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There's been much hype and chatter over the new release of iPods. I have to admit I kind of dig the new look. I've had my 4th-gen, non-color-screen, 20-gig iDooDad since fall of 2004. I did not feel compelled to trade it up for a 5th-gen number last year, or the year before that, but this year I'm definitely intrigued by Gen, the 6th. My battery is beginning to show it's age so it might be time for a new music delivery device, only this time I'll be able to venture into the world of video, as well. The 160GB "Classic" is looking mighty fine. Of course, so is the 80GB at $250. Not necessarily pocket change, but certainly much better value than previous models. Apple is actually driving down its own prices by releasing other "cooler" models like the iPod Touch. This is good news for me. The Touch is definitely nifty, and I like the Wi-Fi ability they've integrated into it, but 16GB just doesn't cut it for me. So I can benefit instead from the bigger muscle and smaller price tag of the new Classic models.

The real entertainment in all of this has been the fact that Apple dropped the cost on the 8GB iPhone a whopping $200 from it's initial price in June of $599, which—it's worth pointing out—was just two months ago. This lead many early adopters to protest that they paid too much. Then there was a backlash of articles from people who think these guys should essentially "quit their whining." On the one hand, I agree with this sentiment. As Michael correctly points out, "Bottom line, if you don't want to pay the early adopter premiums, don't buy 1.0 products. From anyone." Right-O! I am most definitely NOT an early adopter, and I'm damn proud of that fact. Give me 2.0 or 3.0 products, please. I like them cheaper and less buggy.

But even though I agree that you have to have an iron stomach to be an early adopter, there's definitely something fishy to me about a $200 price drop in just 67 days. What it tells me is Apple took advantage of their most loyal, dedicated—and let's be honest—wealthy group of customers by inflating the price on a product that was worth less to begin with. They knew these people would buy the thing no matter what it cost. Now, as a sign of goodwill, Apple has given the people who bought the 8GB iPhone a $100 gift card which they can use to buy, you guessed it, more Apple products. Whoa. Apple's really bending over backwards on this one! Meanwhile, the people getting refunds are bending over, too. The other way. For a supposedly media-savvy and cynical generation, we blissfully have our blinders on when it comes to Apple.

Oh, Apple, you know us so well. You know that even when we're angry at you, we're really just angry at ourselves. Because all we really want is ever more of your iGoodness. Thank you for watching over us. Give us this day our daily iTunes. And forgive us of our debts of $200 too much for over-valued products, as we forgive those who give us $100 to spend in their own stores. And lead us not to anything un-hip, but deliver us from Microsoft. For thine is the iKingdom, and the iPower, and the iGlory forever. Amen.

link to this | comments (1) | File:  Apple  iPhone  iPod  Mac  Tech 

Currently, I'm really into using the Google Web interface for all my email needs. But I used to be a Thunderbird client type of guy and this new version makes it very tempting to go back.

link to this | comments (0) | File:  Tech 

Some of you might be interested in this: With the launch of Vista, Microsoft is beginning an effort to supplant the jpeg image format. Evidently, Adobe has plans to support the format in their products, which will help. It seems like the new format might be good for digital photos in general, I only wish Microsoft was more open about standardization.

link to this | comments (0) | File:  Web  Tech 

Dear Apple: Why o why must you keep making things that are so damned cool? Please stop. At least for a little while. So we can replenish our wallets. Or you could make your cool things be free. You know, like Google does.

link to this | comments (1) | File:  Mac  Tech 

I intended this post to be a somewhat thoughtful reflection on the past year, and possibly a statement of resolutions for the coming one. I also intended to post a photo album or two from the holidays. But this was last week - before The Fall. And what is it they say? Something about best-laid plans of mice and men? I'm surely one of those.

It started last Thursday when I came back from the gym to find my PC had gone to a black screen, upon which the words 'Non-system disk error' were written, innocently enough, at the top left. I tried rebooting. It took about 25 minutes. Excruciating. Gnashing of teeth. Biting of nails. Windows finally came back up, only to generate further cryptic errors like this one. Then it blue screened. I did some fancy windows ninja tricks - stopped unnecessary services from running, rebooted into safe mode, restored to a previous state. But no matter what I tried, the results were pretty much the same. Painfully slow processing followed by abrupt system failure.

Data loss was not a concern. Thanks to the backup routine I began last Spring, I had a fresh backup of all my files. Hardware and support costs? No worries there either. As luck would have it, I'm on the last month of a three-year extended warranty from HP. The timing really couldn't be better, in that sense.

But lost time and productivity? This may be a problem. I've already spent a few hours on the phone with HP trying various troubleshooting methods, all of which I was fairly certain would not work even as they were being offered to me. I think what this comes down to is a hard drive failure. I'm not sure what gave it away. Probably the scratching and grinding noises which began the morning of that first breakdown. Today, I can't even boot into windows anymore, but while I still could, the error logs read 'disk error' and 'atapi error,' both of which seemed to point to a disk problem. And when I tried to run a disk check outside of windows, it told me the drive 'did not support it,' which doesn't even make sense. But I guess all those clues are code for 'You need to try to re-install windows,' which is what the HP support staff recommends I do. They're sending me updated system disks in the mail. My guess is shortly after I try those, HP will be sending me a new hard drive. But I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I'm willing to go through the troubleshooting process. In the meantime, however, I've got two active Web projects and a couple of other pending ones and no computer with the right software on it to do the work. That's got me a little on edge. Just a little.

Now, I'll probably get the windows laptop back up and running eventually, but I decided that, despite this, I needed to heed the signs being hailed at me by the quarterbacks of computing: It's time for a change. Damn all the uncertainty. Damn the new software I'll have to buy. It's time to take the plunge. It's time to switch to a Mac.

So last Saturday night, on the brink of a new year and all the promise and anticipation a time like this holds, I ordered a MacBook Pro. And come Thursday, I'll be a part of the family. I'll be able to play with the cool kids. And thanks to Parallels, I'll still be able to drink the Redmond kool-aid from time to time, if I really really really need to, which I might just have to do so I can use my favorite photo application, at least until Google wises up and makes a Mac version.

As some of you know, I've been wanting to go Mac for a while, and had always prepared to do it right around this time, anyway. We bought an iBook last February, which C uses, and I've been envious of her OS X tricks ever since. But as the time approached, I began to get cold feet and I wound up ordering this. Then, despite my best attempts to sabotage the effort, I managed to send it back because it really wasn't what I wanted. Now I'm following through with the original plan - get a Mac - and it feels good. But there's still a lot of work to do: Configurations to implement. Files to convert. Lots of exporting and importing. New software to order and install. New shortcuts and work-flows to learn. When your entire life is in digital, switching platforms is no easy task. There'll be a period of dust and noise around here, which I hope you will excuse. But when it's all over, I should come out on the other side renewed, reborn. And at the start of a new year, what more can you ask for?

link to this | comments (7) | File:  Mac  Tech  Work 

I was talking with somebody just last week about how Apple is in a good position to make a serious move into the office. I think Microsoft and PC companies are somewhat in denial about this. Of course, the day Apple becomes a corporate machine is probably the day they lose some of their 'cool,' which is why they need to do this in just the right way, with just the right demographic. Strategy will be key. But this shouldn't be a problem, as Apple does not seem to be wanting for strategic thinkers.

link to this | comments (0) | File:  Mac  Tech 

I see your IE 7 and raise it one Firefox2.

link to this | comments (1) | File:  Tech 

After several betas, IE 7 is now official and will be pushed in a big way next month. I'm still a Firefox guy, but I have to admit IE 7 isn't half bad. Refreshingly clutter free. Go get yourself a copy and check your Web sites if you got 'em!

link to this | comments (1) | File:  Tech 

Godin gives some interesting stats to put things in perspective.

link to this | comments (0) | File:  Tech 

Some really smart ajax and microformats implementations being made over at Adactio with his tagging system. It's nice to see somebody doing some things like this and getting away from the multiple 'add this link to . . . ' buttons at the bottom of most entries. Not that I have anything against those buttons, but they really only seem to benefit those services by providing advertising. I rarely use them to actually bookmark a post. Anyway, some great ideas at Adactio. I'd like to try to implement something similar when I have some free time.

link to this | comments (0) | File:  Tags  Tech