Advanced Dynamic Ramblings

…I don’t have one yet. I was at the U. Village Apple store on Saturday morning to check out the craziness and spend a little one on one time with an iPad. The interface is beautiful, and the hardware makes it quite responsive. Standard iPhone/iPod Touch apps are a joke, and look comical on the iPad’s larger screen, but apps designed for the iPad are amazing.

I’m not going to give a comprehensive review and rehash all the same stuff that all the other blogs and media outlets are covering. I’m going to comment on one, singular omission that tops the list of reasons that the iPad is not really ready yet.

User accounts.

Computers have user accounts, iPhones don’t. The iPad falls somewhere in between, so it’s arguable that it should remain simple and user account free. I beg to differ.

When I’m carrying my iPhone and someone asks me to see it or play with it for a bit, I usually hand it over and look over their shoulder. I’ll give them a minute or two, and then time is up. I’ve got a fair amount of personal information loaded into my iPhone. Email, saved passwords in Safari, and browser history are just a few to mention.

An iPad is not a “personal” device that you would pocket and carry with you around town, so the likelihood that you get hit up for some demo time is low, but it IS a coffee table computer. It’s something that you should feel comfortable to leave in the living room and allow guests to use for web surfing, iTunes music requests, etc…

Without the ability to log out, I would not be comfortable loading my personal credentials into the iPad lest I look like an asshole when a guest asks to use the thing and I say… “meh… I don’t think so, it’s my computer and I can’t log out…”

Apple? Is this on your list?

Apple gained traction early on with the iPhone utilizing ATT’s distribution network and brand awareness in the carrier vertical. I argued that Apple’s retail network was plenty to get the iPhone moving, but obviously Apple didn’t think so. As a result, the iPhone that everyone knows, is one that ATT has signed off on, one that ATT has subsidized, and one that doesn’t do ANYTHING on the cell network that ATT doesn’t approve of.

The fact that Skype for iPhone only works on Wifi is no accident. It’s also not an engineering problem. It is simply NOT in the interest of ATTs current revenue model, as Skype over an unlimited data connection would net the user unlimited calls for $35/month.

With the market penetration for the iPhone where it is, I don’t think that the iPhone can really benefit any more from carrier (ATT) availability. Of course, the downside, is that Apple would need to price the iPhone so as to generate appropriate (Apple) margins, as there would be no subsidy.

The upside would be an explosion of potential functionality for the iPhone, as Apple would not be constantly seeking ATTs approval for every feature. Apple would be free to build the phone that they want to build, but also responsible for creating a value proposition for the customer.

ATT should focus on infrastructure, which is their core business. Apple can focus on hardware. The same goes for any other handset manufacturer out there, but the iPhone has an advantage now, with two years of rapid, subsidized growth under it’s belt. If ATT wants to sell a locked, subsidized version of the iPhone (probably with custom firmware), then they can work that out with Apple and see how well it sells.

I dream…

For you gun hating Seattle-ites, you can ignore this post… but this iPhone app is pretty sweet. It really exhibits the capabilities of the iPhone/iPod Touch…

Now, the mounting location is not optimal, as it would interfere with a basic grip, but the function of the iPhone is undeniable.

It calculates ballistics considering wind speed, distance, outside temperature and altitude. This one is the real deal, as opposed to the “iSnipe” app which claims to work with “any” rifle. This app allows you to manually add weapons whose profile are not included already.

Of course, you’ll need to input temp, wind speed, and maybe other variables, but the phone monitors the position of the rifle.

Via: Fox News

iTunes App Store: BulletFlight

OK… I’m really happy with the iPhone 2.2 update (even after experiencing a couple small problems), but as each update comes out, I’m becoming more and more perplexed by the feature omissions chosen by Apple.

Apple has rolled out enough whiz-bang cool features now to simply go back and fill in the potholes. Here is a short list of these potholes;

1. Video. Cell phone video is low quality, but sometimes this feature useful. Also, EVERY OTHER DECENT HANDSET CAN RECORD VIDEO.

2. MMS. I mean… c’mon. What gives? It’s not an essential function, but when Apple is letting certain European carriers implement their own MMS app, it’s just stupid. It’s clearly not an engineering problem.

3. Tethering. Since 2002 I’ve been able to use my cell as a wireless modem for my laptop. It’s really useful… Still, we wont see this feature without an agreement between ATT and Apple that allows ATT to charge more, much more, for plans that allow tethering. Keep in mind, independant manufacturers have no such restriction, and can enable tethering without approval from the carrier, and therefore users can avoid the extra $30 to use their laptop on the road once a month. Whatever. I spend far too much time being upset over this issue.

Peace

RUST = Random Unrelated STuff

Found this bike sitting out front of the DUTCH BIKE CO. It’s called the “Conference Bike”. It has seven seats, with one of them set up as the captain’s seat. The captain steers and brakes with rack and pinion steering and disc brakes.

The drivetrain is a heptagonal driveline that drives a chain to the pair of rear wheels. It appears that all riders must be pedaling, as there is no freewheeling… 

Below is the store where I found it. It’s in the Fremont/Ballard area in WA.

I came across this “World Calendar” concept while searching on some semi-unrelated topics. The simplicity and elegance of the calendar floored me, and while I know that it would be nearly impossible to implement, something in me is completely in love with the idea.

The calendar is perennial, and divided into equal quarters still comprised of 12 months. The primary benefit of the calendar is that each year is the same, with holidays, birthdays, (any day, really) always falling on the same day of the week, every year.

I think that this simple, perpetual calendar is wonderful!

Read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Calendar

I know that there are some objections to it, so please comment.