Cringley on Mobile

I, Cringely . The Pulpit . Collateral Damage | PBS

Interesting to see Cringley take an interest in mobile. As expected his view is a little biased by his knowledge of Apple, the evolution of personal computers and the iPod history.

Cannot say I agree with all of it but an interesting read nonetheless. 

Retro Controller Find

Wapedia - Wiki: PlayStation Analog Joystick

I managed to find one of these at a local Goodwill over the weekend. This thing is huge and very rare. Worked first go with my PS3 too. 

Buyer's Guide (time-ordered) - Mac Guides

Buyer's Guide (time-ordered) - Mac Guides

Cannot believe I didn't know about this feature on the MacRumors site. Thinking of buying something from Apple? Check this out first to see if they are about to obsolete your new shiny purchase.

When is a PS3 not a PS3

Planning on getting a PS3 for the holidays? Make sure you do you homework as Sony is constantly changing the features of the various bundles and models. FInd out your core requirement:

SACD Support:

Only the old 20GB, 60GB and the Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle play  SACD.

Capacity:

Just ignore this. You can upgrade nay of them to a larger drive and probably will need to.

PS2 Support:

Basically, there are currently 2 versions of the PS3 on the market now. 

If you want PS2 backward compatible with PS2 games you need the MGS4 bundle or an old20 or 40GB  PS3. Both backward compatible with PS1 games.

USB Ports:

One version (also the one that supports PS2 games) has 4 USB ports as well as memory card slots, while the new version has only 2 USB ports and NO memory card slots. 

Processor:

The new PS3s do not have the older and larger 90nm Cell processor, they have the smaller and possibly more reliable 65nm Cell processor. Power consumption on this unit is lower as well, dropping from 200 Watts to 135 watts. The end result is a machine that supposedly runs cooler and quieter. Important for movie watching or if you plan to keep it in a cabinet.

iPhone in the Smart Home

Automated Home - The Masked Installer - the iPhone in the Smart Home

Article covering what many of us already know. The iPhone has a lot of potential for home automation simply because it is a cheap, connected, portable and programmable touch screen.

Sleeping Beauty hints at the living room experience of the future

Finally got round to checking out the Disney Platinum release of Sleeping Beauty on Bluray and was simply blown away. Picture and sound are incredible. The bonus "Dragon Encounter" is my new home theater audio demo with its incredible 7.1 atmospheric audio. The remastered Grand Canyon short looks beautiful and the surround mix of Grofe's suite is wonderful.

The real revelation here is the existing and planned features that hint at the future potential of BD Live. The living menus that change with the weather, seasons and time of day are cute but the concept is way more interesting.

I see many reviews which dismiss bonus features and BD Live functionality. Their premise is based on the existing use case of DVD. Most people only watch the main movie, hardly ever touch the extras. I am in the camp myself for most movies. The problem with this thought process is that it marginalizes your bluray player as simply a hidef dvd player. It is like comparing your pocket calculator and your PC.

The hidden potential of your bluray player is that it is a connected device. not just that but a 2-way connection. This means that any other connected device has the potential to interact with your player and even more importantly, the content.

Disney hints at this in their BD Live options. They talk about you being able to control your movie experience from another device. From something as simple as controlling the player and menus from your iPhone or Laptop to more interesting possibilities such as interacting with the content, moving it between devices, having one device know what you are doing on another device and responding. The basic value proposition of Java from day one.

The other argument against interactive TV has been that TV is a lean back experience, not a lean forward. You may have several viewers and interactive experiences are historically best suited to single viewer applications. You need to come at interaction from a different angle. How many of us use our laptops while watching TV for example? TV will likely always be a lean back shared experience but connected devices allow interaction at a different level. They also allow personalisation like never before.

The reality is the movie is only a small part of the experience in the future. Everyone is fighting to own your entertainment experience. Take the disc out the equation with digital content (forget downloading, it will all be online and live) and what you are left with is ONLY the surrounding experience.

Apple have already skipped the physical media step altogether. Apple TV is just an experiment for them. To see what they will do with your living room experience you really need to look at the iPhone. What Apple did was to present us their idea of a complete mobile experience. It is not a phone with additional features. It is a personal mobile device and as such has a feature list that includes making phone calls, listening and viewing media, information access, a complete experience. The iPod was the experiment for this experience. The Apple TV is the same for the living room. We should expect that Apple will try to reinvent that experience and present us a new vision that encompasses not just viewing of content but gaming, music, home automation, information access, etc. Don't be confused by the home theater PC. It may be able to be configured and programmed to give a similar effect but it will not present a truly connected experience and it will not be grandmother proof. That is what Apple excels at. And it will take them some time to do right. Not next year, but it is coming.

Given Walt Disney's own fascination with technology and the world of tomorrow it seems only fitting.

Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy

Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy - FREE MP3 Stream - Listen on IMEEM Music

It is finally here, or at least one track, and it doesn't sound so great. Only Axl. Maybe I am just getting old.

At least the album looks like it will finally get released before China itself actually goes democratic and Dr Pepper will have to deliver on its promise of free drinks for all.

Mobile Firefox Alpha (Fennec)

Hands on: Fennec alpha 1 puts Firefox on your handheld

Very thorough review and hard to add anything more. I tried the Mac desktop version and was impressed. Not just a shrunken Firefox but a real attempt at a mobile browser.

They had fun with the descriptions for the various settings:

Load Images: Makes websites pretty
Enable Javascript: Makes websites flashy
Enable Plugins: Makes websites annoying
Save cookies: Delicious delicacies
Clear private data: Saves your hide

On The Record

This weekend I found myself browsing through the vinyl section of a couple of music stores and questioning myself on the source of this renewed interest in records.

I am not a classic audiophile by any stretch and, unlike many involved in the vinyl resurgence, it has nothing to do with audio quality for me. If you need proof, the fact that my deck is a refurbished Technics and cost $50 should be a good indicator.

* Nostalgia

This is definitely a piece of it. My definitive music experiences and influences were all pre-cd and the ability to afford to experiment with my musical tastes as a teenager meant I spent hours in used record stores.

* The Hunt

Just like scouring used book stores and thrift shops for interesting, old or unusual books is a wholly different and more pleasurable experience than browsing amazon or visiting Barnes & Noble, so it is for second hand vinyl. Interestingly used CD hunting is just not as rewarding for me. I think digital downloads have made CD shopping much less fulfilling.

* The Experience

I wouldn't say it is better but it is different. Choosing a record, the ritual of opening, the sleeve and liner notes, cleaning and playing it is still almost religious. Don't get me wrong. I have a full media server that is convenient and lets me play music anywhere I want whenever I want in crystal clear digital quality gorgeousness. I seem to have gravitated to the digital audio for my background listening and the analogue vinyl for when I want to sit down and just listen.

* The Economy

Maybe it is unconnected but the resurgence in my interest in vinyl seems to coincide with a resurgence in my frugality. iTunes is great for listening before you buy but nothing beats the bang for the buck of buying a whole stack of old vinyl for the price of a couple of lattes and taking it home to see if you found any pearls. Sure, amazon can recommend what you will like but that just takes all the fun out of it.

* Best of Both

This is where things get interesting. I have bought a couple of brand new albums on vinyl that have come with either a code for the MP3 download or in one case the CD too! All for the price of the CD. he same concept as the digital copies they give away with Blu-Ray. Finally major corporations recognizing that you don't want to buy the same thing several times and that just because you like vinyl it doesn't mean you don't want it on your iPod too.

So is vinyl truly better sounding? Well not on my budget, but it is way more fun.