2008-07-11 09:50 AM I was to meet a client at the Oxmoor Mall (Louisville, KY) at 10 AM and wait in line together to get the new iPhone 3G. I arrived at the Mall with a Starbucks coffee I had already picked up. My client was already in line and had been waiting for more than an hour. He was in about the middle of the line and since I couldn’t wait there I was about to head towards the end of the line when I received a phone call; it was my brother Toby. Toby said he was at the end of the line (which I couldn’t see because it wrapped around the corner). I said I would be there within a minute. After saying “I’ll CYA later” to my client, I headed towards the end of the line. As I reached the end of the line Toby stepped back behind the two people he was in front of.

The Apple Store had a couple employees walk by asking if we had any questions and passing out water. The guy in front of me and Toby sat down on the fountain and I jokingly said, “Ohhh come on, we just got here, you can’t be tired already”. The people in front of us (10 people up) were sitting down in the chairs at the Starbucks cafe which was dangerously close to the line. And then they proceeded to scoot those chairs along as the line moved.

2008-07-11 10:45 AM A woman approached us asking if we worked at the Mall. It was an odd question since we were standing in line. After saying no she proceeded to explain that she had just purchased something from Sharper Image (who’s going out of business) and they didn’t have anyone to carry it to her car. She offered pay two of us $15 each to help her. I said, “Sorry, no, but I’m sure you can find help from someone who isn’t standing in line”. The guy in front of me said, “I didn’t know what to say to her.” I said, “She obviously used the least amount of effort to find someone to help her since we were standing outside Sharper Image. She can find someone else.”

2008-07-11 10:32 AM

You can see in this photo a Starbucks chair in the line and further up my client in a green shirt and khakis pants.

2008-07-11 11:15 AM Mall security came along and told everyone they had to put their chairs back. Even the guy with a cast. However, they did get him a wheel chair. I finally finished my coffee and Toby had just got back from getting himself one. Occasionally chatting with the people in front of us and the kid in a wheelchair behind us.

2008-07-11 11:53 AM

In 1.5 hours we had only moved to where the chair is from the previous picture.

2008-07-11 12:03 PM In line for the iPhone 3G, they are telling people they have plenty but the wait could be 5 hours because AT&T servers are down. Sad face

After hearing the AT&T server went down I expected more people to get out of line, but they didn’t. Apple employees still walking around answering questions and passing out water.

2008-07-11 12:05 PM I'm in the Oxmoor Mall in Louisville, KY. iPhone 3G, I can wait. Line is still moving. And I have 2.0 on my current iPhone. SuperMonkeyBall

2008-07-11 12:12 PM I've already been in line for 2 hours. My feet hurt a little, which is sad since I used to run the Mini Marathon (13 miles) in under 2 hours

2008-07-11 12:17 PM Twitterrific on the iPhone works very well, while I wait in line for the iPhone 3G. Easy to read and post. I like it a lot. Happy face

2008-07-11 12:20 PM My brother Toby who was in line with me for the first 2 hours has returned to work. No iPhone 3G for him. I have Twitter to keep me warm

My brother left and I was still standing without sit down or a restroom break. Now I’m getting hungry.

2008-07-11 01:12 PM 3 hours now waiting in line for the iPhone 3G. Gary did you block me? You listed me in that tweet. Thinking about sitting down

Other than my feet hurting I was still standing without a sit down or restroom break.

2008-07-11 02:04 PM 4 hours and waiting for the iPhone 3G. I'm 50 feet from the Apple Store entrance. I'm going to be quite hungry after I get it.

I’ve already sat down on the floor letting my feet relax. A lady who was sitting up against a wall was asked not to.

2008-07-11 03:02 PM 5 hours now waiting for the iPhone 3G. 20 feet from the Apple Store entrance. Could be done by 4 or dinner time which ever comes first.

2008-07-11 03:05 PM


2008-07-11 03:24 PM My client who waited more than 6.5 hours just left, they could not activate his new iPhone 3G. He has a ticket to come back. Ouch

His problem was he was on a business account and the transfer did not go through as expected.

2008-07-11 03:27 PM I'm standing in the Apple Store foyer, next to the security guard. They can only let so many people in at one time. Need food.

I laughed out loud when I realized there was a line inside the store.

2008-07-11 03:30 PM

I was just let into the store.

2008-07-11 03:48 PM Almost 6 hours of waiting for the iPhone 3G so far and my current iPhone battery is almost dead. I'm close to the middle of the store.

As I passed the AppleTV display I tuned it to one of my Flickr Sets.

2008-07-11 04:08 PM Finished the purchase of my iPhone, now off to set it up with another Apple employee. As I was switching employees my client had returned to the store to see if they could get him setup now. I told him I would check up on him before I left. After getting setup I went back to check on my client, he was not happy, he wasn’t going to get his iphone 3G today. Not only did he also wait in line 6 hours to get it but he’s 72. As we turned to leave the store I passed my brother Toby who had left 4 hours ago, he was buying two iPhones. He talked his way into the store because I was the guy he was standing with in line and the Apple employees remembered him.

2008-07-11 04:35 PM I just walked out of the Apple Store with my new White iPhone 3G. Time for something to eat.

After 6 hours of standing without a restroom break or food, all of the sudden a restroom break was the only thing I could think about. Follow that up with a soda and some pretzels and I was ready to head home. Several time while carrying my new iphone in a bag I could feel it vibrate, missed calls. Toby said that after I bought my iPhone and left the store Apple bought snacks for people still in line.

As I was walking towards my car I passed the same guy who was in front of me in line all day. He said he was having a problem getting his phone activated and I said “Let me guess, business line” he said yes.

After getting home I rewarded my youngest daughter with my old iPhone, she was so excited it actually surprised me.

I’m not going to go into depth about MobileMe features because you can find 100’s of those reports elsewhere.

I want to point out that MobileMe is a rebranding and update of DotMac, which was a rebranding and update of iTools.

When Steve Jobs first announced the switch from iTools to DotMac he made referrence to the fact that Miscrosoft was even sure what their own DotNet service was for. While these two services weren’t anything alike that didn’t matter, DotMac was touted as Apple’s way of knowing how to implement a service Microsoft had started. So Apple used Microsofts own marketing to it’s benifit. DotMac was not competition for DotNet, it just adopted the naming convention.

When Phil Schiller was finished touting all of the features of MobileMe over DotMac he refered to it as “Exchange for the rest of us”. Yes, Exchange would be another Microsoft technolgy. Still not a direct competitor but certainly much closer than before. MobileMe and Exchange do many of the same things.

This would be the second time Apple used a Mirosoft technolgy to promote it’s own. Clever Apple, you can’t fool us, we know you don’t invent everything, just the really good stuff.

Tags: DotMac, MobileMe

If you’re anything like me, then you are very excited about Monday. If you don’t know what Monday is then you’re not like me. Monday at 1:00 PM (EDT) Santa Steve Jobs gives goodies to all the girls and boys, you don’t even have to be good.

I’ve read the rumors, I’ve watched DotMac go down, I’ve heard AT&T coverage plans and there is a lot to be excited about on Monday. Steve will give a keynote presentation and talk about all the things going on with iPhone, Macs and DotMac. This is the first time I’m more excited about announcements that aren’t related to the Mac.

Come Monday at 1:00 PM (EDT), I’ll be ready with 52oz of tea and a bag of chips. Interuptions during keynote time are inexcusable.

Tags: Apple, Steve Jobs, keynote

As an adult the only thing for me that comes close to the anticipation of Christmas and then Christmas morning is the MacWorld keynote hosted my Steve Jobs.

I literally feel excited, I can’t wait for it to start, I prepare with food and drink so I won’t have to get up.

Now I read the updates from about 4 sites at one time, previously I watched it Live when they did that.

I’ve never been to one but hopefully I won’t have to wait much longer.

It’s almost here, less than two weeks away.

Tags: keynote, MacWorld

There has been this recurring problem with syncing my iPhone to iPhoto. I plug my iPhone into the USB port, iTunes comes to life and syncs my music, calendars and so on. But I took pictures with my iPhone, that's suppose to make iPhoto come to life and let me import them. For many months iPhoto would not recognize my iPhone, I reset my iPhone, deleted preferences, restarted, nothing would make it work. So last night I spent a couple hours researching the problem. I read dozens of entire threads on people with similar problems.

In the middle of one of the threads someone posted "TRY A DIFFERENT USB PORT". I wanted to blast them for wasting my time and posting such a simple fix to the problem. But then I remembered one of my clients was having trouble with their USB modem adapter and the solution was to use the USB port closest to the front of the MacBook. I paused for moment, looked to see which USB port I was using, it was the one furthest from the front of my MacBook. It couldn't possibly be that simple, I unplugged the USB cable and moved it to the USB port closest to the front of the MacBook. Hello iPhoto, it popped up and was ready to import my photos. I couldn't believe it, not because it worked but because I has inadvertently used the rear USB every time without even thinking about it.

That leads to a hardware question. What's wrong with the rear USB port on the MacBook?

Tags: iPhone, iPhoto, Syncing

I look forward to owning an Apple TV. First I'm going to have to get a widescreen TV which is the only kind they work with. They also work with 480p TVs but what's the point in that?

I don't currently own an Apple TV but I do own an Xbox 360. And as it turns out the Xbox is one hell of a good video device. I have a 500GB external USB hard drive formatted as FAT32. It must be FAT32 for you to be able to connect it to your Xbox 360. Once connected to your Xbox 360 over USB you can watch many video types. I've been using Handbrake to convert my DVD movies to M4V video files. I'm using Handbrake's Apple TV Take 2 settings with 2-Pass. Then I transfer the video files to the Movie folder on the external hard drive.

I can easily select the hard drive from the Xbox 360 menu and play any movie or TV Show (Firefly) I have on it. And they look fantastic. You can also put image files on the drive and view them from the Xbox. I plan on getting a PS3 (maybe) by the end of this or beginning of next. The PS3 will also read this same drive connected over USB and play the same video files or view image files.

The Apple TV has been out for a year now and it's one USB port currently serves no purpose. When I get an Apple TV I want to be able to connect my pre-existing 500GB external USB hard drive to it. And have it play the movie files I've already encoded. I am making sure to select Apple TV specific settings.

Why does it matter. Because I really like the idea of all my movies accessible from one location. This is taking time and effort to setup. It would be nice not to lose the effort when it comes to the Apple TV. If the Apple TV never supports external storage, the drive will remain connected to the Xbox 360 and will continue to be my main source for video content. I already rent more movies from Xbox Live than iTunes or TiVo.

"Apple, by the time I get an Apple TV could you enable external storage through the USB port? And make sure it can read FAT32 so I don't have to reformat and transfer all of my video files."

Tags: Apple TV, Xbox 360

In a previous article of mine I describe a new type of subscription service. It was more of a try before you buy solution.

I believe that Apple can have a plan to start a subscription based service for music. But unlike all of the comments about how people don't want to rent music, this is more like XM Radio. Imagine paying a small monthly fee to Apple in exchange for unlimited listening to many channels of music. I don't think the service will work if Apple doesn't automatically make channels get music for their particular genre. Nearly identical to the way that XM has an 80's channel. It would need to be similar to a radio station.

Apple would need to differentiate between renting music and a music station with many different channels. All songs are purchasable, the channels only play songs that you can buy. Unlike radio where you listen to what they want to play, with The iTunes Station you pick the channels you want to listen to and you may even have options to filter it specifically to your tastes. For instance, I like 80's music, but only from about 84-89.

Apple probably already had something like this in mind and the newest iPods and iPhone are fully capable of playing music channels from The iTunes Station.

I would certainly consider trying it to see or hear rather some new music. Since I listen to mostly my own music instead a radio stations I'm sure I miss out on songs I would buy.

You can take this a step further and Apple could provide The iTunes Station for free with advertisements between songs just like a regular radio station. They could also provide this service over the internet as an internet radio station. There would be a ticker tape that could be clicked on taking you to the iTunes track in the iTunes Store for purchasing. How would they benefit? They would focus on playing music you don't already own (when local to your machine). This way if you hear something you want to buy, click a Buy button while the song is playing from The iTunes Station and you own it. There are several models that could be used for this type of service, I describe just two of them.

The key for Apple is to remove the perception of renting music. Presenting it as a radio station (WAPL The Apple) will accomplish that.

I have a long and varied relationship with routers. I have always sold the model I have for the model I want. This includes my first router which wasn't wireless. I've gone through all the brands and price ranges. I have sold my current Apple Airport Extreme Gigabit to make way for my new Apple Time Capsule 1TB. Apple's Time Capsule is in fact an Airport Extreme with a built-in hard drive. The purpose of this device is for backups.

I had originally bought my Airport Extreme with the idea that I would be able to connect a HD to it and use Time Machine to backup. Unfortunately that feature didn't make it into Time Machine or an Airport Extreme update, leaving myself and few others slightly disappointed. I'm not going to claim to know why it didn't make it into the feature set. No big deal, I've sold the Airport Extreme and have what I want, wireless backups. Time Capsule is that solution.

I've had it for several days now and it appears to work effortlessly. I could have connected my computer directly to the Time Capsule so my first backup would have run very fast but I wanted to see how well it would do wirelessly. My MacBook doesn't have 802.11N so I was backing up over 802.11G. I have approximately 160GB of data to backup. My wife has a MacBook with 802.11N and she had 80GB of data to backup. If you option-click the Airport icon in your Menu Bar you will see your Transmit Rate. Mine was 54 while Karen's was 130. Karen's computer took 8 hours to do it's initial backup of 80GB. My computer took 36 hours to do it's initial backup of 160GB.

The hardest part was not taking my computer anywhere for a whole day while it backed up. Now that the backups are done, incremental backups happen without me even noticing. Karen's Transmit Rate would have been 300 if I didn't have 802.11B/G items connected to the Time Capsule. Even at a reduced rate of 130, her MacBook was backing up more than twice as fast as mine.

The Apple Time Capsule works exactly the same way the Apple Airport Extreme with a hard drive connected does, except you can't use Time Machine with the Airport Extreme to backup. That so far is the one feature that makes it better. And that one feature works very well.

My recommendation is to go with the Time Capsule for your wireless Time Machine backups. I went with the Time Capsule 1TB model but there is also the Time Capsule 500GB model if you don't need the extra space.

UPDATE 03-19-2008: It appears as though several updates released today by Apple brings the aforementioned backup feature to Airport Extreme. That means you can use an Airport Extreme with a connected USB hard drive to backup your computer with Time Machine. Thanks for the updates Apple.

There will be several ways to watch iTunes Movie Rentals assuming the rumors are true.

First and foremost the movies will be rented from the iTunes Store. So you can watch it on your computer.

But how do you watch it on your TV? A couple of ways, first would be the Apple TV. It connects to your TV and you can tell it to download all new content on your computer.
The second way would be if you have and new iPhone, iPod touch, iPod nano or iPod classic. You would sync your movie rentals to one of these devices and with the use of a special $50 Apple Composite AV Cable or Apple Component AV Cable you can connect all of these devices your your television. You can even buy a special Universal Dock if you want to control the playback with the Apple Remote.

I have an iPhone, the Composite AV Cable and the Universal Dock for watching content from my iPhone on my TV. I looks quite good with the videos I've tried.

My predictions for the January 15th 2008 MacWorld Expo Keynote presentation by Steve Jobs:
1. New less expensive Apple TV, I'm guessing around $150. This hasn't been in the rumors at all it just makes sense to me.
2. New hi-end Apple TV with 1080p output and 5.1 audio, DVD (Blu-Ray upgradable). Possible combining of the Mac mini and Apple TV.
3. Movie Rentals.
4. New MacBook Pros. Redesigned.
5. New MacBook Pro to replace the un-replaced 12" PowerBook.
6. New Apple Universal Remote.
7. New MacBook that has built-in 3G network from AT&T, that way it's connected from everywhere.
8. New Apple displays with HDMI. Easily connect to Apple TV
9. New iTunes 8 after the show.
10. iPhone update with new features never been announced.

We'll probably hear about Starbucks, Microsoft Office 2K8 with Roz Ho, AT&T Pres about 3G and the show will end with musical talent (possibly a black male).

Tags: Apple, iPhone, iPod, iTunes, Movies

In a recent MacWorld article about the release of Quicken Online they have clearly stated it runs in Flash. Then they go on to say that it will run on an iPhone.

But iPhones can't run Flash, I know. Also revealing about the article is that Quicken Online will be released exactly one week before Steve Jobs will give the MacWorld Expo Keynote.

My assumption is that Steve and Co. will announce Flash for the iPhone. Perfectly logical, I know.

Tags: Apple, iPhone

My previous article is about the iPhone connecting to my TV. This would give me the ability to watch TV shows and Movies from the iTunes store on my television.

But why not take it one step further? Apple has already given iTunes similar functionality to that of Sony's LocationFree. With an Apple TV you can connect to different iTunes enabled computers to stream audio and video. And you can stream audio from iTunes to different Airport Express (Airtunes) routers. That indicates that data flow can be both directions. Apple TV pulls data from your iTunes enabled computers and iTunes pushes data to the Airport Express.

Apple, give me the ability to browse iTunes media on my local network with my iPhone and the iPod touch.

Let's say that I have an iPhone (and I do) or iPod touch and I want to view something on an iTunes enabled computer. I wake my iPhone or iPod touch and click the SHARED button (Apple already uses the SHARED directory in iTunes when it detects other iTunes on the same network). After pressing the SHARED button I would be presented with a list of all iTunes enabled computers. Upon selecting one I would be presented with the options to choose between the different types of media: Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts and so on.

I think this is similar in functionality to the way a PSP can view media from LocationFree or a PS3.

This would give me the ability to watch or listen to anything on any of my iTunes enabled computers on my local network. This would work the same way if I was at a friend's house and he was sharing from iTunes.

Or what about the new deal with Starbucks. Imagine going into Starbucks and being able to listen in full to the same music that's being played instead of 30 second clips of the previously played songs.

I doubt I'm suggesting something that those Apple Ninjas haven't already thought of but I want to go ahead and say I want it. Apple likes to claim they think of stuff we want before we even know we want it. Most of the time they really do give me something I hadn't thought of or knew I needed but when I have it I can't do without it.

This time I want something before Apple told me I wanted it.

Tags: Apple, iPhone, Apple TV

When I first saw that Apple had included the iPhone in the new AV Cable compatibility list I was very excited. Thinking of the possibilities of using it to hook up to my TV or others to view movies and such was very promising.

Possibly today Apple removed the iPhone from the list. Why? Maybe the iPhone was only included because the AV Cable came with a USB power adapter. Or they accidentally revealed something that had not yet been announced.

I hope the AV Cables do work with the iPhone when they are finally released. This would allow me to watch TV Shows, Movies and upcoming iTunes Movie rentals on my TV with the iPhone.

Tags: Apple, iPhone

Apple announced this morning that after only 74 days they have sold one million iPhones. It took Apple nearly two years to sell its first million iPods.

Tags: Apple, iPhone

This past Wednesday Apple released the best iPods they have ever created. While the iPod Shuffle only received new colors the iPod nano will probably be the biggest hit this holiday season with it's video capabilities. The new iPod touch is nearly identical to the iPhone minus the phone part.

Click the image below to shop for your new iPods from the Rob Jones Tech Support Apple Store.

As shown from left to right, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano and the iPod shuffle.

Tags: Apple, iPod, Music

Apple has confirmed the new opening date. Will I be the first in line to get in? Probably not. But I look forward to all the extra Apple exposure in this area.

Tags: Apple, Apple Store

This month Kentucky will be getting it's first Apple Store. It will be in the Louisville, KY Oxmoor Center Mall.

I look forward to the influx of Apple products in the Kentuckiana Area (Louisville, KY and Southern, IN) in which I focus my Macintosh Tech Support business.

The pics below indicate the location of the store and my daughter Allyson standing in front of the construction wall.

I look forward to not having to drive to Indianapolis, IN anymore. Which I did for my iPhone.

Tags: Apple, Apple Store

You've seen the Helio commercials "Don't call it a phone." Helio would have you believe their devices aren't phones but much more.
On the other hand you have the iPhone. A device that markets itself as a phone and has the word "phone" in it's name but in reality is very much a handheld Mac.

My MacBook's hard drive died (7/3/2007) two days after getting my iPhone. Fortunately, I had synced my calendars, contacts, bookmarks, some pictures, music and movies to my iPhone. Because of the timing with the holiday and weekend, I went a full week without my computer waiting for a new hard drive from Apple. Some people would have panicked, but I saw it as an opportunity to put the iPhone through it's paces. So that's what I did.

Can you live for a week without your computer and only an iPhone? Yes. But, expect some catching up when you get your computer back up and running. For instance, invoicing, something you can't do with your iPhone. As a tech support person I took my wife's computer with me (just in case) on two different jobs and only needed it once and was done within one minute.

Activation:
I got my iPhone 2 days after they were released and I did have activation problems. After 3 or 4 phone calls and 9 hours my iPhone was working as expected. I recently activated a client's iPhone in 4 minutes with no problems. It looks to me as though AT&T has worked through the problems they were having.

Safari:
You've heard Steve Jobs say that the iPhone isn't the watered down web but a full web browser. I can confirm that it's certainly not the watered down web, but it's not the complete web either. Flash playback is missing. That's probably the biggest omission that most people will notice when surfing. It's possible that Flash playback just wasn't ready by the release date of the iPhone and will be added later. Downloading audio and video files directly into the iPod or available memory is something I'm looking forward to in a possible future update.

Hardware:
iPhone 1.0 hardware seems very impressive. It's like Apple built the best piece of hardware they could, knowing they would be building on it through software updates for some time. Software can greatly improve the device; anything missing will be added later. Problems with be corrected through updates. The iPhone that was released on July 29th won't be the same iPhone we're using 6 months or a year from now. After a few updates it will receive fixes and new features. I love devices that can be updated with new features. I wrote an article about gaming consoles and how they change through software updates. A year and a half after I bought my Xbox 360 they added H.264 and MPEG-4 video playback which allows me to stream videos from my Mac to my Xbox 360. That's awesome.

It's nice to no longer have a need to carry multiple devices around. Before I had my phone, iPod and computer. Now in many cases I can get away with just having my iPhone. And the camera is nice to have since I never had a camera with me before.

Applications:
The built-in applications are the only ones you're going to be able to use for a while. Apple will add more later and may even let 3rd parties in the future. There are those web based apps you may have heard about but if you're in Airplane mode (no internet connection) you won't be able to use them. This doesn't bother me because I know Apple wants the iPhone to be as stable as possible.

Syncing:
Using iTunes to get all your data makes perfect sense. I haven't had any problems. It's very easy to add what you want.

Keyboard:
I love it. I don't even realize how often it corrects my typing. Only one application allows for horizontal use; expect an update to add horizontal keyboard use to other apps. I took all of the notes for this article on my iPhone while I was without my computer.

Apple, please include the same spell correcting the iPhone has into Leopard. I like the corrected spelling hovering below the word I'm typing and the space bar activation. This is brilliant. It will help me on my desktop and laptop Macs as well.

Wireless Networks:
Unlike a lot of the tech articles you may have read online where the reviewer blasts the EDGE network for being slow, Edge network is acceptable when Wi-Fi is not available. Especially to those of us users who went from the cheapest mobile phone with no data plan at all directly to the iPhone.
Wi-Fi works great. It's always going to be faster than EDGE, so use Wi-Fi when it's available.

Address Book:
It's easy to find what you need, but it can be slow if you have 600 addresses in your Address Book like I do. A little work needs to be done for some quick searching, but it's the first time I've ever had my entire Address Book with me.

Calendars:
Calendars do not sync without a computer. So even if you have a dotmac account the iPhone won't update your calendar through the internet like your Mac does. This is probably to keep feature parity with Windows users. While I appreciate having YouTube on my iPhone I've used the calendar far more.

Calendar combines all checked calendars into one. I've confirmed that it actually stores them separately. Maybe a future update will allow viewing calendars separately on the iPhone.

Camera:
Camera works well. You need to hold it steady and the subject must be well lit. Video recording - I believe the hardware can support it so it's just a matter of a software update.

Email:
It works the same as your computer's email. I have no complaints. It's easy to use and works well. No more traveling from one job to another wondering what email I might have missed while my MacBook was in it's case without an internet connection.

Touch Screen:
Finger wiping becomes a requirement. I will wipe the tip of my index finger on my sleeve or pants before using my iPhone. This removes that tiny bit of finger oil that would have otherwise ended up on my iPhone screen. So I don't have to clean my screen as often. The screen itself is brilliant, even if I had to clean the screen 10 times a day, I would still prefer it. I currently only clean the screen twice a day. Use the cloth that came with the iPhone or a microfiber cloth and your breath to get the best clean without any potential for scratching.

Calculator:
Just that and nothing more.

SMS:
Never used it. With email I have no need for it.

Phone:
It works well, and the headphones add to it's clarity. I have no complaints about the phone. It's very cool to be listening to music or a podcast and have them pause and fade to the background while you answer the call, then un-pause and fade back in when the call is over.

Time Shift:
From useless time to productive or entertaining time.There's nothing like being stuck at Sam's Club and grabbing a soda, sitting down in the food court, surfing the web and answering emails, while they rotate your tires. Now the most boring places (doctors offices, tire store and any place that you're required to wait) can be like your office by simply getting out your iPhone and doing some work or having some fun.

There are things on the iPhone that I didn't address, simply because they are there, they work well and as expected.

Since this is the first iPod with a speaker I was able to sit on my deck with my wife and enjoy the cool breeze while playing a little 80's music that we could both hear.

Final Thoughts: I believe the iPhone is a Trojan Horse for Apple. It puts a Mac in the hands of people who simply thought they were buying a cool phone. Should you get an iPhone? I certainly recommend it. If you're in need of both a new iPod and mobile phone it becomes more reasonable. For me it was a must, I was at the point of needing something that would allow me to take notes and create calendar events while talking on the phone. The iPhone has literally made me a better tech support person. Now I just need to get my wife one.

Tags: Apple, iPhone, Review

I just finished reading and article from The Wallstreet Journal titled "Companies Hang Up on Apple's iPhone".

It focuses on an IT directors point of view on the iPhone. The problem with this article is the title. Companies are not Hanging Up on Apple's iPhone, lazy IT departments are.

The article is misleading because they're not asking the people who run the companies.

When any company President says he wants an iPhone to work with the company email, the IT department will have no choice but to figure out how to make it work.

I've worked with small minded IT people like this, they think they can dictate the direction of change in the company. When in reality they don't have any power when an executive wants something.

Think about the fact that Steve Jobs (Apple), Eric Schmidt (Google) and Jerry Yang (Yahoo), the CEOs for some of the most important companies on the planet will be using their iPhones with their companies email.

Tags: Apple, iPhone

I just spent about 3 hours playing UNO with my nephew who lives 3 hours away using the Xbox Live Vision camera.

It's great because we can see each other and that makes the whole game experience warm.

In the middle of our game my wife invites me to a video chat with iChat on her MacBook from Galveston, TX where her and the girls are taking a road trip.

I was able to see the girls and tell them good night and make them miss me just a little less.

If there is a better time then right now it's going to be in the future because I Love what we can do today.

Tags: Apple, iChat, iSight, Xbox 360, Vision Cam

One of my most beloved and biggest problems with the Mighty Mouse is the scroll ball. I've been waiting for a Mac compatible mouse with a scroll ball since I saw something similar back in 1997. The scroll ball is perfectly placed and has a good tactile feel to it.

So if it's so great what's the problem. Dirt, yes dirt. Get the slightest piece of dirt on or under the scroll ball and scrolling becomes extremely frustrating. I keep a can of compressed air near my Mighty Mouse so I can blow it out when it starts acting up. Which is about once a day.

I would rather clean it more than once a day than do without it. It's that good.

So why would Apple introduce a new one if the current one works so well? Eliminate mechanics with electronics, that's why. Remember what they did with the first iPod? It has a physical wheel, then was replaced with a faux wheel. None of the functionality was lost. Look at the iPhone, one button, the rest is touch sensitive.

What does this mean for the Mighty Mouse? It means the scroll ball will be replaced with something that resembles the scroll ball exactly in size, shape, height and placement. What will be replacing it will be similar in functionality to that of the track pad. They will even place a switch under the new scroll ball for clicking. None of the functionality will be lost. Since the new scroll ball will be stationary it will lose it's tactile feel and become very smooth for easy finger movement. The only movement of the new scroll ball will be the downward click. The click could be replaced with a tapping function on the faux scroll ball eliminating the need for the click switch.

There is also the possibility (my preferred option) during development of the new scroll ball that Apple will simply incorporate the scrolling feature on to the new Mighty Mouse invisibly. Meaning they will add scrolling the same way they enable the right click. You can't see the right click button but it's there. Another example of electronics replacing mechanics. The new scroll ball could be invisible to the eye but functional to the finger with finger tapping to replace clicking. This would make the new Mighty Mouse look like Apple's previous wireless mouse. Only this one would have right and left click with scrolling.

Which will Apple choose? I can see the reasons why they would choose to use the faux scroll ball but in the end the invisible scroll ball will win because it also eliminates the click with a tap. It also eliminates parts. Do I think I could use a Mighty Mouse with no visible buttons or scroll ball. Yes, it all becomes second nature.

Steve Jobs and Apple do a great job of making stuff I didn't know I needed or wanted. This time I'm beating them to the punch. They may have designed the Might Mouse but I know what I want from the Mighty Mouse 2.0. There was a seemingly long time between the release of the Mighty Mouse and the wireless Mighty Mouse. Hopefully this new design won't take as long to come to market.

Tags: Apple, Mighty Mouse

I bought my first Mac in 1995 and later sold it to my brother Brian. I had two slot loading iMacs (Graphite and Green) in my basement collecting dust.

The green one was Allyson's and the Graphite I bought for myself the day they were introduced. Shortly after installing 10.4 on each of them they died.

They would no longer start and I then proceeded to scavenge them. I pretty much took anything that was useful.

Today I threw away one Dell and two Macs. The Dell didn't bother me but the Macs did, I kept wondering if I should try to keep the Apple logos or something.

Well I did it any way. I've thrown away a Mac.

Tags: Apple, iMac

There is an article by a technology advisor about his use of a new Mac. The article is riddled with false statements and ignorance.

There have already been some good responses denouncing his article.

One thing that isn't mentioned is that this guy is probably some kind of PC guru. So why slam the Mac? Job security.

Maybe he receives really good commissions from the sale of PCs or recommending them. It could also be his ignorance about the Mac and inability to properly advise his clients on them.

Either way, I see it as a money issue.