I figured it was time to report on my take regarding the iPhone one month into the usage.
The Interface:
I simply love the ability to grab the screen and make it bigger or smaller. Whether it's pictures or Safari, using the screen as a device unto itself is just about the coolest way to interact with your data. The best way to show people just how badass the iPhone is only requires you to open up a web page and grab the screen and make it bigger. End of story everything else just feels like plastic in their pockets after that.
The Phone:
It's ok...the stereo headphones make it better, the speaker-phone is weak, sometimes my boss calls and the phone refuses to answer...I mean literally the screen won't allow me to answer the call. Kinda frustrating. Overall the phone experience is way better than my Sidekick was, and less dependable than any of my Blackberry's.
Email:
Freaking WEAK! Honestly, this is the worst of it. I have gotten used to reading my work email and replying with DotMac account though. The people who know me, and need me to respond immediately know to hit me up on the .mac account for a quicker response. But, after you have become accustomed to a dedicated server like with the Crackberry, then everything else is like going back in time.
Calendar:
OK, this is the weakest...syncing up my daily activities at night, then having them change half a dozen times during the day is pretty lame. Not having a real-time sync is a dupe...
iPod:
STRONG. Strong. Strong! Listening to my tunes when I want, with one device is great. And having the phone ring in the middle of Spoon singing The Underdog, just puts you in a great mood for any conversation. Like any iPod, sync is seamless and works like a champ. Can't wait until the next version comes out and they allow the phone to work with iTunes over WIFI...I'll be positively green, and spin the sucky outcome like I'm a purist who wants to hang onto the original because I'm old-school!
Everything else:
Screw everything else...30 days into this puppy and my only wish is that I could marry it. Hold any mobile next to your head, and then let me walk up next to you with this by mine, and people will assume that I am from the future, if I'm running it's because I have discovered that my calendar was wrong and I'm late for an appointment! Apparently, in the future we are less concerned about being up-to-date with out current information.
Caveat, if you don't have techno-lust and just want a cell to be a cell, then don't get one - you'll be wasting an iPhone. Look for me in the next 60 to see if we're still together?
I seriously recommend discovering all you can about Widgets. Widgets are third party web
apps, depicted through graphical representation, that offer desktop or mobile users the opportunity to dial into a specific functionality right on your desktop or mobile device.
To be more direct, it's a piece of code represented via a graphic image, that takes up little space on your hard drive and gives the user a simple interface to retain the information the app delivers.
Macs have the Dashboard that allows the easy management of Widgets, and some of my favorite ones are the Sticky Note, AccuWeather, iPhone Apps, Top 25 iTunes, and of course the Calculator. Yahoo offers up it's own version of the Widget management system (it's where I got this pretty picture from), and it has some great little apps that you can sink your teeth into. Another great place to find Widgets that you can make work for you here at Widgetbox.com.
You'll notice BrainBlenders has a widget that is available to place on your desktop a little further down the page and on the right. Many people have already downloaded this little puppy, and I hope they are enjoying it fully.
The secret to the Widget world is to try a few safe ones first, before you download 20 of them only to determine that you never look at 'em. Get the weather one, the sticky notes one, and maybe a music program just see if you like, and then you can go on the search for a bunch that will simplify your interface.
People, let me tell you about my best friend...ok, well not my best friend, but a super-cool coffee maker called the Keurig. The Keurig is a single cup coffee maker that utilizes coffee pods to deliver the same, exact desired taste every time you make a cup. One of the best features is the ease of use. Simply drop the pod in the top of the Keurig and press a button - boom, coffee! It's hot, tastes great and the clean up is a simple as pulling the pod out and throwing it away. For those one cup situations this is the coffee maker to own.
We bought the cheaper one available at Target called the B-40. This more than meets our needs, but they have larger ones with varying sizes and neat little screens if you need more glowing screens in your house. But, as for me and mine the Keurig is taking top honors right now. Coffee-on!!
This is a very cool site. Neave.com The jump page is fun to play with (Neave Imagination), but once you get past that the micro games are awesome. Frogger, Simon, Asteroids, Space Invaders and more. At last check I was number 19 on Asteroids...yeaaa!!! This site has a lot on it, flash based stuff...and I dig it. Play some games, check the fun, and give this guy some love.
Have to tell you about the coolest thing I have had in a long time...The Apple Mighty Mouse. Specifically the wireless version, which makes it MORE wonderful. Some coworkers have been utilizing the little wonder for some time, and every chance I get I have been hijacking one of fellows devices with impunity. Instead of outright larceny I finally decided to go get my own, and the hits just keep on coming. The best thing about the mouse is the fast response, the second greatest thing about it is the scroll wheel which works vertically and horizontally. Vertically it obviously scrolls your page up and down and horizontally I have it programmed to go back or forward for my website surfing needs. I spend a lot of time online in the evening, reading the sites, tracking information, and watching clipmarks. The third most wonderful element of the design is how easy it is to travel with. My desk is about 20 different places a week and the MM is always ready to work. Do yourself a favor and check this baby out.
The Sony eReader is all that I expected in a electronic book minus the fact that Sony is completely blowing it!
I love the fact that the new E-Ink technology allows my eyes to read for hours and not become fatigued due to back-lighting, the small size and weight at 9 ounces is superb, and the fact that I could download 10,000 books on this technical marvel would be OUTSTANDING if I could actually download the books from a computer I own. Let me back up.
This really caught my eye last year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas at the Sony booth. While everyone else was more fascinated in playing the Playstation 3 or taking in the musical groups on stage, I had a chance to talk to one of the lead designers on this baby for like 30 minutes before we just ran out of things to say. But, it was fascinating...if I understand him right, Sony will continue to load new works to it's online book store, Connect. Meanwhile the software should undergo updates and potentially have the ability to add notes directly to the book itself, besides being able to bookmark endless pages right now. I have been jonesing for this puppy the entire year, which as far as geek-toys and me is concerned is like 7 dog years.
But, I digress. The real problem lies in the fact that they have not developed a working software interface for the Apple system which leaves me "up the creek" as far as loading content all the time, like new books and RSS feeds which the device is also designed to handle. I am willing to wait as I have access to PC's on occasion and could load my works from there. But, tonight I tried to load the program on a PC I have at home and to no avail...it cannot connect to the internet due to some horrible PC mystery which apparently would require an actual programmer to unravel.
So, here I sit waiting on the developers to work me into their system or at least answer the email I have sent or answer the service line I have called. Call me nuts, but Sony doesn't seem to have a lot going for it these days in the realm of people-friendly hardware interface or delivery, and for the price of this puppy I would assume they would be working overtime to develop better relationships with early adopters. All in all...I would highly recommend you waiting before jumping in with both feet and purchasing one. Hopefully, they will continue to work on the device and systems it supports.
The iPod has been around our culture for 5 years now, and I have been a user for all five of those years. Started with the original pod, which I used for 4 years. I branched out this year to the video version and have been very pleased with the product, even though I will NEVER fill the thing up. As a matter of fact, I rotated through the originals playlist no less than 5 times due to switching computers and my decision to stop stealing music on the net.
Now I have been very pleased to kick the new shuffle. I also have the original shuffle, but the stick-look leaves me feeling less than satisfied. The new version though, with it's handy little clip on feature and tiny size is PERFECT. I am a true fan than is more than pleased to just clip it on and walk through the airports with my soundtrack on. If you don't have an MP3 player and would like a good entry point...definitely get the new shuffle.
I find myself doing a tremendous amount of video editing for work lately. Much of that work comes late at night, or sometimes in cramped booths with others trying to see something in your mind come to life on a screen or in the words being spoken.
Its crazy how my life runs in cycles...and these moving images keep coming back to me. Makes me wonder what I'll be doing in the future?
I shot this from my Windows Mobile phone and posted this article using TypePad's Mobile application...just to prove how time crunched I am...you know for ego's sake.
which brings me to the coolest site I have been using this month. Newsmap is a program for the peeps who want the latest news, but really want to see it in an appealing form, and would prefer to know what the most popular news articles are based on the size of the font. Enter www.marumushi.com/newsmap/newsmap.cfm or Newsmap for short. this little gem takes Google news information and displays it in a stunning format, weighted for the amount of readers and other related articles in order to give you the real pulse of what people are looking for. good stuff...enjoy.
