Held hostage by Apple

My five-year-old Apple PowerBook G4 has been an absolutely wonderful computer throughout my college career (I got it the second week of my freshman year!), but the poor thing is running out of hard drive space, in desperate need of a memory upgrade, and has a shot battery. It's certainly time for an upgrade, but I'm aggravated by Apple's intentional omittance of several features that I would want in my next computer.

'High-Definition' is the biggest buzz word in technology as of late. Blu-Ray players which cost $999 last year are now selling for $200 at Best Buy and Wal-Mart, and it's quite impossible to buy anything but a new HDTV. To complement the high-def home entertainment experience, computer manufacturers are including Blu-Ray drives and HDMI-out ports (HD audio and video in one simple cable) into their desktops and notebooks. This is absolutely awesome! It eliminates the need for an expensive home theater system; all you have to do is connect your notebook to your flat-screen TV with HDMI, and you're set!

But Apple, usually at the forefront of creative innovation, has incorporated neither Blu-Ray nor HDMI into any of its computers. Their excuse is that 'the licensing cost for Blu-Ray is too high,' even though Sony, Dell, HP and others have had the technology for over a year now. What Apple won't say is that the exclusion is really meant to hold the consumer hostage.

Instead of using Blu-Ray, Apple wants you to rent movies in High Definition over its own iTunes online store and connect it to an Apple monitor (which uses its own type of connection), or buy a separate AppleTV for $299 (which would then connect to your TV with HDMI). Both of these options are inferior to me, as iTunes movie selection is limited and you can't [currently] buy HD movies (you can only rent them). Apple also thinks that optical media such as CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs are passé, and downloads are the way of the future. While I agree to an extent (I can't remember the last time I bought an actual CD), they're not giving the consumer any choice. And as far as movies go, there's currently much more selection out there beyond iTunes (hello, Netflix?!).

I love Mac software (Keynote, Pages, iMovie, Garageband, etc.) too much to abandon Apple and am willing to pay more for their products because of higher build quality. But, it's frustrating to feel like I'm held hostage to everything being Apple-branded.

Blackberry Storm mini review

Today I was curious to check out the new Blackberry Storm at the Verizon store, and I must say I was quite fond of it. My initial impressions match most opinions in the reviews I've read. The screen is bright and beautiful, and the innovative clicking touchscreen mechanism they've put in place feels really solid. Web browsing seemed super fast on Verizon's network. I was surprised that typing was much easier in the vertical position than in landscape, full QWERTY mode (the letters are just too narrow). Ironically, I find this to be the opposite on the iPhone.

In my opinion, the Storm's biggest drawback is that its operating system is not quite as smooth as the iPhone's. For example, scrolling doesn't quite have the finesse that Apple is able to achieve so well. But it's only a minor detail, and the slight sluggishness could easily be fixed in a future software update.

All in all, I think the Storm is a nifty little device. Launching at just $199, it's priced very competitively to give the iPhone a run for its money.

P.S. I love the song in this Storm commercial: "I Believe" by Simian Mobile Disco.

Flip Mino

Last semester, Meg Liffick of the Indianapolis Museum of Art (and now, the Guggenheim!) spoke to our Audience Development class about how to implement new media technologies into nonprofit arts organizations. One of her 'favorite things' (Oprah reference, anybody?) was the Flip Video camera, a mobile phone-sized device that recorded web-quality video that easily uploads to YouTube with a USB connection. But ease-of-use, portability and convenience all came at the expense of video quality. In fact, most digital point-and-shoot cameras have better results in their video modes.

However, Flip Video recently the Flip 'Mino,' the world's smallest and most affordable HIGH DEFINITION camcorder. My favorite technology columnist, David Pogue of the New York Times, gives it a very favorable review. He praises its video quality, color replication, and low-light capturing abilities. What a neat little device! I'm definitely going to purchase one to use at Aspen next year!

www.theflip.com

Smartphones

I've been encouraging my graduate arts administration friends to consider investing in smartphones as we all finish up school and take brave steps into the 'real world.' Whether it's an iPhone, Palm, Blackberry, or Windows Mobile device, the convenience of the internet in your pocket is something I've found to be infinitely useful.

Buying an iPhone in September of last year was definitely the scariest purchase of my life; I'd never spent that kind of money on myself before. I deliberated for a long time whether or not to splurge, felt incredibly guilty for spending $299 after swiping my card, but soon discovered what an incredible investment it was. Having my calendar, email, facebook, news, weather, Wikipedia, Google Maps and even YouTube on my iPhone keeps everything I want to access throughout the day right at my fingertips. If I'm lost on the road, need to look something up right before an exam, or confirm a group meeting time, I don't have to worry at all.

Alas, smartphones do become addictions, and I'm the first to admit that I feel completely lost without my phone on me (I was freaking out at a basketball game once because I left it at home). The term 'Crackberry' is definitely applicable. But is it REALLY such a bad thing? Think of the costs (both financial and physical) people waste on cigarettes. Smokers should quit that awful habit and buy a smartphone as a reward for their success. They'd find a new addiction that's at least useful, and probably even end up saving money.

We've all worked so hard the past year and half in our graduate program. Reward yourself for a great accomplishment with an investment that will help keep you organized and connected as you start your career. Smartphones for all!