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kominetz.coma freelancer on software, science, technology, and other geeky stuff
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My current carrier, T-Mobile, may have the first android phone as soon as next month. I doubt it will be an interface slam-dunk like the iPhone, but news of its app store, Android Market, and the full keyboard are enough to make me wait and see.
The Ars Technica article below compares/contrasts Google’s plan with Apple’s existing store. Is Google finding a better middle ground between control and freedom than Apple? Maybe next month we’ll know.
One small consolation of my contract in Rockville is spending quality time with my iPod Touch, podcasts, and the Civic–who is now officially named “Blue Monday”. Tonight’s drive was especially pleasant from both the driving and podcast listening perspectives. Here are some highlights from the things I heard:
Oh, beer. You are such a Good Thing that even evolution loves you. A palm evolved natural fermentation chambers to capture yeast and brew you from its own nectar. A species of beer-swilling shrew doesn’t seem to get drunk despite a hefty habit; I can’t decide if we should praise or pity the little fellow. A species of loris has also developed a drinking habit, nothing nearly as nasty as their anorexic cousin’s habits who grace the cover of one of my favorite O’Reilly books. Evolution, beer, UNIX, and primates behaving badly–fabulous!
Stever Robbins, the Get-It-Done guy over at quickanddirtytips.com has some helpful hints about a subject near and dear to my heart, file naming conventions. He gets points for suggesting the ISO 8601 date to tell apart your 5,000 report.doc files and to sort them chronologically in your file manager of choice. It’s sad that most people still live in a world where meaningful search or–dare I say it–real metadata doesn’t exist. On a related note, I definitely have a few things to say about how much I’m using Spotlight in a subsequent post.
This edition of the Scientific American’s weekly podcast podcast takes a fascinating look at counter-IED technology in Iraq and a related story about the continuing problems with turning the lights back on in Baghdad. More robots controlled by the video-game generation combat an adaptable enemy turning our commodity tech against us. Scary and fascinating. Finally, our friend the beer-swilling Loris makes an appearance at the end of the podcast in the “Totally Bogus” segment. Who knew I was embracing my Inner Chimp every time I popped the top off a bottle of Midas Touch? Mmm, beer.
Finally, RadioLab has produced some of the best podcasts I’ve ever listened to. It’s This American Life meets Nova, two things I already love. In this between-seasons short, Robert Krulwich addresses Cal Tech graduates. I won’t butcher it with a summary. Just go listen to it right now. Being a science reporter like Krulwich or Mursky (of SciAm) is my new dream job. Subscribe to the podcast, go back through all the episodes–especially the ones or morality and emergence–and thank me later.
I’ve given up on iPhone 3G after 48 frustrating hours. Instead of today’s post praising the platform, I must chastise Apple for one of the worst product launches in memory. Given Veronica Belmont’s experience, maybe I should be grateful for the delay. To avoid my inevitable agonizing over buying it or not buying it, I’ve come up with my five-point ultimatum that Apple must meet before I’ll consider buying an iPhone again:
1. I don’t have to stand in line to buy it. My current Blackberry/Touch configuration is good enough for now. One of three things needs to happen: Demand abates, supply increases, or Apple bitch-slaps AT&T until they agree to online purchases and at-home activations. Otherwise, it’s just not worth the bother.
2. Apple releases two software updates. Apple’s notoriously bad at Dot Zero releases, and they don’t seem as on top of things with the iPhone as they are with OS X. In this particular case, I’ll stick to the two update rule assuming the first update will fix most things but break a few more in the process.
3. I can synchronize with a released version of OmniFocus. Having my not-at-computer actions with me is a must have, and I’m unwilling to trust my daily operations to a sneak peak version of OmniFocus. I may buy the iPhone version for my Touch when OmniFocus 1.1 comes out, but only if I can use or transfer it to an iPhone later. Anybody know how the App Store works with multiple devices on the same iTunes account?
4. Reliable sources report battery life exceeds 24 hours. If the device can’t last an average day without turning everything off, I don’t want it. Ideally my everything device needs to last 48 hours–one weekend away from home and/or laptop–to be practical. This might be a deal-breaker with iPhone 3G. Anybody know how to tether an iPod Touch to a Blackberry Pearl or Bold? That might hold me over until a third generation iPhone with a reasonable battery life hits the shelves.
5. It comes with a reasonable plan. A reasonable plan includes text messages. The fact that I’m paying for an all-you-can-eat data plan but still have to pay extra for snippets of text drives me crazy now. I don’t love T-Mobile, and I don’t really hate AT&T from personal experience, but I have lots of AT&T-hating friends and feel that the iPhone and Apple itself have both been tainted by a deal with this particular devil.
The real shame here is I’m totally hyped about iPhone 2.0 as a computing platform. The total interface package (multi-touch, accelerometer, proximity) really delivers in what has been a decades-long innovation dead zone, and the App Store is a first look at the amazing possibility of putting such power in the hands of thousands of developers. The missing piece with the Touch is Internet Everywhere, but I’ve learned to live with good-enough works in progress elsewhere in life.
I can wait. I think. Ask me again tomorrow.
Shared a link: Loud Bar Equals More Beer : Scientific American Podcast
Comment on My iPhone Ultimatum by john.kominetz
1 August 2008