People, technology of all sorts, and my experiences with them. I do technical support work and teach, which gives me a different perspective. (Different COULD mean weird, you know!)
TubeMogul is a service (free) that I stumbled across while thinking about creating a vodcast (i.e. video podcast) for GovAccessMusic.com.
It allows you (after some setup work) to upload a video ONCE and publish it on several different video sharing sites.
Sweet!
For example: ONE upload now shows up on
(Disclaimer: I'm not an Apple employee, nor do I write for any Mac magazines/tech publications/etc.)
Steve Jobs announced the 3g iPhone today at the 2008 WWDC (WorldWide Developer's Conference).
My reaction?
"Well, it's nice, but it isn't going to change my life". (Sorry, Steve! Well, no, not really.)
Why?
Part has to do with how I use technology. I don't NEED to be texting all day every day. I don't NEED to have web access on my phone (I do however need to take a break from the web!).
I don't NEED to be spending $100/month for cell phone service for one phone!
(OK - I do spend close to that, but that's for THREE phones - and I pay by the message for texting because I'd rather spend $2.00 a month for the few that I get/send versus $5 or $10/month for a capability that I won't use.) Call me cheap - but I'd rather spend the bucks on groceries...or gasoline.
What's nice about the new iPhone?
The user interface - wicked simple to work
Web access, especially using the 3g network.
The flush-mount headphone jack. You gotta admit that Apple at least changes something when they mess it up - the recessed headphone jack in the original iPhone was a mistake.
The lower price
So why won't I be getting one, even at $199?
I don't need it. The little dinky LG phone I'm using has served me well, and it does what I need it to do.
I don't need to spend the money on something that is "cool", but adds little to functionality to my life as it stands.....and would add complexity.
Yeah, it's a nice gadget. But I've gotta go buy milk instead.
Hmmmmmmmm...........
This is a piece of technology that I can't decide on.
[Disclaimer: YES, I've seen/held/played with one]
The user interface is excellent. The phone's construction seems to be solid enough to handle a fair amount of user abuse - the front glass IS glass, though, so I assume there will be a lot of cracked ones before long. I was impressed with the OS - it seems easy to navigate, and the touchscreen is indeed well done.
I think the product is hobbled by the strong tie-in with AT&T, though. Their data network is really too slow to be of much use for serious web browsing....... and that's a fair amount of money a year for something you aren't going to use unless you absolutely have to.
Here's what I predict most people will do: They will drop the data part of the plan (assuming AT&T will let them!), and use the web surfing capabilities of the iPhone only when newar a WiFI hotspot (where the iPhone works very well, by the way).
A lot of other people, though, will just continue paying that monthly fee, regardless of whether they use the capabilities or not.
Yes, the iPhone is impressive. All the hype wasn't.
For me, though, there is not enough need in my life/career for a $500 cell phone/music player. For $600 I could get a fairly nice large diaphragm condensor mic!
