More information about the Nintendo Switch, some quick thoughts about Atlassian’s acquisition of Trello, and Chris Lattner’s move to Tesla.

Nintendo Switch

Because of its unique nature (combining portable and traditional console) I mentioned the Switch when it was first announced. At the time however, no details were available other than knowing it was going to be released in 2017.

This changed on Friday when Nintendo gave a presentation (YouTube video) and official introduction for the device. I remain as interested in the device as I was last year, but not all the answers were great. The first thing most people will look at is the price, which is $300 USD¹. Whether the console is worth the money is always a decision you have to make yourself. In a world where people complain about apps that cost 99 cents or (gasp!) even more than that I’m sure plenty of people will think it’s too high. As with any console though, it’s eventually the game library that decides that.

Which brings us to the second item to look at, the games. At launch there aren’t many titles, but they’re not bad titles either. While the latest instalment of Zelda may or may not be to your liking, I suspect that 1-2 Switch may be as fun for multiplayer as Wii Sports was. An interesting new look at Mario will come in the “summer”², and a bunch more games have been announced. We’ll have to see which of these will work out.

But while those two will probably decide whether or not the console is something you want to spend money on, it’s not the thing that makes Nintendo stand out. In a world where the hardware specs seem to be all that matters, Nintendo tries to stand out without joining that race by offering something different. In the case of the Switch that means the ability of using it as a portable device, and we finally got an answer about how portable it will be. The battery life is expected to be between 2.5 and 6 hours, depending on the game. This is quite a wide range, and will probably get some complaints on how short it can be. I can make excuses for it, after all it’s console optimised software running off a small battery, but no matter how you look at it that’s not a lot of battery for a mobile device. Let’s hope it’s easy to charge while traveling.

Last time I mentioned the software as a big possible downside. Well, I have no idea yet whether it’s any good, but they are going to have a service similar to PSN and X-Box Live. This worries me a little though, as I’m just not confident in Nintendo’s ability to make it worthwhile, but it is pretty much table stakes these days for a console.

Other than that, there still isn’t a lot to say until the reviews start coming in. The console uses game cards that look like SD cards instead of the regular DVD/Blu-Ray of other consoles, which only makes sense for a mobile device, and apparently they’ll be region free. So you’ll be able to easily get more games while traveling or ordering online, without needing to check if they’ll run.

Trello to Atlassian

Trello is no more. Or rather, it no longer is a separate entity as it was acquired by Atlassian. This is actually an announcement that makes me hopeful, not so much about the product itself³ but because of Trello’s good knowledge of UI and UX.

I use multiple Atlassian products every day at work, but while he products themselves are good and capable in my opinion they’re no fun to use. I realise it’s probably too much to hope for, and unlikely to be the reason for the acquisition, but I really hope that the team from Trello will be able to have some influence on Atlassian’s other products.

Swift Project Lead Goes to Tesla

Chris Lattner, the man who did all of the original work on the Swift language⁴ and was the head of the project afterwards is leaving Apple for Tesla. Usually I wouldn’t bother mentioning about the job change of a single person, but this one just triggered too many of my interests to be left alone.

Not only was he the original force behind one of the most modern and therefore interesting programming languages (he will still remain active in the project, just not lead it anymore), but he’s going to be heading the software part of Tesla’s Autopilot developments.

Obviously Lattner is a smart person, so I’m sure he’ll do well at Tesla. At the same time however, realistically speaking he’s a single person and he will be part of a team that has already achieved some good work in this respect and I’m sure they’d do so without him as well. Which of course goes the other way as well, Apple and Swift will be fine without him⁵.