thinking

more photos from trafal

Alwin's crocs and my old shoes; Riein, Graubunden, CH at Remo's birthday feast

writing on the wall

first

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iphone: mobile comedy

it was a comedy of events and i ended up with an iphone last friday before 10 in the morning without having to stand in line. yes, the 3G version of the iphone now decorates the array of technical arsenal at my disposal.

about two years ago i had had one of my fictional characters moan about such a device while in lisbon at the first shift conference. since friday i have had my greasy fingers on a device that comes close, but only close to being the smart thingy with one button and the ability to connect me to another human and a whole slew of machines all over the planet. it is slipery as a bar of soap, and is is sleek like something or other that is sleek, but the battery charge lifetime sucks big time. i was afraid of this issue with the battery, and if i had thought a bit longer, comedy or not, i would have waited for the third version of the iphone hardware.

in short, www.me.com is what makes the iphone worthwhile. the real issue that i have with it is the battery. please, somebody invent a battery with a better capacity and while at it some better power management!

the new iphone is most remarkable for what is does NOT have:

1. no manual: just a brief pamphlet that tells you that it actually has a few more buttons than the ONE that i wish for in my dreams. it has in total 4 buttons, each of a different species, all multifunctional and to complete the i/o repertoire, it has two female plugs besides loudspeakers and microphone. i like that it does not have a manual, it makes it a toy to explore. of course i am fascinated by the two cross-head screws swiftly hidden on the lower edge... however there is something of a hang up with the guarantee if i do start to play with those.
2. no keyboard: the touch screen is a blast to explore, especially once you discover that all those hours practicing the piano and the guitar were not in vain after all. it is easy to get the hang of it, but one does need good motor coordination and a gentle touch. but because the box does not have a keyboard, it gives you the possibility of having multiple keyboards. so, after getting totally annoyed that i was getting german spelling propositions while writing while operating the whole with an english interface, it finally dawned on me to go to the general settings and switch on the four keyboards for the four languages that i use. i have gotten used to the swiss qwertz keyboard and lost the habit of the english qwerty keyboard, so i had set the keyboard to german, not french since that is different from "french swiss" and that is what i usually use on the mac.
3. no video calls: i am surprised. this thing has umts capability, but no video calls? ok, my previous phone [sony ericsson] has the possiblitity, but i have never made use of it.
4. no functioning bluetooth: it is blind as a bat when it comes to toothing. but then bluetooth is a great technology killed by IPR avarice; bluetooth is going the way of the dodo bird. it is something that does not stick within my habits. i have replaced bluetooth wireless devices with cabled ones... (but then this might be just me).
5. no fancy 6 Meg camera: really! i love 2 Meg cams, they are just the right size for snap shots and visual notes and make great digital lomo wannabes. size is not everything, not when it comes to the number of pixels in a phonecam.
6. the alarm will not wake up the phone if it is turned off: finally! after all, i can turn off the SIM card and sleep undisturbed from disoriented people calling me at 3 in the morning while the iphone plays the role of a modest itouch in sleep mode.

what do i like about the iphone?

the kid was born not really knowing how to walk, and when it opens its mouth it stutters in several languages, but this is the first kid that moves the internet to the mobile. its hardware, software and service providers will all have much to learn as the millions of users co-educate the kid into what could be a really fun and useful object.

most applications and the device itself seem to operate from a principle that i call permissiveness. the apps and the modalities that i have tried so far have given me the option to be transparent about location - that gps is sweeeet! - but it does not force me to. the apps ask permission to publish my location in addition to the fact that location can be turned off in the settings. i like this very much. i really do not always want to share my location, if nothing else because on occasions i want the illusion that nobody knows where i am. i confess, i am a control freak, but not a privacy freak.

concerns

swisscom's price plans seem passable at first sight, but for those who travel and roam a lot, given the ease of use of the device, there might be some bad surprises in the months ahead. for me, this would not be the first time that i have ridiculously high charges coming from roaming. after all, it is a pain to change SIM cards when changing country, and this diddy does come SIM locked, an idea that i find totally ridiculous and so old school, that it is not funny. what would a network operator have to lose if it unlocked the SIM cards? (i know the old school arguments to answer this question, they just do not compute in my cpu)

update: of course the other major and very obvious concern has already been picking up some traction: unlimited data plans

btw, the internet just went mobile on friday.

my favorite apps: moo and alarm free [you can find them in the app store from the iphone]

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