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Will the iPad Change Anything?

PhoneBoy — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:30:09 +0000

Just before I was giving my presentation at Sales Kick Off yesterday, Apple began unveiling their new iPad. A few people in the audience were looking at the emerging details on their iPhones. I took a quick scan of my Twitter stream later on. It was a topic of discussion throughout the day. I eventually read a small amount of the coverage.

The general complaints I saw on Twitter were related to the lack of a camera or the fact that it had data service only through AT&T. What I see is the biggest failing of the device, quite honestly, is the same downside as for the iPhone: the fact that the device is tied to iTunes.

The iTunes app itself is a bloated, monolithic application that does far too many things. Aside from that, it means you cannot manage content on the device from more than one Mac or PC. I suspect this “limitation” has something to do with how Apple implements DRM, but even Apple has to realize that people own (or use) more than one computer these days and should figure out a way to handle this more gracefully–at least with non-DRMed content.

With this in mind, Apple has clearly created a device that is not a replacement for your primary computer. It’s a big iPod Touch. That’s great for consuming certain kinds of content, but given the limitations of iPhone OS, it won’t be replacing my laptop in my bag anytime soon.

Perhaps the next iPhone OS will remove some of them. Maybe it will add Bluetooth keyboard support, multitasking, and the ability to manage content from more than one computer. Maybe it will do a better job managing battery life or remove the stupid limitations about downloading larger than 10mb files over 3G.

Will the iPad change the world? We don’t have the whole story yet. The rest of it will come when they announce the next iPhone OS, presumably before the iPad actually ships. Then we’ll know the true capabilities of the iPad and just how game changing things will be.

Meanwhile, Apple has ramped up the hype machine by announcing the iPad prior to shipping. The fanboys will continue to drool over the hardware. The rumors will continue to spread until the iPad ships.

Me? I’m happy with my iPhone. It’s already changed my world. Will the iPad change my world? Maybe, but I’m happy to wait and let the true story unfold.

iPad lifts off to much iHype (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
iPad Specs Price and Features (mwd.com)
Can Apple Live Up To The Hype? (timelliott.us)
Are Apple’s iPad Shortcomings Real or Perceived? (chris.pirillo.com)
Apple iPad: Everything You Need to Know (everyjoe.com)
A close look at Apple iPad (taragana.com)
5 Reasons to Wait for iPad 2.0 (readwriteweb.com)

Comments

28 January 2010, Lonnie writes: "I’m happy to wait and let the true story unfold. " Sage advice.
28 January 2010, Marc Abrams writes: I don't entirely agree with iTunes = 1 PC or 1 Mac. In my house, we setup Home Sharing and it works amazingly well. My son has a Windows 7 netbook and my wife has a Windows Vista laptop, and I have a MacBook Pro and we easily share music and movies between them. I could see the iPad docking with my MacBook Pro and pulling my son's Thelonious Monk songs from his netbook. I've been thinking about the role the iPad plays with a corporate user. I make a LOT of presentations and use the current version of Keynote. I want to try the iPad version before making a decision, but if it works the way it looks like in the videos, and saves me time in making and editing all these presentations, that will be my killer app for the iPad. marc.
1 February 2010, kenvernon writes: For the millions of iPhone and iTouch users, the iPad UX will allow a seamless user transition to a middle road device that allows them to consume content quickly and easily. Where Apple takes the iPad from here is the really interesting question. With a major OS upgrade, the iPad could easily become a laptop replacement for many and a valuable tool for content consumption for others. As you, I am happy to wait and see.
4 February 2010, Philippine Outsourcing writes: My first impressions of the device are largely positive. Apple has once again built a product that looks good and feels great in the hand, and the familiar user interface, borrowed from the iPhone and iPod touch, is perfectly suited to the bigger screen. The iPad whizzes along, opening applications, re-sizing web pages, and zooming in and out of maps almost instantaneously. It's a great, fun gaming platform, and it's lovely to view full-size web pages while browsing the internet. Developers, no doubt, are already rubbing their hands with glee about the apps and services they could tailor specifically for this device. - Jaime
15 February 2010, Mike Rogers writes: I think the iPad changes things quite a bit. It continues the shift from multi-purpose PCs/Macs which are advanced content creation tools. The very first PDA, the palm was so successful because it was focused on 4 tasks, Address Book, Calendar, To-Dos and Notes. The iPad represents the next step in that. Simple, purpose built machines.
18 February 2010, Faith | Postcard Printing writes: Same way here, IPhone had a huge change in my life. Almost everything is a click away from me and it is a big thing for any online marketer like me. I'm not that interested with the new Apple product, the IPad thing but I am waiting for its review to see what difference would it make to IPhones. We'll see. LOL.

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iPhone–I Accept It For What It Is

PhoneBoy — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:39:57 +0000

When I think about my iPhone and compare it to what I gave up on my Nokia phones, I realize that, in many ways, I had tried to make my Nokia phones behave in ways that they were not really designed for.

You might find it ironic that Nokia Nseries phones don’t do multimedia well, even though it is something they are designed to do. It is adequate, but small things like the speed of syncing with your computer or keeping track of play counts or ratings make for a less than stellar experience.

Mac integration is another sticking point for me. While Nokia gets kudos for Nokia Multimedia Transfer, which helps a Nokia device tie into the Mac ecosystem of iTunes and iPhoto, not to mention iSync plugins to sync calendar and contacts, there’s no PC Suite type app and no way to update the firmware from a Mac. Not to mention that Macs are not always supported when various Ovi services are launched.

And yet, with my iPhone, there are things it can’t do–multitasking perhaps biggest on the list. I knew going into the iPhone that this was going to be a limitation. I came to terms with that long before I gave up my credit card number and ordered the device, though.

The inability to load apps that Apple hasn’t approved is another issue. People get around this by jailbreaking the device. I am not going to pass judgment on those who decide to go that route. I’ve done it myself, not to install apps, but to unlock the device so I can use it with other (non-AT&T) SIM cards. It can be restored to Steve Jobs approved state easily enough.

While I like the flexibility that a Nokia device offers, I have decided that, for me, a mobile device that is reliable is also important. I have had too many instances where my Nokia’s aren’t reliable–even when sticking to built-in apps! The iPhone gives the right balance of both functionality and stability.

I was listening to MacBreak Weekly some weeks ago. The panel was discussing, among other things, the merits of Android versus iPhone. Andy Ihnatko made an excellent point that stuck with me throughout the day, though it was best summarized by Merlin Mann (also on the show that day): Once you accept how a device is put together, your mind operates completely differently.

Trying to treat an iPhone like a Nokia–or vice versa–is a waste of energy. While even today I am occasionally stimied by the lack of multitasking of the iPhone, I can now generally work with the limitations. The same can be said for the limitations of a Nokia device: I am familiar enough with the platform that I can generally work within the limitations. The mindsets needed to operate both are different, but one is not inherently “better” than the other.

For the functions that I use regularly, the iPhone wins, hands down. For those situations where an iPhone doesn’t make sense, I can always take my SIM card out and put it in a Nokia device.

Nokia Booklet 3g (theworldison.blogspot.com)
Nokia’s Smartphone Aspirations (markevanstech.com)
Apple Is Said to Be Close to Buying Music Start-Up (nytimes.com)
Stocking Stuffer: YoGen Mobile Charger ($40) (crunchgear.com)

Comments

5 December 2009, Bob writes: One thing that doesn't get said when discussing "multitasking" on the iPhone, it supports the most important form of multitasking, one can run an app at the same time as making a phone call. What it can't do is run two app at the same time. That makes the limitation less severe that it would be otherwise. This also makes the iPhone more usable than CDMA phones where you can't have voice and data at the same time.
5 December 2009, PhoneBoy writes: That kind of multitasking--in a call and running an app--does work nicely. I've used it a few times. It's also nice that the 3G network lets you be on a call and use data at the same time. Unfortunately, the 2G network of AT&T doesn't allow that.

iPhone In The House

PhoneBoy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:31:59 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve spent my own money on any phone. One of the benefits of having worked for Nokia for 10 years, I suppose. I could have easily continued to use my supply of Nokia phones until the standards changed or they all broke. Instead, I decided to go iPhone, or more specifically, iPhone 3GS.

Now, I only have had the phone for only 12 hours or so, so it’s difficult to have a fully formed opinion about the device. However, I like what I’m seeing so far. Most of what I am focusing on right now is things I do everyday.

I’m actually typing this blog post on an iPhone thanks to the WordPress app that I downloaded from the App Store. Typing in general on this thing will take some getting used to, but thanks to landscape mode and Apple’s intelligent spell checker as you type, it’s better than I thought. I wish every iPhone app supported landscape mode typing.

The App Store is great–to he point of being downright dangerous to your pocketbook. I was able to find a number of cool apps very easily. Tweetie is a great Twitter app, I like the RSSPlayer app. Other suggestions I will try in the coming days.

I’m finding the lack of multitasking on the iPhone to be less of an issue than I thought it would be. Most apps (at least the built-in ones) seem to intelligently pick up right where you left off. One problem I can already see is not being able to multitask in a call–something I do on my Nokia E71 often enough. The important apps multitask–namely the music and sync email.

The hardware is slick, no doubt. I like the Oleophobic screen, which makes it much easier to clean off. I like that there is a small switch to change the phone to silent mode. The camera is being tested, as is battery life. I took a sample picture using the iPhone 3GS camera and attached it to the end of the post. The WordPress app did resize it, I’ll have to post it to Flickr later on.

One thing that is working better than expected is the Stereo Bluetooth. Unlike my Nokia E71 where dropouts were common, it seems to work flawlessly with the iPhone 3GS. WiFi also seems to work better, but more testing is clearly needed. Certainly Apple’s networking stack is far less retarded than it is on Nokia handsets.

In short, I am liking it so far. I’m relearning how to do everything and I am finding it relatively easy to figure it all out. I can see why people love their iPhones.

Comments

8 July 2009, James writes: Hey, just so you know, while you're on a call you can, in a sense, 'multi-task'. If you hit the home button you can launch and use any apps while still on the call (if you have 3G or WiFi that is).
8 July 2009, Paul M. Watson writes: You can multi-task in a call. You can launch apps., look up contacts, surf the web etc. while a call is on. It puts a glowing green bar at the top of the screen when a call is active. Tapping it returns to the call app. UI.
8 July 2009, David McDonald writes: Glad to hear you are enjoying your new iPhone. You can actually make a voice call and run other apps, I've often done this to check on a calendar entry while talking to someone on the phone. In that case the iPhone displays a green bar at the top of screen to show you still have an active call. I'm currently on the iPhone 3G, but will upgrade to 3GS as soon as O2 allow me to. Cheers.
8 July 2009, Mauricio Reyes writes: I guess it's now iPhoneboy ;-) You will find that you can multi-task with Apple's own apps. While on a phone call, you can jump to another app (even send an email) while the call is in progress, phone app runs in the background. The whole background process issue was Apple restricting what 3rd party app people could do, thereby protecting battery performance, security, general aloofness etc...
8 July 2009, Lucie Osh writes: Have an upgraded iPod Touch - love it. I bought it last year primarily for music, to replace an iPod Nano, but have used it for so much more. The app store is wonderful and it does take self-control to avoid running up a big bill. The other reason I'm commenting is that your cat looks almost exactly like my cat, body type and all. Mine is named Cleo and she's nine years old. Her favorite activity, aside from eating, is chasing paper wads. She runs over to the printer whenever I turn it on, hoping I'll make a paper wad for her.
8 July 2009, PhoneBoy writes: Duh, I didn't try the obvious: hit the home button in the call! Ok, that's cool, thanks, everyone! Lucie: Toby (my cat) used to like paper wads as well (he liked playing cards, too) but he's about twice as old as Cleo and has grown lazy.
8 July 2009, Stuart writes: Always interesting to see a new users perspective. Congrats on your choice / desire to try something new. Recommendations for you. Try the WSJ, USAToday, NYT apps. You may like Twitterfon or TweetDeck. Kindle is worth trying. There's some games too which are just amazing - if you have the time. However the portfolio of apps I use everyday remains relatively small.
10 July 2009, tco writes: the wordpress app is pretty slick....will the blog be renamed iPhoneboy?
13 July 2009, PhoneBoy writes: I doubt I'll rename the blog iPhoneBoy :)

I Ordered an iPhone, or Why Hell Froze Over Today

PhoneBoy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:44:16 +0000

Despite my previous objections with the way Apple controls the App Store, not to mention my general preference for buttons over a completely touch interface, I am throwing in the towel, putting down my credit card, and buying an iPhone 3GS 32GB. Yes, I realize to some this means that hell must have frozen over and the apocalypse must be coming. What changed?

The most obvious change? I no longer work for Nokia, for one. Not that working for Nokia gave me exceptional access to the latest Nokia gear, but I did get a few handsets from them. I sport my Nokia E71 every day and occasionally use the others for various functions.

I can’t say it was one thing that pushed me over the edge. It was a lot of little things that added up to my ultimate decision to buy an iPhone 3GS. This isn’t a complete list, but here goes:

It’s Faster: One issue I have with my E71 is how slow it is when it comes to rendering web pages, not to mention other “random’ slowdowns that crop up with the phone. The iPhone 3GS has both a faster processor and twice the memory of the iPhone 3G. Those things will make a difference.

More Storage: I have a hard time conceiving how I will fill 32gb, but I’m sure I will find a way.

It’s an iPod: Actually, this part isn’t as key to me, as I don’t spend a lot of time listening to music and the like. However, I am big on podcasts. While Nokia has an app on the phone for handling podcasts, it has a number of issues. Also, for the rare times I actually do want to sync music to my Nokia phones, it is excruciatingly slow. Even Nokia’s current flagship handset takes forever to sync. Apple has this down with their iPods, iPhones, and iTunes. It all works together nicely.

It Takes Decent Video: Unlike my Nokia E71, this takes video that is on-par with my Nokia N95 8GB. This demo video that Kevin Tofel took from JKOnTheRun took was enough to convince me that it was decent.

It’s A Better Camera: It’s only a 3 megapixel camera, but it has autofocus and the ability to direct the focus with a tap on, say, someone’s face. The MacBreak Weekly gang was raving about it. I won’t have flash but, then again, the flash on the Nokia E71 is pretty worthless.

Cut and Paste: Ok, some of my earliest Nokia devices had this feature, but it’s nice to see Apple provide this feature in the iPhone 3.0 software. Hopefully it is better than the Cut and Paste on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, which suffers from S60 5th Edition and a lack of buttons.

Tethering; Ok, even my old Nokia featurephones from 2003 could do this, but it’s nice to see Apple getting with the program and adding support for this useful feature.

Stereo Bluetooth: Ever since I bought a stereo bluetooth headset, my workouts at the Y have been much better. Up until the iPhone 3GS, stereo bluetooth was simply not an option on iPhone. Now it is.

Device Encryption: This feature I didn’t even know about until I started looking on Apple’s site for things I had previously thought were worthwhile. There’s a blurb about hardware encryption on the More Features page, but there’s precious little details about what it does. If it does what Check Point’s Full Disk Encryption does for my Nokia handsets, that would be good. More information is needed.

Free WiFi from AT&T: I have been finding myself in Starbucks more and more as of late. Now that they’re all AT&T hotspots, the ability to hop-on their WiFi for free and with less hassle is a bonus.

It’s The Apps, Stupid: And, of course, the best reason of all to get a smartphone these days is the applications. While I will for sure miss Gravity, my favorite Twitter client for Nokia devices, there are plenty of fine replacements on iPhone. Not to mention replacements for some of the other apps I use, not to mention new apps I haven’t been able to try to date because I lacked an iPhone.

Of course, this is before I get the iPhone. Apple hasn’t shipped the order yet. I suspect with the Independence Day holiday, I might not get it before Monday. Assuming they’re not out of stock or anything, I should get it sometime next week. I’ll keep refreshing the order status page like an impatient geek, looking for word on when my new toy will arrive.

Nokia 5800 Xpress Music VS iPhone (ithoughts.de)
How sweet it is: Apple’s new iPhone a tasty update (thestar.com)
iPhone 3GS? Not Enough to Justify the Cost (and AT&T Sucks) (smarterware.org)
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic the No. 1 contract phone in Europe? (allaboutsymbian.com)
Battle of the smartphones (bbc.co.uk)

Comments

2 July 2009, luca writes: Let me add another reason: you don't work for Nokia anymore so you don't feel guilty :-)
2 July 2009, tate writes: Ha Ha my sentiments exactly... I still love Nokia, not so much S60. But picked one up myself. No regrets so far.
2 July 2009, Bob writes: I read the article comparing the iPhone to the Nokia 5800. One thing that really struck me was: >>This might be the most important point: Even when the Nokia has a lot of features, my girlfriend still >>reaches out for my iPhone if she wants to look something up on the web. I think this is the general factor that leads to the iPhone as generating a lot more Internet traffic than anything else. It's actually possible to use the Internet on it.
2 July 2009, PhoneBoy writes: Even my wife has said she wants to play with my iPhone when I get it. She'd have one if it didn't cost $80/mo for the required service plan.
2 July 2009, PhoneBoy writes: No guilt of not eating the dogfood, that's true.
2 July 2009, Dave Michels writes: I am shocked, sad, and disappointed. I think we were the last 2 holdouts. I am waiting for nexgen Android.
2 July 2009, PhoneBoy writes: I doubt we are the last holdouts in this area. :)
2 July 2009, Inbox Liquidation Part 50 writes: [...] I Ordered an iPhone, or Why Hell Froze Over Today (phoneboy.com) [...]
2 July 2009, Sheryl writes: Hell has frozen over! But, I understand why it took until now and the attention you spent inspectigating. Good for you. I hope you enjoy it. I still live on my Bold, but have a touch so iphone centrics can tell me I'm lame. See Dave and Dameon, you're not the last hold outs. :)
2 July 2009, Marc writes: Despite being quite the techie, my iPhone 3GS 32gb is my first iPod/iPhone/smartphone (my first MP3 player was a Sansa FUZE 4gb, that I bought less than a year ago.) Call me nit-picky, but each time Apple would release a newer version of either, I would find a significant reason to wait. Last time around tethering was not officially supported. Before that, it was no 3G. With both the Nano iPods and previous iPhones it was the lack of removable storage, too - I think 32gb should hold me over just fine. Until now, the last Apple product I had owned was a Quadra 630 back in 1994.
3 July 2009, PhoneBoy writes: Nothing wrong with only owning a touch, Sheryl. Marc, the lack of removable storage was kind of an issue for me at first, but it's 32gb. It's more than I use today.
3 July 2009, David Beckemeyer writes: I got an iPhone originally got development not expecting to actually use it (or like it) for myself - for many of the same reasons you listed in the past. I was very surprised. I still don't like the many ways it is closed, but I accept it now because of all it is and does, how it raises the bar. And it does raise the bar, not because it looks cool, has a touch screen etc. Not for any of the reasons most people (and apples competitors) think. I'll be curious to hear if on a few months your opinion of your experience and whether your stated reasons Here for wanting in stand the yet of time and whether in fact some unexpected likes and dislikes emerge.
3 July 2009, PhoneBoy writes: The Nokia E71 is my current workhorse phone, and I've used it as my primary handset for most of the last 7 months. It will be interesting to see if I can say that about the iPhone 3GS in 6 months.
4 July 2009, Jerald writes: Hey Dameon, I've been loving my iPhone 3G since I acquired it last November. This is the first handset that I truly enjoy, even more than any of the Nokia handsets that I had when I was working there. The first thing I did was jailbreak it so I could use it for "tethering". It will be interesting how AT&T will enable this. With my Samsung Blackjack, it cost extra to enable tethering. Now, I join the iPhone to my laptop's ad-hoc wireless network and set the laptop's network connections to use the iPhone as the HTTP(s) and SOCKS proxy. It's good enough to get email while driving cross-country. See http://www.iphonemodem.com/ for the way that I have been doing it. See http://tinyurl.com/mgyxhe for a simple way to do this either through Bluetooth or through the USB cable connection Talk to you soon! Jerald
6 July 2009, Jeremey writes: I've been "bi-phonal" for about a year and a half, carrying an E71 in one pocket and an original iPhone in the other. The voice on the iPhone sucked, and the E71's shone. In most other respects, the iPhone was the winner, but there were days when it would annoy. Well, no more. I upgraded to the 3GS and the E71 sits on my desk. The extra speed, storage, and big improvement in camera have sold me, and the voice quality is dramatically better (maybe I had a crappy original? I dunno). And of course the apps blow Symbian's offerings away. (I work for Nokia)

Skype, Truphone, and Boingo: It’s All Related

PhoneBoy — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:41:01 +0000

: Image via CrunchBase

Today’s been a relative cornucopia of news related to Skype, Truphone, and Boingo, three services I like quite a bit. They are only related insofar as they all involve Skype in some way.

First off, let’s talk Skype on the Mac. Dan York reports he’s gotten to play with the new Skype 2.8 client for the Mac, which offers some “unique” features:

Screen Sharing with Macs, Windows, and Linux
Improved chat management: ability to sort chats in the drawer and set priorities to chats
Quick Add: much easier to add people to chats
Mood message chat: mood message updates from your friends as chat messages
Large avatars: 256×256 pixels
Hidden avatars in incoming contact requests
Ability to add your own notes to contacts

You should go read Dan’s post for the blow-by-blow, or go check out the post on Skype Journal. I’m sure I’ll have my own once the client is released (supposedly tomorrow, on the 6th of January, so check here to see if it’s available yet).

The other feature present in this new Skype relates to my friends at Boingo: you can now use Skype Credits to pay for Boingo WiFi hotspots on a per-minute basis, no monthly or daily fees required. It sounds a bit pricey at $0.22 a minute that Dan mentions in his post, considering that Boingo’s monthly rate is now a jaw-dropping $9.95 a month for North America! Might be a better deal abroad. I’ll have to see how this works before I can comment further.

Finally, Truphone announced today that the latest version of their iPhone/iPod Touch calling application, which now includes the ability to both IM and call Skype users! IM is also supported for Gtalk (calling also available), MSN. and Yahoo. Calling is coming for MSN and Yahoo. Twitter support is also in the app as wel. The new Truphone app for iPod Touch/iPhone will be available on the 12th of January.

I talked with newly appointed Truphone CEO Geraldine Wilson about the app this evening. I had to ask some dumb questions about the app, being that I don’t have an iPhone or an iPod Touch to try it on myself. At this point, the app still has to be in the foreground in order to receive calls or receive IM messages. No support for SMS yet, either. It’s also not clear when IM and Skype capabilities will be available on other supported handsets.

I’m wondering, though, if we won’t see Truphone some how join up with Boingo in order to provide a seamless experience in the more than 100,000 Boingo hotspots worldwide? Or how about somehow using Apple’s Push Notification service for IM and inbound calls? It would certainly make it easier to use Truphone anywhere.

Comments

6 January 2009, :: DMY :: writes: Egalement au menu, mais nettement moins excitant : partage d’écran et son/video améliorés C’est dans la béta 2.8 pour mac qui est disponible depuis quelques heures Related articles by Zemanta Skype 2.8 beta in the wildSkype, Truphone, and Boingo: It’s All RelatedSkype 2.8 for Mac coming Tuesday, with screen sharing and WiFi connector Skype 2.8 for Mac to launch Tuesday Skype 2.8 for Mac: Your Online Demo Is Calling Skype for Mac 2.8 Beta Launches Skype 2.8 Beta for Mac OS X provides screen sharing, Wi-Fi
10 January 2009, Jack Clarke writes: Nice read, hope Skype updates the Linux version one day it's lagging behind Windows and Mac as far as new added features.
29 January 2009, N73 Blog writes: I am still waiting for a true applications from skype for Symbian. I think is the best VOIP app, and it really needs a version for mobiles

Apple iPhone: OUT for 2009 on Principle

PhoneBoy — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:44:50 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

This wasn’t even something I was planning to write about, but I got into a bit of a discussion with Pat Phelan about it over Twitter and thought it’d make a good post.

I am not saying the iPhone is OUT because I’m a Nokia employee and don’t even own an iPhone. That would be like shooting fish in a barrel. I have philosophical reasons for being against the iPhone, namely the way Apple controls what apps can be loaded onto the device.

Only applications found on Apple’s App Store can be loaded onto an iPhone or iPod touch. Clearly, the App Store provides a lot of benefits. It makes it easy for people to find–and buy–applications they want. Nokia could learn a thing or two from the user experience.

The problem is someone–namely Apple–is a gatekeeper as to what apps appear in the store. That’s good–as long as you agree with what Apple is going to choose to allow. They can choose to deny apps on whatever grounds they want, despite publishing guidelines.

It also puts the gatekeeper–in this case, Apple–in a bad spot. When a controversial application comes along, they can’t win with either decision. For example, Pat Phelan thinks that “fart” apps and apps that track menstrual cycles of multiple women are “bottom of the barrel.” In other words, these are apps that Pat thinks shouldn’t have made it through the approval process. Apple loses both ways here: either they boot the apps for an arbitrary reason and get criticized (or even abandoned) by the development community, or they allow these apps and they appear to be “endorsing” programs that are tasteless or worse.

I agree that these apps are not shining examples of human intelligence. However, I am of the opinion that people should be able to write whatever applications they want, sell them, and consumers should be able to buy whatever applications they want and install them on hardware they paid good money for. It’s a matter of principle, and the Apple iPhone is completely incompatible with it.

Comments

30 December 2008, Jonathan Jensen writes: The closed & restrictive nature of everything Apple does has always been a problem for me. However there's no denying Apple deliver an excellent customer experience in other ways. I guess it's probably more of a philosophical issue for me! However I still don't own a single Apple device (unlike the rest of the family)! Maybe the only way to deliver an excellent customer experience is to be restrictive otherwise you lose control of the customer experience. I love Nokia S60 but no App Store & it's hardly user friendly for Normobs to go & hunt for new apps.
30 December 2008, Lonnie Lazar writes: It's a popular misconception that Apple is this draconian monster, jealously guarding its cache of baubles ill-gotten lucre from the back of its cave behind a walled garden. Except it's not. Leaving aside for a moment the fact there are over 10,000 apps available in the AppStore, many of which have nothing to do with flatulence or games or ringtones at all, the iPhone has been jailbroken since weeks after its initial debut in the summer of '07. Every single firmware release is newly jailbroken within days of becoming public. There is nothing preventing any cocoa developer in the world from creating an iPhone app that cannot be loaded onto the iPhone or iPod Touch, notwithstanding the inscrutable caprice of Steve Jobs' gatekeeping henchpeople.
30 December 2008, Jonathan Jensen writes: I think the point here is sure you can jailbreak an iPhone but that's a minority interest & is not what Apple intends. For Normobs it is a 'managed' environment - but for them that probably works. It's only us 'geeks' who dislike the aura of control!
31 December 2008, spg writes: this is just one more reason why i believe that the ultimate pocket device that will be used for phone calls and all sorts of computer functions that will win in the end will have evolved down from EVDO and UMTS connected laptops via netbooks to a pocket sized device. they will not have evolved up from cell phones that are sold and controlled by phone companies and there partners. the end result will be a device of similar size and function but sold on a very different philosophy/business model. the real revolution in mobile data will begin only after wireless links(through the cell phone networks or WiMAX) to the internet on laptops overtake wired and hot spots connections. that is when real computers will shrink to pocket size.
3 January 2009, PhoneBoy writes: I also don't like a phone that doesn't have a proper SIM unlock method. What you have to do on iPhone is against the EULA to be sure and potentially dangerous with Apple constantly "undoing" the good work of the jailbreaking community. A normob may not care about any of this crap, but I am not a normob. I want my phone to be open without having to violate the EULA and my Apple warranty. I recognize that normobs are gonna be all over the "managed," "safe" environment that Apple provides. Me? Not so much.

Miscellany From The Inbox

PhoneBoy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:09:22 +0000

It keeps coming:

Mobivox Unveils Voice-Activated Mobile Services Platform: This is primarily geared at service providers. While I think their platform is good, as it contains thinks like voice-activated dialing and call control, group calling, and voice-to-SMS, and voice-to-email messaging, I think the challenge is going to be getting carriers to adopt. You can read more from them on the Mobivox|PL blog.

Alltel Bringing Customers NuTsie: If you want to spend $4.99 a month or $19.99 a year to listen to items from your iTunes library from your Alltel handset, and you happen to have one of the 10 handsets Alltel supports this on, get thee to the Alltel Shop on the handset and buy it.

Into High School Sports? Check Out Locofan.net: Ted Wallingford helped to put together a social networking site for high school sports called LocoFan.net! This is about empowering the social discourse surrounding sports that makes prep athletics so much fun. Things like boosting, smack talking, Saturday-morning quarterbacking, and of course, media sharing. Not personally a high school ports fan, but maybe when my kids are old enough.

DeFi Mobile Offers Unlimited Calling over WiFi for $40/mo: This service provides unlimited calling as well as unlimited data on a number of commercial WiFi hotspots worldwid–yes, data you can use for other things. Seems a bit like a cross between Boingo and Truphone, but personally, I think Truphone and Boingo are a better deal.

Skype on Asterisk: Tom Keating did a long piece on the recent announcement about Skype being made available as a channel driver for Asterisk. In short, it allows you to both make and receive calls with Skype using an Asterisk server. Anything you can do with, say, an oubound SIP channel or an IP telephone extension can bow be done with Skype. It’s not going to be open-source, nor is it going to be free. It does open up some interesting opportunities.

Comments

3 October 2008, spg writes: they seem to indicate that there are no international long distance charges; and that landlines and cell phones anywhere in the world can be called. there is no price list. if this is true this is pretty amazing having nothing to do with the mobile aspect. anyone who simply makes a lot of calls to cell phones in for example any European country would be getting a very good deal being able to call unlimited for $40.00 per month. i looked and could not find any FUP. i will be following this one' something just does not seem to add up.
3 October 2008, spg writes: i was referring to DeFi Mobile in the above comment.
3 October 2008, PhoneBoy writes: I forget that terminating calls to mobile phones outside North America is insanely expensive and for no good reason. If DeFi Mobile does allow calls to mobile phones to be included in the $40/mo, then they are probably going to go out of business really fast. However, I suspect they don't allow this.
18 October 2008, spg writes: very interesting. i posted on questions on the defimobile forum. there was no reply to the forum post but i did receive an email from Nikki @ Defimobile, posted below: Satphoneguy, DeFi Global Access members enjoy unlimited global calling. This includes outbound calling to all countries and phone types. On Oct 16, 8:27 pm, Satphoneguy wrote: > > do i understand correctly that included are calls worldwide? does this > > include outbound calls to all countries and phone types or only that i > > can use the servicer anyplace in the world to call my home country? > > for example can i make unlimited calls from the USA to cell phone in > > europe? > > > > thanks in advance for clarification. i may give them a try; although i wish they offered the same price plan as an outbound SIP trunk. i can not possible see how they can offer calls to countries such as cuba that run several dollars per minute.

Why TV Will Be More Lean-Forward In The Future

PhoneBoy — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:10:06 +0000

I am now convinced that, over time, TV as we know it today will be more lean-forward, i.e. watched on a computer versus a television screen (lean-back).

My 8 year old son and my 4 year old daughter–without any assistance from me–have discovered they can watch TV programs online. They watch kid-stuff, like shows on Nick Jr and the stuff on 4Kids Entertainment that populates two of the local channels here on Saturday mornings. They eat this stuff up. They don’t care that it’s on a computer, it’s just a screen to them.

I myself watch things on sites like Hulu, Fancast, and the network sites far more often than I watch things on a regular TV. Heck, I watch videos on my mobile phone about as often as I’ll see something on TV.

While I grew up having to plan to be at the TV to watch a certain program, between videos we have at home and the Internet, my kids are growing up with the ability to watch pretty much what they want when they want. As they get older, they’re not going to accept anything less than that.

The only way I could see TV continuing to be lean-back is if the content choice and viewing flexibility on the computer screen is there and easier to use on the big-screen TV. What do you think?

Comments

2 October 2008, Irfon-Kim Ahmad writes: It's going the other way for me, actually. I watch more computer-sourced content (videos that I downloaded online, etc.) on the TV now than I used to. I control more non-visual media (my mp3 collection, etc.) via the TV than I used to. I also do more of my basic computing (checking e-mail, browsing the web) on the TV than I used to. And I do almost all of my video gaming on the TV, compared to doing all of it on the computer until relatively recently. In general, I spend a lot more time in front of the television and a lot less time in front of my computer than ever before. The majority of this can be chalked up to the Playstation 3, but I suspect that more devices will fill that role for other people. What I think about the way this is going is that increasingly people will be able to choose to experience their content wherever they like. Where they'll choose will largely depend on the situation. In a household like mine, the television is a great choice for a lot of content because the couch is more comfortable, the television is larger, the sound is good (although my computer's sound is possibly better when it's "docked"), etc. In households with a lot more people than mine, or with children, or where people want a lot of privacy, etc., then they might go the other way, choosing a personal device rather than the television for those reasons. Also, I don't know how much longer these distinctions will exist anyway. I've almost never watched television shows on my computer. When I didn't watch them on my TV via the PS3, I watched them handheld on my PSP. Is that lean-back or lean-forward? Sometimes when I want a nice large view and plan to spend a lot of time and want the comfy couch, or when I want to use a different sound system to demo audio in a more "home theater" setting rather than a more "studio" setting, I plug my laptop into the television and lean back with a keyboard on my lap and the mouse next to me. That's sort of both, under your definitions, isn't it? I mean, I'm leaning back, but I'm using my computer, but it's on the TV.
2 October 2008, spg writes: one of the most common qquestion i am asked lately is how to attach a computer to a TV. i see a lot of people wanting to make to computer 'lean back' in the living room. we may find that it we have a lean forward and than back model. with people watching TV as internet feeds but than pushing back onto the big TV screen in the living room.
2 October 2008, spg writes: just want to add. i know a few people who live in apartment with free wifi who have not signed up for cable they watch video solely on there computer. but this has a much to do with 'free' in terms both of money and subscriptions as a real decision. these people may prefer to have a cable subscription; but not as much as they prefer not to pay. if free muni- WiFi were to ever take off and could support video lean-forward would become much more popular.
3 October 2008, Goca writes: Computer have much more adds and its cool to use it,u can do anything what u want.TV is bored....
4 October 2008, Jill writes: No doubt, the internet is now a growing delivery source of TV style entertainment and eventually it'll be everyone's distribution arm of choice. But the question for me is this: will kids like your 4 & 8 year old who grew up with computers on their laps want lean-back entertainment like traditional TV or will they want something a little more interactive?

So Why Not iTunes?

PhoneBoy — Tue, 20 May 2008 08:01:59 +0000

I have a couple of Macs–and a lot of PCs. While I don’t listen to music that often, I have collected quite a bit of it–mostly on these plastic disks called CDs. Some of you might have heard of them

Anyway, when I got my hands on a Mac a few years ago for work purposes, I started playing around with iTunes. I ended up feeding it a bunch of my CDs and was fairly happy with the results. When I bought a MacBook two years ago, I decided that I wanted to re-rip my CDs in higher quality. So I went through the process–again.

Between that and a few tracks I’ve digitally acquired, I have about 2500 of them in iTunes. Generally, I can find what I need, I’ve found a reasonably sensible Smart Playlist that gives me a decent mix of music. It’s not perfect and I have to skip tracks, but it works for me.

While I do have an iPod Nano, I don’t use it. Instead, when I do prefer to listen to music on a portable device, I download music to a Nokia N95 thanks to Nokia Multimedia Transfer.

Now when it comes to video, other than for the occasional freebie from the iTunes store, I pretty much use Miro to manage video. I do this for a couple of reasons:

Support for Flash video and more types of video. I can stuff an RSS feed from YouTube into Miro and it will play the video it downloads from there.
Bittorrent Support. Need I say more?
Better at keeping your disk from filling up. Miro gives you the ability to only download episodes when less than X episodes are unwatched on a per-channel basis, a global “don’t download when less than X space,” and a per-channel auto-expiration for watched content.

Now I know some people don’t like iTunes for music. I guess I don’t see the issues, but I will admit I don’t listen to music daily. iTunes is sufficient for my meager needs. What am I missing here?

Comments

20 May 2008, Rita El Khoury writes: Yeah why not?! I've used iTunes as my main music manager on my PC ever since I got my iPod some 2 yrs ago. I find it well suited for my average usage. I also use iTunes agent, an application, to sync my smart playlist with my memory card (it can also be used for devices with internal storage). I have 2 memory cards, each is 2GB, so I have created 2 smart playlists that I sync with each card. One is my best and newest full albums, and the second is my 5star-rated music limited to 1.5GB priority to the newest. I find this an AWESOME mix, and most of all, I have to do nothing, just insert the card in my laptop's card reader, launch iTunes agent and click "Sync". Works like a charm.
20 May 2008, Marc writes: @ home - doesn't run on Linux @ work - does it support FLAC & OGG now? does it still want to download quicktime and safari? Other than that, they're all about the same I guess, particularly if one doesn't have an iPod and doesn't shop at iTunes.
22 May 2008, PhoneBoy writes: @Marc I think you can get FLAC/OGG flugins for the Mac, which means iTunes SHOULD support it. Quicktime is required for iTunes content.
27 November 2008, iTunes Music Blog writes: I think you nailed it on the head!! That\'s the point that everyone here has failed to make, nice work!! I am going to place a link to you on my blogroll, ok?

Nokia N81 8GB: That Syncing Feeling–With iTunes on Mac, Anyway

PhoneBoy — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:01:03 +0000

One of the things I have oh-so appreciated as of late is the Nokia Multimedia Transfer application. It has made syncing music and media from my Mac to my Nokia Nseries and Eseries devices a good experience. It’s not nearly as fast as my iPod Shuffle, but at least it makes it just about as simple: plug and play.

Up until a few days ago, I was unable to actually use Nokia Multimedia Transfer with the Nokia N81 8GB. Oh sure, the phone still isn’t supported my Nokia Multimedia Transfer, but I was able to get a hacked profile to allow the N81 8GB to work properly. Now my sync bliss can be restored.

To get this working:

Download the profile
Quit Nokia Multimedia Transfer
Locate the Nokia Multimedia Transfer application in the Finder (usually in the Applications folder)
Right-click and select Show Package Contents
Navigate to Content/Resources/Profiles
Copy the new profile into this folder
Start Nokia Multimedia Transfer
Connect your N81 and follow the directions

If you get errors about not being able to browse the file system after setting up the phone, you may need to delete your ~/Library/Application Support/Nokia Multimedia Transfer folder.

Meanwhile, NMT is claiming that it will take roughly two and a half hours to sync four gigabytes worth of MP3s to my phone. For comparison, the 2nd generation iPod Shuffle will sync a gigabyte in just a few minutes. This is abysmal sync performance–something my employer clearly needs to address in future products.

Comments

21 November 2007, I Organize » Blog Archive » Nokia N81 8GB: That Syncing Feeling–With iTunes on Mac, Anyway writes: [...] Jeremy Horwitz wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptOne of the things I have oh-so appreciated as of late is the Nokia Multimedia Transfer application. It has made syncing music and media from my Mac to my Nokia Nseries and Eseries devices a good experience. It’s not nearly as fast as my … [...]
27 November 2007, Test Nokia N81 - MobileHub writes: [...] PhoneBoy Blog partie 1, partie 2, partie [...]
5 December 2007, The PhoneBoy Blog writes: Nokia N81 8GB: That Syncing Feeling–With iTunes on Mac, AnywayNokia N81 8GB: The “Sexy” Navi Wheel? Nokia N81 8GB: Podcasts Nokia N81 8GB: The Camera Nokia N81 8GB: The Battery In general, I like the phone–enough that I continue to use it as my primary phone. The overall functionality is quite superb,
7 December 2007, charlie writes: hooked up and transferring as we speak. a few hours to do about 7 gig of transfers. ugh. thanks for the hack!
8 December 2007, Lifeblog: links for 2007-12-08 writes: [...] Nokia N81 8GB: That Syncing Feeling–With iTunes on Mac, Anyway (tags: hacks mac nokia n81 itunes nokiamediatransfer) [...]
12 February 2008, Anthony writes: hi ...can anyone help me out here.? My adobe reader aint functioning right...it wont open, it wont budge ...so I think it needs to be eliminated and replaced ...but hell ...how can I delete it ..there aint an option in the options to delete it....tried to install a new reader but it gets knocke back because I already have the application installed but thats the one Ineed to eliminte.. any ideas.. my fone is a N81 8GB
12 February 2008, PhoneBoy writes: @anthony Preinstalled applications typically can't be deleted or replaced. A specific "upgrade" installation would have to be created by Adobe.
13 February 2008, Test Nokia N81 | MobileHub : le blog des smartnautes writes: [...] PhoneBoy Blog partie 1, partie 2, partie [...]
17 March 2008, Nokia N81 and OSX - Mac - Apple - Whirlpool Broadband Forums writes: [...] Scuba Steve writes... no tunes europe.nokia.com/A4423134www.phoneboy.com/1921/no...es-on-mac-anyway?? [...]
27 October 2008, .dideriksen: iSync and Nokia N81 writes: [...] old news already) that it's possible to sync my N81 phone and the applications I use on the Mac.phoneboy.com and Nokia both explain how to do this with the supported phones.But there seem to be a catch with [...]

Apple iPhone Now $399

PhoneBoy — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:37:19 +0000

This picture from CrunchGear says it all:

Effective immediately. Looks like Apple got some serious money from the early adopters. For the same price, you can also get a 16gb iPod Touch, which is basically an iPhone sans phone functionality. The iPod touch isn’t available just yet, though.

A lot more was announced by Apple today as well, including the ability to purchase songs from your iPod Touch over WiFi. Wonder if you will be able to do that from your iPhone as well. And when you’re at Starbucks, you will be able to buy whatever music they’re playing too!

The wireless music store? Available globally. Considering my employer announced intentions to do a wireless music store, I wonder if Apple’s announcement will affect their plans any. One can hope, anyway, as Apple is proving it can be gone globally.

Nutsie Has Potential…

PhoneBoy — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:17:47 +0000

The Symbian Guru reviewed nuTsie earlier today. I have to agree, it’s a pretty cool idea for an app. The idea of streaming music to my mobile phone is something I’ve wanted since I purchased a locker on MP3Tunes. However, I have some serious issues with it–serious enough that I would much rather sync my Nokia N95 with Nokia Media Transfer.

The app requires that I enable Warning sounds in my profile on my Nokia N95. I turn these off for a reason.
Can’t control the volume with my usual volume control. Lame!
The tracks are encoded in a lower quality bitrate. Now that’s useful for streaming over EDGE, but I’d appreciate the option of choosing a higher bitrate when I’m using WiFi.
Some of the tracks are flat out wrong or are missing large chunks of data.”Us and Them” on Dark Side of the Moon is only 3:29? Try 7:40 (at least on my copy). Oh wait, it is playing the whole song. Obviously displaying the wrong information in the client.
I can hear “blips” and such. Not sure if it’s due to streaming, bad encoding, or what. But it detracts from the experience.

I will be watching this app develop. I’d love to see a native Symbian version of this app. The fact this is a Java app is supposed to explain why #1 and #2 are issues.

Now A Member of the iPod Generation

PhoneBoy — Fri, 18 May 2007 07:57:43 +0000

Today, my iPod Shuffle that I won in a contest arrived. It’s a second generation Shuffle, so it’s tiny, particularly when you compare it to, say, a Nokia phone. When I finally got to a point in my day where I could open it, I had only a few minutes before I had to leave. I plugged in the dock, put the iPod Shuffle in. I already had iTunes open, which of course recognized the iPod and asked me a few questions about it. It then asks me to “autofill” the iPod with music. I had to tell it which playlist to use, it picked enough songs to fill up the iPod, which at the rate I encoded all my music, ended up being only 155 songs, rather than the 240 they say on the box, but I have to say it filled the iPod very fast.

The sound quality on the iPod is perfectly reasonable as far as I can tell. I am just amazed at how something so small can put out something that sounds good. The controls are simple, but elegant. I like the fact that if on the off chance you pull out the headset from the iPod while it’s playing, it automatically pauses the song you are listening to.

I think I would have a hard time using the iPod Shuffle for podcasts, primarily because I can’t exactly see which podcast I am listening to and I want to be able to choose the order. For music, it’s wonderful. It would be really fantastic for red-eye flights. Fill it up with music and go.

After having spent far too long on solutions for syncing my mobile phones to something on iTunes, I completely appreciate the ease of simplicity of how the iPod syncs with iTunes. It all “just works” and I don’t have to think too hard about it. That right there is why people love their iPods and iTunes: it’s an end-to-end solution that nobody else has come close to duplicating.

Comments

18 May 2007, olly writes: It's funny, I was in Best Buy the other day wandering around, and I had a chance to look at the new Shuffle's for the first time... they are simply amazing pieces of tech, I have to agree. What really appeals to me about them is that you could sync them every morning, getting a random selection of tunes... the process is so fast it wouldn't take to long. My iPod Mini is getting a bit long in the tooth, so I may end up going down the shuffle route at some point too. -olly

Joining the iPod Generation

PhoneBoy — Thu, 10 May 2007 19:11:21 +0000

I got word yesterday I had won an iPod Shuffle. Given that I carry a number of Nokia phones that can effectively serve as music and video players, I wasn’t in any hurry to actually buy an iPod. However, I certainly can’t turn down a free one. Not sure when it will show, but I’m looking forward to trying the whole iTunes experience from soup to nuts.

One of my neighbors at the bus stop this morning was sporting an iPod, which was entirely new. He told me he had bought the Nano for his wife–the fact it was pink suggests that’s probably true–but after playing with it a little bit, he wants to get one for himself. He started asking me about the whole iTunes experience, how purchased music could be moved around and so forth. I had to explain what DRM was and why it makes things painful. Apple’s DRM is better than much of the other DRM, but still.

I know how the stuff works in theory, but because I’ve never had an iPod, I’ve never had to deal with these issues first-hand, making my experience more theoretical than practical. I’m looking forward to gaining some practical experience not only for my own use but to help out my friends and neighbors who are also just starting down this iPod road.

Comments

11 May 2007, Ricky Cadden writes: http://tinyurl.com/3cj4vn - If you're using a PC, you NEED iTunes agent. It's a plugin that lets you synchronize your iTunes (non-ITMS-bought) music to your mobile device. It's awesome. I'm preparing a write-up on it for this weekend. If you'd like a walkthrough and some examples, give me a call, you've got my #.

Proper Music Sync for Nokia Phones?

PhoneBoy — Thu, 10 May 2007 06:20:03 +0000

While I haven’t tried this program yet, this program called iTuneMyWalkman looks like it might be just the ticket. After configuring iTuneMyWalkman, which it looks like it needs for a Nokia device, plug in your Nokia device (in USB Storage mode), and it automatically syncs for you. Also supports downsampling MP3s to save space on your device. I definitely got to try this out soon to see if it works as advertised.

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