Saturday, June 14, 2008

Do I need an intervention?

As I previously mentioned, Monday was WWDC keynote day, and I worked all day in a place with no internet. How to keep up with the most important news EVER?



Well, I own a prepaid brick of a cellphone with no internet, so no-go there. But wait, I have unlimited free incoming SMS messages? Hmmmm.



My carrier (like most) has a special email address based on my phone number, which truncates emails to 160 characters and forwards them to my phone as an SMS message. Imagine an automator script that takes the unread rss articles from Mail.app and copies each to a new mail message which is sent to the SMS bridge address? 160 characters is sure limiting, but the headlines all come through at least. Then you just use launchd to have this script send the new articles every 30 mins, and you have "push rss" for free. Albeit kinda clunky and annoying that you only get to read the headlines.



Just a little bit of work to get my Apple news?

Monday, June 9, 2008

The big decision

I can't say I'm surprised that Apple didn't release anything completely revolutionary today. The iPhone hardware couldn't have changed much without alienating the old EDGE iPhones (which were supposed to be firmware 2.0 compatible). The Macbook Pro non-update also isn't surprising, since until this morning the LAST update was still being advertised on the Apple home page as the "new Macbook Pro".



The big question that remains is: to iPhone or not? I'd be missing out on: built-in camera, mobile internet, GPS, VOIP. Those are pretty compelling, especially considering the new $199 price point. The problem is that, in Canada, Rogers will be requiring a 3-year contract to purchase an iPhone (presumably there is no option to go without the contract). What also scares me is the lack of any plan pricing announcements... If we're signing a 3-year contract at $80 a month, Rogers is now nearly $3000 richer at my expense. As a starving student, that chunk of change is huge... that's over a third of my tuition, or 8 months rent! Or a new 30-inch cinema display and a Mac Mini server.



If any wireless provider could actually screw up the launch of one of the best mobile platforms ever, it's Rogers.

Apple Store is down in Canada! FINALLY!

So I guess this just about wraps up the waiting for the canadian iPhone. About time! This link should hold at least one interesting thing sometime this afternoon. Who knows, maybe there'll be a new Macbook Pro too! Luckily I've had this one for less than 14 days... 8800gt? 500gb? Higher rez? Sweet macbook-air-inspired case? Only time will tell, and since I work 12:30 - 9 I'll be late to the party for sure.

And another thing...

Why haven't we got Spotlight for our iPhones and iPod touches yet? I realize typing isn't as responsive with the soft keyboard, but there's only a small amount of info to index: contacts, sms conversations, emails, web history... I'd like to think a "search" app with near-instant response could further differentiate the iPhone from other smartphones.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

It would be so cool if I'm right

Does anyone remember, quite awhile ago, we were told Apple had patented cool new LCD displays with image sensors in between the pixels? This would essentially give you a user-facing webcam. Why has no one speculated on how stupid this is for a computer, and how ingenious it is for oh, say, a mobile phone? Imagine Steve Jobs introducing the new iPhone, with no front-facing camera spot anywhere on the face... disappointment will OOZE from the crowd, until he demos the new iChat Mobile with an "InvisiCam"! That would definitely be a jaw-dropping, Jobs keynote moment. I'm probably wrong, but I'd sure like to be right!

Saturday, June 7, 2008

What's up with this whole internet thing?

So I was just watched this video about the internet and net neutrality, and it got me thinking. Where IS the internet going? It's like when you find a cool new place to hang out with like-minded people, but then it's ruined when it gets "popular" because everyone-and-his-dog shows up with different expectations. Expectations, and the money to influence and change the place you loved, to mold it into just another crowded public area with screaming babies and sterile smiles.



What does this mean? Is the internet just another medium that's being taken over by the masses? Will we always have to give up on our private clubs just when they start to get good? I don't know, but it seems like we'll always at least be the minority. The commercial web has already crowded us into a corner, but we're happy to occupy our own little space if we get to remain in charge. The problem is that in a internet that shifts away from neutrality, we're told to pay up, clean up, and follow their rules or else show ourselves out. We lose our ownership in the web: it becomes their network on their terms.



Maybe market forces WILL favour those ISPs and networks that stand up for net neutrality, when consumers vote with their wallets. I doubt it'll happen: a de-facto cartel of networks is more likely, since they all stand to gain if no one gives the consumer the neutral choice. And I have an inkling that advertising and media dollars far outweigh residential internet fees.



Maybe one of those new-fangled high-speed global networks will turn out? And someone will have the foresight to ban the commercialization and ugly behaviour we're seeing now? Sure, it means the network won't ever make it big and take over "the internet". Isn't that just what we'd like?



The last option, the one that seems coolest right now, but least likely to succeed due to the sheer infrastructure, is what I might call a "hyper-local network". Imagine a mesh network connecting all the houses in your neighbourhood, as far as the signal carries. Here and there would be portals to other networks, and obviously internet connections too for longer-distance communication. In today's world of contributing netizens, this could probably be set up tomorrow in many areas. The locally-oriented network would certainly change the dynamics of sharing and communication, but they would be ours and ours alone. Although I wasn't old enough to be using them at the time, this brings the image of a web 2.0 BBS to my head. And I find it quite exciting.