Maroon Ventures Blog

It isn’t every day that I get to do the “I Told You So” (ITYS) dance twice.  Remember some months ago when I ranted about the release of the Apple iPhone and iPod touch API being a clear and present danger to major wireless carriers?  Remember? Remember when I pointed to the first VOIP application for the iPhone? Well, here’s another.  JAHJAH announced that now with microphone support for the iPod Touch you can essentially turn your iPod into a wi-fi hotspot “cell” phone. Yep. All you need is a hotspot and your iPod Touch is now a phone. And, unlike the iPhone, you don’t need to engage in any long term contract with AT&T Wireless.  All the benefits of the iPhone without the wireless contract.

Now, to make this really work we just need everyone to open up their wi-fi routers across the country. Ready? You go first…. 

I bought an iPhone. This goes out to all the ADD Crackberry heads out there. Gonna do it fast and tell you everything you need to know in 10 definitive statements.  Ready?

1. Email? not so much - keyboard still sucks
2. 3G Network? much better
3. Battery life? ‘meh
4. Web browsing? very nice. Never be uninformed again
5. GPS? the bomb! Read prior posts for Oliver Stone-like conspiracy theories
6. iPhone Apps? this is THE reason to get the phone. Would never go back until RIM gets stuff like this.
7. Phone? oh ya, that’s nice too. 3 way calling that actually makes sense.
8. Music and Video? Oh ya, It does that… so I hear. That’s so 2007.
9. Black or White?  Black
10. 8 or 16? 16 if you get the subsidized pricing.

In one of the worst kept secrets of the modern era, Steve Jobs announced the 3G iPhone slated for launch this Wednesday, June 11th. Entry model starts at $199. It also comes in white. Not sure about 2 way conferencing. 

Bummer: Charity Huff is going to own an iPhone before I do. Picked a bad time to be back in Crested Butte - 4 hours from the closest Apple store. 

As I ranted about a month or so ago, the VOIP iPhone app was finally built. The new iCall app for the iPhone does it. It allows the iPhone to hop on whatever open wifi network it finds - even in mid call. So there you have it, circumvention of the cell tower. One small issue - in order to use your iPhone you probably have the all your can talk plan from AT&T so the need for this won’t be as pressing and the adoption not as high. However, this is the first step towards a life without cell networks. We’ll see…

In case you missed this, the Patent and Trademark office just released the details of a recently filed patent by Apple. It looks like it is for the 3G version of the iPhone. It details, among other things, that the iPhone will support two way video conferencing. Depending on adoption etc… this could get really interesting. Just think of the possibilities:

“Hey doc, is this a rash or am I contagious?”

“Hey hon, is this what you mean by coral?”

“Hey dude, check out the fresh pow pow!”

“Hey boss, I am sick and in bed and can’t come into work today…” erm. Forget that part.

Anyhow, interesting stuff. 

P.S. I still don’t have an iPhone. Not sure if I’ll pull the trigger right away with the 3G.

I am all about utility.  Life gets chaotic if you don’t keep the clutter and noise under control.  I wanna have fun while I’m moving through my day, but when it comes right down to it I want to get things done.  With that in mind, I’ve become pretty selective in the widgets and utilities I use online.  They need to help me stay connected, bring me the news and information I’m seeking, or replace a task that I would otherwise be focused on finishing.  I don’t think that’s asking too much.  Do you?

The widget does have to help with all and every task.  In fact, the smallest gestures make the biggest impact.  Last night I logged into Facebook. I’d received a new friend invite from a colleague I worked with in the Bay Area.  And, there on my profile page were reminders of two friends celebrating birthdays this week – Mike and Teresa.  What a wonderful thing!  Facebook is meeting my first criteria for a useful utility- helping me stay connected. 

I sent Mike a birthday note this morning and stopped by Teresa’s office to wish her a Happy Birthday. Without the FB reminder, I would have missed that chance.  I reminded a girlfriend over lunch of the two birthdays and she quickly scrambled to load them on her calendar.  Not necessary! Find the right tool that helps you stay connected and let the tool do some of the heavy lifting for you. 

Its all about utility; life’s too chaotic not to have a little help.

I can almost hear the Mac whore giggling with delight as I write this. I’ve switched to the Mac. It was time to get a new laptop, and I just couldn’t bear choosing between the aging Windows XP and the feable Windows Vista as an operating platform.

So I bought a MacBook Pro.

Overall, I love it. It has everything I wanted  in an operating system. But it isn’t the flawless experience many of the Mac faithful would lead you to believe.

My first problem set in when I tried to connect to my Linksys home network. I couldn’t. After poking around online, I found out I had to install several updates to the OS that came installed on the MacBook. Then I had to update the firmware on my Linksys, something that definitely isn’t for the tech timid. Even then, I couldn’t get on my home network from my porch, where I can watch blue herons swoop in on fish in Hidden Cove. All of my other computers, Mac and PC alike, can hook up on the porch. I tried totally different, open source firmware on the router that allows you to boost its power. That made it a little better, but it’s still pretty iffy. So I’m resigned to using my Verizon broadband wireless device until I can get to the genius bar to find out if my laptop is a 98-pound wireless weakling or if there’s some problem with its internal antenna.

Problem two arose when I went to pull my Outlook files into Entourage. Granted, this is more a Microsoft problem than an Apple issue, but it’s one of the main reasons I’d waited so long to go Mac. I live and die by Outlook. And I’d been told the new version of Entourage is much better. It is. And it isn’t.

Converting my .pst files to something Entourage was willing to handle took more surfing and tech tweaking. I finally found an application that did the conversion. It took several hours, but now I’m there.

And finally, I got a dose of platform challenges when a Powerpoint that I did on my PC pretty much blew up when I opened it with my Mac.

In the end, I’m still happy with my MacBook. I’m hoping the geniuses at the Apple Store will be able to fix my wireless range issue. But I also wanted to inject a little sobriety into my partners’ crapulous posts on the Way of the Mac.

Just read a good article in the NYTimes on Apple’s encroachment into RIM’s hardcore business user domain. Mostly a synopsis of what has happened with a few salient data points on market share. What I find most interesting are the rumored retaliation devices from RIM as well as the “um, in other news…” spin on Google’s whole Android movement.

Oh ya, I still don’t own an iPhone.

Confirming something that everyone already knew or suspected: the 3G iPhone will have GPS and will be slightly thicker. Also, it sounds people are betting on a 3G release date of June 9th. Too bad my Verizon plan doesn’t expire until October. Hmmmm, must explore the penalties…..

I’m deeply worried about the economic woes the newspaper industry is facing. I’m even more worried about what will become of journalism amid this turbulence. As news moves online and the economic model turns upside down, will the capital J survive?

In the April issue of Wired magazine, a profile of the all-out war between geek blogs Engadget and Gizmodo shows there might be hope. (I’d link to it but couldn’t find it anywhere on Wired’s website. Hmm. That might be another post. On the magazine industry’s online woes …).

The article details the cutthroat battle between the two blogs to win audience and nab the best and fastest gadget scoops. As I was reading it, I quickly recognized several of the heated newspaper battles I’ve been involved in. The Birmingham Post-Herald (now defunct) vs. the Birmingham News. The Albuquerque Tribune (now defunct) vs. the Albuquerque Journal. And the Rocky Mountain News vs. the Denver Post (now in a joint operating agreement). The adrenaline and competition in those battles bred some great journalism. There also was excess and questionable practices. But I think in the end, the readers won for having two or more competitors vying for their attention

The Wired article details the race to dominate gadget punditry in all its excess and glory. And it made me believe that maybe the capital J will survive. The heated journalistic competition that once drove the great newspaper battles is just moving online with different rules and economic models. Does it make sense for bloggers to get paid based on the traffic the generate? Don’t know. But I’m sure we’ll find out as that model and others evolve. And I love the idea of two or more snarling online competitors dogging local public officials the way Gizmodo and Engadget’s bloggers dog the tech industry.

Perhaps the thing that gave me the most hope in the Wired article was this quote from Gizmodo’s Brian Lam

“Bloggers and trade journalists, so desperate for a seat at the table with big mainstream publications, have it completely backward: You don’t get more access by selling out for press credentials first chance you get, kowtowing to corporations and trade shows and playing nice; you earn your respect by fact-finding, reporting, having untouchable integrity, provocative coverage, and gaining readers through your reputation for those things.”

Amen. Bring it on …