Why the iPod is Not Just a Portable Music Player
November 18, 2008 | 2 Comments
Kids of the present generation are hung up on their iPods, and why not? They find these gadgets to be extremely useful, whether used for the primary purpose of listening to music or for any alternative function that they can think of. Not many of them are familiar with the famous Walkman from Sony that revolutionized the early 80s – Apple kind of took Sony’s idea, revamped the entire gadget, added a whole lot more storage capacity, and made them available in various sizes and snazzy colors. Of course, the invention of the mp3 and mp4 storage formats was a godsend, but then, that’s all moot now. The iPod has reached new levels of fame, something that Microsoft’s Zune could not achieve even though it offered similar functionality.
Now I’m not the kind to go around with my iPod in my pocket and the signature white headphones stuck in my ear at all times. But I do enjoy music when I’m involved in work that does not require too much concentration, like cooking or working out. And that’s when my iPod becomes my greatest pal, especially on the treadmill and the stationary bike. The only way to make time go by faster is to ignore the display and sing at the top of my voice along with Kelly Clarkson and Faith Hill. Yeah, I’ve discovered that my iPod is capable of making time fly.
It also comes in handy when I’m sulking and want to shut out what people around me are saying, like the time after an argument when I needed all the strength I could to keep from crying. I was in a moving car, which meant that jumping out was out of the question unless I wanted to get run over. So I did the next best thing – put on those headphones and created my own world to escape into.
I’ve also discovered that these gadgets are nifty conversation pieces as well – if you want to strike up a conversation with someone with an iPod, you could do a comparison, about the storage capacity, the color, the covers or hoods, and of course, the kind of songs you love to listen to.
Yeah, iPods definitely score over the Walkman, but that’s just because you don’t ever have to change the cassette inside.
This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of correspondence colleges on her website. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com or by leaving a comment below.
10 MacWorld 2008 Predictions
December 29, 2007 | 2 Comments
With the holidays behind us now Mac users have only one thing to look forward to in the New Year. MACWORLD 2008! This years MacWorld Expo kicks off in San Francisco January 14th 2008.
As always Steve Jobs likes to throw out a little reality distortion field for the eager Mac users in attendance. The keynote is rarely disappointing and always give Apple fans more reasons that they are glad they use a Mac.
Without further ado here is our 10 MacWorld 2008 Predictions:
1. iPhone 2.0 (I think this is a given since the iPhone was first announced at MacWorld 2007. Watch for 3G models)
2. Canadian iPhone release date (Here’s hoping)
3. Updated Apple TV with iPhone & iPod touch remote support
4. iTunes Movie Rentals
5. 3rd Party iPhone application support
6. Updated Mac Pro (MacWorld is typically a consumer show but these machines are long overdue for an upgrade)
7. Updated MacBook Pro
8. New Apple Cinema Displays ( As with the Mac Pro the displays are a little long in the tooth. Watch for LCD technology)
9. Mac OS X 10.5.2
10. More International Apple Retail Stores Announcements
What would you like to see at MacWorld? Sound off in the comments.
I wanted to buy an iPhone
September 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I consider myself an early adopter. I’ve always tried to get the latest and greatest gadgets before anyone else. I had the first VCR in my neighborhood, the first home theater. When the iPhone came out I wanted one badly, but when it wasn’t available in Canada, I shrugged my shoulders and lost interest. Why?
Because I never saw a point to buying something that needs to be hacked to work. I’m not illiterate, I knew a few things before the iPhone came out:
- It only worked with AT&T. Apple approached all the carriers, and AT&T were the only ones that were interested.
- No deal had been struck with Rogers, so it wouldn’t be available in Canada.
- The iPhone was going to be hacked. That meant the warranty would be void, and there would be no guarantee that it would work with future software updates from Apple.
These weren’t secrets. If you went across the border and bought an iPhone to use in Canada, you know it could become an expensive paperweight at some point down the development cycle. Now it seems like that point may have come, with yesterday’s announcement by Apple that the next software update may play well with hacked phones. If your hacked phone doesn’t work after an update, Apple won’t honour their warranty.
Are they doing it intentionally, I don’t know. Do I blame them? Not really.
Would I, as a company, bend over backwards to make sure that a product I brought to a specific market can work in other markets it isn’t being sold in? No. I would make sure that the people using the way my company designed it for is being served.
If you bought an iPhone and hacked it to use in Canada, and it gets turned into a brick down the road, who’s fault is that?
I think Apple was kind in warning people, because to me, that was common sense from the beginning.
PC Mag Editor Has Beefs With Vista but Still Won’t Switch to Mac
August 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment
PC Mags editor Jim Louderback is passing the torch to move on to new challenges but doesn’t leave before expressing his frustration with Windows Vista.
I’ve been a big proponent of the new OS over the past few months, even going so far as loading it onto most of my computers and spending hours tweaking and optimizing it. So why, nine months after launch, am I so frustrated? The litany of what doesn’t work and what still frustrates me stretches on endlessly.
Take sleep mode, for example. Vista promised a new low-power sleep mode that would save energy yet enable nearly instantaneous resume. Poppycock. The brand-new dual-core system I built a few months ago totters off to sleep but never returns. I have to cold-start it to bring it back. This after replacing virtually every driver inside.
I could go on and on about the lack of drivers, the bizarre wake-up rituals, the strange and nonreproducible system quirks, and more. But I won’t bore you with the details. The upshot is that even after nine months, Vista just ain’t cutting it. I definitely gave Microsoft too much of a free pass on this operating system: I expected it to get the kinks worked out more quickly. Boy, was I fooled!
Jim ends his article stating, “I might just do the unthinkable: I might move to Linux.”
Is Canada’s mobile market large enough for Apple to care?
August 4, 2007 | 2 Comments
Apple has stated that they want to sell 10 million iPhones within the first year of their release. After doing a little research it seems that Canada’s high wireless data rates aren’t the only reason we are waiting for the iPhone to head north.
Canada’s population: (2005) 32,227,000.
Canadian Cell phone subscriptions: (2004) 14,984 000.
US population: 302,520,000 (Current Estimate)
US cell phone users: 159,000,000 (2003)
After doing the math you can easily see why the iPhone hasn’t debuted in Canada yet. Apple really doesn’t need our modest mobile market to reach their sales goal of selling 10 million iPhones in their first year. Canada just doesn’t have the population or mobile phone market for Apple to care.
Why Canada may never see the iPhone
July 14, 2007 | 8 Comments
The Vancouver Sun is reporting on Canadians iPhone Woes in todays business section of the Vancouver British Columbia newspaper.
In it the article points at some glaring reasons why Canadian will have to possibly wait a very long time for the iPhone to end up in our hands.
And what may surprise you is the fact that it is not Apple that is holding us back from the iPhone but Canadian mobile providers.
In the article Fiona Anderson investigates the current state of the Canadian wireless industry and finds we are on par with 3rd world wireless providers when compared to what is available for customers in the United States and Europe.
In the United States, AT&T has won the exclusive right to service iPhones with phone service that includes unlimited data starting at $59.99 US a month. The plans get more expensive as voice minutes increase, but the data (e-mail and web access) in all plans remains unlimited.
Canadian cellphone companies don’t have any plans that come even close to that. For $20 Cdn a cellphone user in Canada may get about five megabytes of downloading capability.
Hardly unlimited data! In fact 5MB won’t even allow you to watch a YouTube video on the iPhone.
Michael Geist, Canada research chair of Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, has calculated that a Rogers plan equivalent to the cheapest AT&T plan would cost about $300 a month.
For $295, Rogers provides 500 MB of data download, not quite unlimited, but more than enough for most people. Cheaper plans with less downloading are available, but they may also have fewer voice minutes.
Apple would never allow their product into a market where it would cost $300 a month to operate. Why would they want their product in a market where consumers wouldn’t utilize all the features of the iPhone because it is to expensive? Read more
Apple Support Document Hints at International iPhone Release
June 30, 2007 | 2 Comments
Upon scouring through Apple Support Documents related to the iPhone I came across this tidbit of information:
iPhone complies with the safety standard for Safety of Information Technology Equipment, IEC 60950-1.
This safety standard has been adopted by many countries and is referred to as the following:
* UL 60950-1 in the United States
* CSA 60950-01 in Canada
* EN60950-1 in Europe
* AS/NZS 60950:1 in Australia and New Zealand.
This excerpt is from a Apple Article ID: 305695 which is related to battery charging. It seems the iPhone is ready to go international anytime. We are just waiting for Apple to give the green light. Hopfully it is sooner rather than later.
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