with the iPad announcement, the whole debate about Apple’s lack of support for Flash is ignited again.
unfortunately, some of the public seems believe be that the reason Apple doesn’t support Flash is to sell more games via the App Store. not true. Apple makes money selling devices, not apps. so Apple would actually make a lot more money by supporting Flash in the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad – because they’d sell more devices.
Flash (and Silverlight) is bad for the web: it’s the only ‘de facto’ web standard (for delivering video) that’s proprietary and controlled by a single company. That’s bad for the web. “How you get video on the web” shouldn’t be something owned by a single company. Fortunately, HTML5 is well supported and on it’s way to obviating the need for Flash for video.
Flash is bad for the Mac: Gruber gets it: customers can send their Mac crash reports to Apple, and it turns out the #1 reason they crash is because of Flash. Flash is written well for Windows, but not for Mac/Linux. It uses a lot of CPU and it’s buggy. So the main reason Apple computers crash is because of this buggy app that Apple can’t fix for it’s customers. Clearly, it doesn’t make sense to perpetuate the situation with it’s new mobile devices.
At first glance, the $15/mo 250mb AT&T plan for iPad seems laughable in this day and age. But I think it might actually be perfect for me, and as Steve said, “most people”.
I’m mostly at home and work, both of which have wifi. When I go out to do work, it’s often in an Internet cafe or Starbucks (which has AT&T wifi, included for free in the plan). Wifi is nearly ubiquitous at places where you’d stop for a while. And I’d sync all my big iTunes content (music, video, podcasts) directly over the USB cable.
And if I’m out and about (truly mobile) out of wifi range, chances are I’ll be using the unlimited data on my iPhone. And *finally*, if I really need mobile data to my iPad, then I’d start tapping into that 250mb plan. I think I could totally stay under that limit.
exactly:
Today Apple finally unveiled its tablet computer, the iPad. Thus concludes Phase 1 of the standard Apple new-category roll-out: months of feverish speculation and hype online, without any official indication by Apple that the product even exists.
Now Phase 2 can begin: the bashing by the bloggers who’ve never even tried it: “No physical keyboard!” “No removable battery!” “Way too expensive!” “Doesn’t multitask!” “No memory-card slot!”
That will last until the iPad actually goes on sale in April. Then, if history is any guide, Phase 3 will begin: positive reviews, people lining up to buy the thing, and the mysterious disappearance of the basher-bloggers.
[From The Apple iPad: First Impressions - Pogue’s Posts Blog - NYTimes.com]
so i got all excited when i realized that DOCSIS 3.0 was available in my area, and looked into whether it was worth switching from AT&T Uverse’s service. I was happy with Uverse – 18Mbps down, 1.5 up, for $55/mo ($65 after the 1st year promotion ended). The service was rock solid, but the uploads were pretty slow.
so on comcast.com, i sign up for Extreme 50 for $80/mo: 
and when I checkout, it reiterates the $80 price:
but of course, it would be too much to expect that to be the actual price. when the installer comes, he tells me the price is $115/mo if you don’t bundle it with another comcast service. in the ‘terms and conditions’ it mentions that this is a promotional price, but nowhere on the website could i find the $115 price listed.
oh, and the Motorola SB6210 DOCSIS 3 modem i bought from amazon didn’t work (though it’s supposed to be compatible), so I had to rent the cheapo modem they provided.
i would have been screwed, but then realized that work offers a discount on Comcast Teleworker (16 down, 2 up) for a fixed $52/mo. it was easy enough to transfer over to this type of account. and overall, i have to say that cable seems faster than Uverse’s DSL.
so in the end i’m happy with the service i ended up with, but that doesn’t mean i feel Comcast is any less sleazy than ever.
the search volume on the phrase “apple tablet” for the past 12 months:
the search volume on the phrase “apple phone” in 2006 (just before iPhone was announced in Jan 07):
just sayin…
here’s a list of new & old technologies that stuck (and some that didn’t) this year:
- iPhone 3GS: it’s hard to believe i’ve only owned it since June. i swear, i must use mine at least 100 times a day. the biggest improvement over the 3G is the speed. everything is just snappier. i can’t overemphasize how much i love my iphone.
- App Store: no need to explain here. every time i go in, i find something new and amazing.
- SSDs: in April I got my first SSD, an OCZ Vertex, but I didn’t keep it and ended up with an Intel X25-M gen 2. the performance gain is so amazing, i got 2 more SSDs for my other macs. it’s the single biggest speed improvement you can make.
- Drobo gen 2: still our main storage device, for the 2 things i definitely don’t want to lose to a hard drive crash: our iPhoto and iTunes libraries. i upgraded drives this year and now have 2.5TB of space. even with all the movies i’ve got, there’s plenty of room to grow.
- google reader: still my main go-to source for keeping up with sites, blogs, craigslist searches, firmware updates, you name it. and the mobile site is awesome on the iphone.
- twitter: caught up quickly to google reader in terms of my reliance on it. the real-time web is here and it’s useful. twitter search is invaluable.
- mac mini connected to lcd tv: still super-useful as our all-purpose HTPC. upgraded to the last model so that it runs 1080p smoothly and Plex/Boxee are smooth like butter. who needs cable.
- 24″ imac: our main workhorse home computer. fast & brilliant screen. gonna upgrade to the 27″ to be even faster and more brilliant.
- macbook air: wifey uses the base model as a netbook around the house. it’s perfect for her needs. so thin & light.
- readability: i use this bookmarklet all the time to make online article readable on the screen.
- instapaper: and when i don’t have time to read the article, i click the Instapaper bookmarklet to save it for reading later (on mac or iphone).
- simplenote: it’s notational velocity on the iphone/browser. note-taking awesomeness.
- dropbox: not only to keep all my documents in sync on all my macs, but i’m increasingly using it to carry my /Library environment around so that apps like Plex, Boxee & Things all sync.
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- didn’t stick: SugarSync: totally un-Mac like.
- craigslist: i must have bought/sold about 100 times this year.
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- didn’t stick: ebay: total pain in the ass to put something up for sale. bought a few items
- PS3: Uncharted 2 is the best video game i’ve ever played.
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- didn’t stick: Xbox 360 & Rock Band
- didn’t stick: gaming via Windows 7 via Boot Camp
- 1Password: indispensible password manager for the mac. one of the first things I install.
- launchbar:
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- didn’t stick: Quicksilver: i was reluctant to leave, but development is pretty much dead. like most who’ve switched, i’m really liking LB
- smugmug: all our baby pics & videos are posted here. way better than flickr, but you have to pay for it.
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- didn’t stick: flickr: let my pro account expire. haven’t looked back since joining smugmug
- animoto: this is imovie for the rest of us. creates amazing slideshows, really easily.
- Canon SD960is digital camera: 12mp + 720p video. fantastic pics.
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- didn’t stick: eye-fi card: it screwed up the audio of video clips, and they never posted a fix.
- yojimbo:
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- didn’t stick: evernote: i wanted so much to like it, but in the end, the UI is cluttered and your data is hard to export. the iphone app was dog slow when taking a photo note. good effort, but their windows roots are apparent.
- didn’t stick: together: it has all the additional features a yojimbo user could want, but ultimately doesn’t feel as smooth.
- didn’t stick: Notational Velocity: the recent upgrade is great, and forthcoming integration w/simplenote will be even better. but if i’m using yojimbo, i’m going to put everything in there.
- Omnifocus: the king of GTD apps, but really steep learning curve. I just wish iPhone syncing weren’t so slow.
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- didn’t stick: The Hit List: this app was hot for a while, but everyone’s been waiting over 6 mos for the iPhone app. it’s just a single developer, so it’s slow going.
- didn’t stick: Things: it’s GTD for the masses; as such, it’s quite dumbed down and prettied up.
- MindManager: MM8 for Mac is being released soon. I use mindmapping all the time at work.
- Amazon Prime: renewed the expensive $80 feature, but totally worth it. free 2day shipping on most items, plus you can share it with about 4 ‘family’ members.
other things that didn’t stick:
- kindle 2: I just sold it, after 9 months with it. it’s a nice device, don’t get me wrong…it just never won the battle for my attention over the iphone.
- facebook: i went through a phase of obsessively checking it and pruning my profile. now i check every few days, and find most of the status updates boring. i’ve ‘hidden’ updates from all but a handful of people.
