My iPad 3 Event Predictions

Last night sucked.

But, the good news is that Wednesday brings a new day and, perhaps more importantly, a new iPad for the whole world to see and bask in the glory of.

It seems a popular pastime to read rumor blogs and sites on days leading up to the big Apple announcements. I do quite a bit, and I suspect that even Joe I-know-nothing Schmo is even remotely aware of some of the features of the new iPad.

My intention is not to guess feature-by-feature, though I will. To me, the new features seem fairly obvious. While Apple has a history and passion for surprising the tech industry with new innovations (who saw the Smart Cover coming?), I suspect that most of what we will see on Wednesday will not be as shocking as other Apple events. I'd like to take some guesses at how the event will roll out. Then, maybe I'll come back here and judge how I did.

The stage is sure to be set with a giant Apple logo on the screen, as it always has been. They'll be playing a mix of Adele and perhaps some other new, hipster artist over the PA. The room will be dark and there'll be some chairs, just as Steve sat in for the original iPad introduction. There'll be some iPad 3s (or whatever they're going to call them) on a table near the side of the stage for demo purposes. They'll, of course, be covered in black sheets.
The lights will dim and Tim Cook, the new CEO, will come out and greet the crowd. Apple typically begins with news about the company and it has been far enough from their quarterly earnings report that they'll have some updated numbers about the business. Tim will run over how well the iPhone and iPad are doing, emphasizing the recently passed 25 billion app downloads. Apple has sold over 50 million iPads, and I suspect that that'll be a large part of the numbers presentation.
Tim will even speak to how well the Apple TV is doing. I should make this clear, I doubt that we will see an actual Apple television set at this keynote. If there is an update to the product line at all, it will likely be an A5 chips that powers it, 1080p output, and perhaps a few more services integrated in. I suspect that they'll announce a new model Apple TV box (one that connects to your TV via HDMI) but it will be a minimal upgrade. This event is about the iPad, not the Apple TV.
Tim will introduce Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwise Marketing. Tim Cook is a nice guy and definitely a wiz at organizing a company, but Phil is the presenter. Phil is, in my opinion, the only executive that can hold a candle ate Steve's presentation style. Phil will be the one to introduce the new iPad.
Phil will talk a bit about the success of the iPad and present some very high sales numbers that perhaps Tim had eluded to earlier. Don't bet against them talking about how the tablet competition can't keep up. He will absolutely also talk about the popularity of the new iPad Textbooks and present some spun numbers that will actually be very low but will seem high. Phil can spin numbers like few others.
Then, he will begin to talk about the new iPad. He will talk about how great a product the iPad is and how it is changing the way that people interact with content. He will likely show a video about how the iPad is changing lives. Expect the video to be touching to your senses.
"Then, we thought to ourselves, how can we make this magical device even better? We have come up with a ton of new ways, and we will focus on many of them this morning," he might say. What will it be called? My guess is either the iPad 3 or, more likely, the iPad 2S. He will show it and it will look a whole lot like and iPad 2.
"The first revolutionary change...our unbelievable Retina Display. The Retina Display on the iPhone 4, 4S, and iPod touch is just gorgeous. It's something you have to see to really believe. It's the only display that truly lets you read from your phone as if you were reading from a printed page. It is phenomenal. Now, we are bringing that display to the iPad. It doubles every pixel to present things you might never have imagined. It make reading on the iPad the most enjoyable reading experience you've ever had." Apple keynotes are known for their superb use of hyperbole.
Demo of the Retina display a la the iPhone 4 announcement. Hopefully without the "Turn off your wifi" moment.
Next, the dual-core A5X processor. Phil will talk about how fast it is, dual core, with updated graphics. I'd imagine the new graphics will be about 7-9x the graphics performance of the iPad 2. "This thing just screams. And, mixing this with the retina display creates an amazing gaming experience." Also, I expect an update to the iMovie for iPad software.
Demo of the A5X processor, done by game makers like the makers of infinity blade or Electonic Arts. If new iMovie software, a demo would go here as well.
Next, Cameras. The iPad 2 cameras are horrible for everything but FaceTime, so a camera update is entirely needed. I'd expect a camera upgrade to the level of the iPhone 4, but not the 4S. They'll show some gorgeous pictures of what can be done with the iPad cameras.
Along with that, a new app. iPhoto. Scott Forstall will likey come out for this. The photos app for iPad is simply unable to do anything like iPhoto for the Mac can do. Because Apple insists on photos being tied down to apps, the third-party offerings are insufficient. I don't expect this to be a separate purchasable app, this will be an updated version of the 'Photos' app that already resides on your iPad.
Next, Siri. Siri, at least for dictation, makes too much sense to leave it out. Scott will either stay out or Phil will welcome him back out to talk about how much better Siri has gotten and how pleased customers are with it. They'll do a thorough demo of Siri and if I were you, I'd expect several new functions for Siri that will ship on the iPad 2S. Perhaps coming later via a software update to iPhone 4Ss. Sorry iPhone 4 users, I doubt Siri is ever coming to your phone. iPads are used differently that iPhones so this will be an interesting place for innovation on Apple's part.
Next, LTE. Phil will be back. He will talk about the popularity of the 3G iPads and how quickly companies like Verizon are building out their LTE networks. I suspect that the 3G in these models will be like the iPhone 4S and be compatible with both GSM and CDMA. Not sure what to guess about whether or not you will still have to choose Verizon, AT&T or Sprint, like you do on the phone. No contracts though, that's for sure.
Battery life. The iPad 2S will have the same 10 hour battery life. Which, if you think about it, is quite a feat.
Then Phil will talk about price. Price is easy. $499 16GB. $599 32GB. $699 64 GB. Add $129 to each to get the Wifi+3G+LTE versions. Same pricing as before. The iPad 2 will continue to remain available for $399 at 16GB only.
And that'll be it. There could be some sort of surprise attachment or accessory, but for the most part, the event will be pretty standard. Phil will invite everyone to the hands on demo center and a few lucky journalists will go home with loaner models with which to reveal.
Release date? I'm guessing March 16th. If they do a pre-order (unlikely), it will start on the 9th.

I think people are going to feel Steve's absence. The last product announcement was a day before Steve's death and I just suspect that it'll be felt worse here than before.

I think some will come away feeling disappointed with the event, because it won't be as flashy as we expect. The Retina Display is going to be amazing and the device is going to truly scream. The graphics will be astounding and there's surely some exciting new software possibilites coming. All in all though, I wouldn't expect to be blown out of the water.

If all this comes true, would this be a device worth getting? Definitely. Worth updating form our iPad 2? Maybe. One thing is for sure, they're going to sell a lot of them. Millions. And they'll sell them fast.

Would you get one of these iPads?

-B

Scrolling in Mac OS Lion

Apple released the newest version of what they call "the most advanced operating system on the planet" on Wednesday, as expected, at 8:30 in the morning. It is the first operating system (by Apple) to be distributed solely by online digital means at launch and is highly encouraged to be installed without any use of optical discs, USB drives, etc. Supposedly, Apple will sell copies of OS X Lion in the coming months in their retail stores for $69 on a USB stick.

While $69 is still cheaper than your typical install of Windows, it is basically what you pay $29 on the Mac App Store on a USB drive. The USB drive would only need to be about 4GB in size (and you can buy these as low as $8 on Amazon) so a $30ish markup sends the customer one clear message from Apple: download this, don't buy a physical copy. When they released the Mac App Store not long ago they dropped the price of their photo editing software, Aperture, from $200 to $80. The price didn't drop on the copy with physical discs. If you went into an Apple store and bought Aperture you would pay $199. If you wised up, went home, and downloaded it online through the Mac App Store, you could install it on any machine you own as many times as you'd like for no more than $79. Apple is getting rid of optical media(DVDs) in a large way and is more or less pushing their customers into the future...like it or not.

This is all well and good, but if the download and install for Lion went horribly wrong (think MobileMe), Apple would have to answer for this seemingly hasty decision.

But it didn't.

It installed perfectly, without a single hitch, on both of our machines and seems to be running well. The rest of Apple customers seem to be saying the same thing. More than a million people downloaded Lion on day one and everything everyone has said has been more than positive about the download and install process.

I have had limited experience with it thus far as we have been traveling, but I really do like it. And to be able to install it on as many machines as you own for $29 is more than a good deal, it is a steal. To not upgrade to Lion seems absurd, unless $30 is really a huge strain on your wallet. If you through down the >$1000 on the computer to begin with, chances are that you can afford the $30 upgrade. If you're even considering it, and don't have a legitimate reason not to (some of the old PowerPC apps will not run anymore in Lion), it seems very dumb not to do it. You don't have to got to the store to buy a disc, you don't have to have it shipped. You simply pay $30 through your iTunes account and download. Within an hour and a half, you've got the brand new operating system.

Many, many things have changed in Lion. Almost 100% of these changes are easily seen as good, from the user's perspective, right from the start.

One, though, has been getting some backlash.

For years, you've been able to scroll on the Mac using either a scroll wheel on a non-Apple branded mouse, the Apple Magic Mouse, the Apple Magic Trackpad, or the trackpad on your laptop.

I assume that scrolling really evolved from the directional arrows that have sat on the side of our browsers and windows since the beginning. If more content went past what was currently visible on the screen, you clicked on the down arrow to move the page downward. You could also click on the scroll bar and move it toward the bottom.

Scrolling, without having to interact with the side scroll bar, developed from this idea. The most common way on a Mac has been with two-finger swipes on the trackpad. If you want to go down on the page, you swipe with two fingers downward. It makes sense, right? Not anymore.

One of the things Apple is starting to do with Mac OS X Lion is to bring some of the quality designs and decisions they made with iOS back to the Mac. One of the most immediately evident is...scrolling.

On an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, when a user wants to scroll through a web page (and much of what users do on these devices is completely through the browser), they take their finger (on an iOS device it is just one finger) and "push" the content on the screen around. This process is actually exactly opposite of the Mac's directions, but gives the user the sensation that they are physically manipulating the content on the page with their hands. Apple really debuted this concept with the outset of the iPhone with "pinch to zoom" multitouch but didn't speak at all about how scrolling worked on the iPhone. It just made sense.

The decision seems easy. The layer of abstraction is gone when a mouse and keyboard are gone, so why create another layer? The user knows there is more content they wish to view. So, like in the real world, they physically move the content in front of them, out of the way. You never have to explain to the four year old manipulating your iPad how to scroll a page, they just do it. Because it feels natural.

So on Mac OS Lion, Apple decided to reverse the scrolling. They decided to call this new scrolling "natural" because it feels more "natural". You can tell there was some internal conflict at Apple about this because the VERY first thing you see when you start up Lion is a welcome box that explains how scrolling works in Lion. They are very conscious that this is going to be very different and very frustrating at first to seasoned users. And, if you're reading this and thinking that this isn't good at all and is the sole reason not to update, have no fear, this can easily be changed by unchecking one box in System Preferences (another example of why, perhaps, everyone at Apple was not in total agreement).

The idea is simple. If we are going to interact with the content on our computer in the same way we interact with the information in physical form in our lives, the way we interact with it needs to feel more natural.

Which brings me to my plea: don't uncheck that box. Give yourself some time. Allow your brain to relearn how to interact with everything. Because, in general, this too is a good change. We want to feel as if we are directly manipulating content on a screen. And, in order to do that, we need to get rid of the layers of abstraction that have existed because we couldn't think of a better way when we all began.

Here's where I think Apple went wrong though: Why even refer to it as scrolling? When Phil Schiller introduced it, he described it as "pushing the content" but he stilled called it "scrolling". They shouldn't have stuck with that name. "Pushing" is much, much better. Instead of a welcome screen titled "Scrolling in Lion" it should have read "Pushing in Lion". Because really, we aren't scrolling anymore. We are manipulating. And when we need to move from top to bottom, scrolling seems silly, we are pushing. In that sense, it wouldn't appear as if Apple simply reversed the way it used to work, they just came up with a new plan, a new concept, a new paradigm of thinking. Imagine Apple saying, "scrolling is out. We don't need it anymore. Now, we just push. So from now on, we call it 'Pushing'. Welcome to the new "Pushing" in Lion, it is more natural, revolutionary, and...magical." It would have brought the house down.

Give it a shot. Don't uncheck that box. It took me only a couple of hours to get used to it. It was very, very strange at first, but as we move more into the world of touch screens and manipulated content, "pushing" is the future, not scrolling.

Apple has always been a company to make big sweeping decisions and force customers into the future. They put the computer in one box and gave it a mouse and new user interface (but what about our command lines?). They took the floppy out of the iMac (how absurd!). They took the CD out of music (it's a shame that didn't work out). They took the keyboard off a smart phone (that's been totally unpopular and never was copied). They took the keyboard off of the tablet(gosh, if only 28.6 million of those hadn't been sold). They ended scrolling on a screen (if only they had marketed it that way). In every instance, it has been met with much positive approval and has led to a complete paradigm shift of thinking in the computer industry.

Stick with it. It'll get better.

-B

How do I get iOS 5?

I should have never opened my mouth. All day today, I've received text after message after email about wanting me to give people iOS 5 for their iPhone or iPad. Technically, I broke the NDA that Apple developers have to agree to in the first place. If you were one of these people, don't be offended, but I can't get it to you.

First, I'm not technically a developer. I've been using a friend's account. One that he graciously let me log in to. But it costs $99 a year to do it and he, not having produced any apps, finally saw that it didn't seem to be worth the money.

I've considered paying the fee to be a developer, but I no longer live in a situation where I can be the only one making financial decisions, and it doesn't make sense for me to pay for the account at this point in my life.

So, I'd like to fill you in on what it takes to get a beta iOS release onto your phone:

You must be a registered iOS developer. $99 a year.
You must download the ipsw file from Apple's servers.
Then, in Xcode, you must update your phone. This is a clean wipe and you'll want to make sure that you backup all of your contents in iTunes first. You'll be able to re-download apps (and now, music) that you didn't back up and bought from iTunes, but it's safe to back up anyway. You must register with not only the UDID of the device, but also with account's credentials inside of Xcode 4.
If it works anything like iOS4 did in beta, you'll have to reorganize everything. Generally, you'll need an updated iTunes (10.5 for this one) for iTunes even to be able to recognize an iOs5 device connected to it.
Apple generally works off of a two week beta cycle, meaning that in two weeks, you'll have to do this all again.

It's worth noting that this MIGHT change this year as Apple has switched to Delta (meaning, change) updates that update over the air (much like Android). You might not have to do a clean install on your device for the second beta, but we won't know until the release happens.

Thanks to the generosity of a friend of mine, I tried this last year on my 3GS for iOS 4. Let me explain my issues last year:

I had to do a clean wipe every time. That doesn't sound like a huge deal, but iOS4 introduced folders. iTunes didn't (at the time) recognize folders. So, every clean install also required new folder alignments, etc. That can literally be hours of work for them to be well organized. Then, in two weeks, the jig is up and you have to do it again.

Again, this may be cleaner this year,

Every two weeks, when the new beta is released, the old one is not longer functional. A timer is set and you must renew it before time runs out. Fun.
Some apps don't work. Literally, my TomTom app was useless because iOS4 changed the way that the apps read the iPhone location data.

PROOF: Marco Arment (creator of tumblr and Instapaper) tweeted this today:

"Developers: there's a VERY good chance your app needs tweaks to work properly on iOS 5. Not fully backwards compatible. Test like crazy."

Some general apps didn't work. We didn't know it at the time, but Apple was definitely testing some features with the camera app. For the first two betas, the camera didn't work.
There's way more.

All in all, I learned a few lessons: don't update on a device that is "mission critical." Apple says explicitly in their documentation that this is for testing purposes only, and that it should not be used on a phone that someone relies on to get around with. Hence, I put iOS5 on my 3GS last night and spent the day playing with it. It's not bad, but it's slow and iTunes doesn't back up to it well enough yet, iCloud (really, the functioning part of what we'd like to use it with) is not fully up and running yet and so playing with the new features isn't fully ready. If I were you, I would wait. It'll save you money, and think about how good it will feel when you finally get hold of it!

If, though, you still want it, you have a few options:

Become a registered developer ($99)
Buy a name and password from some dude on eBay ($5-$10) and hope he doesn't take your money and run.
Watch all the videos that go up on YouTube by all the people who break their agreements with Apple.
Jailbreak your current phone and get some of the features (given, not as well employed) and try them out that way.
Search for the ipsw file online, download it, try to install it in iTunes (option-click the restore button) and hope for the best.

Sorry I can't be of any more assistance. I've decided against putting it on my iPhone 4 or iPad (even though I've been very tempted).

-B

iOS 5 and iCloud: It's About Time

If you were under a rock today, you missed a few key stories:

Anthony Weiner actually did tweet that picture.
Microsoft added live TV support to the XBox.
Apple announced a ton of stuff.

Mac OS X Lion has been available in beta for quite some time now. They made all of the features official today. If you own a Mac (and you should at least be thinking about it), you should check out the details here. The big news: it'll be available ONLY through the Mac App Store for $29 and can be installed on up to 5 machines. The Home Premium 3-pack of Windows 7 for families sell on Amazon for $124.99 (and yes, it took me at least 10 minutes to figure out which "version" of Windows 7 to choose).

Put bluntly, Apple is taking a big step by doing a few things:

Showing the world that the Mac is a serious competitor to Windows.
Showing the world that it shouldn't cost much to upgrade to the newest Operating System.
Showing the world that it should not be difficult or confusing to update.

Apple = Winner, here. Not only is it better software, it's cheaper. (Apple is cheaper? Holy cow, Call Rev. Camping)

iOS5 was the next big update from Apple. It will release in the Fall, most likely right along with the new iPhone.

In the case of iOS5, they're catching up to a lot of features that Android (and yes, even Blackberry) handsets have had for awhile.

Among them:

Revamped notifications with an easy way to access them anywhere inside of the OS. (Thank the Lord)
iMessage: a direct iDevice to iDevice messaging system (and competitor to the popular Blackberry Messenger).
Deep Twitter integration into the OS. (Given, Android doesn't handle the Twitter integration in the same way that the new iOS will, but the effect will be the somewhat the same for the end user)
A hardware button for triggering the shutter button on the camera app. (I hear there is an inside joke in the Apple world that goes like this: You can tell which apps and processes in the Apple ecosystem that Steve uses and which ones he doesn't. The ones he uses on a daily basis are perfect and complete in every way. The other ones sometimes seem to be convoluted and...missing something. I think it has been abundantly clear from the beginning of the iPhone days that Steve never took a lot of pictures of himself, or he would have found searching for that little digital camera button to be the worst experience in the world.)
Photo editing in the camera and photos app (this should have been shipped with the original iPhone).
And perhaps the biggest one, a true post-PC device. (Android has had the advantage since the T-Mobile G1) Also, see this article to experience what it is like to set up your new phone for the first time (if you've already had an account, etc).

In each and every case, Apple was behind the curve in its software offerings. Though I haven't used the new iOS (I currently have it installed on my iPhone 3GS but no longer have a normal sized SIM card, thus it can't be activated or used...another change in iOS. It used to be possible to use old iPhones as iPod touches, without activating them with a SIM card. Doesn't appear possible anymore, whether tethered to iTunes or not.), these updates seem to have been produced and designed well and will be welcome additions to the new OS. I have a feeling too, that there're reasons that Apple had not incorporated these features into the OS thus far. Therefore, I expect that these features will be all around better experiences than on most Android handsets.

Apple = Probable winner, here.

The BIG news: iCloud.

Many expected iCloud to be another music service, much like Amazon and Google have both released recently. If it works well, it's going to be much, much more than that. John Gruber says to think of it as the new iTunes.

It's a better version of iDisk (the current file sharing platform of MobileMe.) It saves documents without the user even thinking about it. It updates them across devices. It saves contacts, calendars, etc across all devices. It updates them across devices. It saves your music that you've purchased through iTunes. It allows it all to be accessed across all devices. It saves every photo you take or import to every device. It syncs them and makes them available across all devices. If you ripped (or stole, I guess) music and iTunes carries those titles, you can let iTunes match the songs and albums you have. Thus, they will be available for free download from iTunes on any Apple device. This costs $25 a year and appears to be limitless. It requires no uploading of your library to a cloud, it requires no data cap, AND it gives you a higher encoded (better quality) version of the song. This, my friends, is the jackpot.

But I've got a few questions still, since it seems a bit strange to me:

In regards to music, it is essentially doing what it had been doing with Apps for awhile. If you bought a song, you can get it anywhere (even if you delete it) at any time.

This seems great, but it would be even better if it was integrated into the iPod app. This way, you could stream over the internet without having to download to a local device just to play. Though, I'll take this set up any day over the current situation.

When you log into an account with a new device, you can set it up with your Apple ID and password and it will download your backup of your device and sync all of your data, apps, contacts, email. Essentially, you could lose your device, go to the store and buy a new one, log in, and your device would be exactly how you left it the night before when it backed up.

This is great. EXCEPT, my wife and I are trying to use the same account. That way, when I buy an app, she can also download it for free (without having to pay for it). So can we both use the same iCloud account? Would that mean that any picture I take show up on her device too? Does that mean any song I buy will show up directly on her device too? Does that mean that any app she downloads show up on my device? You can turn these features on and off, but I'd like the music I download to go to my iPad. But I don't necessarily want it to go straight to hers. If we split accounts again (not that big of a deal), can she still log out of hers and log in to mine to get the app I just bought? Does the app then transfer to her iCloud account? It isn't clear, and seems unlikely. With a $.99 app it doesn't matter, but with a $50 app it would.

This is a new look at the iTunes ecosystem and how we will all interact with it henceforth. There is surely going to be some confusion, etc. Android had the backing of Google's widely used contacts, calendars and mail, but has not yet been able to fully integrate Google Docs and Picasa in a way as well done as iCloud is about to.

(It is important to realize that Google puts all of their eggs into the cloud idea. NOTHING is stored locally, except for apps and small pieces of data...that if technically could be stored in the cloud alone, Google would choose to. Google's word processor: Google Docs. Google Docs is nice, but when you compare it to the new ecosystem that Apple's Pages will have with iCloud integration, it doesn't even compare. It will be interesting to see how Apple attempts to conquer Google Docs with multi-person/site file editing, the one thing Google Docs has on apps like Pages and Word.)

Apple = Winner, as long as it works.

We shall surely see. I for one think it is a welcome upgrade. None of it is as revolutionary as the iPad, but will make all of us iOS and Mac users much happier in accomplishing day to day tasks.

I can't wait.

-B

What If There Is No New iPhone?

Since the original iPhone released in 2007, Apple has announced a new iPhone every summer at their conference for developers, World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). Steve Jobs usually gives the keynote and then the phones ship a week or two after the conference.

Before that, usually, Apple has an event near the end of March that announces the new iOS (previously, iPhone OS) that the phones and later iPod touches will run on. Last year, Apple held an event in January to announce the iPad and then the iPad released around this time of year. They announced iOS 4 on April 8th last year.

This allows for a few things:

The new iPhone to be released in June with the new iOS installed on it.
Developers can test their apps with the new iOS prior to its release (it usually spends a few months in beta).

This week, Apple announced WWDC 2011. It sold out in something like 10 hours. Each ticket cost $1,599.

They have 5,000 of them. And they sold out in 10 hours. Last year it took 8 days. The year before it took a month. (Anyone here seeing a trend?)

Here's the thing though, most reports are saying that there will be no new iPhone at it.

Their tag line, "Join us for a preview of the future of iOS and Mac OS X."

A preview? Could this mean that there will not be a late March/Early April event highlighting the new iOS? Very possible. In fact, many bloggers and analysts are saying that they are hearing "Yes." They're saying that Apple has skirted around saying that there will be no new hardware at WWDC.

Some have said that maybe these rumors are flying so that Apple can really surprise. I say, no. The new phone (almost undoubtedly) would have to be running the new iOS. In order for that to happen, all those apps on the App Store would need to be tested and approved through the process. In order for that to happen, iOS 5 (the presumed name of the new one) would have to be in beta for a few months. The only way there is going to be a new phone at WWDC this year is if it runs iOS 4. Doubtful? Very.

This raises a question, who might buy a new iPhone this summer and how will they feel about doing so? The latter can be combined with the former to become easier to manage and be broken down into sections or categories:

Verizon iPhone customer: You just bought your iPhone 4. You love it. You waited forever for Verizon to carry it. You don't want it to be "the old model" come June. (Nevermind that if you buy an Android phone today, it is completely feasible and highly possible that it will be the "old model" in a few weeks. You can't predict Android releases, you can't predict how many phones and what features they might all have.)
AT&T iPhone 4 late customer: You own an iPhone 4 on AT&T and have for a few months. The darned Apple store employees didn't tell you that there might be a new phone (as they shouldn't) and you bought it not knowing. If a new phone comes out, you'll feel like the Verizon iPhone customer.
AT&T iPhone 4 early customer: You're on top of this news. You bought your iPhone on release day and have pretty much decided that if AT&T will let you, you'll buy a new phone every year just so you can have the new one at all times (This is me). You will buy a new one if a new one releases, but you'll be a little disappointed if there is no new phone (This is not necessarily me.
AT&T iPhone 3G or 3GS customer: Let's be honest. You saw that the older model phone was cheaper. So, you bought it. Not a bad idea (all iPhones are great), but now you're behind and your phone doesn't have some of the features as your friend's phone. The worst part is, you signed a contract with Satan (AT&T) and now you're stuck (especially if you're not the primary line on your contract) with an extended contract and a phone that is becoming less and less relevant because it was "old" when you bought it. You'd get an iPhone 4 if you could, but your friends said to hold out and wait for the new one. If a new one releases this summer, you'll spend the extra money over the iPhone 4 (presumably to become the cheaper model) and get the iPhone 5. If a new one doesn't release this summer, you're going to be straight up pissed.
Other Cellular customer: You're on T-Mobile or Sprint (Or US Cellular or that other thing that Chandler has that only covers Mississippi) and while your carrier doesn't have the iPhone, you're happy with your phone (most likely some sort of Android phone). If there is a new iPhone this summer, you'll be intrigued to see what it can do, but you probably won't switch. It costs too much money monthly and you'd have to get out of your current contract. If you couldn't stand your current phone, you'd think about it...but as long as you don't hate it, you're wiling to wait it out to see if the iPhone might come to your carrier.

So, what if there is no new iPhone at WWDC this year? If you're one of the first 3, you'll be ok. You might be a little disappointed, but let's be honest...your iPhone isn't anywhere near outdated. If, though, you're ready for a new phone, this might hack you off a bit. If you're from category 5, you'll be ok.

So, having covered that...let's explore one more side of things.

If Apple doesn't release a new phone in June, that means that their one and only phone will be competing against phones coming out now. The iPhone 4 will be more than a year old. In the cell phone market, that seems like ages.

But - if you compare the iPhone 4, feature by feature, to almost every other phone on the market, it still remains EXTREMELY competitive. It, still-after being out for 10 months (remember, this is an eternity), has the highest resolution screen, biggest selection of apps, one of the best cameras, best video chat software (does Android's Skype even have video yet? And by the way, FaceTime is easily the easiest to use software...none of the other apps even come close), one of the best battery lives, and most definitely the best music integration software available.

So, in ten months, the iPhone 4 remains competitive. Extremely. Is it the best phone on the market now? While some of the Android phones beat it out on things like 4G, Voice Control, Bigger displays, and faster processors...the iPhone still serves as a better experience, for most customers. It's not perfect, but it's pretty dang close. I obviously have a somewhat biased opinion, but I think it is still in the top two or three best phones on the market And it is almost a year old.

So, what if there is no new iPhone? For you category 4 folk, it might suck. But for the industry, there is still a way to go to catch up with the iPhone.

I hope there is a new phone. Apple's creations always blow my mind. They change the industry also.

My wallet, on the other hand, hopes they wait a little longer.

Do you want a new phone? Do you want the new iPhone?

-B

djay for iPad

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuQl8T6ZHmE] Are there other djay apps on the iPad? Sure. But, I've used this one on the Mac and it is easily one of the best.

Most importantly, to me:

Seamless AirPlay integration (wirelessly transmit your mix to AppleTV or AirPort Express station)

So...imagine this. The djay can be walking around the house, mixing the music, in realtime, sent straight to the house system wirelessly through AirPlay.

Seems pretty darn cool.

Welp, there goes $19.99 of the coming iTunes gift card money ;-)

-B

September 16th, Customer Service, NC State, and False Advertising.

I know, I know, it's after midnight. It's not September 16th anywmore. But, this was going to happen either way. If you don't like the Apple stuff, keep reading. This post isn't about Apple. I don't usually like to post about my day either, but this is simply necessary. You get a tootsie roll pop if you make it all the way to the end. Think of it as a narrative, you'll enjoy it more.

On September 16th, 1985 Steve Jobs was forced out of his leadership role at Apple Computer Inc.

On September 16th, 1997 Steve Jobs came back to Apple Computer Inc.

He was there for seven years, gone for 12, back for 13. Wired has a good article on it here.

Everyone knows I love Apple. But here is why I love Apple: they care about user experience. They have a great place to get your computer fixed. Their customer support is outstanding and always getting better. Play with their devices, you'll know that they care about user experience. I have come to not be able tolerate paying for something and not getting the experience that was designed. Read on.

Let me tell you about MY September 16th. The day began. My new hard drive for my laptop came in the mail yesterday. I copied everything over and put it in the machine this morning. I didn't lose any screws (there were 27 minuscule ones), and the machine booted up (faster than before I might add) after everything went back together. Huge success. It really feel almost like a new machine. I finalized my installation of the beta version of iOS 4.2 on my iPad. It's awesome.

Today started out well.

I had one class, it went great and then I came home to read some before heading the NC State vs. Cincinnati game here in Raleigh.

Here is how that process works: If you want a parking pass (the stadium is off campus) you have to stand in line at a certain time during the week to get one. They are free, but not unlimited by any means. Allie stood in line for about a half an hour for ours. We had some friends going with us, so they rode in my car.

Now, these parking passes. They're made of cheaper paper type cardboard material. Not quite as study as card stock...but almost. They hang from your mirror (or at least they say that you should hang them). At the bottom of the pass is a perforated section with a coupon for $10 off of Jiffy Lube.

We had done this before. Last game, we tore off the jiffy lube coupon and they directed us into the parking lot. Traffic sucked but it was no big deal. To add, last game we were in line and I saw the guy taking the passes, ripping off the coupons, pocketing them, and then sending the people on their way. Not to be outsmarted, this week I tore off my coupon just like I had before.

So we got to the lot.

And I held up the pass.

And the man asked if we had been in yet, I told him no. He asked where the coupon was. I showed it to him. He told me that THEY have to rip it off. I told him that he could have it. He said I'd need to turn around and leave. I asked him why. He said that they have a policy that they have to rip it off.

Then he said "TURN HIM AROUND!"

I pulled up a little bit to see if I could talk to the other guy about this ridiculousness.

He yelled again, "TURN HIM AROUND!!!!" **I thought we usually referred to inanimate objects as females**

I asked where I was supposed to park.

He shrugged and said, "You need to leave now"

**Let me pause and say that I was trying to hold my temper. I can't stand disrespect. He was beyond rude in his dealing with the situation.**

The parking pass did not say anything ANYWHERE about not ripping off the coupon. I mean, it's a coupon. Why wouldn't you rip it off?

I stopped the car, almost got out and pointed out once more that he could have the coupon and that it shouldn't matter. The fact that I had the coupon meant that I hadn't been there yet.

He told me to leave again.

I complied. But no one in the car was happy.

I went back to try to find parking on the street somewhere. A long way away, we found half a spot and squeezed the Jeep in. Throughout this endeavor, my loving wife was calling the number on the parking pass which was labeled "Parking Problems? Call 919-***-****" She yelled pretty extensively. Evidently they only deal with towing, not parking problems. Cool. Hence, false advertising.

As we were walking toward the stadium, I stopped to ask one of the other attendants if they had a manager or boss. One of the guys laughed and told me they did. I asked if I could speak to them and explained the situation and the frustration. He agreed, if that's going to be a policy, it should explicitly say somewhere that the coupon cannot be torn off. (It's worth noting that later we found out that they had been returning the coupons to the pass holders. So....the guy turned us away even though we had a pass because we...ripped it and he didn't get to?) I asked him if he would say something to leadership because the rule is dumb and needs to be explained if its going to be enforced. We thanked him and walked on. Success.

Followed by failure. Of course this put us in the stadium after kick off. this was especially true for me. I forgot my ticket in the car throughout this entire fiasco. Allie's had already been scanned, so she went in, got her hand stamped for North End Zone student section (they told her that I could get a North End stamp when I got back). I walked the 25 minutes back to the car, got my ticket, and walked the 25 minutes back. I got into the stadium, went to get stamped, and...South End Zone. When we asked why, we got a "sorry, you're out of luck answer, you two will have to sit at different ends." Real cool. My ticket was $25 and it was getting to be well worth it.

Experience, experience. In case you were wondering, NC State Football has no customer service line. No complaints process. No way to prove that their policies are silly or don't work. No compassion for any situation from those working.

I blame it all on the guy who wanted desperately to get my coupon for Jiffy Lube.

We ended up walking around the stadium until the guy patrolling the section our friends were in left. We went up and watched the second half with them.

It was a good game. But not a good experience.

I hope someone involved with this endeavor reads this. It's hard to please everyone at a situation as big as a college football game broadcast on ESPN. But, generally, GOOD policies and genuine servants who just wish to accomplish their job without pissing anyone off help with this project.

I've done a little customer service as an RA and in my role as a Support Member at Warren Willis camp. It's hard work dealing with people who are on edge. I get that.

But I also believe in pleasing the customer. Because if you please them, they're happy, they'll come back, and your business will succeed.

College football will always be successful. So customer service is obviously not a priority. Obviously.

If you ever work in customer service, try to do better than this guy. I hate, no, "strongly dislike" him.

He's probably good to go with oil changes for the foreseeable future though.

September 16th, 1985 sucked for Steve Jobs.

September 16th, 2010 ended up sucking for me too.

-B