iPhone (Updated)
I'm aware that there are at least 15 million articles about the iPhone out there on the internets. Regardless, I must do my part and contribute. As a disclaimer, I must admit that I have an Apple sticker on each one of my vehicles.
It's locked (to a carrier). Apple had an opportunity to really disrupt the cellular handset business. They have been selling iPods for over 5 years now in the $400 range. This is more than the average American would ever consider spending on a handset. If they had brought the iPhone to market without a contract at the $500 - $600 price point, it's very reasonable to expect that sales would be brisk. I can only assume that this was not financially viable. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the iPhone would need to sell for $600 or $700 without a contract for Apple to maintain their usual comfy margin. Ignoring that detail, it seems that if an unlocked iPhone was selling like hot-cakes at the Apple Store, GSM carriers would be scrambling to upgrade their networks to support Visual VoiceMail. Visual VoiceMail is the only unique technology in the iPhone that I am aware of that requires specifc additional carrier support.
It doesn't have UMTS/HSDPA. In other words, it's not 3G. Not a huge problem as it will receive the 3G treatment eventually. It does however slightly reduce it's sex appeal, 'cause you know how sexy a Quad-Band GSM, with Tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA handset is. Right?
The most blatant omission is the lack of support for songs as ringtones. I cannot see any justification for this decision. It's clearly not an engineering challenge.
No video recording. No ability to send picture messages. No voice dialing. This phone is clearly lacking some features that the general public has grown accustomed to.
It's over-hyped. I'm sure it will sell well. Myself, I'm getting a Sony Ericsson K850i with aforementioned sexiness. And video calling. And a 5 Megapixel camera. And syncing over Bluetooth to my Mac. And an FM radio w/ RDS and Gracenote. And it's not married to iTunes. Sorry, I'm not supposed to do that.
WrongWithIt™ criticisms
Discussion on the negative aspects of otherwise excellent, uh, things... Most of the time.
Mobile Youtube
Let's get this one figured out...
If you don't know, YouTube has now made available to non-Verizon customers their m.youtube.com site.
YouTube is using a 3GP file format with H.263 codecs. It seems to me that that should work with any standards compliant handset on EDGE or higher. Enough with the "you gotta have 3G for Mobile Youtube". I've ran some tests and I believe that YouTube is throttling the streaming bandwidth. Just because it takes 12 seconds to buffer on your 3G, doesn't mean that it's fully utilizing the "pipe". For the record, I'm getting consistent downstream speeds of 20 Mbits per second on my Comcast cable connection and it still takes 5 to 10 seconds to buffer.
Anywho, my current handset is Sony Ericsson W810i, straight from Sony, never locked. It has the latest firmware, and can not play the YouTube videos. The page loads and all the links are active and appear to work. Clicking on "watch video" loads the media player and it says it's connected to the media server. Within about 5 seconds, the playback area of the screen turns off-black as if it's starting to play the video.
Then I wait. And wait. And wait. Nothing.
I have verified that the carrier (AT&T) is not blocking RTSP ports by testing it with my LG CU500. It works.
What's going on? People are reporting success with their K790s, and the 810 is newer. Am I going to have to wait for the K850i?
Daylight Savings Time
Daylight savings time is no longer needed. Entering widespread modern use in 1907, we no longer are encumbered by the special conditions that a primarily coal powered electrical grid brought during wartime. DST is annoying for no reason. It occupies legislative time that could be used otherwise, and produces little to no benefit for it's inconvenience. Recent studies also show that there are such negative consequences as increased traffic accidents, primarily due to drowsiness or tardiness.
The map to the right is color coded to indicate which countries use DST. Red - never used, Orange - Kicked the habit, Blue - Still addicted.
Of course time zones are still necessary. I'm not advocating any sort of "world clock" where all the world refers to the current hour with the same number. I think the GMT (-/+ x) system is adequate. It's time to pick a delta and stick to it. It I'm GMT -8, then I'm GMT -8. Always.
Thoughts?
Sony Ericsson K850i
There is one significant problem with this handset...
I don't have one.
Anyone?
Touch Screens
Touch screens seems to be gaining popularity in many segments of technology. While often times they can provide a dynamic interface that provides contextually sensitive functions, they are not always better than plastic or rubber buttons.
Essentially, a touch screen detracts from the functionality of any device that is primarily operated without looking directly at it. An example of this is a touch screen remote control for a television or home media system. With normal operation, the operator is looking at a television screen, not the remote. This is coupled with the fact the the touch screen gives no tactile feedback and does not allow the user to feel the button without activating it. Often this can produce undesirable results.
LifeSavers Commercial
When I was a kid I played T-Ball. One day, I hit a double. I was pretty fast and thought that I'd most likely make it home on the next hit. The next hit was a high fly ball to right. As soon as I heard the crack of the bat, I began running. By the time I was rounding 3rd, I noticed that several people, including the coach, looked as though they really wanted me to turn around. Confused, I stopped running. The coach came up to me an told me that I was out. He said that when that batter hits a fly ball, you can't run or your out. I took it at face value and made sure that the next time I was on base, I would stay planted if a fly ball was hit. It happened, and that turned out to be a bad plan as well. I was embarrassed. If he had just bothered to explain the rule, rather than watering it down and only providing enough information for the immediate situation, I would have at least made third.
This brings me to a slightly related topic:
In a LifeSavers commercial, a girl approaches her friend and asks him why he thinks that her coworkers are calling her a "muffin-top". He of course knows that it's because of the tight low-riders and the exposed midriff that slightly resembles a muffin top. Regardless, he tells her that the muffin top is the best part of the muffin, and the coworkers are implying that she is the "best".
Is that the right thing to do? Sometime in the future, she'll learn the truth and I'm sure she wont forget what he told her. I know, I know, it's just a commercial, but that's a cop out. It's a perfectly feasible hypothetical. If I was her, I'd be pissed. Just like I was with my coach. There, I tied it together.