Apple Will Rule the World April 18, 2008

        Apple will eventually rule the world…really, whether it is through the Macs that litter the home and workspace of many or through the Ipods that occupy the pockets of thousands. They are constantly coming out with new products that take the technology world, turn it upside down and completely revolutionizing it. The apple Ipod was the device that started the entire MP3 craze. It was the device that put an MP3 player into technophiles and noobs alike. Recently they have introduced another technology that has skyrocketed in popularity…the Apple Iphone/Ipod touch.

            Who knows if its popularity is do to Apples repeated process of putting out wonderful products? It has set given itself a good reputation. With the Ipod Touch/Iphone it is no different. Not many people can say that they aren’t pretty damn cool. They are shiny, and with their multi-touch screens they are pretty slick. But all things considered Apple made a mistake not letting people jailbreak their new toys. What did Apple have against people using their products for more than was allowed? Don’t people have freedom?

            If I ever got an Ipod Touch the very first thing that I would do would be to free it of it’s Apple blocked shell, allowing to put the amazing software circulating the web on it. There is software out there such as a music-making application, games, and even an IM client. It takes your 7 application Ipod and makes it 15 applications. I look at what they allow the Ipod to do and my shiny new gadget trigger in my head goes off. As if the Ipod touch and Iphone aren’t cool enough, jail breaking them, sends them over the edge.

Apple made a big mistake not allowing 3^rd party software from the get-go.

            That is one of the main reasons why I chose the very buggy windows mobile phone over the Iphone. That, the $400 dollar price tag, absence of any substantial amount of memory and the bugginess. Online forums were littered and still are with loads of Iphone and Ipod touch help questions. That is expected with any new first-generation product, but that doesn’t mean I want it any more. The Iphone doesn’t allow for much freedom when it comes to what you want to put on it…unless it’s jail broken. I do not think that the Ipod touch or Iphone at the moment is worth owning unless you jail break it. It turns it into a Windows Mobile device of sorts…but a lot cooler.

All in all…I like the new Ipods that Apple has introduced. They are slick and cool and exactly what I expect from Apple. Am I disappointed Apple doesn’t allow completely open-source, third party-software, freedom…yes…I am…but who wouldn’t be. Apple is a company, just like all of the others in some respects. They are a company that wants to make money and sell their products to make money. Would I buy an Ipod touch? Yes, I probably will join the rest of America in its Apple Ipod craze (I own a 30 GB Ipod), but I’m waiting for generation two.

 

Wasting my life… April 18, 2008

Every single day when I get home, the first thing I do is go, sit down at my computer, and go onto the websites Facebook, Engadget, and Deviantart. That is the extent of my exhilarating life. Okay, not really, but going on those three websites take up a very…very large portion of my time. I sometimes think about how I use my time everyday. Is this really an effective use of my time? Am I really bettering my life? Am I reaching towards a better self. Sadly the answer is probably no.

Yes, I admit it, I am one of the thousands of people who have jumped on the social site bandwagon. The notion that I am following the footsteps of so many others (…getting sucked into the vortex that is social networks) disgusts me. I go on Facebook every single day, sometimes even multiple times. I enjoy going on Facebook because of the false sense of friendship that it gives me. Do I really think that I’ll make new friends! No…sadly I don’t. I do not believe that you can make friends over a wall of data, but for the friends I don’t have…Facebook is okay. I guess it allows me to make plans…but I almost just use it for email purposes and stalking my friends.

Really…ask anyone who uses Facebook and they will contest that Facebook tells you everything. It will tell you what you wanted to know about, didn’t care about, and didn’t want to know. It has EVERYTHING!!! I enjoy seeing what music and videos my friends enjoy because it allows me to discover new things. There are even groups to say what you like and don’t. It gets to a point where things become impersonal. It’s like a journal that everybody can see…people just don’t do that. But then again…maybe that’s the point of a blog.

Then there’s Deviantart. I like to think that me going to Deviantart is somehow going to increase my culture or something of that sort. It doesn’t really justify things, but Deviantart is definitely better than Facebook. I guess one could imagine it as an art gallery or museum, online. Seeing my friend’s artwork is really nifty. Some of the artwork on the site is very, very, good, up at professional standards and can be very moving.

I’m probably still going to do exactly as I have been doing. I enjoy my false life that I live on the Internet, escaping from the annoyances of life. Maybe in the end I do actually learn something. Whether it’s how to treat a friend, what’s the coolest gadget, or just admiring artwork. I enjoy stalking my friends (creepy…yes) and seeing the new technologies in the world. So…You know what?! For now and probably for a while (maybe even forever) I’m going to continue going to these sites that waste away my life. Do I think they’re helping me in the long run?…Who knows?…But they DO make me happy and isn’t that all that really matters…happiness?

Is the Kindle the Next Wonderchild? April 16, 2008

Technology is constantly evolving…every single day. Do you even remember a CD, or a tape, or a record! Well, it depends on your generation, but these old technologies are slowly beginning to fade. How many times do you find yourself going to the store and buying a CD? It’s the nature of our materialistic, technological world of today. What new technology will completely revolutionize the world tomorrow? Who knows, but in my opinion the Amazon Kindle is NOT the next miracle device to pull an Apple Ipod.

I constantly frequent the website www.Engadget.com and that is where I first saw the Amazon Kindle. Now I’m not really one for beautiful gadgets (I own the chunky phone that is the HTC TyTn), but I personally don’t think the Kindle is the most beautiful gadget out there. Amazon could have at least tried a little harder to make the Kindle look a little more…non-generic. There are no highlighting lines. I just don’t find it that aesthetically pleasing. It sort of just blends in with the number of devices out there. Now, I’ve never actually seen one of these devices on person, but from the pictures the screen looks pretty dull, just adding to the overall blandness of the device.

There are a few things about the Kindle that I DO think are very cool. I have to say the E-ink “electronic paper” that the Kindle is sporting is pretty darn cool. I have never actually seen it in real life, but it appears to be fairly crisp. To receive the papers automatically all the time for free is also a very cool feature. What disappoints me is the $0.99 a month fee for automatically getting to read blogs and the like, but at $12.00 a year, that’s not all that bad. I would maybe even consider buying one of these if it weren’t for the $400 price tag. There are a few more things I think could be cool about the Kindle, but I’d have to see it in real life to actually judge whether or not I like or don’t like it.

What really bothers me about Amazon’s new device is the pricing and how poorly executed their entrance into the e-book world was. For $399.99, the Kindle is anything but cheap and I just can’t see myself spending $400 for something I could almost get for free at the nearest public library. I am a gadget geek and I do appreciate gadgets that supposedly make our lives easier, but I don’t think the Kindle is worth $400 for half the functions my phone can do. Why spend $400 dollars for something that you can buy for only $270, the Sony e-reader. Now I have to say Sony’s e-reader does lack some of the sparkle that the kindle has, but I do not think that that sparkle is worth $130 more. More so even if you wanted one, you wouldn’t even be able to get one. Amazon has done an extremely poor job in stocking their shelves with the device. People have waited up to six weeks for one. And overall do I really think it was worth their wait…no…I don’t.

Argh! Phone Companies! April 16, 2008

Phone companies drive my nutty(er than I already am). They find little ways of sucking you into their vortex. Recently I was on the search for a new phone. I used to have a Cingular 8125 (goes by many other names too) that I was completely happy with…until I dropped it. Whoops. To replace my phone I was hoping my new phone to have windows mobile and a few other goodies that my old phone had such as wifi. I am on AT&T’s cell phone network and my phone was up for their upgrade program, meaning I could buy a phone from them with their “2-year commitment pricing.” Ya, it does say two year. This is just one way the company wraps you around their finger. I didn’t have the money to pay for a new phone unlocked (upwards of $400) and AT&T’s no commitment pricing is just as high. Which means if I wanted to buy the phone I wanted I would be trapped into their 2-year contract.

The two-year contract is another thing they do to control your cell phone lives. My friend Chris’s cell phone recently broke, but since he is in a two-year agreement, he can’t buy a new phone from AT&T, without spending a lot of money. Do they have a heart? I guess that’s a bit drastic of me. Dare I say it, but it IS just a cell phone. Then again, society has created a world where cell phones have almost become a necessity. I hate to find myself so materialistic. But in my life it has come to a point where I almost need a cell phone, going to and from school, and staying after school. In this world of money and power it’s slightly understandable, but that doesn’t make it acceptable.

In the end I ended up buying the HTC TyTN (which also goes by many other name). I bought it on ebay, trying to avoid AT&T altogether and it worked. Then two months later I saw the phone I had originally wanted go on sale refurbished for the same price I bought my phone that was older and had less features. Sigh…that is the story of my phone troubles and how AT&T is corrupt. I could have gone more in depth of what happened. Said every single thing that I did and they did, but that’s not the point.

The phone companies are only looking out for themselves and I guess that’s the world we live in. Life is based on money. I can’t give you hat I have sewed in return for a new cell phone. What bothers me the most about this is how I have been desensitized to materialism. I found myself getting really mad, about a cell phone. Yes, I wanted it and there are always going to be wants in my life that have material base, but I got overly exasperated over one little thing. Society has created a world where I care too much over technology, but this is where I get confused. I am in constant struggle between my geeky side and for lack of better words, my other side. How I would love to be one of the few to not have a cell phone, to be out of the circle of connection, to send letters over the mail. If I were to do that I would have to give up my precious cell phone.

All of this also leads back to the theory that everything today is not built to last. We are almost witnessing the absence of antiques. What, are you going to go to an antique store to buy an old Ipod? I don’t think so. It is pretty much the same thought as steam punk.

I guess I’m stuck with my phone, but if there were a perfect medium…it would be wonderful.