A Post Of Geekery
What is more geeked out these days than the iPhone? I believe I posted on it a while back, which info is probably over taken by events by now. But I have watched the idiots lining up and the other idiots paying grossly inflated eBay prices for them. Feh. That's fine if that's important to them. But I'm surprisingly happy with the Moto RAZR phone. So why does the iPhone matter despite my dismissiveness? The features are fine. The idea of a full-blown web browser on a cell phone makes me quite happy as it would even if the phone were not from Apple. The widescreen video orientation that automatically flips when one turns the phone is just exactly right. But where the iPhone really matters is the user interface. Here is a nice shard of Apple propaganda about the keyboard on the iPhone. Check it out. I don't know if this will become the paradigm for virtual keyboard but it's a damn sight better than anything currently offered. And not perfect (periods to end sentences are on the numeric virtual keyboard which entails switching for example).
Apple's triumph is, once again, the user interface. This phone is designed to put the user in charge of his device. It is, I think, a strange combination of evolutionary and revolutionary. Look for a future iteration of the iPhone to be a device that will inspire the sort of love we Mac types have for our computers and millions of people have for their iPods. But as cool as it is, it's not there yet.
And in other geek news - I finally set up the Ion USB turntable. Last night I digitized "Rocky Top Bar-B-Que" from Mike Cross's "Rock 'n' Rye" album which is not available on CD. Yes! I was a bit of a freak about keeping my vinyl in good condition and I'm most happy to report that I had to do no clean up of pops and clicks. Right now, the setup is on my kitchen table but I think the dark, cold months of winter will see me embark on a vast digitizing of the vinyl I have that's either obscure enough (soundtrack to the movie "Zachariah" anyone?) or that I don't want to have to track down on CD (Bonzo Dog Band). I love technology that works.
UPDATE: I'll be damned. "Zachariah" is available on Netflix. Slap that one onto the queue....