So what is with this iPad thing anyway?

I did it. I got an iPad. I waited until the 3G version came out and I opted for the 32 GB version. Why did I get one? That is a good question. Let me attempt to explain.

1. I like gadgets.

I like technology and especially in computers and computing equipment. I do own an iPhone already, but that is different.

2. It’s revolutionary.

I know you have heard many people say this, and I am surely not the first. However, I have been in the computing game since 1981. I have a lot of experience in the computing industry and I can say that this is like the mouse. Bigger. The mouse was a change in how we interacted with the computer. But I would say that the mouse was not natural. You may *think* it is natural, but there was a time when it was awkward. Now, with the iPad, you have this screen that you can touch and it makes sense. People want to touch it. They don’t miss the mouse or the keyboard. Things in the OS point you in the right direction and it feels intuitive even to someone who sees it the first time.

3. It’s the talk of the town

I will admit I am still surprised how much people talk about it and want it. Prior to the iPhone and the iPad I don’t recall such a large audience talking about a piece of technology. Sure my geek fiends would chat about the latest video card, or a crazy server they wish they could have, but nothing that crossed social boundaries. I mean, my wife’s friends chat about the cool apps they have on their phone! And now what app will also be on an iPad.

4. It can play video well.

Now you may think “James, any computer can play video these days.”. That may be true on some level, but since the early days of windows 95 and slack ware 3 and Mac System 6.5 people have dreamed of video on their computer. However it took so very long to get it right. Many laptops struggle with simple YouTube video or Flash adds on a web site. However my DVR from the days of UltimateTV could do this easily with no herky jerky motion or failures, but computers were always a challenge. Now get the ABC Player for the iPad and watch a video. Amazing! Fast! Smooth! No buffering!

…

There are more reasons for sure, but those are the highlights. Another question I have been asked is ” you already have an iPhone, isn’t this just a bigger version of that?”. The answer is “sorta”. There is overlap, but they serve different purposes. The iPhone is more personal, and it is with me always. I kinda think of the iPhone as a computer on the go, that I can use to communicate with other people. Texting, voice, email. The iPad is more of a browsing, typing, video watching machine. Sure the iPhone can do all the same things, and has before the iPad, but the iPad has a better experience. The screen is great to look at, and I have easily typed out this blog post in WordPress for iPad. I have posted a blog post before on my iPhone, but it is much easier with the iPad. If you haven’t played with an iPad, you should. It may not be for everyone, but it is surprising how useful it can be.

Apple Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard eating batteries.

I have started to notice that my keyboard is now going dead every few days. I don’t really worry too much about it since I have a bunch of rechargeable batteries always on the ready, but today I did some investigation and found the following Apple Discussion where others are experiencing the same issue.

Please Apple, I need a fix!

XBOX support, why you be treatin' me bad?

That’s right folks, the XBOX 360 is no longer working. Two weeks ago, the kids came and said that the “red lights are blinking on the Xbox”. I went upstairs and looked and sure enough, 2 of the lights were blinking. Checking around, this indicates that the machine is overheating. I turned it off, and checked it again in the morning. When I turned it on, and left it at the dashboard, it would take about 10 minutes and then illuminate the red lights. Upon further investigation, it seems to me that the fans are no longer spinning. Good grief.

I called XBOX support, and they want to charge me $99 for the repair. I reminded them that I paid for the Microsoft extended warranty. Conveniently they have no record of that, so I had to send them my credit card bill that clearly shows that I paid for the warranty. Now, a week later I am still waiting for email that will indicate whether I am covered or not. At this point I have decided that if it isn’t covered, then I am getting rid of it all.

I understand that there are some quality issues, but it seems that they are not properly “fixing” the boxes that get returned. Here is a recap of my XBOX 360 experience:

June 08 – purchased new Elite XBOX 360
July 08 – 34 days after purchase, Red Ring sent back
July 08 – 10 days later, repaired XBOX arrives – lasts less that 4 hours and DVD drive fails
August 08 – 10 days later, third unit arrives.
November 09 – third XBOX dies. Awaiting XBOX Support’s decision on if it’s covered.

Officially, every person I know that has an XBOX 360 has had a failure.

More to come.

UPDATE:

November 20th – XBOX support has corrected my support agreement that I paid for, and now I can get it repaired! They are sending out the box now!

UPDATE 2:

December – XBOX back in service. I got a new one, and not a repair. All is well again!

New running shoes

A while ago, I wrote that I was running again. In that post I mentioned that I got some new shoes. Since that time, I have had some pain in my calf muscles. Because of that, I limited my running. Based on what I read, it seemed that the diagnosis was that my calf muscle had a slight tear. To manage the pain, I rested, and then when I ran, I made sure that I didn’t use the calf muscle as much and when it started to get bad, I would walk for a bit.

In the time since I first blogged that I was running again, I came across an article that was quite interesting. It made me question a lot. It is hard to deny the information in the article. With that in mind, I sent this article to a couple of friends, and they mentioned that they had a pair of the Vibram five fingers. They definitely looked weird, and they felt even more weird when I tried them on. However, I had to get a pair. I did.

Today I ran five miles in them for the first time. All I can say is that there is no calf muscle problem at all. I had none of the fatigue issues, and spent my time concerned with the outside temperature and my breathing. I also found that I had to watch out for rocks!

I haven’t declared victory yet, but I am quite amazed by running in them. I can’t wait to run again!

UPDATE:

Seems that the next day my lower calf and ankle muscles were pretty sore. I guess those muscles haven’t been worked for a while.

Battery Life

Tonight I decided to watch a video on my iPhone. I happened to take the iPhone off the charger so that I would have a fresh charge. After the movie was over, I happened to notice that the iPhone had 92% charge left! That was 1:40 mintues of video and it only took 8%! That is crazy! How do they do that? I mean… that would kill my laptop!

This iPhone still impresses!

Which laptop should I get?

I get asked that a lot. “What laptop should I get?” followed by a list of things that they feel they will need the machine to do well. I used to suggest that people overbuy in the laptop category since it is rarely upgradable. However, I am now starting to ask if they could get by with a phone. It is quite amazing what a phone can do these days. Take for instance, this blog post. Completely composed on an iPhone using the free WordPress app. I have been in tech for a long time, and I and still amazed what you can do with focused applications. Also the low power usage allows for all day usage and quick recharging. Like I have said before, give me the ability for an external keyboard, and laptop sales may plunge.

Not so fast…

Even though phones are getting better, there are still some things that a laptop does better. One is storage space. They definitely have a lot more storage space. Some phones have the ability to take SD cards. But, let’s not confuse expandability with large storage. Carrying around a bunch of cards doesn’t work for the majority of users. Second is resolution. I have started to get used to the limited resolution of a phone, but make no mistake that I love the big screen. Also, it is not easy to remotely control computers with the small screen. I have been using iRdesktop and that works for simple tasks. But if I had to do real work, that would be too tedious.

Recommendations…..

For now, I still tend to only recommend laptops. I start by asking how much they want to spend. Typically I recommend that they get it locally so that they can test it out and be able to return it if necessary. Mainly because phone support has got so bad. It is much simpler to just take the machine in and demonstrate a problem. Also, it seems that some machines just have issues. For instance, my sister-in-law purchased a Dell Studio XPS laptop and the internal wireless card did not work properly. The speed was like a modem. We initially thought it was incompatible with the router. Further troubleshooting revealed that it was the card. There was no convincing the guy on the other end of the phone though! So, for now, the recommendation is pick the simpler solution and avoid calling tech support. Kinda funny considering my job

Happy Computing!

Apple Tablet?

I have read all the rumors about the Apple tablet device that *may* or *may not* be on the horizon. I am a bit skeptical that it would succeed. You may ask, “James.. What would you know about tablets?”. I may know something There was a time, circa 1993, when I was working with Dauphin tablets. That’s right, running Windows 3.1 for Pen. I found a YouTube video of one if you care to see it in action. At the time, I was working for a medical software company that was trying to sell a solution to bed-side nurses to use the Pen technology to write things down on patients’ charts. I guess you can see that it didn’t take off. Every time I go to a hospital now, it seems that they have a laptop secured to a roller stand. That seems to be the solution that made the most sense for nurses.

Also, I have had the luxury to work for a company that has a vested interest in the tablet PC. Even at the company, many tablets were purchased for employees, but the tablet piece was rarely if ever used. You would be hard pressed to find a tablet in use now. Why is that?

I think it comes down to the idea that writing on a computer screen of any type (with a stylus) is not the same as paper. There is not enough resistance, and the feedback to the user is poor. Think of how good your signature is on all the credit card machines that retailers have you sign. That would be an example of poor feedback. When the pen does not write properly, you have the same feeling as when it is. If you have a pen writing on paper, there is subtle feedback when it runs out of ink and doesn’t write. There is resistance from the dry ball on the paper.

Back to Apple. Have they mastered something? Was Microsoft and the partner manufacturers ahead of their time? Was the technology just not good enough back then? Only time will tell. Reading over a blog post on this, I don’t think I agree with the authors logic. The reason I don’t agree is that before the iPhone, I could never picture myself using a PDA/Phone device to browse the web and generate content. I was a resolution snob and would scoff at the tiny screens. However, somehow Apple struck the right balance with their interface that made me a believer. It is not out of the realm of possibility for Apple to achieve that with a tablet device. Regardless of the size or OS it runs, if the end result is magical (on the order of the iPhone) then they may succeed. But if it is really more of a glorified iPhone, I doubt people would find a way to integrate that into their lives.

However, find a way to pair my Apple bluetooth keyboard to my iPhone and I would be quite happy!

The end of the laptop?

Are you shopping for a new laptop? Maybe you should check out the new cell phones to see if they fit your need. This week I have had the ability to see first-hand that the new laptop is becoming the smartphone. I know, I know, you have heard this before. The difference now is that people are using them that way now, and the phones can deliver!

When I first stepped onto the plane, I was surrounded by people using their phones for all kinds of activities. One person had their headphones connected listening to music (I assume), another had their headphones on and playing games. Many others I could see typing away, but I know they were not connected to a network since we were in the plane. I was amazed! What a difference time makes. Just a year ago I thought people were more leaning towards carrying a laptop.

Being at the Microsoft Wolrdwide Partner Conference, I see everyone with a cell device that they are *using* to do work. Even as I compose this blog entry I am using a cell phone!

Change is coming…. Are you ready? Check out a smartphone.

WPC 2009

I traveled to New Orleans this week for the Microsoft World Partner Conference. What a crazy place! We walked down Bourbon Street and took in all the sights. The was an overwhelming number of strip clubs! It seems that the norm here is to go hang out at a strip club after dinner. Very odd indeed! This place is very similar to Vegas, but it is *very* humid and hot!

Back to the conference….

I Finally have a smart phone!

That’s right, I finally have a smart phone. I have been waiting a long time Remember back in July of 2007, the iPhone shipped? Well, back then I was deciding on whether to get a smart phone, or just get a new phone. I spent some time playing with the iPhone, but decided on a regular phone. I extended my contract and was happy. I watched as the iPhone started to become popular, build momentum…. Next, the 3G was released. I was still in my contract with Verizon, so I quietly watched. Then this year, Apple released the iPhone 3GS. My contract ended with Verizon, and on July 3rd, I became the owner of a new iPhone 3GS. I ended up getting 2, one for me and one for Jackie.

So far, it is working out nicely. I am back on AT&T, and I am not sure if that is good or bad. That is because the last time I was with AT&T I had a AudioVox SMT 5600 which I liked very much. However, here in NC, things changed for the worse when Cingular bought AT&T wireless. When that happened back in 2004, AT&T had to give some NC subscribers to SunCOM. I was one of them . That effectively ruined my wireless signal and I had to change to Verizon.

So, now I am back.

More to come