iDay

iPhone Launch Day. T minus eight hours and counting...

Open up any news page on the web and there is an article about the iPhone. Many of the stories have been written by someone who has actually used the gadget, but some articles are merely speculation-type reads.

Yesterday I had a rep from the cable company over to investigate some erratic Internet issues I have been having. Once he had everything back together, he asked to use my computer so he could run a test. I woke my Mac out of sleep mode and my two monitors came on. He asked for the Internet and looked completely perplexed when I launched the Firefox browser for him.

I asked if he needed to run a speed test and he nodded as he backspaced the URL of my home page out of my browser and slowly typed "http://www.google.com". In the search field he typed "speed test," then clicked the site he was searching for. After that, he asked how to get a Windows prompt. I asked him what he needed to do because I was running Mac OS X and the closest thing I had was a UNIX command line. He stared back at me blankly and said "You know how you can type a command in Windows? That's what I need to do."

Since I figured he knew what he needed, I reached over and turned on my PC and logged in for him. He clicked on the Start menu and got the command prompt and typed in the command for pinging www.yahoo.com.

I looked over and said he could have done the same thing on the Mac in the Network Utility program, and I showed that to him. His response was predictable: "I don't know anything about Macs," and smiled nervously.

"Well," I said, "You should learn. It's a good thing to know." If it were me who was shown something on a system I wasn't familiar with, I would have written down how to do a ping on a Mac or whatever it was I thought I may use in the future.

It bothers me that people (especially someone who is working for a tech company such as my cable provider) can't look past not having Windows. The Internet works the same way on any computer you use: type in the URL and away you go. Hell, there's even a mouse, keyboard and screen that looks something like your Windows system.

My point in all of this is there are always people that are going to downplay anything Apple does simply because they are Apple and not Microsoft. I guarantee you most of the articles you will find that point out the iPhone's weaknesses are written by someone who hasn't used one for an extended period of time, or who doesn't like Apple products.

Either way, I'm ready for my iPhone!!

TUAW: Random acts of Mac kindness

By Mat Lu
from http://www.tuaw.com/2007/06/19/random-acts-of-mac-kindness/

I was shopping in a large box electronics store yesterday afternoon (let's call it "Wiring Town:), when I happened to overhear a woman and her daughter ask a salesman about which camcorders would work best with her "Apple." After fumbling around for a few seconds, he admitted he didn't really know, but finally concluded that she'd probably be best off with one that writes to mini recordable DVDs. I just couldn't help myself, so I waited for him to wander off and then approached her. I told her that he'd given her terrible advice and that she really should go home, get online and do some research. She thanked me and I then excused myself; as I was walking away I heard her chuckle amusedly to her daughter about what zealots "Apple people" are. Now, of course, I'm a big time Apple blogger and all (yeah right), but I couldn't help but wonder: what other company could inspire perfect strangers to do its bidding the way Apple does? So, dear TUAW readers, do you perform random acts of Mac kindness? Do you have any good stories? Please share them in the comments.

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I do this all the time! It's also good to have your business cards handy if you're a consultant like me.
-Terry

Ready for the iPhone!

Someone asked me if I was planning on getting an iPhone. Uh, yeah, I kind of have to!

I have to because I have been waiting for this product since I got my first cell phone back in 1999. Since then, I have used my Newtons , my Zaurus, and my Palm PDAs along with my iPods and cell phones. The iPhone means I won't have to lug around all of these devices (phone, iPod, PDA) when I'm at school or on the road. I could have bought a WindowsCE smartphone, but the acronym says it all: WinCE.

Some people are already discounting whether it is going to change the way cell phones are made. I think it will. Apple didn't invent the portable media player, GUI, or online shopping, but they did make them much more enjoyable to use.

Stay tuned!