Opening up the Brushes app for the first time I got those same feelings. I know it has layers, an extraordinary color palette tool, multiple brushes and of course undo. But there is something primary about the experience. You swipe and fill color with your finger. Nothing seems more direct.

I like a drawing experience that invites me to be spontaneous, probably because it is so forgiving. With a limitless number of canvases, I can be raw with no thought to waste or judgment. This is the promise of a tech tool that delivers an immediate response like pencil, like paint.

However, brushes is a very powerful app. One my favorite features is Brushes Viewer, the ability to save the file as QuickTime movie and watch your process play back in rapid animation. This is a remarkable aid in viewing your or someone else’s thinking. What better way to see that come to life than with this feature.

I have decided to make some time for this app on a regular basis. I’ll share my efforts soon.

Please reduce, reuse, and recycle these ideas.

So, I’ve started a weekly online course, Learn to Build iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It is a new effort on the part of O’Reilly Training in connection with CreativeTechs. These are my initial impressions.

Why free is not really an option
They call it free but I have a few issues with that.

• Two hour sessions are too long for effective learning. You have to break these down into more comprehensible segments to get the most out of them.
• The time of day on the east coast (2:00 p.m.) is not the most productive time for learning.
• It’s difficult to take two full hours out of a work afternoon to take the live course.
• I can’t absorb all that is going on without a review of the code on my computer, and for that you have to pay.
• I like to review and watch the videos again, because I always miss something. After the live sessions, you have to pay.

Why I’m buying it
The quality of instruction is first rate for an online course and here’s why.

• The instructor, Elisabeth Robson, is well prepared — she has done her homework on the content.
• It is evident that she is very familiar with what she is saying because she doesn’t hesitate or second guess her statements.
• The presentation is very direct, she gets to the point and she highlights what’s important.
• Elisabeth is an appealing speaker who is easy to listen to.
• She moves through the material at a comfortable pace.
• The presenter and team do a good job of supporting her with cues for important points and raising appropriate questions from the audience.
• I appreciate the straight forward approach — she isn’t trying to amuse or entertain.

To make good on one of my goals, I’m paying for the videos and code examples and I’ll go through them on my own time. I’ll miss out on the ability to ask questions but more often than not someone else has the same question and the Q&A will appear in the video. My recommendation to O’Reilly and CreativeTechs is to break this up into eight weeks if it needs to be that long. In the weeks ahead, I’ll discuss what I’m learning and show my work.

Series Session Dates: January 19, 2010 | January 26, 2010 | February 2, 2010
Course outline details →

Note: The course is $35 now while the course is in progress but will jump up to $79 after the course ends February 5, 2010.

Please reduce, reuse, and recycle these ideas.