The Technocrat

iBooks is a great example of a beautifully-designed iPad application. The attention to detail and rendering in the page-turning animations is incredible. Notice how the text appears through the back of the page as you turn it over. The actual touchscreen UI is equally impressive—you can turn pages slowly by pulling from either corner and the animation will follow very naturally.

So I ordered a Nexus One last night.

To be clear, this doesn't in any way mean that I have plans to abandon my i-Device ecosystem. However, the buzz surrounding Android, particularly with the impending release of Android 2.2 has piqued my interest.  Plus, I want to get my hands on an official, original, Google-branded (and unlocked) Nexus One before they shutter their online store for good and move to a more typical carrier sales model.

Even in the current pre-Froyo iterations, Android has some interesting and appealing features.  As one would expect from a Google device, it's far more cloud-connected already with its Google services integrations, and looks poised to become even more so as things like Simplify Media come into the picture.

While iPhone OS 4 promises some interesting things, it seems that Apple is still way behind the curve when it comes to a world without wires. The iPhone (and iPad, and iPod touch) remain cryptically tethered to an iTunes-centric world for media sync, and while there's no doubt that Apple is working on better solutions, they're moving at their typically glacial pace in doing so—the Apple TV introduced Wi-Fi based syncing back in 2007, so it's obviously not only possible, but in fact is already built into iTunes.  Sure, performance, particularly over 802.11b/g might be a dog for syncing your entire library, but it would certainly suffice for keeping podcast subscriptions and basic smart playlists up to date.  With Apple's recent acquisitions and patent portfolio, it seems that something really cool may be coming around the corner, but that corner might still be several blocks (or years) away. Apple's priorities are clearly focused on providing a smooth user experience rather than cutting edge bells and whistles—to put it simply they would rather leave a feature out entirely than do a half-baked version of it.

Don't get me wrong—I do respect Apple's approach, or at the very least I've learned to appreciate it.

You see, Android sounds in many ways like a nerd's dream, with extensive customization options and lots of shiny features to play with.  My twenty-something self would have been all over that, and probably wouldn't have even gone near an iPhone in the first place.  These days, however, I prefer a platform that "just works" for what I need it to do and doesn't get in the way.  The iPhone has proven to be that platform. However, the view from the cheap seats, at least, suggests that Android may be getting there. We'll see once I actually have one in my hands to play with for a while.  

(Admittedly, however, there's still some of that twenty-something kid left in me—the one that gets hooked on "shiny new toy syndrome" every once in a while and needs some new bells and whistles to be entertained by.)

That said, I most certainly still plan to also get a next-generation iPhone when it arrives next month. By that time, Android 2.2 will likely have surfaced for general consumption, which will make for an interesting showdown between what have effectively become the two juggernauts of the smartphone industry.

Posted via email from Falling Toward Apotheosis

So I was getting caught up on my reading at Daring Fireball this afternoon, and came across John Gruber’s piece from a couple of weeks ago, The Kids Are All Right. Leaving aside the fact that Gruber is ever-so-slightly dating himself in that piece, I have to admit to an eerily similar experience growing up. My Atari 2600 showed up as a “family Christmas present” when I was about 8.

My exposure to computers prior to that time had been hanging out in the local Radio Shack while the long-suffering employees kindly let me tinker with the TRS-80s. In fact, I’d go so far as to check out books on programming from the local library and then bring them with me to Radio Shack to experiment. The Atari 2600 was one of the first pieces of computer technology that entered my home (my father’s TI-58C notwithstanding)—and in fact in those days Atari even marketed it as the “Atari 2060 VCS” for “Video Computer System.”

I specifically remember finding the hidden easter egg in Adventure in the early eighties (all on my own—there was no Gamefaq or Wikipedia in those days) seeing the programmer’s signature and desperately trying to figure out if there was a way to access the source code or any other hidden features through that screen. In fact I probably spent more time playing around in that one hidden room to look for additional secrets than I did actually playing the game.

The fact is that it’s never been only about hardware tinkering. Sure, I had fun hacking around inside PCs, building a Z80 system from scratch, and so forth, but there was also plenty of room for software tinkering even back then, and it had nothing whatsoever to do with how physically open the computers or other devices were.

Today these opportunities have only expanded, with many more software development platforms available, more secrets to discover, and more opportunities to share and collaborate on findings. Back in 2007 when I was fiddling with my first-generation iPhone and trying to get it unlocked to work up here in the Great White North, I learned more about the iPhone OS than I ever would have with a screwdriver and soldering iron.

I don’t care how many screws you put into the casing of any modern device—there’s nothing in there that’s much worth looking at any more anyway, and that’s not Apple’s fault, but rather the inevitable result of progress. I have great respect for Cory Doctorow, but in this case he’s tilting at windmills; to put the power and capabilities of an iPad into tinkerable hardware it would likely end up being the size of a large suitcase, at best. The Makers among us may be okay with that, but I’ll pass—I’ve already had a Compaq Portable and really have no desire to return to those halcyon days.

Over the past couple of days, a debate has been raging over the security (or lack thereof) on MobileMe’s web services. While it’s obvious to anybody who is paying attention that the MobileMe web services do not use an SSL connection to secure any data beyond your password, a recent article by “Prince McLean” at AppleInsider implies that this is actually of no concern as the JSON data exchanges between the client and server apps are themselves secure:

Data transaction security in MobileMe’s web apps is based upon authenticated handling of JSON data exchanges between the self contained JavaScript client apps and Apple’s cloud, rather than the SSL web page encryption used by HTTPS. The only real web pages MobileMe exchanges with the server are the HTML, JavaScript, and CSS files that make up the application, which have no need for SSL encryption following the initial user authentication. This has caused some unnecessary panic among web users who have equated their browser’s SSL lock icon with web security. And of course, Internet email is not a secured medium anyway once it leaves your server.

Of course, whenever a comment like this is made, you can rest assured that there will be more than a few people who will be eager to check it out—in many cases simply out of idle curiosity. Read the rest of this entry »

One thing that I’ve been playing with off and on for some time is a small efficient little solution for handling basic Bluetooth proximity detection, specifically for being able to perform certain actions when a cell phone or other Bluetooth device is in range of my Powerbook.

As an IT Consultant, I am frequently working in various locations at different clients’ sites, and it’s nice to have my Powerbook secure itself when I’m away from the machine. In addition, my other objectives are to keep the OS X Address Book application connected and to iSync my phone whenever it moves back within proximity of my machine. Read the rest of this entry »

The press on Apple’s Dot Mac service has been mediocre at a best lately, and one doesn’t have to look very far to find commentary berating it for any number of reasons such as the price tag, the lack of features compared to many of the other offerings out there, or just the performance of it in general.

Even the recent improvements to the web mail and address book interface were met with mixed reviews, with the general feeling being that it was about time Apple caught up with the other technology out there. Read the rest of this entry »

(or, “How an iPod Changed My Perspective on Technology”)

A topic I’ve been meaning to espouse on for some time is exactly how I’ve managed to go from being such a die hard geek to being somebody who enjoys using Apple’s technology (not that the two are mutually exclusive).

A close friend of mine has taken great joy in telling people how my views on technology took a dramatic shift shortly after I got an iPod, and of course while that may sound overly simplistic, it’s essentially true. Read the rest of this entry »

How much is enough? Or, to put it another way, how much is too much?

As I had discussed in a previous entry (see “What the Market Will Bear”), I firmly believe that there is a law of diminishing returns when it comes to audio equipment, and there are many self-proclaimed audiophiles out there who simply buy expensive equipment just to somehow prove their “audiophileness.”

Well, the same can also be said for digitally encoded music. At what point do bit-rates yield diminishing or even completely insignificant benefits. Read the rest of this entry »

“The upshot of this is that any business models that rely on “selling” copies of previously televised TV shows, such as Apple’s sale of “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives,” is doomed to failure. Why pay for that content when it can be extracted for free.” (Via The Register)

This interesting article in The Register makes the point that Apple’s current iTunes-based distribution model is “doomed to failure” as tools now exist to transfer recorded video content to the iPod.

However, this statement misses one very important point: That of the balance between simplicity and cost. Read the rest of this entry »