#30 - Pre/Post-iPhone 5 and additional reflections

Motto: The Column: Delayed.

This column has been half written for several hours days. I've been experimenting with various methods to make music using only my computer and zero dollars. So far, I've created nothing worthwhile. Check back in several hours when I am done and have still created nothing worthwhile something hilariously terrible!

 I just recently realized how easily it is to manage your installed applications on Google's web-based Play Store. There are two tabs under "My Android Apps", one with a picture of my phone, the other a picture of my tablet. These tabs show what is currently on each device, what has been on each device, and allows you to add or remove whatever apps you want without even touching either. I might do this more.

 I will forever add two extra steps to any plan I do thanks to an episode of South Park I saw a long time ago. Warning: That link takes you to tvtropes.org, be prepared to waste several hours upon entering.

 ----- the column up to this point and the red portion of the Top 5 were written a few days ago, but never finished -----

 I made a song using my computer, a really awesome website, and my video camera. It took me way longer than it should have. It ended up being way worse than even I expected. Rather than put it on the internet to suck for everyone, I think I'll just post the sheet music that I made.

I have in front of me a lease for an apartment in downtown Kansas City. I'm pretty excited about the coming few days. I would be willing to bet my next column won't take place until after I've moved in. So, look forward to that, I guess.

 I have been fighting a summertime cold since I first started this column. Maybe when I post it the cold will instantly leave me. Maybe it's a column-associated illness. Those exist, right?

 A quick list of things Apple added that weren't already in Android phones:
- Apple's A6 chip
- Backside illuminated sensor on the camera
- Quartz crystal (which is apparently a good thing?)
- A couple Siri improvements (I'm not sure what all is actually new, though)
- ???
- Profit!

 A quick list of things Apple added that helps them catch up to Android phones:
- A screen >3.5"
- LTE and HSPA+ (4G)
- Sending an SMS when ignoring a call
- Native panorama support
- A connector that isn't bigger than the other end of the USB cable
- Navigation in maps and 3D modeled aerial imagery
- You can ask your phone about sports scores
- The ability to take pictures as you are taking a video

 All those iPod/iPhone accessories you have now, anything using the old connector, will STILL WORK FOLKS! Don't worry! They have this really neato docking adapter! I'm sure the new smaller connector will be able to hold the weight of your phone sitting on the connector, sitting on your accessories! I'm sure there won't be any issues at all with that or the balancing or the newly added ~2 inches on top of the phone (estimated looking at the adapter).

 When will the hoards of Apple fanatics begin to realize the innovative and amazing company they once fell in love with is playing a game of catch-up with the competitors that have since surpassed them?

 Ugh.

 I'm going to leave this off with pictures of some hot air balloons that Melissa and I stumbled into with the help of my big sister:

Rock Chalk buoyancy due to localized displacement of normal air density!

These pictures always have a LOT of me in them, and a little bit of her. #tallguyproblems


Alissa and Leo in front of the physical realization of the Remax balloon
I thought this was a cool shot.

There were ~30 balloons I believe...
Top 5: Predictions for the iPhone 5 - And how they turned out.
5. The screen will be (basically) 4 inches diagonally and have a 16:9 aspect ratio. Apple will simultaneously talk about revolutionary and new this is while making cheap jokes about the phone not being a surfboard like 5 inch Android phones. I intentionally stated these two things because they are stupid and contradict each other... and I really want to say I called it. The iPhone 5 will have a 16:9 4 inch display. They didn't say it was revolutionary, but the DID explain why it is such a good thing for 15 minutes. You can see more content at once!
4. The back of the phone won't be glass anymore. Thus you won't be able to shatter the back of your phone. I nailed it (read: I read the rumors and this one panned out)
3. The iPhone connector that we have all come to know and love (hate) will be no more. The new, smaller, connector will become standard. Apple will spin it off as being more advanced or otherwise better to trick people into thinking there is some reason they chose it over a microUSB port when in actuality they are just trying to keep their customers on Apple Island as much as possible. A microUSB port would be just too much like those other phones. The new "Lightning" connector wasn't talked a whole lot about. They didn't say it was capable of doing anything in particular that was too fancy. It IS bi-directional, though. That's pretty spiffy.
2. 4G. When I say 4G I am referring to Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G. It will be included. Apple will address the battery life concerns with some argument that may or may not actually pan out/be logical. After its release, Apple will get sued by HTC and probably others. I will laugh and laugh. Apple DID include LTE and immediately address the battery life concerns right after. They didn't specify how their battery life would be "even better than the iPhone 4S", so their argument didn't really exist.
1. There will be no near field communication. This prediction I sincerely hope I'm wrong about, as I would love to see NFC become a mainstay, and Apple has the hoards of followers to make that happen... but they will probably exclude it, if for no other reason just to make me really angry. Bingo! Nailed it! Apple has singlehandedly set back the eventual standard for mobile payment (which will, eventually be more standard in and of itself) a year by not including it! None of the other cool tricks for NFC can be incorporated now, either. This is the worst part.

Quote:
"The phone that has changed phones forever"
 - Time Magazine said this of the iPhone... 5 years ago. It hasn't changed much since -

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#258 - Feature: Notetaking Platform Anxiety

Image
Motto: Writing for Me, by Me Melissa is going back to grad school, she's taking her Mac Air & iPad with her & utilizing Microsoft OneNote. While she was setting up her notetaking environment, I started thinking about how I would architect my "idealized system for handling graduate school". Fair warning, this is a bit of an epic. A system for succeeding in higher education is defined in several broad categories: What would I physically bring with me to class? How would I take notes that are relevant immediately and in the future? How do I manage time & tasks? Answering these questions is the purpose of this Column. I'm going to do so both "in general" and given my specific (more interesting to me, but less interesting in general) case. 1. What would I physically bring with me to class? Obviously I would bring with me a bag. I'd probably just keep my current messenger bag for simplicity sake. Anything could work. In all...
Read more

#42 - Life, The Universe, and Everything

Image
Motto: Don't Panic. BSOD My current computer is crashing on a multiple-times-per-day basis now. It's a little over 4 years old and has been needing to be put to rest for a while. Given that I know technology and what-not, I've decided I am going to build my next computer myself. Seems obvious now, I don't know why I didn't think of it before. It's going to be built specifically to suit my needs. This essentially means I'm going to build a computer specifically for video editing. There will be more on this at a later date... I have a couple of Nexus devices I want to get before the computer time ever comes. Having a job and money is so much better than college was it's not even funny. Whoever said "college is the best time in your life" must have not went through an engineering program. Don't get me wrong, college as great... but would I rather be doing that than what I'm doing now? No fricken way. Most negative words seem to st...
Read more

#22 - It's my party and I'll cry to get attention.

Image
Motto: Two days ago, I was 23. Then I was 24. I aged one year in a day. Yesterday was my birthday. A few friends of mine helped another friend of mine move from Lawrence to Kansas City. The trip up there was hot and windy and stressful. We lost a pillow out of the back of the truck ( not entirely my fault), but otherwise had no casualties. The rest of this story will be told in bullet-point fashion: We relaxed in the air conditioner. We ate Minsky's pizza. We held the first meeting of my secret society that has been held in probably a year. Nobody knows that but me. We threw marshmallows into each other's mouths. We eventually built a slingshot and started using it instead of throwing them. We walked around a really nice apartment building. We were denied access to the pool or the movie theater room on account of them being previously engaged. We got lost (mildly lost) driving around looking for a convenience store.  We saw what is apparently "the bad part o...
Read more