Ranting Kenya

I’ve read a number of posts on various blogs making light of the actual people that are currently lined up for the iPhone at the NYC Apple store. By “making light of” I mean suggesting that these people are not the “ideal” iPhone customers that Apple wanted lining up first. I disagree.No, the first man in line is not like Justin Long in the Mac commercials. He’s not young, he doesn’t dress the same, he doesn’t look particularly creative, he doesn’t have a Pixar shirt on either.

But he is completely different (sound like the old “Think Different” Mac ads). Someone you’d expect to find in that line would be working on a Mac laptop, listening to their iPod, holding a picture of Steve Jobs, maybe even a life size cardboard cutout of him. He’s not doing any of those. He just wants an iPhone.

If this doesn’t signal the end to wireless devices as we know it, I don’t know what does. Repeatedly I’ve heard analysts (maybe even Apple, I can’t remember) say that the iPhone will sell out day one to all the early adopters and Apple fanboys. This guy doesn’t appear to be either. The iPhone clearly has a wider appeal.

What makes the guy sitting first the ideal Apple customer isn’t just that he has money to buy an iPhone, but because he’s different from the people expected to buy it. A new demographic for Apple to sink their teeth into. The Mac computer has picked up steam since the iPod, perhaps it’s about the accelerate further with new people getting exposed to the “Mac” religion for the first time.

Seriously, I didn’t see an iPod on that guy in line. I can hardly believe it.

First, everyone goto the iPhone guided tour and watch the 20 minute video demoing the iPhone.

Now let me state that up until now, I haven’t been super jazzed about the iPhone. I felt it was a superior phone (assuming the keypad and network are good, and the battery lasts long enough, and the interface is as snappy as the video portrays), but I haven’t really gotten excited about it. That’s probably good since it won’t come to Canada for a while yet anyway.

So what’s changed about my opinion of this device? A lot. Here are my thoughts as I watched the video:

1. I hope the screen looks that bright outside.
2. The UI gestures look really really good.
3. Are there only a handful of engineers in America (perhaps worldwide) that can make these “Apple-esque” products? Why is it that the Mac and iPod haven’t really been matched yet?
4. Following my previous point, why did the Motorola Rokr fall so far short of even just the music capability of the iPhone?
5. I hope the phone actually runs the internet that quickly.
6. Now that Apple’s released Safari for Windows, basically as a developer platform for the iPhone, will Safari’s standards compliance spill into more websites? Could the iPhone be the device that finally forces every designer and every company to be standards compliant? Will that carry to Microsoft and Internet Explorer (pretty pretty please)? Or conversely, will Microsoft get caught at a standstill (it’s starting to look that way)?
7. The iPhone touchscreen looks real nice. What’s Microsoft’s counter again (no PUN intended)? It’s a whole table? It’s functionality is based on a huge device recognition system that’s doesn’t exist yet? It costs ten thousand dollars?
   
8. Windows Mobile Smartphone 5 and 6 look pretty sad now. Forget the touchscreen functionality, OS X blows it out of the water.
9. The earphones have a mic built-in. Sweetness (maybe this is the standard, I’m not sure).
10. Looks like the iPhone can stay in my pocket while listening to music and answering calls. Nice! And I don’t have to rely on vibrate or a super loud ringer to realize that someone’s calling me while I’m on the bus.
11. I hope the iPhone camera takes photos that look that good.

Now I’m kinda looking forward to ending my current cell contract. Maybe I’ll catch the second revision of the iPhone. You know, the one that will work with EVDO, in Canada.

On a total sidenote: Why is there no Canadian traffic data available in realtime? Is no company planning on doing this in Canada?

Previously I posted “Safari Now On Windows!” I apologize. That post title should have read “Safari, it’s on windows…”

I think perhaps I thought Apple would make it rock. Yes it is in beta. I know. Still, c’mon.

Basically I’ll use it to test web code, which to be honest is what it’s for obviously. Safari I suppose is a catchier name than “iPhone Web Application Code Testing Tool.”

Finally I can test designs with the Safari rendering engine without need to find a mac. The Windows Safari Beta can be downloaded at http://apple.com/safari. Impressions soon to follow.

I can only beg that this rumour will be proven true.

I, Cringely . The Pulpit . The Great Apple Video Encoder Attack of 2007 | PBS

The Great Apple Video Encoder Attack of 2007: Cupertino plans to add H.264 hardware support to its entire line.

What I like most about this is not that Apple is doing it, but because I believe it will force other computer manufacturers to do the same. I can’t see how Dell (for instance) would not at least give its customers the option.

And imagine what it could do for other devices! That’s where things get really interesting. Imagine a mobile phone able to play video quickly, without significantly impacting the rest of the processes on it. My Motorola Q would actually be able to play a video without all the frame and audio dropouts.
Actually, the more I think about it, how are computer manufacturers not doing this already?