Apple

According to a number of articles, 02 and Apple are in final discussions about the iPhone and how they will distribute it within the European Union. So far we still have to wait until December of this year to get it in Europe. I don’t think I want to own this particular phone because the one I have now has almost all these functionalities to start with. I also like having a qwerty keyboard for ease of typing whilst on the move, unlike the iPhone. The browser is probably the strongest feature of the iPhone but this is irrelevant for most websites. Both Google and Facebook, two of the only websites I’m interested in using on the move have created useful interfaces for those on the move. in the case of Gmail, it’s the interface that allows you to check and send e-mail within their own java applet which is installed on your phone. In the case of Facebook, their strength is in giving you just the features you want, i.e. what your friends are doing, the latest news, and more. It’s great to get some quick information whilst unable to go online. I want to try out the iPhone and see how great and easy it is to use. Apple loves making software that is simple to use, without submenus as you find with windows mobile so for newbies it’s better. In a few months, I may get to see the iPhone in person and see how good it is…. unless I fly to the US or go to one of the EU Macworld.

Today I passed an order through the online apple store and within a number of weeks I should get one of the top of the range machines and I’m really looking forward to it. The Ram isn’t maxed out but that’s because I’m going to upgrade that from an other distributor from whom I can get it cheaper. I’m also getting final cut studio 2 and that should be a great convenience for learning how to use all the software I need for professional purposes. I’m impatient for it now but it’s going to take time to come so I have to be patient… need to find something to distract me for a period. I’ve had an editing system at home which started with Adobe premiere 4.5 and the miro dc30+ and a hi8 camera, upgraded to a PC7 camera for a trip to Tanzania in 2000. That’s when I was editing on the DHR 1000 editing deck where I learned a great deal about tape to tape editing. From there I upgraded to Premiere 5.0, 5.1 and on before giving up on Windows editing. In 2003-4 I upgraded to the Ibook with FCP which worked far better than anticipated. Now I’m waiting for my most recent editing system. Over the years I’ve seen a great change in equipment and the price. As I was at school working on Hi8 it took several years before I was able to edit the footage I had shot. Editing systems could cost thirty thousand swiss francs per BetaSP decks. Now it’s gone down in price and people get a nice home setup. I’m looking forward to it.

Karina Stenquist of Mobuzz tv is confused by the notion of twitter as anything other than a means by which to distribute brainfarts, a term used by a few people. Do you remember Swatch and Swatch time? The idea was to create a universal timekeeping format which would be the same around the world. If something would happen at 128 then this would be a universal time and everyone would turn up. It’s a number of years later and now twitter is on the scene. As those who spend far too much time online, such as myself, have found it is the problem of knowing at what time something is going to happen. Let’s say that there’s a radio show at 9:30 pm GMT. Everyone not on GMT has to calculate at what time this would be for them. Through twitter, there’s no need. Just tell people “I’ll twitter you when I’m on” and that’s when you know to log on and follow the program. Leo Laporte and Ijustine have already been doing this. There’s another element of interest. When you enjoy what someone is writing you have a tendency always to check their website, seeing whether anything has updated. Most of the time it hasn’t. With twitter, the person writing may send a tweet (Twitter message) and you’ll know that there’s a new piece of writing to be read and that’s great. It means that you’re not stuck at your desk waiting for new things to appear because you’re permanently kept informed. Some news sites are using this service but it’s too much information to process therefore it may be better simply to check these when you’re at your computer rather than via text. It’s undercutting certain mobile operators extra features but that’s another story.

It’s a nice screen, it’s a laptop replacement similar to the phone I’ve had for two or three months but the hard drive is much better. He advertised all these features as new yet I’ve got most of those capabilities already so I’m laughing slightly. I was just two months ahead of that particular market. I’m wondering about wifi access. How easy is it to connect to password-protected networks and how strong is the antenna?. Would it work only on open networks? I like the screen but where’s the keyboard for fast texting? How easily will it scratch? I know at least one person that’s going to be looking forward to the PVR with integrated wifi although I don’t find it interesting because the hard drive is too small at the moment. The fact you can stream from five computers at once is nice.