or other douchey “Hey, you’re important!” events that happen on the Internet.

My hope is the new notifications in iOS 5 provide me even further opportunities for ego surfing.

What is the app you are still missing?

I think iOS 5 notifications (and perhaps iMessage) will help, but there is a constant stream of interesting notifications and alerts that are happening on the Internet and keeping track of them is a nightmare for me. I don’t want to spend my time changing between different apps, I want to know what has changed.

How many times a day do you use your iPhone?

Whatever the maximum amount is.. I’m +1 on that.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone?

Two features that are very related: the iPhone fits in my back pocket and conscientiously stays out of my way when I’m urgently trying to get something done.

If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?

I’d develop the elixir that would allow Steve Jobs to live forever.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I took the picture of my iPhone the moment I received this request which I think makes it more authentic. Things you can learn about me from this:

• It really bugs me that I’ve got one unheard voice mail, three app updates, and 47 unread mails.
• Camera+ should be on the main screen, but I haven’t figured out what to nuke, yet. Either Mint or Simplenote.
• The location of the apps on my screen is a a function of usage — outside corners = higher usage.
• Good Messaging blows, but I use it for work.
• My main screen is for the apps I use 95% of the time, the next screen is full of unreadable groups that I access via search.

Thanks Michael, for everything.

This week’s home screen features Jory Raphael (Twitter). Jory is the genius behind all of the 5by5 artwork, including the latest iteration of Daren Rolfe’s excellent Mac Power User’s logo. Jory is super-talented and a really nice guy. You can learn more about Jory’s work at Sensibleworld. So Jory, show us your home screen.

What are your most interesting home screen apps?

I think they’re all interesting!  The one app I use in an unexpected way is probably Adobe Ideas.  It’s replaced the notepad on my nightstand, as an easy way sketch ideas I have during the night.  That said, decoding those ideas in the morning can sometimes be a little tough!  Interaction with the iPhone and iPad touch screen is fantastic, but my finger can be cumbersome when trying to sketch a specific idea.  I’m definitely looking forward to the arrival of my More/Real stylus cap.

What is your favorite app?

The app I use the most is Tweetbot, followed closely by Reeder and Camera+.  I love the design of all of the Tapbots apps, and Tweetbot is no exception.  I’ve gotten so used to it’s features and layout that I feel a bit lost now when using pretty much any other Twitter app, iOS based or not.  Reeder is a definite must for keep up with RSS feeds, and Camera+ has proven invaluable to quickly capture important moments and milestone’s in my kids’ lives.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

Instacast.  It’s invaluable as a way to easily keep up with podcasts.  I’d call it a guilty pleasure because it prominently showcases podcast artwork.  The majority of the shows I listen to are on 5by5, so I get to see my artwork full screen when I’m listening. Sparkynote: I love Instacast too.

What is the app you are still missing?

There is one app missing from my iPhone.  One astronomically fantastic app.  A real game changer.  It’s completely and totally amazing. Epic. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.  That is to say, I have an idea for an app that I have yet to design.

How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad?

iPhone: Constantly.  iPad: On average once a day.  More if I’m out on the road meeting with clients.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPad?

The camera on the iPhone 4.  And, perhaps oddly, I love being able to easily access the display brightness on the iPad by double-clicking home and flicking right.  I tend to read on the iPad at night and quick brightness adjustment is key.

If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?

Wait, is there an opening?

Anything else you’d like to share?

I’ve recently jumped into UI design for iOS, so have been studying apps (and their icons) non-stop.  I’m also currently working on the next (free) update to my Symbolicons vector icon set to include optimized icons specifically for iOS design and retina displays.

Thanks Jory.

See more home screens here.

This week’s Home Screen guest is Dr. Drang (twitter). The good doctor publishes one of my favorite blogs, And now it’s all this, where he covers programming, productivity and other fine nerdery. So Doctor, show us your home screen.

What are your most interesting home screen apps?

The most interesting app, in the “may you live in interesting times” sense, is OnDeck Parent in the lower right corner. My sons swim for a neighborhood pool, and OnDeck Parent is the front end to an online database of meet results for the league they swim in. It’s an absolutely atrocious app, from its non-retina icon to its too-long name (love the ellipsis) to its scrolling toolbar (yes, it has a bottom toolbar you have to flick left and right to find its most important functions) to its tiny buttons. Everything Apple wants to see in an iOS app, OnDeck Parent isn’t.

It is, however, the only way to get mobile access to meet results, and it’s free. I think OnDeck makes its money selling meet management software and services to pools, and this app is sort of a throwaway freebie that’s probably written to be as cross-platform as possible. I think of it as a small taste of Android that reminds me to appreciate my iPhone.

With swim season over, I’ll be moving OnDeck Parent off to some netherscreen until next summer. 1Password will take its place.

What is your favorite app?

My favorite “app” (it’s just a web page, not a real app) is my homemade weather app at the end of the second row. It was sparked by Ben Brooks’ complaints about not having a weather app with just the features he wanted. I realized I felt the same way and whipped up a simple CGI script that gave me the current conditions, a brief forecast, and a radar map. It loads faster than other apps and is tuned to exactly the information I want. This is why I think learning to script is important.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

I’m older than the President and well past the stage where I feel guilty about pleasure.

What is the app you are still missing?

I still want a timer app that mutes the phone for a set period of time. I use the mute switch when I go into a meeting or a movie, but I almost always forget to unmute it when I leave. A timer would be the perfect solution. (Maybe there’s one I haven’t heard of?)

How many times a day do you use your iPhone?

Constantly when I’m on the road, to the point where I need to carry an external battery with me. I got a Sanyo Eneloop Mobile Booster for just $20 at Costco a couple of years ago, and it’s been great. A little clunky, but it holds over two full iPhone charges.

I use my phone much less when I’m home or in the office, of course, because there’s always a computer around. I am surprised, though, how often I use the iPhone instead of my MacBook Air, just because it’s right there in my pocket.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Unlike some of the people whose home screens you’ve shown, I don’t really have a system for laying out my apps. My only rule is no folders—if an app is important enough to put on the home screen, it’s important enough to be out on it’s own.

Most of my apps are in Apple’s default positions. When I use a substitute for a built-in app, I usually put it where the original app was. You see that with Agenda, Notesy, PCalc, Due, and iTalk. I find that I launch apps by position. When I want to look at my calendar, my thumb reaches for the second spot in the top row, regardless of the app’s name or icon. (And if I’m not on the home screen, I still tap that spot and end up launching something else entirely.)

Thanks Doctor.

This week’s home screen post features everyone’s favorite MacDrifter, Gabe Weatherhead (Twitter). In addition to being a PhD chemist, Gabe also has some serious IT and Mac chops. The MacDrifter is a prime example of a one-man blog with great Apple related content. Don’t miss it.

So Gabe, what is on your home screen?

What are your most interesting home screen apps?

Well, like you OmniOutliner is now comfortably on my home screen. Besides that I’ve been trying out a number of handwriting recognition apps lately. A few of them are stunningly accurate. I think that we still have considerable CPU overhead still available for all app categories other than games.

What is your favorite app?

My most used app is probably Simplenote but my favorite is OmniFocus. The interaction design as well as attention to detail is unequaled on iPad. It’s just a pleasure to use. The OmniGroup has a team of iOS design masters. I realize they are taking their lead from some Apple designs but they really nail some hard problems.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

I love the idea of games, but I just don’t have the time or patience to stick with them. But if by “guilty” you mean the app that I waste a bunch of time in, then it’s a toss up between Tweet Library and Zite. Tweet Library is the most practical and useful Twitter client I have found, however there is still some debate for me as to whether Twitter is actually useful. Zite, on the other hand, gives me news tailored to my interests. In one Zite “issue” I can find articles about the iOS 5 features, interesting arguments for changes to the tax law, custom beer-brewing hardware and the latest kerfuffle over Arsenic based life forms.

What is the app you are still missing?

Up until a few weeks ago, I would have said OmniOutliner. Now I would just like real syncing in OmniOutliner. One of the killer features in OmniFocus is the syncing between all of the different devices I have. OmniOutliner is much closer in nature to OmniFocus than it is to OmniGraffle (which lacks sync). I have high hopes that the Omni Group will take advantage of the upcoming iOS5 cloud sync features with the rest of their products. 

I’d also love to see something like nvALT on iPad. Simplenote feels a little too simple now that nvALT has shown what low friction notes should look like. I recently jumped over to WriteRoom for iOS and it’s close to being what I want for a Simplenote client (except it uses Dropbox). I prefer the Simplenote syncing since it feels instantaneous in comparison with most Dropbox based text editors. Again, this all comes back to a dearth of sync options with iOS. It’s rather embarrassing that iOS 4 still needs to rely on Dropbox so much. It was obvious the first day the AppStore opened that these devices need to sync data. Hopefully we will finally get ubiquitous syncing with iOS 5. 

How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad?

I use may iPad all day to track tasks and meetings. So, probably at least 50 times a day. More specifically I probably use it for 4 hours a day total time. That number looks stunning when I see it written out. However, my day jobs supports exchange mail on my iOS devices, so rather than being a slave to Outlook on my Windows machine, I just leave mail on my iPad and respond when necessary. It definitely reduces the Pavlovian response to reply immediately. So in a way, my iPad allows me to ignore Outlook more, which overall is a good thing. I gave up one master for another, but I feel more productive, which is what matters.

I also do almost all of my reading on the iPad. I read everything from eBooks, to RSS feeds, to Instapaper articles. Reading and writing are my two primary uses of iPad. It’s the first thing I pick-up in the morning and the last thing I put down before the lights go out.

What is your favorite feature of the iPad?

The iPad has encouraged application designers to forget that horrible user experience that has evolved with the mouse and file system. Because there is no such thing as a mouse hover event or contextual menu, UI design must be intuitive and app features easy to access. iPad just feels more natural and I can easily pick up most new apps without instruction. My 3 year old daughter, 60 year old mother and I can all effortless interact with the device and make it do wonderfully complex things. I can’t think of any other thing that has that kind of experience profile.

If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?

That’s a tough question. Since Apple appears to be exceeding all expectations and inventing the future of technology I’m not sure I could add much. I would like to see them buy Dropbox and give everyone there a huge raise (and tighten up security a bit). The utility of iPad without Dropbox and Simplenote would be greatly diminished. Apple is missing the device connectivity that will be the future of mobile computing. As the desktop moves into the cloud, instant accessibility and transportability of data will be crucial. That does not exist in stock iOS devices today.

I am anticipating the full integration of voice recognition in iOS and the Mac OS. If I were in charge, I would push full steam ahead on integrating the Nuance technology at a low level. I believe voice control of rudimentary device functions is the next abstraction for user interaction. Instead of directly manipulating virtual controls through a touchscreen we should signal our intent as we would to one another through spoken words.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I’m a pretty big David Lanham fan for my Apple device backgrounds. While my lock screens are always photos of my daughter, my background images are always David Lanham art. I also have several of his prints hanging around my office and my daughter has this one in her room.

Not too long ago I discovered this wonderful book, Creating Flow with OmniFocus, by Kourosh Dini (Twitter). I began corresponding with Kourosh and discovered that, in addition to being an OmniFocus wizard, he is also a really smart guy. I asked Kourosh to share his iPhone home screen and he agreed. I can tell you in advance this is one my favorite home screen posts. Kourosh’s thoughts below about non-reactive working is really thought provoking. So Kourosh, show us your home screen.

What are your most interesting and useful home screen apps?

My most interesting and useful apps are likely OmniFocus, iFlash, MindNode, Instapaper, Square, PlainText, Magnatune, SomaFM, Flashlight, and ePocrates:

• iFlash is a simple flash card app that syncs with a laptop version of the program. If I’m standing in line at the grocery store, it’s nice to pull out “flash cards” and practice memorizing whatever it is that I’m interested in at the time.

• MindNode – I tend to mind map in waves. I’ll go for long periods without making one and then suddenly want to do several. MindNode can create maps that I’ll export to the desktop version. It is also simple, which I like.

• Instapaper still blows my mind as a great way to gather things to read. It distills what I want to read into its simplest elements and, by doing so, provides a good frame in which I can read it.

  I will purposely save long articles to Instapaper even if I have the time to read it in the browser as I’ll then be better able to focus on the article itself. With fewer distractions, I can stop reading, think, and return to reading much more easily than with a browser.

• Square – The fact that I can do credit card transactions using my phone is as astounding as it is convenient.

• PlainText – I could likely go with any number of writing apps. I’ve lately been on a kick of integrating various writing apps and working towards a better organization/consolidation of writings. The process has been significantly inspired by your discussions on DropBox and Hazel.

• Flashlight helps me wander the house at night.

• Magnatune and SomaFM are very nice music apps. The former has yours truly as an artist and the latter has the Groove Salad and Secret Agent stations, which I very much dig.

• ePocrates is a great resource for reviewing medications, their dosing, listed adverse effects, among other useful info.

• OmniFocus helps me do stuff in a huge way. See next response.

What is your favorite app?

Far and away, OmniFocus. I’m biased, but there’s a reason I have that bias in the first place. The iPhone version is a solid productivity app that functions, for myself at least, as a satellite to the desktop.

As an example of its utility, I use it as a writing app as much as any of the others, not to mention its task management abilities. Anytime I have an idea while walking near my office, I have an inbox to store it. I’ll have a “Thoughts to Add” project associated with a project-in-progress. The task itself functions as a title, and its note field is useful for ideas to jog my mind later. Syncing then adds the task to the desktop where it can remind me of the previous day’s thoughts as I type away in the morning.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

Listening to the Secret Agent station on the SomaFM app while walking downtown. Not sure why, but there’s something just wonderfully silly about listening to that station while no one around you has any idea.

What is the app you are still missing?

None really. In fact, I’ve probably gone overboard with them.

While technology has a lot to offer, I also know that I grow into things slowly. It takes some time of devoted attention to really get into a well thought out program. If there are too many programs available, especially when their functionality overlap, I tend to slow the learning process and cheat myself out of some of those “I’ve got an idea!” moments. This is precisely what is happening with my writing apps at the moment.

Then again, someone will show me some new app, and I still run off to that shiny object.

How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad?

Likely, too many.

One thing I actively work on, and have been actively working on for sometime, is maintaining a non-reactive mode of working. Fortunately, or unfortunately, as technology continues its steady advance promising “convenience”, I believe it’s not really a convenience which it delivers. Rather, it’s a shortening of a distance between thought and action. If I’m not careful, this can lead to a more reactive way of working – checking email, twitter, and the like reflexively.

People have grown through a period of time where thought had more opportunity to gestate, merge, form, crystallize, and otherwise before it would eventually manifest as intention. Now, as that distance has shortened, we are delivered a new problem in that we have to devise new methods of holding onto our thoughts, working through them, and eventually delivering them in ways that require holding off the natural inclination of acting upon opportunity.

Just because I can search for an answer to a question instantly, doesn’t mean I should. Simply resting my mind on a question and letting thoughts meander can deliver some pretty cool ideas. But when I instantly search for an answer, I can actually deprive myself of those new concepts that can only come from a period of thought.

The iPhone, other smart phones, and apps and programs in general, are just tools. Like any other, I need to continue learning how to use them, especially as their nature is to change. So, I guess a better answer to the question is “Too many, but the iPhone is still very useful. I continue trying to learn an optimal use.”

If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?

Nothing really. A bit tangential to the question, though, I tend to watch their iTunes/Application/iBook type stores and wonder how they’ll evolve. Somehow I compare them to Steam, which is a video game sales portal designed and developed by Valve Software. It’s fascinating to watch the development of interaction between customer and corporation and how the paths parallel regardless of file type. There’s nothing I’d add or change that I can think of, but I like to see the continued innovation of the interface.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Nope, just happy to be here.

Thanks Kourosh.

As further evidence that one of the best reasons to attend Macworld Expo is to meet like-minded nerds, this year I had the pleasure getting to know the iFixit guys.

Kyle Wiens (twitter) can take just about anything apart and put it back together. In addition to being a really smart guy, Kyle is an e-waste activist and has some really useful information on the subject at his site. Finally, Kyle’s iPad home screen wallpaper is perhaps the most appropriate (based on what Kyle does for a living) of any home screen poster yet. So Kyle, show us your home screen.

What is your favorite app?

Well, I’m obligated to say that’s my own app: iFixit. Repair manuals were meant to be mobile, and the iPad is far and away the best way to use a repair manual. You perform a task, swipe to the next step, do the next step, swipe next. It’s seamless and crazy functional. The final user experience turned out much better than I had hoped it would. Our technicians use it all the time in the office.

I also love Maps. I didn’t have data access when I was traveling throughout Africa researching e-waste, and I got lost constantly. Being able to get last-minute directions frees me from having to pre-plan every last detail of my life. I love the flexibility.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

Instapaper. Whenever I get a spare moment, I dive into articles I should have read earlier but didn’t have time.

What is the app you are still missing?
I’d love to get a useful Google Voice app.

I definitely miss iFixit on my phone. Our iPad app is so incredibly useful, and I’d definitely like to have that view of our repair guides on the go. We’re almost done with our iPhone version, which I’m really excited about.

How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad?

It depends on the day. When I’m working, I don’t use them much at all. When I travel, I use my phone constantly. I listen to podcasts on the way to work and Runkeeper when I run in the evenings.

I actually use my iPad rarely—less than I use my Kindle. I mostly use it to follow a repair guide when I’m fixing something or to check out interesting new apps. But when I do use it, it’s incredible. In fact, I used it last night to fix the ignition switch in my Honda Accord. There’s no way I would have been able to use my laptop for that.

I’d like to use the iPad more over time, but I haven’t found anything yet that makes it useful in my day-to-day coding and design work.

I’m so much more productive on my MacBook Pro than my iPad that I really reserve it for consuming content. Or jamming in Garage Band.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPad?

The iPod app’s double-speed podcast playback. If it didn’t do that, I’d have to get a custom-purpose device that did.

If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?

I would kill iTunes. It’s the worst product Apple’s ever made, and it needs to be scrapped and rewritten from scratch. Here’s an example. I listen to BBC World Service every morning. Here’s my process: Open iTunes. Plug in my phone. Wait 10-15 seconds for iTunes to un-freeze and start syncing. Click podcasts, click refresh. Wait for the phone to sync and the podcasts to download. Then click sync again, because it doesn’t always sync podcasts that were downloading while it was syncing the first time. Wait for the sync to finish, unplug and go. It’s a ridiculous waste of time. Why can’t my phone download new podcasts over the air?

I’m sure Apple knows iTunes sucks, but replacing it with a cloud architecture is hard. I’m optimistic they’ll figure it out eventually, but I don’t think the solution will come anytime soon.

Anything else you’d like to share?

The iPad revolutionizes repair. Performing a repair with the iPad is a phenomenal experience. It really feels like the future. Follow a step. Swipe to the next step. Tap to zoom in on a photo, and pinch to zoom to see the itty-bitty details of an individual screw head. Tap to close, swipe for the next step. The iPad completely disappears, and the photo manual is all that you experience. This really is a quantum leap forward in making online knowledge seamlessly useful. Unlike the repair manuals of yore, iFixit on iPad gets better when you’re not using it—because thousands of people all over the world are constantly editing and making our manuals better.

I also included a screen cap of my MacBook Pro’s desktop for posterity. Lightroom, Scrivener, and BusyCal are my favorite third party Mac apps.

Thanks Kyle.

Several months ago I was on a business trip and had one of those fortuitous experiences. This guy got on the airport shuttle with me and was positively beaming. He was a complete stranger to me but I immediately knew I wanted to make a new friend. He turned out to be Steve Volk (Twitter) and the reason he was so happy is he had the first print copy of his first book. Steve and I proceeded to share lunch and a drink at the Airport and I made a really smart and geek-inclined new friend. Steve is an experienced investigative journalist and just released his first book, Fringe-ology, all about a serious look into such things as ghosts, UFOs, and maverick scientists. So Steve, show us your home screen.

What are your most interesting home screen apps?

Things like Zite and Flipboard, which aggregate media, intrigue me. They probably represent the future of my business as a journalist, allowing people to bypass all the traditional portals and eliminating the reader’s identification with particular publications. I’m not sure what this means for my paychecks, ultimately, and I worry about a public that more and more can entirely control what information it receives. Sometimes, we simply need to be confronted by points of view we don’t like. But I’m also excited by what these apps represent—the ability to get content to people, multimedia content, near instantaneously.

What is your favorite app?

I love my comics reader, Comixology, and the functionality of iBooks is dreamy—sorry, bibliophiles, but the tactile sensation of holding the iPad and turning virtual pages is enough for me. This is quite a statement from a guy with a book he’s looking to sell. But whoomp! there it is, and I’m just as happy to have people buy it using an e-reader.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

FIFA 11—the soccer app. I can play a half of soccer in seven or eight minutes on a break and a second half later, whenever I have the time. The graphics are great and the gameplay is smooth and, well, shouldn’t I be using those stolen minutes to meditate? Here I am, having done all that research on meditation and I’m spending some of my time playing videogame soccer?

What is the app you are still missing?

Too many to count. With the book out and some assignments I’ve been working, including a long piece on the culture of open air drug dealing in Philadelphia, I’ve been too busy to really even scratch the surface of what’s available to me. My intention, no lie, is to sit down with your blog, on my iPad, of course, and get some ideas of what I’m missing. But I have yet to enjoy the chance.

How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad?

I mean, constantly. I use my iPhone to listen to audiobooks, podcasts and music. In fact, I listen to my phone more than my home stereo. I also use it every time I run. I am finishing Couch to 5K, the running app, and transitioning to Couch to 10K. My iPad is even more of a companion. When I sit down for the night, whenever that is, I curl up with my iPad and sit next to my wife in the exact same way I used to sit down with an armful of books and magazines.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPad?

I’m not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but the ease of use. I am not a technophile but darn if I can’t figure stuff out on these bad boys. In my entire life, how many things have met my expectations for them—from people and relationships, to my own work and nearly every product I buy, book I read or movie I see? My wedding day, my marriage, my iPhone and my iPad all have one thing in common—they exceeded my expectations for them. That’s a short list. And no, I’m really not equating my iPad to marriage… . Really.

If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?

Dudes, for gosh sakes’, bring back the black MacBooks. They were so fricking cool.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Well, ultimately, my book is about how we don’t have to feel separate from one another. And whether anyone buys the book or not, I hope if people take away one thing from Fringe-ology, it’s that. I took on a whole series of taboo topics for a mainstream journalist—paranormal stuff. And what I found, again and again, is that the people on the extreme poles of belief and unbelief hold a lot in common. I think they try to establish a worldview for themselves based on plastering some often ill-fitting answer over questions that are still open to investigation. But once I started looking into topics like prayer, meditation and lucid dreaming—which, for a lot of people are just hooey—I found myself in new territory. Here, it seems, whether we believe these are purely material pursuits that bestow beneficial effects on our brain, or also spiritual pursuits, we’re still better off for taking part in these practices. And if we focus our thoughts on ideals like peace and compassion and love, we tend to emerge with a more accepting, tolerant and welcoming attitude toward other people and their beliefs. This may color me as a kind of journalist-hippie. But I’m all right with that. See how accepting I am?

Thanks Steve

Josh Barrett(Twitter) is the publisher of Tablet Legal the premier iPad site for lawyers. Josh’s site includes tons of practical tips about getting the most out of your iPad and is useful to everyone. Josh and I became friends at the ABA Techshow. Josh is really smart and I recommend subscribing to his site. So Josh, show us your home screen.

How does the iPad fit in your workflow?

Like you, David, I’m a practicing lawyer a nerdy blogger and a family man. My iPad is a big part of my workflow in each of these areas. It helps me get more done with less friction so I can spend more time kicking the soccer ball with my kids, trying to write better on my blog and helping my clients.

My main work axe is a Windows PC because that is what my firm has deployed. Otherwise I use Macs at home and iOS devices exclusively.

What is most interesting about your home screen?

What usually strikes people about my iPad home screen is that it isn’t full. This might seem silly, but I like the aesthetic of a “composed” home screen, especially on the iPad. It also turns out that I have everything I use heavily on that home screen.

I have a folder for my “work” apps which sort of creates two “contexts” on the home screen. The default context includes mail, contacts, maps, music, my to do list manager and the like. The folder context contains my main productivity apps that I often use in conjunction with one another. The folder may introduce an extra tap or two in my workflow but the organization makes sense to me and seems to reduce mental friction while working. I named the folder “Ship it” as (1) an homage to “cranky” Internet guy Merlin Mann and (2) a fun reminder to me to get back to work.

What is your favorite app?

The app that has me most intrigued right now is probably Zite, the news app. The “Pandora of news” is the best way I have heard it described and I think that fits perfectly. Excited to see how this technology develops

My most heavily used app would probably be a combination of Reeder and Instapaper. These apps have transformed the way I interact and network with clients. I am able to stay informed about goings on in my clients’ industries through RSS feeds and I consume, share and archive articles I want to read through Instapaper.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

MLS MatchDay, I guess. I have been a huge supporter of the Portland Timbers for years and this year they entered the MLS. The app is great with live video of matches (if not blacked out), highlights (often posted within minutes of the action), news and the like. Home games are my time to really blow off steam with the Timbers Army or share quality time with the family.

What is the app you are still missing?

More of an iOS feature I’d say, and that is better file management. As a lawyer like you, my work lives and breathes by files of all sorts of formats, versions, collaborators and the like. Dropbox solves a lot of this but I’m really hoping iOS 5 does something really special in this area.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPad?

Two things for me:

• Portability with Lots of Power: This ensures I always have a great tool right at hand. I used to have to think about whether to bring a laptop (seems like I’d always guess wrong). Now I don’t have to decide. This is less of an issue now because of the new MacBook Air, but I don’t have one of those. Until I do, having the power of the iPad in an almost unnoticeable form factor is terrific.

• Focused Work Environment: Because the iPad really becomes whatever it is you are working on, I find I stay focused and productive while using it. Also, even being a heavy user since the beginning, I still find the experience of using the iPad a treat. I can’t think of many of my tools that I can say that about. I have said it before, but there is something qualitatively different about engaging with your work on the iPad. Kudos to Apple for the product and the developers for coming up with new ways to do things.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Folks often ask about my wallpaper. It is a photo I made of the Lower Latourell Falls near my home in Oregon. Photography is a hobby of mine. Lots of great waterfalls out here to shoot.

Thanks for sharing my home screen with your readers!

Thanks Josh.

Brett Kelly (twitter) really likes Evernote. He likes it so much that one day he just decided to write a book about it, Evernote Essentials, which became the definitive guide for Evernote. I had heard about Brett but never realized, until recently, that he lives near me. So Brett and I got together for breakfast and immediately felt like old friends. Brett is also now publishing some well-produced Evernote screencasts. In addition to all other pursuits, Brett loves his iPhone. So Brett, show us what is on your home screen.

I have a dual-purpose philosophy for home screen apps: these 16 apps are comprised of a) apps that I really like and use regularly and b) apps that I want to use more. I find that if I see an app when I unlock my phone, I’m more likely to think about firing it up. This obviously depends a great deal on the app in question as well as the time and place, but it’s helped me to do better at adopting apps whose potential is clear.

What is most your most interesting app?

My most “interesting” home screen apps are probably Instacast and Evernote (which I keep in the dock, so that may disqualify it from the “home screen” category). The former has completely changed how I consume podcasts on my iPhone. Before Instacast, getting new podcast episodes required either syncing with iTunes or downloading them piecemeal using the iTunes app. Other than occasionally moving music I’d purchased on the phone into iTunes, podcasts were the only reason I ever synced my iPhone. Instacast lets me bypass that whole process by allowing me to add/edit/delete podcast subscriptions and download new episodes, all from within the app. It’s a bargain at ten times the $3 price.

Evernote is a no-brainer for me. It’s easily among my top 3 most-used apps (along with OmniFocus and Twitter) and is an indispensable capture tool for me. I use it to keep track of where I go (and when I was there) using the geotagging business, to fully photo-document my son’s t-ball games and my daughter’s ballet classes and as a portable copy of my entire digital filing cabinet (plus a pantload of other uses). Anybody who knows me knows that I’m a huge fan of Evernote, so none of this should come as any surprise (disclosure: I work for Evernote).

What is your favorite app?

Choosing a favorite app would be tough, but the two contenders would certainly be OmniFocus and Evernote. OmniFocus is my task manager of choice on both my Macs, my iPad and my iPhone. It’s hard to overstate just how mind-bindingly awesome it is, particularly on the iPad (a point you’ve made on many occasions). It’s got all the oats you could possibly want in a task manager, but let’s you keep it simple if that’s your deal. I won’t belabor this point, but suffice it to say that OmniFocus is what I tap by default when absentmindedly unlocking my iPhone.

My guilty pleasure would definitely be Ego. It’s a simple app that let’s you track your social-ish stats: RSS subscribers, twitter followers, blog page views, etc. I will freely admit that there’s a certain amount of narcissism inherent in apps like this (hence the name), but it does give me a dashboard-style view of how popular I am and, thus, how worthwhile my existence is on this earth. Kidding.

So what is missing from your iPhone?

I’ll be honest — and this is going to sound extremely fanboy-like — there isn’t really an app that I want to exist that doesn’t. I’m already pretty floored by what my iPhone can do and it does just about everything I want. I could do with a little less friction in some cases (I’d pay money for native clipboard history or TextExpander-style functionality), but on the whole I’m very happy with everything my phone does.

How often do you use your iPhone?

I use my iPhone pretty regularly throughout the day. I work at home and, as such, I often need to get away from my desk for a few minutes. If I’m taking a walk, I’m probably listening to a podcast or skimming RSS feeds in Reeder. If I’m in the kitchen making a tasty snack, I’m probably reading Twitter or doing email triage. If I’m at my desk, it will frequently serve dutifully as my Pandora player (so I can avoid having to spin up the molasses-laden CPU hog Flash player on my Mac). After business hours, I use my iPhone a great deal more for taking quick snaps of my family or shooting short video clips. I suck at both of these activities to startling degrees, but the iPhone makes that particular act of sucking very, very easy.

What is your favorite iPhone feature?

I’ve carried golf bags for some UI designers and one axiom of their field that has stuck with me is the idea that interfaces should do the least surprising thing. Both the iPhone and the iPad absolutely nail this: for the most part, they do what you expect when you interact with them. A close second would be that, with both devices, Apple built them to be responsive above just about anything else. I very rarely find myself tapping on a button or swiping the screen without something happening, even if it’s already grinding away on something. In my admittedly limited experience with other smartphones, this simply isn’t the case — at least, not to the same extent.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Personally, I can’t stand the folders. The current iteration of iOS allows 11 screens of un-folder-ed apps. I can’t imagine requiring more space than that. I understand the idea of logically grouping applications, but the novelty wore off very quickly because, at least for me, it just meant I needed to tap the screen a few extra times to launch the app that I wanted. I’ve used the same apps (in the same arrangement) for long enough that I know instinctively where to go and how to launch them. Folders would effectively kneecap my ability to launch apps without looking closely at the Springboard.

My only exception to this whiny folder-hating approach is that I use a single folder to hold all of the stock apps that I rarely or never use and can’t outright delete: Notes, Contacts, Weather, Compass, Voice Memos, Stocks, etc. I also keep the App Store and iTunes apps in this folder to avoid excessively draining my wallet; out of sight, out of mind.

Thanks Brett.