(image via Ars Technica)

]]> http://www.c4chaos.com/2012/01/sopa-resistance-day/feed/ 0 http://www.c4chaos.com/2010/06/my-iphone-4-is-here-and-im-geeking-out/ http://www.c4chaos.com/2010/06/my-iphone-4-is-here-and-im-geeking-out/#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 03:38:44 +0000 c4chaos http://www.c4chaos.com/?p=3706

I just got my iPhone 4 today. The reviews are unanimous: iPhone 4 rocks (but not without some issues)! So I won’t bother reviewing it. I’m just excited with the upgraded camera, video, FaceTime, IOS 4 and its awesome elegant design. It really is a work of art.

The Apple iPad is a winner! My only gripe with it is that it doesn’t have a webcam, camera, USB and SD card slot. Maybe in the second generation… But in general, I agree with this review. It’s, indeed, one brainstem-level pleasure after another.

Aside from the fact that I’m scheduled to have a physical checkup today, I’ll be tweeting my stream of consciousness into Friendfeed all day. Here’s a snapshot of my tweets today so far.

Here’s my Twitter and Friendfeed stream:

http://twitter.com/c4chaos
http://friendfeed.com/c4chaos

If you want to see what the world is tweeting on 08/08/08, see #080808 on Twitter search.

1. Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D – This game makes me glad that I sold my PSP a couple of years ago. It showcases the iPhone as a solid gaming machine. The app is not free (price is $9.99) but you get what you pay for: a burst of adrenaline whenever you crave for a need for speed. The only downside? My wife keeps borrowing my iPhone to play the game.

2. Friendfeed – Friendfeed is my favorite social media app at the moment. You can see my FF activity here. The FF iPhone interface is perfect companion for FF junkies like me.

3. Hahlo 3.1 – I’ve tried different apps for Twitter. Although Twitterific and Twinkle beat Hahlo when it comes to cool interface, I find Hahlo to be more functional and feature-complete, well except for photo snapshot integration.

4. Facebook – This is how mobile social networking apps on the iPhone should be done.

5. Evernote – Evernote is an amazing application that enable its users to use their computers, and especially the cloud, as an extension of their memory. The iPhone application makes it easier to tap your memory into total recall.

6. WordPress – I’m thinking of switching to WordPress soon so I’m testing out this app. Very solid.

7. Typepad – Very functional mobile blogging tool. But I find myself doing more micro-blogging (via Friendfeed and Twitter) than mobile blogging on my main blog.

8. Exposure – This app gives me instant access to my Flickr photos and Flickr contacts. Two billion photos in your pocket = Awesomeness.

9. Last.fm -  The best way to turn your iPhone into a radio. I’ve tried Pandora for iPhone, but I choose to ride with Last.fm because I already have an account – http://www.last.fm/user/c4chaos.

10. Shazam – Don’t want to get caught not knowing what song is playing in the background? This app is for you.

What about you? What’s your top ten iPhone apps so far?

However, depending on how you use it, the iPhone could either be a blessing or a curse. At worst, it’s a black hole sucking away your precious time, distracting you from accomplishing anything. At best, it’s an ideal productivity tool, extending your memory by giving you access to the web (almost) anywhere you go. With the launch of the App Store, the iPhone is now only limited by the imagination of application and content developers.

But there’s another area where the iPhone outshines all other smartphones out there: education.

Case in point: There’s iTunes U for the forever curious.

“iTunes U is a part of the iTunes Store featuring free lectures,
language lessons, audiobooks, and more, that you can enjoy on your
iPod, iPhone, Mac or PC. Explore over 50,000 educational audio and
video files from top universities, museums and public media
organizations from around the world. With iTunes U, there’s no end to
what or where you can learn.”

I’m currently downloading video lectures for later syncing. In the meantime, I’m playing Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D. Try that with your Blackberry! Hah!

So I called AT&T customer support to check what’s wrong. But according to their records I upgraded my phone in November 2006. That’s another BS! I didn’t upgrade my phone! I added a line during that time, but no upgrade! However, for some reason it appears on their record that I had a phone upgrade. So if I wanted to get an iPhone today the best they could do is give me a special price of $399, otherwise I have wait two weeks from now (during which I’ll be eligible for an upgrade). Screw it! I’m not gonna pay an extra $100 just because AT&T screwed up with my record! In short, after waiting in line for more than 3 hours, we left the Apple store empty-handed.

But I didn’t give up that easily. I passed by the AT&T store to verify my account and file a complaint. I talked to an AT&T rep and explained my situation. He checked my account and there was indeed some discrepancy. There’s no receipt for the phone that I *allegedly* upgraded to. Well, duh, thats because I didn’t upgrade to a new phone! So the best he could do was escalate my situation to the powers that be at AT&T technical support so that, hopefully, they could correct my record accordingly. The bad news is that the update could take more than 24 hours. Assuming the correction goes through then I could return to the AT&T store tomorrow and get an iPhone. The worse scenario is that I just have to wait for another two weeks until I become eligible for an upgrade. Swell.

For the record, I do want to take personal responsibility for not checking my upgrade eligibility before going to the Apple store. But still, I haven’t had a new phone for a while now so I was confident that I’m more than qualified for eligibility. My mistake was that I trusted AT&T to have the correct record on my account. I’m charging this to experience.

But anyway, it’s not that I’m dying to get an iPhone and I have to get one right now no matter what. I could always get one later. What pisses me off is that we waited in line for more than 3 hours only to come home empty-handed, just because AT&T screwed up.

So dear AT&T, I just want to let you know that you’ve got one very, very unhappy customer here. Right now I feel like Rev. Jesse Jackson, ready to cut your nuts off! But this too shall pass.

There are about 200 people here in line already at Bellevue Square mall waiting for their iPhone 3G. Good thing we got here early. There are lines at both the Apple store and AT&T but we’re sticking with Apple because of the geeky crowd and the free coffee

My wife promised to buy me an iPhone 3G for my birthday but now she wants to have a white iPhone 3G too. Ah, well.

UPDATE: AT&T, I wanna cut your nuts off!

"Some of the reasons for the popularity of the Long
Tail were as interesting as the idea itself. For one, it flattered its
readers, many of whom were in the tech industry, by suggesting (yet
again) that the Internet was changing everything. What’s more, since
many in the tech elite have a contemptuous view of traditional cultural
gatekeepers like record labels and movie studios, they were predisposed
to appreciate anything that predicted an erosion of those institutions’
cultural power.

"Bloggers had a special role in talking up the theory,
which is no wonder considering how it held out the promise that even
the most obscure among them could win a robust audience. The sad truth
is that the blogosphere is as hit-driven as the rest of the world, with
a tiny percentage of blogs getting a huge chunk of the traffic, and
with many blogs simply going unread." [read more]

Check out the actual debate, here -> http://bit.ly/1S84zP

Speaking of which, this makes me wonder: Will the Petabyte Age end the theory of the Long Tail? Or, will it be another theory waiting to be refuted by someone who has time and expertise to crunch some numbers? We’ll see… Remember Black Swans.

P.S. To answer the question: Is a blockbuster strategy still effective? My answer is, hell yes! Just look at the all time U.S. box office and count how many movies that starred Will Smith

Thanks BillG!