Well, Apple announced their brand new iPhone yesterday. Since I wrote an entry about it on 6th August 2006, when I thought it might be about to come out, I decided I'd better do a mini follow-up: Not to jump on the bandwagon, rather, to redirect those who've searched for 'iPhone' and landed here.
So, without further ado…
My personal opinions
Before it became reality, my favourite things about the iPhone were all the myths & rumours about what it would or could be like. Now that the iPhone exists it's funny to see how wrong some people were. The best, I think, is that one of Rex's predictions for 2007 is wrong already: "And the iPhone? Nope, never. Why? Cuz the iPhone is like God — if it really existed, you wouldn't care that much." Heh.
I hope sites like the blog dedicated to pictorial guesses of what the iPhone might be like, continue to exist. For more iPhone myths, see Tao of Mac: iPhone speculation since 2004.
My favourite things on the real Apple iPhone
- The amazingness of web browsing: the page changes orientation automatically, you can zoom in, scroll with your finger… Watch the official video.
- It just looks so cool! The interface looks clean, clear, simple, elegant… All the things you expect from Apple.
- Did I mention how utterly, uberly pretty it is?!
Some notes
Please correct me if I'm wrong. Update: Thanks, Ian, for corrections!
- Not available yet. Due June, US; October-ish, UK.
- Only available on Cingular network.
- Price & memory: $499 for 4GB / $599 for 8GB
- Battery life: 5 hours of talk or video and 16 hours of audio
- No removable battery, no removable memory.
Better, more informed articles about the iPhone
Hope that was helpful! Do let me know either way.
Posted on 10 January '07 by Kathleen Bright, under Apple, Technology. 3 Comments.
I wasn't going to post about Apple's announcements today because everyone else is doing that (see The Register: Apple goes iPod mad) and I didn't think I had any particular opinions about it.
Which is to say, I thought, "I'm disappointed that we've yet to see Teh All New Utterly Uber Amazing iPod that geeks have been fantasising about since, well, since what seems like forever, but, meh".
However, I went to have a look at the online Apple store and recoiled in horror.
They messed with the Nano. The sacred Nano. The beautiful, beautiful Nano. Oh, Apple, why must you break my heart, mercilessly toying with me as cats do with mice? Why? Why?!
iPod Nano
I don't like the finish, taken from the iPod Mini, especially not the edges – where the horrid flat top & bottom meet the sides. Bleurgh. Sorry, I'm a (demi-)geek; I overreact to tech.
(Over-)dramatic sigh
PS: iPod Shuffle now pretty cool, although really not quite cool enough…
Posted on 12 September '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Apple. 4 Comments.
No, it's not a piece of shareware software, although I love TextMate (amazing text editor), Transmit (FTP program) & NewsFire (RSS reader). (I highly recommend all of these – they are well worth paying for the full programs).
No, it's not even an accessory, per se, although I love my lap protector (essential if you plan to use your new Mac laptop on your lap).
It's something that sounds & looks rather dull – RAM, that is, extra memory. It's a bit techy (you have to unscrew things), it's not sexy (it's not even white) and it's expensive (even more so if you buy it from Apple (here's a tip, don't – I recommend the PNY brand)), but you will not regret it. If you don't want to fiddle with the innards of your Mac, get a geekier friend to do it, like I did.
If you use Office, PhotoShop or Dreamweaver on your MacBook, you will certainly notice the difference immediately. I mainly use Firefox, TextMate & NewsFire and it's made such a difference, which is why I'm eulogising about it here.
This advice is specific to MacBooks, rather than MacBook Pros, although I recommend an upgrade for users of the latter too. (My business partner & another colleague of mine both upgraded their MacBook Pros and are loving it too).
|
|
We all got our memory from eBay and saved £300; I recommend you do too. (2 GB of RAM cost us just over £100 from eBay, but is priced at over £400 at Apple). The MacBook ships with 512 MB of memory; I upgraded to the maximum you can, i.e. 2 GB, so it really is four times faster. MacBook Pros ship with 1G, so you can 'only' double their memory.
Update: Glenn Wolsey has some insights on the best setups for professional bloggers in Which Mac for Me? Blogger
|
Posted on 21 August '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Apple. 4 Comments.
In homage to the World Wide Developers' Conference, which I mentioned in my WWDC post, I've written an article about my experiences converting from PC to Mac: Sticking to the same thing (Windows) & not trying alternatives (Macs). In it, I highly recommend Gizmodo's coverage of the WWDC.
Posted on 9 August '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Apple. No Comments.
10 Jan 2007: See Best iPhone news and reviews or, New iPhone debunks myths for my article about the real iPhone, with my recommendations for where to get more news.
I've been awaiting the release of new Apple products with increasing interest. (I've pretty much always been an Apple fan, but getting a Macbook has transformed me in to a rabid fangirl).
However, as close an eye as I've had out, I somehow missed hearing anything about the World Wide Developer Conference (7th August 2006) until a few days ago. It's rumoured to be where Apple – atypically – will be releasing lots of new products.
See also:
» Gizmodo commentary on Scoble's blog post
» iPhone spoofs – well designed & executed
» iPhone spoof ad – very good
Posted on 6 August '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Apple. 3 Comments.