My first go on an iPhone.
July 4, 2007
Not wishing to add to the iperbole but a visitor to Channel 4 scored maximum “ooooo-aaahh”points today when he showed off his 8gig iPhone to the new media dept after a meeting. I got to have a go, the pinch/push nav is a no brainer, the screen is bright and clear. I typed out ‘the quick brown fox…’ it came out ok. There was a slight ‘Newton‘ moment when Euan typed his named and it came out ‘Wuan’. Another thing was the girls were just as smitten as the boys, this is a key reason why the ipod sold so well I think, because it was quite gender netural. (See here for a female perspective of the iPhone.)
Strawpoll: Everyone wants one in this office, … they’ll sell like hotcakes on a cold day I reckon, despite the low spec camera that can’t shoot video.
Charlie Brooker, dozy fucker.
February 5, 2007
I hate macs, by Charlie Brooker aged 5 and a half.
Charlie Brooker arrives two decades late and a dollar short at the oldest - and most boring - computer debate imaginable with his I hate Macs rant in today’s Media Groiniad. I’m not going to add to this, (except I am), but I will take issue with his most basic/lazy journo errors.
The ads are adapted from a near-identical American campaign - the only difference is the use of Mitchell and Webb., No Charles there are some UK specific script tweaks and Tenticle is specific to the UK apparently.
Sometimes you have to slap it to make it work properly, just like the Tardis (Doctor Who, incidentally, would definitely use a PC). Actually the new macbooks are the only computers you can ‘slap’ and actually do anything useful. About the Doctor Who line I consulted the wise Dulwich Daleks, a.k.a Paul & Jim (buy their book it’s ace), and their verdict was a: If the Doctor had to have a computer it would be a ‘ a modified Sinclair Spectrum, with bits and pieces added on, lashed together and held in place with bits of blue-tac and Gallifreyan data storage systems’ but b: ‘The Doctor wouldn’t have a PC – he’s said on many occasions that he hates computers.’ They speak, we listen. And as for the ‘They’ve only got one mouse button!’ yawn.. they now come with a two button mouse or you can use any mouse you like. And he doesn’t even mention that Macs now run windows.
The points in this article are the computer equivelent of writing a TV article saying “Hey did you know in the A-Team they fired all those bullets but no one ever got shot!!!! Snort snort!” But then as we know, he ‘deplores violence of any kind‘ (especially when the secret service are on to him)
And to be the first person to comment on your own article at 1.23 AM too… that’s just not very cool Charles. I used to like TV go Home etc, I used to like Charlie Brooker’s work, but just recently it’s as if he’s being groomed as Clarkson’s general moaning cunt apparent. Still, look at the comments, he’s sure getting them in… Oooh he’s soo controversial.. no he’s not, he knows what he’s doing, he’s doing a Dvorak so he can go to Emily Bell and raise his fee or summat.
See Rob Manuel’s mac/pc experience for a more interesting and factual take on the subject if you can be arsed, if not, just use your computer (what ever it is) to do something interesting, like see Rob’s poached egg report, now that’s good take on the establishment journalism.
Mitchell & Webb do the Apple ads
January 29, 2007
So Mitchell and Webb of Peep show and That M&W Look have redone all the Apple ‘Mac & PC’ ads for the UK.
They’ve kept the scripts similar, but Britishificated* them a little bit, in Pie Chart ‘just kicking it’ becomes ‘monkeying about’ which is nice. And I think Tenticle is a UK only one, maybe office at home too. But they could have gone a bit further I reckon. Oh and I watched ‘em on youtube as the Apple site was soooo slow!
*As George W Bush might say.
iPod photo arrives at eyedropper towers
April 21, 2005
Today I went bonkers and bought an 60gig iPod photo of a mate and sold him my original 1st generation 5gig ipod. I’m just having a beautiful apple moment here as I reflect on my three year ipod ownership.
When I bought my ‘classic’ iPod in 2002 for £300 in NYC I was teetering at the bleeding edge of the geek-o-sphere, and that was with a less favourable exchange rate than today. I justified it then by thinking ‘hey, it’s a portable hard drive that I can carry my show reel around in and listen to music too’.
At the time everyone thought I was mad. 300 quid, for a fancy walkman, that you still need another expensive computer to use? Fast forward a couple of years and everyone’s got an iProduct. And I’ve justified this one by thinking ‘hey, it’s got the same capacity as my Powerbook, and with the camera add on it can take photos directly off my Nikon d70, honest Mrs eyedropper!’.
I was thinking about ipods in general today today when I saw my millionth pair of white ear phones, the beauty of which is this - we all have the same appearance, yet underneath the clothing we could have any one of the product line. It’s not a high end Mac thing anymore.
Anyway, I’m copying my already fairly portable digital life over to my new portable device and in doing so I’m struck by the same thought that I was struck by when I attached my first iPod.. how will I ever fill it all?
Apple Products. Insanely great, or just good enough?
February 16, 2004
Core77 Articles: Insanely great, or just good enough? The wise Dan Hill has penned this on Apple design and ipod batteries. . . oh, and lots of links to classic design arguments and examples.
If He’s So Smart…
January 25, 2004
Fast Company | If He’s So Smart…Steve Jobs, Apple, and the Limits of Innovation
Thoughtful essay about ‘The Leader’ and Apple. . . and it makes difficult reading. In essence it’s drawing comparisons between the days when Apple launched the Mac and lost it all to the PC and the iPod. It also goes on to explain that apple relies to much on innovation.
Given that other companies are working on low budget music devices, is the iPod going to go the way of it’s great great grand-daddy and loose market share to cheap clones? Maybe. God it’s all so poignant though. It’s like the iPod is the new mac and iTunes Music Store the new GUI OS. . . We’ve even got Apples first ad in the Superbowl for 20 Years coming up!
