manage to experience

Cynical devices

"The iPad is an attractive, thoughtfully designed, deeply cynical thing."

Apple appears to be cheerleading a fundamental shift in personal computing: A narrowing of options. They're creating a universe of DRM, and strict control over software options and availability.  

To echo Alex Payne's point, Apple is selling consumption, not creativity.

iPad as an idea that's better than the device

Frog Design has an interesting take on the Apple iPad:

"The iPad is the beginning of a new category — one that is hyper-convergent and humanistic."

It's an optimistic assessment – and one I'm sympathetic to – of the idea that the iPad represents. It's mobile computing that non-geeks can embrace. On that level, it's easy to forgive the lack of features we expect in entry level netbooks. 

From my perspective, there are three deal-breakers with the current model:

1. 10 hour battery life. For a device promoted as a new wave of e-reader, that's disappointing performance. A minimum of 30 hours would be more like it.
2. 2000-era data plans. $15 for 250 MB of data? 
3. Lack of a built-in HDMI output, for sharing video on an HDTV.

To be fair, this is version 1.0. It's a solid idea. And I'll be interested to watch the evolution of the device.

Apps and the cloud

This article by Louis Gray reflects my current thinking about application choices, and benefits of cloud computing.

I'm increasingly wary of both Microsoft's bloated Office apps and Apple's apparent interest in increasing complete control over my "experience." Neither is attractive. 

My response has been to turn to Web-based apps – starting with email, and calendar and contact management – that offer sufficient functionality without locking me into a specific platform. It'll be a while before I can move away from Office and a few other select applications (I don't see a good alternative to the lovely OmniGraffle Pro, for instance) that live on my local drive, but I'm making solid progress toward living in the cloud.

The state of e-readers

I've been closely following the evolution of e-readers, and even came close to pulling the trigger on a purchase myself. But this post at jkOnTheRun zeroes in on why I haven't' bought a dedicated e-reader, and why most folks shouldn't. 

I love the idea of a single purpose e-reader (and no, an Apple tablet with limited battery life doesn't fit the bill for me), but until publishers and hardware sellers agree on a consumer-friendly distribution model (no time soon), I won't buy one.

Mag+

Most of the energy around e-readers seems to go into controlling ownership and distribution of content, rather than the experience of reading. This interesting video puts the focus back on the experience and offers a glimpse of what reading on a digital device can be.

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

Augmented Reality (AR) – an interesting application

A simple, useful application of AR by Samsung.

Square: credit card payments, simplified

This caught my attention:

Face-to-face commerce is accelerating away from cash and checks, leaving some smaller vendors out in the cold. Square provides a simple way for vendors to accept credit card payments using mobile devices. 

Stealth fix for the Droid camera?

It looks like VZW and Motorola pushed out a fix for the Droid camera autofocus problems. Mine works flawlessly now.

UPDATE: Turns out the camera focusing problem is a date-related bug that will return in the future, if no patch is offered.

A helpful resource for Motorola Droid users

Droidie.

Start with their list of tutorial videos.

One week with the Motorola Droid

My smartphone progression:

Palm Treo (ugh) -> Blackberry Pearl -> Motorola Droid

I bought the Droid as soon as it became available because:

• I like the iPhone, but won't buy one as long as owning it ties me to AT&T.
• It's impossible to separate carrier performance from hardware when it comes to the overall wireless experience, and as carriers go I'm satisfied with VZW (my experience with them goes back many, many years).
• My Blackberry Pearl, useful as it is, had some serious limitations (SureType is okay, but just).
• I was intrigued by what I'd seen of the Android platform.

So, many people have asked me, do I like it?

Yeah, I do. Because, in order of my priorities:

1. The phone isn't merely usable -- it's the best mobile handset I've owned. I rely on my smart phone as my primary connection to customers, colleagues, and vendors, and a sub-par phone gets old quickly.
2. Integration with apps I use on my laptop is fantastic. I use Google Business Apps for email and calendar, and the excellent Remember The Milk for keeping track of tasks. All synchronize exceptionally well, and create a fairly seamless experience whether I'm on my laptop or away from the office. 
3. The UI, though not as polished as the iPhone's, is surprisingly good. I'm still finding my way around it, but it is smoother, more intuitive, and quicker than I expected. And both the physical and virtual keyboards are usable.
4. Google's turn-by-turn navigation, while not as easy to use or full-featured as a dedicated GPS, is an incredible first effort.
5. I love the screen, and browsing the Web is mostly satisfying.

Note that I've not mentioned the camera, which is terrible. However, I rarely use a camera phone so this isn't a deal breaker for me. Nor am I bothered by the relatively few games for Android; that's not my thing, either. And the clumsy music player? I prefer an iPod.

I'll note that the built-in email app is very primitive. If you are accustomed to a Blackberry or other email-centric device, managing IMAP or POP mail with this app can be a disappointment. No support for signatures? What's up with that?