The iPhone dilemma

Apple has been touted to be the only company with the capacity to generate, quite successfully, a tremendous amount of hype for a product that is not even on the market.

Evidence?

David Pogue, in The New York Times online, wrote: “Talk about hype. In the last six months, Apple’s iPhone has been the subject of 11,000 print articles, and it turns up about 69 million hits on Google. Cultists are camping out in front of Apple stores; bloggers call it the “Jesus phone.” All of this before a single consumer has even touched the thing. ”

So I don’t want to imagine the queue outside AT&T and Apple stores today. People have camped overnight just to be the special first few to lay their hands on the iPhone. But is it worth it?

Yes, the iPhone is commercially released today.

But as much as the iPhone is technologically advanced, it seems to be taking a step back into Stone Age. I have mixed feelings about it. I don’t know if this phone will be a true success for Apple. Will it flop like the iTunes-enabled Motorola phone? Or will it be like the Cube, silently fading off production lines?

Firstly, partnering up with telco AT&T is not too good a decision. AT&T’s signal ranks at the bottom few in 19 out of 20 major states, and the internet service provided is just too darn slow. Users would have to rely on Wi-Fi for surfing the net.  

Secondly, there is a 2MP camera built in that takes average pictures, (here's the silly part) but it doesn’t record videos. (?!)

Thirdly, Apple gives you a full desktop web browsing experience, makes it email ready, then strips away MMS support and the ability to play Java or Flash on Safari. WTH?

Fourth, you get either a 4GB or 8GB flash memory, then there’s no memory card expansion slot. 4GB may seem sufficient, but when 700MB is taken up for OS X, and considering this is also an iPod that does music and videos, 4GB is a pretty tiny storage size.

Fifth, the iPhone is engineered to run on OS X, then Apple prohibits developers from developing great apps that run independently on the iPhone, but instead sandbox developer applications to work within Safari only. For security, Apple claims, but is it justified?

Sixth, Apple claims that there is no need for chunky QWERTY keyboards, but in reality, by being different, it has made it harder for consumers to type using the minute on-screen keyboard which, obviously, doesn’t provide any tactile feedback. This has rendered the iPhone as a non-business machine. It’s no wonder Paul Thurrott said that the iPhone release is a non-event for the corporate world.

Well, but then, I’m just being pessimistic here. For this blog entry that you have read, you can easily find another proclaiming the greatness of this device. I'm just pointing out the more glaring flaws here.  

Now why didn’t they name the launch day the iLaunch? That would have truly generated much hype, wouldn't it?

(iTunes 7.3 is now available with iPhone support.)

7 weird things about me

"According to the rules of this (so-called) game, people who are tagged should write 7 weird things about themselves as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 7 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read you blog."

Ok, Mu Yao, here goes:

1) I talk to my stuff toys on a daily basis. But they never reply me, I think they hate me or something…
2) I don’t like playing computer games. In fact, I detest them. What’s DOTA?
3) I hug a 15 year old bolster to sleep every night. It has this great stinky smell that I am hooked onto.
4) My sister is in track and field. She’s all into sports and running, but I lead a sedentary lifestyle interacting with computers.
5) I am a faithful listener of the podcast “Windows Weekly” with Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte. I have never missed any episode, and this intriguing podcast keeps me company on my bus ride home. The world of Windows and Apple is definitely more interesting than playing DOTA. These guys know more about Windows than Microsoft does!
6) I never bother reading or sending chain mails. They go into my trash straight away.
7) I don’t eat celery.

That's done.

Now I shall tag.... Alicea, Althea, Guo Wei, Choon Hian, Esmond, Caleb and Pu En!

I'm crashing, I'm crashing, I'm crashing

Argh. More programs are starting to crash more frequently on my Mac.

1) Today, PowerPoint crashed about 4 times. When I quit it, COMMAND+Q, PowerPoint shuts down, then an error message comes up telling me that it has closed unexpectedly. Then the usual choices whether to report this error to Microsoft or not.

2) Safari has crashed at least four fantastic times today.

3) MSN crashed on me a few days ago too, multiple times. Now I have migrated to Adium.

Hmm...what's next?

Oh and some recent articles written by Paul Thurrott has made me think twice about the iPhone's success. It's either Apple makes it or breaks it. If it goes wildly popular, Apple can still take over the phone industry. If not, Steve Jobs may just go downhill.

Now that's scary.

Safari 3 is in beta for a reason

I'm sorry Apple, but from today onwards, Safari 3 beta shall cease to be my main web browser on my Mac.  Don't get me wrong, Safari is a fine, blazing fast browser, but the only problem (don't know if other users face this) is that it KEEPS ON CRASHING ON ME! On average, Safari crashes 1-3 times per day.

No wonder it's still in beta. Before the final version arrives, and stability bugs are fixed, I shall be porting my bookmarks and stuff over to Camino, the Firefox-based Mac web browser which seems good, especially with its "Session Saving" feature which is lacking in Safari.

"Camino 1.5 now includes support for “session saving”, or optionally remembering what pages you were visiting when you quit and automatically loading them the next time you start—perfect for all those times you have to install Mac OS X updates!"

Bye Safari 3, you will now reside in some secluded area in my hard-disk.

The Best Damn Thing isn't the best damn thing

After listening to Avril Lavigne’s latest album, which is contaminated with sprinkles of vulgarities (censored in the version I bought, thankfully), I have only one thing to say of this album:

BITCHY.

Her songs have noticeably changed to become much bitchier, but her style of music, generally, remains the same. I like some songs, such as “The Best Damn Thing”, “When You’re Gone” and “Hot”. (The titles somewhat suggests how the lyrics will be like.)

I’ve always enjoyed Avril Lavigne’s previous albums, and I must say this is her most upbeat and lively work yet, but I would prefer more “quiet” slow songs. I feel that the Avril Lavigne I used to know has changed quite a bit in this album, but it isn’t by any means a bad piece of work. It is relatively good, but just too bitchy and vulgar for my style.

It isn't the best damn thing, but quite a good damn thing. 3.5/5 stars. If I’m generous, I would give a 4.

World's fastest startup time

Finally, after a little prodding into the CPU of my HP desktop and a quick check at Task Manager, I found the reason why my family PC was running so slowly. Guess what, I found that the DDR2 ram slot was loose!

So, instead of running on 768 MB ram, it was all the while running of a pathetic 256 MB ram for the past few weeks. I have two ram slots, one with the default 256 MB, and another one with an extra 512 MB I inserted by myself. The system didn’t register that second 512 MB ram slot, and all it needed was a bit of poking and twiddling. Now my system is running at an acceptable speed again.

Surviving on just 256 MB ram, I did some startup and shutdown tests with a stopwatch. Now this may seem exaggerated, but it isn’t, I promise. On 256 MB ram, startup took a spectacular 15 MINUTES!!!!!! (Including some third party apps like sidebar and Yahoo widgets.) Shutdown took an amazing 3 MINUTES!

Now with 768 MB ram, startup is roughly 5 minutes, thankfully. See the wonders of an extra 512 MB ram! Finally, I can Photoshop in peace again without waiting forever to get things done.

TUWP #3 - The Future Of Computing Is Touch

The Unofficial Windows Podcast Episode #3

Microsoft has just launched its Surface computer, and iPhone will be out soon, two revolutionary products that makes use of multi-touch. In this third episode, I talked about how computers could possibly evolve to rely on human touch as we soon abandon the mouse (and the stylus) and make full use of our very own fingers!


Type: mp3
File size: 14.3 MB
Running time: 17:40
Date Recorded: Tue, 19 June 2007
Date Published: Tue, 19 June 2007
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Visit Ian's blog at www.nai-oh.blogspot.com

TUWP #2 - WWDC 2007: What Does It Mean For Windows?

The Unofficial Windows Podcast Episode #2

In this second episode, I talked about Apple's recent Worldwide Developers Conference regarding Apple organizing sessions for Windows developers and the latest Safari 3 beta web browser which is now available on Windows as a free download.

Mistake I made: Leopard is the sixth version of OS X, not fifth. My apologies.

(Sorry for any background noise!)


Type: mp3
File size: 11.8 MB
Running time: 12:44
Date Recorded: Thu, 14 June 2007
Date Published: Thu, 14 June 2007
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TUWP #1 - Introducing Windows Vista For Consumers

The Unofficial Windows Podcast Episode #1!

In this very first episode, I talked about Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows Vista, some of its new features, system requirements and the many confusing different versions for the Singapore market.


Type: mp3
File size: 12 MB
Running time: 8:37
Date Recorded: Sun, 25 February 2007
Date Published: Thu, 14 June 2007
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New blue shuffle

My iPod nano has already crossed its one-year mark, and contrary to popular complains that iPods fail on you after a year, my nano is still in a rather pristine condition, and it is working as well as it was when I first purchased it.

The only thing that irritates me is that the one gig storage is less than enough for my 2.62 GB iTunes library size comprising of 503 songs.

So, I decided to get an iPod shuffle, 2nd generation. Well some may know of the Creative Zen Stone, an uncannily and suspiciously similar player to the shuffle, selling for under half the price with the same 1 GB flash drive.


Clearly, by blatantly copying the design, features and even controls of the shuffle, Creative is trying to make a statement by showing that the iPod is not worth the 138 bucks you paid for, but it should be sold for much cheaper. (I don’t know about the Stone’s reliability or durability, but I know the given earphones are low-quality.) I’m not sure if the Stone would outdo the shuffle, but the iPod is nevertheless a strong brand to beat.

After a moment of contemplation, with a black Stone on one hand and a blue shuffle enclosed in a neat transparent plastic casing on the other, I still decided to go with the shuffle and abandoned the Stone.


First obvious reason is that the Stone doesn’t support the great iTunes or the Mac, so I can only manage it on Windows, which I don’t really like because my music is stored on the Mac. Secondly, the free optional Creative Media Lite programme for use with the Stone is definitely not comparable to iTunes, and hence is not as efficient as the shuffle with its Autofill function. Thirdly, battery life at 10 hours is shorter than the stated 12 on the shuffle. Of course, the Stone can’t support podcasts too. And the design, no matter how distinctively identical, still can’t beat the shuffle’s. I find the shuffle’s design a lot cleaner and slick.

So I ended paying for the blue shuffle.


Upon arriving home, I unwrapped it, and finally for the first time got to experience the diminutive dimensions of the world’s smallest music player. It took a while for me to figure out how to devour the unique packaging, for beneath the player lay the instruction manual, warranty, a few Apple stickers, the quirky dock, a quick reference card, and the redesigned earphones, which were noticeably longer than the original ones. (As expected, the earphones didn’t fit my odd-shaped left ear, so I chucked it aside.)




This time round Apple didn’t provide the iTunes installation CD, but just casually referred me to their site. Registration for the shuffle was done via iTunes Store and not through your web browser as with my first generation nano. (You’ll need to have an Apple ID to register your product.)

Now for the overall verdict:

Pros:
-Affordable
-Very small and extremely light (can be a con if you lose things easily)
-Good sound quality
-Works with iTunes & iTunes Music Store
-Good design and battery life
-Reliable and durable
-It’s way cool man
-Efficient

Cons:
-Must use dock for PC transfer
-Small storage size (2 GB would be lovely)

So that’s it! The third iPod in my house is the latest shuffle! Apple has done well once again!

To end off, here’s what someone said about the Stone vs shuffle debate on some website I read:

“People keep yapping about how if so-and-so company did this to their hardware, it'd beat the iPod, or if they added this feature, Apple wouldn't stand a chance - no-one seems to get that iTunes and iPod are like different sides of the same coin, and both work flawlessly alone and seamlessly together. Often, people who don't even own iPods use iTunes because it's just plain good (for most). Then, a couple years down the line, they pick up an iPod because it all fits together. Until a company - or, better yet, a conglomeration of companies - realises that, the iPod will continue to dominate. And hey, there are worse things that could happen - the thing just does what it's supposed to and looks/works cool to boot.”

So you wanna shuffle or Stone?