I have to admit that part of me felt toward Apple and the iPad like former Disney CEO Michael Eisner felt toward for Pixar and “Finding Nemo” – that a less-than-stellar reception would serve as a wake up call for the company.
But after 1 million units sold, maybe the device has legs after all.
First, a history: I bought the phone in November 2007 in a $150 sale. This was just a few months after the iPhone launch and was clearly the right choice. Let’s remember that unlike the Tilt, the original iPhone lacked third-party apps (let alone multitasking), GPS, voice dialing and 3G data (with laptop tethering). Neither Android nor WebOS existed. Windows Mobile is still among the most open and hackable platforms around. I can download applications from anywhere, and developers don’t need approval from anyone. For me, the pros outweigh the clunky Windows Mobile 6.1 interface.
I believe in holding on to purchases as long as I can, so despite an explosion of innovation in mobile phones, I still use the Tilt. Even the AT&T support people are shocked. If Microsoft hadn’t made clear with Windows Phone 7 that my handset is officially a dead-end technology, I’d keep it another year. But I have a feeling that Google’s recently updated Maps app will be the last software update this phone ever sees.
So now the dilemma. I love the Windows Phone 7 interface, but I fear that Microsoft is trying to out-Apple Apple with a closed app store. If I have to choose between two closed ecosystems, I’ll go with the one that features the vastly larger ecosystem of apps and accessories. Apple is the safe choice, but I really, really want need a physical keyboard. Android looks promising, but the platform appears increasingly fractured, even worse than Windows Mobile was with two different OS flavors and multiple screen/keyboard configurations. WebOS looks increasingly like a dead-end, and nothing about the BlackBerry interface excites me.
On top of that, what’s with everyone producing phones with no removable battery or add-in storage? Apple might get away with it, but they’re cons, not pros in any iPhone evaluation.
UPDATE: It appears I may have dismissed Palm’s WebOS prematurely. HP is buying the company, which may give it a fighting chance. I’m just glad I don’t have to buy a phone right now.
Halo, the seriously overrated Xbox franchise, is getting jet packs, making it strikingly similar to one of my all-time favorite games, “Starsiege: Tribes.”
Not that it’s a bad thing.
Am I missing anything?
This looks seriously awesome.
in reference to: Courier: First Details of Microsoft's Secret Tablet - Microsoft courier tablet - Gizmodo (view on Google Sidewiki)But maybe SideWiki should be a standalone Firefox extension.
in reference to: Google Sidewiki Is a Universal Commenting System for the Web - Google Sidewiki - Lifehacker (view on Google Sidewiki)
It's true. As part of a technical writing program I’m close to finishing, I had to write a user manual, and the instructor assigned us topics she thought the students would know nothing about.
And she was right.
For the record, I don’t recommend producing long, carefully formatted documents in Microsoft Word.
This “conversation” was going on for 5-8 minutes before we started recording.
Marc Andreesen says killing the print edition of newspapers to survive. His thesis: the print advertising dollars have to go somewhere. Newspaper Web sites won't get all of it, but thanks to dramatically lower publishing and distribution costs, they'll get enough to be profitable.
He may be on to something. I hope one of the about-to-be-shutdown publications in one-newspaper towns tries this (I'm looking at you San Francisco Chronicle) to test this theory. What have they got to lose?
If I turned in a chart like this to my newspaper’s art department, they would call me to double-check that the last number wasn’t a mistake.
After much trepidation, I finally installed the Windows 7 beta on my laptop. With the possible exception of losing my VPN connection (Cisco hasn’t made a driver available yet), it’s been a really smooth experience. The beta is very stable and a big improvement over Vista.
I’m one of the few people who seem to actually like Vista, but 7 takes it up a notch. In a nutshell:
Windows 7 also extends the life of the laptop battery, but I have not had time to test that.
In other words, my observations seem to jibe with what everyone else has said so far. If the final addresses the VPN issue, there’s no question that I’ll upgrade when it comes out (the final is scheduled to launch in about a year).
Update: I installed it on my home computer, but it didn’t recognize my ancient GeForce3 chipset, which controls audio and networking. So I had to go back to Vista on that machine.
Things I’m looking forward to in 2009:
- Buying my first house
- Seeing my daughter turn 1
- An Obama presidency/Bush leaving office
- Final half-season of Battlestar Galactica
In 2009, I resolve to:
- Make better use of my time, money and other resources
- Procrastinate less (see above)
- Read more fiction
- Be more helpful around the house
- Re-do my professional Web site
- Finish my technical writing certification
- Grow more adept at Flash
I meant to mention this when I first read it over the weekend -- it’s been thoroughly warmed over now -- but real-estate Web site Redfin has switched completely to Google Maps from Microsoft’s Live Maps service. Redfin said it liked Microsoft’s technology, but that Google’s maps are much faster.
That’s pretty much been my experience. I love showing people the 3-D and bird’s-eye view on Live Maps, but when it comes down to trying to find something fast, I always gravitate to Google Maps.
This is probably true of most of Microsoft’s Live services -- they’re just not fast enough. Hotmail has gotten noticeably faster in recent weeks, but everything else seems kind of pokey.
Here’s a timely Christmas project I did a couple of years ago for a class I was taking. Enjoy!
Yes, I know. It takes forever to load. It was an intro to Flash class, OK?
