Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Apple "rings" in the New Year!


Steve Jobs has done it again - yesterday Apple had their first 2007 keynote and Jobs presented his newest innovation... the iPhone.

I have been waiting for quite a while for this device and having just 28 days ago renewed my contract with Verizon for two years (D'OH!!!), Apple's timing could not have been worse for me. I will have to choke on a $200 fee to get out of my contract to join Cingular - once the phone is released in June (with a price tag of $500).


You may ask - why is Jed so excited? (if you are asking yourself then you don't know me at all and should probably not be reading this blog) The excitement comes in not only having a gorgeous phone designed by Apple - but also a device that also stands as a widescreen iPod and a fully integrated internet browser.

With a simple turn to the side, the phone becomes a widescreen iPod, finally producing a larger image than the video iPod's we have been using. The interactive menus look stunning...


Taking advantage of the new look of iTunes, the phone replaces your current iPod completely (though space concerns could be an issue).


The real kicker is the new internet browser - a Safari based program, it allows you to cruise the internet on the small device with ease. There is a really nice zoom function that makes reading the information very easy. This feature brings the benefits of the phone home to me!! I can now run my calendar - do all of my work (excluding editing) - from this device.


I can't wait to get my grimy hands on this thing... June... UGH!!!

Watched Little Miss Sunshine last night - it was ok. I laughed - I thought the characters were interesting... but something was off. Something seemed fake.

Dunno.

Must obsess about new Apple iPhone - HD TV's - and new LG Blue-Ray/HD-DVD player!!!!

Need some major cash soon!


Good shirt

Yo

24 comments:

Kern said...

Fino-Regarding Little Miss Sunshine, I would tend to agree. It was indeed funny at times, but there was something there that chafed me like a pair of 50 grit sandpaper briefs. Perhaps I'm annoyed that it's being overpraised, but I didn't think there was much to it besides some quirky, if contrived entertainment.

I have a feeling that Little Miss Sunshine is going to be this year's Crash for me. Something I liked moderately at first, but really began to despise as I saw that it was taking nominations and attention that rightfully could have been allocated elsewhere. Then again I could be a cranky son of a bitch. I am still bitter no one besides me and nine other people saw The Fountain which I adored.

By the way, that is one tasty shirt. My girlfriend is a nudist, so that pretty much makes me a nudist.

Hmm, above joke was funnier in my head. Dammit again.

Sheriff Officer Greg the Bunny said...

Dude,

It's "iphonetastic"!


Did you also notice that the apple tv unit also transmits up to 720p video.....hummmm...iguess Steve is going to be selling some hi-def content soon on itunes. Or else why be able to stream 720p into thin air. It also has a 40 gig hd to store faves from itunes. Pretty f-ing cool.

I have to say where i am at in my life the iphone it not a must have gadget. I just got my own cell phone a few months ago. However, the folks who need all that content and capability will scarf those things up like Britney at an all you can drink saki bar!!!

Another home run for apple. Like you said however the 4gb / 8 gb could be a limitation for the amount of video/songs it can carry, and real world battrery life could be a concern. But 1st generation products always morph into better 2nd gen products. You might want to wait for apple's 2nd gen to let them work out the real world kinks.

sheriff

Damfino said...

Agree with you Kern on Sunshine - it better not pull a Crash.

iPhone - it is a must my man! You will never be in need of info - you will never be away from your work contacts - e-mail... I will never be away from movie trailers... movie dork news.

I am watching the keynote right now - more stunning than I ever imagined.

Apple has a new way to communicate with technonoly... multi-touch... basically it is Minority Report in the palm of your hand... the mouse is toast!

HD content is definitely going to be streamed - any moment now.

The only hiccup I have seen is 720p - it should be 1080p.

Holy god... I am giggling at my desk!!! This iPhone is the coolest thing I have ever seen... it solves all reservations I had about the video iPod!!

Guys... I am freaking.

Kern said...

That is curious, at this stage in the game, why would it not be 1080p? That doesn't make a lot of sense.

It is quite awesome overall, though I will probably wait a bit to see what kind of price break will eventually happen before I pony up for one. I am with Cingular now, however, so that's a step in the right direction.

Yeah, as far as the LMS/Crash thing, I have to mention that the DGA nominated it as well as Babel, The Queen, and a couple of other things I thought were strange. I am probably seeing Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth this weekend, but I don't have any doubt that Curaon(Sp?) outdirected the living shit out of Dayton and Faris. What did directing Little Miss Sunshine entail really?

"Um, ok, actors who are all really good? When we roll, just act really well. Action!"

There was nothing overly interesting visually about LMS, and as Devin Faraci at CHUD mentioned yesterday, that film was all script. I can feel my personal backlash beginning in three...two...one...

Damfino said...

BACKLASH! LMS definitely does not hold up to Children and Departed... I will see Pan's very soon and see how it does.

The main problem is slipping the film in because of it's feel good content... which can be questioned too - but the story and characters don't hit that finer level of interest for me - not in the way Scorsese's and Cuaron's work does!

Kern said...

Yeah, I agree with the feel good aspect. That's one of the reasons I grew to hate Crash so much; the fact that someone made a banal, idiotic treatise on race relations and tried to pass it off as revelatory, when it was anything but. I assume that being brave enough to proclaim the obvious on celluloid is what gets people's attention. Also, to that end, I believe that it's getting such a boost because the film's theme hews so closely to the "I think I can" success of the film in real life, and people just love a good underdog story. Like last year, I haven't seen a few of the other nominees, but it doesn't mean that it wouldn't be hard to discern a movie that doesn't deserve to be nominated at all.

If it gets a bunch of Oscar noms, The Crotchety Bastard is going to let someone have it!

Damfino said...

What is up with the blog Kern - you are slacking big time!!

Kern said...

Yeah, I know. It's been tough trying to balance TMT stuff and my other projects. Right now I've been doing some painting. It's a big job, it's a three panel monster that's going to go over my couch. I'm struggling a bit with two of the panels. Having some trouble with transparency of paint and some shading issues.

I'm going to try to do some stuff this weekend, though.

Sheriff Officer Greg the Bunny said...

We need to get on the market right now for iphone condoms...because there are going to be ALOT of dudes who will be filling the cosmos with their glee filled man milk when they get ahold of one of them there iphones and I'm not sure how water resistant they are.


sheriff

Damfino said...

Sheriff... how you bring things into perspective.



Dark - murky - gross - perspective.

Sheriff Officer Greg the Bunny said...

my work here is done.

Kern said...

Wow. Just wow.

Just like the other areas of my life, I fear I won't have much use for iPhone condoms, either.

Which for some odd reason reminds me that I should probably call my friend Siren sometime today or tomorrow.

Damfino said...

I take it Siren is the stripper... you naughty b*tch Kern!!!

Kern said...

Uh, yes. I'm trying something new. I'm not calling her for days at a time on purpose to see if she's going to call me. I figure the more nonchalant I am, the more mysterious and man about town I seem.

At this point, I'm quite sure after talking on the phone for several hours that this isn't the case, but I'm trying anyway.

"Fresh tactics!(wink)"

Ain't Right said...

Well Jed, the last I heard in Iowa cell phone companies weren't allowed to charge the fee for breaking the contract. That was a while ago so it might have changed by now but it is worth investigating. They will try to charge you but you don't have to pay.

With that being said The iPhone just doesn't do it for me. Almost every phone has an internet browser and many will do MP3s so no advantage there except the fact that this will work well with iTunes. The high def is a plus but high def on a little tiny screen is still a little tiny picture. Streaming High def bandwidth through the air is pretty tough right now so the buffering time for online movies is going to be outrageous but that might get better with time. Sorry, I'm not trying to spoil anyone's fun, if you want the gadget, get the gadget. I myself will be getting a new phone next month, I'm sure mine will have lots of little bells and whistles as well but the first priority for me when I look at new phones, is how well it functions as a phone.

P.S. I'm in a lecture all day so feel free to chew my opinions apart but I won't get to read them till 4:00.

Kern said...

It took me forever to get my first cell because I hated them for the longest time. Eventually I came to want a couple of basic things about my phone. One, that it didn't drop calls like the other two pieces of crap I had, and two, that it was really small and unobtrusive. I like my Razr for that particular reason, and as long as it works, I'm going to stick with it I think.

One of the things about iPhone that did look frustrating is the small capacity. I've got a 3rd Gen iPod, and it's only got 10 gigs, and even that drives me bonkers. I would be tearing my hair out having to revert to 4 or 8 for my music.

My .02.

Damfino said...

Dev, dev, dev... I think you should view the keynote. Jobs does a descent amount of comparing and explaining why the new iPhone will excell past others.

I have an LG that has internet access and MP3 capability and photos and all of the crap - what it doesn't have is a solid interface! iPhone's interface is based off of the Mac X running Tiger - and the multi-touch flow with the interface looks superb!

As far as watching movies - you won't download them with the phone - you will use iTunes and your PC to do it. BUT - you can do it... it is just that the call time would be ridiculous and wasted.

Take a look at the demo in the keynote before making a judgement on it! I have a fellow employee who watched it and still does not feel the iPhone cuts it... so I am not saying it will change your opinion.

I am just thrilled to see someone creating a device that handles high quality video - music - internet (e-mail) calendering... etc. - with a desktop computer quality interface to run it.

This phone will replace your iPod - and make scheduling life on the move easier (though I know most phones do that - I am emphasizing the interface as the buy in to use it - I hate my current interface that forces me to use a totally different program on the phone than the phone itself!).

One of the more convincing demos of the interface was when Jobs started playing some music - took a call - conferenced in a call - sent a picture in e-mail - and went back to the music... without ever getting confused in the interface. I could follow him easily - very intuitive and clean... of course, I use an Apple every day.

Oooh yeah - Apple is now Apple Inc. They have dropped the "Computers" from their name.

Crazy

Damfino said...

Kern - did you really just drop a my two cents.

You must be pummelled.

I concur about the 8gb space limit... but I am sure that will change quickly.

Kern said...

It's been a while since you've pummelled me. I was getting worried.

Yeah. This device looks like it will be great for people who have a lot of things going on in their busy workaday lives.

I, however, am a reclusive artist type who works a job where no one needs to reach me after I leave the office, so I don't think I could justify a purchase like this for myself.

Does look pretty sweet, though. And I agree that the interface for a lot of phones often leaves much to be desired.

I gotta watch the video later...

Damfino said...

I don't have a busy workload - I just like checking mail and responding quickly.

You are a filthy... filthy little boy.

Kern said...

Who, me? Filthy?

Bah. I'm as pure as the driven snow. I've got the halo to prove it.

Kern said...

Deit raises a good point. As with everything else, Apple's main goal is to streamline things to make them seamlessly integrate into a person's daily life as opposed to trying to shoehorn it in in a complicated way. The Mac commercials are very geared toward that sort of thing as was the iPod. It would seem that Apple's general claim to fame is that they don't like extraneous crap bogging down functional items.

Even if it's not for me, I see its purpose.

Well played, Deit.

Ain't Right said...

Alright, the software might be incredible, I haven't seen it but that doesn't matter to me. Here is my problem with the iPhone, and this extends to all the other phone/camera/email/web blah blah blahs out there that everyone seems to have sewn to their hips, it does lots of stuff but it doesn't do anything well. It plays MP3s but it has limited storage, it plays hi-def video but it plays them at 480x320 resolution which is lower than a standard DVD's resolution. It sends email but typing on the thing is difficult (according to MacWorld). And here's the thing. I AM their demographic. A young impulsive tech head with lots of disposible income. Oh well, most people will get it to say they have it and they will look down their noses at the lesser beings that must be beneath them simply because we don't have one. But I'll buy a phone that functions well as a phone, I'll continue to use my digital camera cause it takes really good pictures, I'll send email from my desktop computer because it has a full sized keyboard, and I'll spend my disposible income on equally foolish things that will do one thing well. But that's just me.

Ain't Right said...

Alright, maybe I'm not the target segment, you make a good point there. Apple does like to dumb down tech stuff for non-techies. But most times the stuff is so good that techies like it as well. And I disagree with apple valuing design over function. Apple stuff tends to work better than any of the other stuff available. It is what the company was built on. A mac is better than a PC. Even PC guys know this. It's more stable, easily as powerful and now that they can run PC apps there isn't much reason to buy a PC over a mac. Maybe that's why the iPhone disappoints me. Jobs used to be about creating really good products that everyone could use and now he created a mediocre product that anyone can use.

And I don't know where you came up with companies that try to appease the highest skilled members always lose. That's not true at all. I work for a company that is the best at what we do. Our job is to amaze the highest skilled members of our business segment and we do it very well. There are lots of companies at the top of their game. If you need an example just ask your dad who makes the best cameras and his answer will be a company that has appeased it's highest skilled members.

Anyway like I said, millions will buy these and will try and convince me that it is the greatest thing ever created. At least until the next must have thing comes along. Oh well maybe I'll like the next "must have" so I won't have to justify not wanting it.