Gadgets
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Just when you think you’ve seen it all, or heard it all…
I’ve been hearing advertisements on the radio for “Presto“, email without email, thing. The email printer for those who want to get email but that have computer phobia or something.
It’s just like WebTV only without the Web or TV part. IT’s basically this HP printer that you buy for $149.00 and plug it into your phone line.
People (your normal computer and email savvy family members) send you email and it prints it there for you.
No you can’t reply to them, you just get to read the email. All of this for a mere $9.95 per month. It’s like a one-way color fax machine! Why didn’t I think of this?
I’m sorry, computers just aren’t that hard. If my mother-in-law can do it anyone can and there are plenty of FREE email services out there.
Would the guy who funded this please email me? I want some of your money and I’m sure I can give you a much better return than this dumb idea.
CNN Money said; “Wouldn’t it be great if you could send email to your parents and not have to teach them how to use a computer?” Ah, no. No, no and hell no. If they can’t comprehend a basic computer with simple web access and web mail then no, I don’t want to have a one-way email conversation with my parents. It would only encourage them to pick up the phone and call me. Who wants that?
Written by datapoohbah on January 12th, 2007 with no comments.
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As things go in life, if it seems too good to be true it usually is.
So David Pogue, the un-official Mac/Apple homer (aka iPogue) spent some quality time with the iPhone and wrote about it again here.
Now that the Keynote hype, and the ‘Demo-Ware’ magic has worn off, Pogue points out a few things:
Yes, typing is difficult (bleh)
Web Speed wasn’t great. Originally I had *thought* they were doing the web stuff in the prezo on-net, but being that it was wireless, then I’m really not all that impressed with the speed. If it was that _slow_ over wifi, then it’s going to completely suck on Edge.
Granted, this is a pre-release with demo/debug software so let’s hope it’s not that slow. I once hoped that Outlook 2007 would be faster once out of beta too. Boy was I wrong.
Other questions that everyone is asking were answered in a follow-up comment by Pogue:
ANSWERS TO ALL YOUR QUESTIONS:
Guys, if it hasn’t been said, then the answer is no.
Can it run Mac OS X programs? No.
Can it open Word/Excel docs? No. (Yes to PDF, though.)
Can it be used with anything but Cingular? No.
Does it run Palm apps? No.
Does it connect to iChat? No.
Does it have games? No.
Is it ambidextrous? No.
Does it have GPS, voice recognition, 3G? No.
Flash or Java? No.
Music over Bluetooth? No.
Can you change the battery? No.
Etc.
It is STILL the coolest piece of electronics to come along in years.
DP — Posted by david Pogue
So, no you can’t add stuff to it. (That’s bad, though everyone in the handheld community is expecting an SDK to be announced at WWDC). It would not surprise me in the least though if Apple kept the iPhone as a closed platform just like the iPod. Since there wasn’t a mention at the Keynote, we’ll assume for now that it is closed.
No Word or Excel viewing compatibility? That’s a big WTF? Even if some bastardized version of Doc’s To-Go was included, that would help.
Cingular blows we all know this and it’s a recurring theme. I understand the need to support GSM though.
Of course it won’t run Palm apps. Duh.
Ambidextrous? If you can’t use it with one hand, being ambidextrous is moot.
If it supports Safari, why not Flash? Java?
Ugh. It’s still an amazing device, but then again, so was the Newton. 
Written by datapoohbah on January 11th, 2007 with 1 comment.
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Like the Poohbah I also am jonesing for one of these bad. However, I think the iPhone is very much a Blackberry and Palm killer.
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Written by CmdrChalupa on January 10th, 2007 with 2 comments.
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Wow,
Apple’s announcement yesterday was pretty amazing and wasn’t all that unexpected.
On the surface, the iPhone is a pretty awesome device and I can’t wait to get my hands on one.
My initial reaction though was more of a “Ewe, for as awesome as it is, they missed a couple boatsâ€.
Cingular/ATT: While this carrier might be awesome in San Fran, it downright blows around here. Everyone who’s left Verizon for Cingular is back. Edge isn’t all that, in fact it’s downright slow in a lot of cases.
No Removable Media or Battery: This to me as a big disappointment, It also appears that the battery isn’t user replaceable, which prevents users from carrying more than one, and/or replacing batteries as they go bad.
Keyboard? : Apple certainly has done something amazing with their new multi-touch technology. While they certainly bashed mini-keyboards, I have yet to see a faux keyboard that really worked. There is no replacement for tactile feel, and knowing you ‘pushed’ a button. While I agree with them that a number of devices with keyboards simply blow, the Treo’s keyboard is pretty good once you learn to use it. I expect its learning curve is or will be less than that of the faux keyboard simply from a feedback perspective. I would gladly give up some thickness for a horizontal slide-out keypad/keyboard.
Web Surfing? : Was it just me or did the experience in the keynote seem slow? Granted it was using a ‘real’ web browser. But if you used Opera-Mini I thought the rendering and navigation around the Times website was kind of slow.
Enterprise Apps and Compatibility: O.K. This one really got me. Perhaps 3rd parties will step up to the plate. They listed ‘Exchange’ under iMap. That’s just great. That is not Enterprise level “over the air†syncing. I certainly hope they are not expecting iTunes to integrate with Exchange and Active Directory. No Syncing with iCal and Address Book is not enterprise level integration. FACT: Most “Smart Phone Users”, are using their smart phones with enterprise level software, be it Good[tm], Exchange Push, or BlackBerry software.
Outside of all of that, I really like what I saw. It’s not overly priced given the features.
My final and biggest concern is; “One handed useâ€. Of all the smart phones that Apple bashed upon, one thing they do and do well, is allow you to operate them with one hand. Palm/Treo is very good at this. Granted, they have made absolute ZERO progress in the last 3 years improving the Treo other than adding new carrier support. The Palm interface, and Blazer are awesome.
My biggest fear is that this device ‘requires’ you to use two hands in most cases. That will render it fairly cumbersome to use. Phones are single handed devices, so are iPods. I hope that isn’t its Achilles heel.
The parallels between this launch and the leap in technology remind me a lot of Palm’s “Palm VII†launch. Where is that device today? Certainly the networks are greatly improved and I applaud Apple for giving us a full browser on a phone. (It should however be Firefox and not Safari).
Steve claimed they were creating 3 new devices, or making extreme gains in 3 categories. The reality is that this is a very special iPod. A wide screen, touch based iPod with a pretty nice phone built in. A new Internet communicator? SMS isn’t what I’d call earth shattering, gadgets are nice, too but, from current experience with Cingular and Edge, this part may very well be disappointing.
Bottom line though? I can’t wait to get my hands on one.
Written by datapoohbah on January 10th, 2007 with no comments.
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We lucked into a PS3 (at retail) around Dec 1, but we didn’t open it until Xmas. I put it on eBay at an outrageous price just to see what would happen, but apparently we missed the wave.
I was only willing to sell it if I got enough cash to cover both a PS3 and Wii at retail after the holidays but that didn’t happen. Things being what they are with the holidays, it stayed wrapped until Xmas.
I had a brief experience with a PS3 a couple weeks ago at a buddy’s house. We only played Madden for a little bit, and not being familiar with the controls it was a tad difficult. So now after 3 days with my own PS3 here are my first impressions.
The model we have is the 20gig model.
What it’s missing over the 60gb:
- - 40gb of hard drive space. (Not that big a deal thus far, and I’m sure we can upgrade this later.
- - Card reader ports, it doesn’t have the built in ports for memory cards. Even the 60gb doesn’t give you a PS2 memory card reader which is about the only card I can see putting in this. I have a 17 into one card reader and will use that via USB if need be.
- - Built in Wifi. Now, I already have an external wifi game adapter that we used with the PS2, but I can see this as being something I wish I had. I’m sure there will be a way to use a USB wifi stick at some point so that won’t be so bad.
Setup was easy. Plug it in 
Using HDMI the resolution is amazing.
Games played so far (2): Call of Duty and Madden 07.
I picked up these games and a second controller the night before Xmas as none of the games I had ordered were going to make the big day.
Game play:
Madden:
It’s a little rough around the edges, more so because once PS2 controls get burned into your head, switching them up is a bad idea. EA, you are dumb.
Game play is pretty good though once you make the transition. Being a launch game, expectations are somewhat high. There are far too many visual artifacts to please me. The review ratings for this game put it around a 7 and that’s fair. It’s still a keeper, and I look forward to Madden 08
Call of Duty:
Pretty much the same applies. Quite a number of visual artifacts at times and I’ve had the sound freak out on me twice. Luckily it reset at the next level. This game is still very well done. Reviews for this also come in around a 7 and that too is accurate.
Using the PS3 for other things:
Web browsing is a joke, the same joke it is on the PSP. It’s also not a funny joke.
Blue Ray, uh so far watching Talladega nights, I’m not seeing much different than a good DVD player puts out.
We did watch Cars using the PS3, and while not a Blue Ray disc, it was as good or better than our progressive scan DVD player. I was much impressed.
Playing PS2 games:
Ratchet and Clank Deadlocked plays well, even over the net in multi-player mode. The new R2 Trigger button hurts ya a bit but it’s not something you can’t learn to deal with.
We’ve played a number of other PS2 games and so far they all seem to work.
I think the biggest win for this is the PS3 OS and interface, which is modeled after the PSP OS/interface.
Creating users is huge, and the lack of a need for memory cards is a big win.
The wireless controllers are the bomb as well. Though the motion sensing part, well, I’m not too sold on that yet. There are a number of places in Call of Duty that use it. You wiggle the controller to fight off up close attacks, and you rotate it to set the fuse in bombs. Driving jeeps and tanks is horrible with the motion sensor. It’s a damn good thing those levels where you’re driving just simply aren’t that hard.
I don’t know what all the bitching is about. Maybe if I’d have paid > $1000 I wouldn’t be happy. But I am very pleased with the PS3 so far and look forward to the 2nd release games.
Go get a PS3.
Written by datapoohbah on December 27th, 2006 with no comments.
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Making the switch part 1 of ?
[Background]
First things first… I am a reformed Apple bigot. Yes once upon a time, there was a time when I’d rather die than be forced to use Windows. Think Different, think back oh, around the System 7 days.
I used a Mac whenever I could use a Mac and I was absolutely sure I was far more productive on the Mac than any Microsoft based operating system.
Back in the day I was lucky enough to work for a company that used Mac’s as much as Windows based boxes. We were a Premier Apple developer and did a number of high profile projects for Apple Enterprise. Back when Apple had a group dedicated to Enterprise. This was around the time they were desperately working on Copland, and before Steve’s 2nd stint as the man in charge.
Out of nowhere Apple killed the Enterprise team and decided it wouldn’t try to continue to play in that sandbox. (Remember this was pre OS X, pre X Serve’s and that the goodness that they would bring). As a company our hands were forced. At the time we got nearly 80% of or business from the Apple Enterprise group and we needed a backup plan since that was drying up.
Enter our immersion in the world of Bill.
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Written by datapoohbah on December 11th, 2006 with 3 comments.
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