Me and My iPhone
December 30, 2007
The iPhone still gets attention when you carry one in public and someone recently asked me “is it really that good?” I had to say, you know what, it actually is. After all the hype, pomp and circumstance, the iPhone does deliver on most of its promises on a day to day basis.
As a phone it works quite well and there are so many small things in the interface and the way things work that really make a difference. It’s the best cell phone I have ever owned, hands down.
As a mobile Internet device, again, the best I have ever used, no question. The ability to view full web pages and the way the multi-touch works is stunning. The lack of Flash support, however, is really bugging me. I’m watching more video online now and I would love to be able to do so with the iPhone. This is the single biggest drawback for me of the iPhone. The pokey EDGE network isn’t as bad as you might think, but the additional of real 3G speed in 2008 will be a very welcome addition.
As an iPod, where the iPhone really shines is in video. Having the beautiful clear widescreen is great. As cool as multi-touch is, for music, I actually prefer the old scroll wheel on the iPod Classic. The wheel is ingenious and can be used without even looking at it. I can pause, play and change tracks just by the tactile feel of the wheel. With the iPhone, there is no tactile feedback, so this is not possible. It’s a trade-off obviously for the multi-touch, but as a pure iPod, I still love the scroll wheel.
Basic productivity is fair on the device. The lack of the syncing of notes and the failure to include a todo function at all are very surprising. I have no problems with the virtual keyboard and can type quite quickly and accurately on it. It was a cause of great consternation when it was introduced but for me it’s a non issue.
Overall, I love my iPhone and wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s one of the best pieces of technology I have ever owned. After years of little or no innovation in the mobile market, Apple has set the bar high for everyone else and it will be a great thing for consumers that competitors will have to start chasing them. I think we’re going to see a whole new renaissance in the mobile space in 2008, leading to an even more connected world.
Social Media Morning 12/18/07
December 18, 2007
Web Development in the iPhone’ed Mobile World
December 13, 2007
With great fanfare, Steve Jobs told the world the one of the biggest innovations of the iphone was bringing the “real” internet to a mobile device for the first time. No more junior, stripped down websites, with the iPhone you can view entire original websites as they were intended to be viewed.
Because the iPhone did not ship with the ability to run third party native applications, Jobs boldly told the development community they should build web 2.0 applications that would be just as good as native applications. Than Apple release development guidelines detailing how developers could build custom web applications formatted perfectly for the iPhone.
Thousands of web applications have sprung up for the iPhone, many of them very useful and well done. But these are custom applications that only run on the iPhone. What about the rest of the mobile market? What ever happened to the “real” internet? The point that you didn’t need to develop any kind of special or stripped down version of a site just to view it on a mobile phone? Apple has fallen into its own bear trap. I’m not complaining too much, being an iPhone user myself, but the rest of the mobile world is getting a little bit of a rip off with more development time being put into iphone specific web applications.
If you’re a business and you are looking to make some noise in the mobile market, should you create an iPhone custom web app? Probably, especially if you believe your target customer is likely to own an iPhone, but don’t forget about the rest of the mobile universe. It’s still a great deal bigger than the iPhone market, at least for now.
Social Media Morning Show 12/13/07
December 13, 2007
Resources discussed:
Fox News for iPhone: http://iphone.foxnews.com/
Netvibes for iPhone: http://iphone.netvibes.com/
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Social Media Morning
December 13, 2007
The Social Media Morning show is a mostly daily show featuring a quick thought about an aspect of social or new media. Usually recorded in my car during my commute, I am currently using Utterz as a platform for recording and distribution.
The Social Media Morning Show is automatically included in your Connected World subscription, but if you want to subscribe to the Social Media Morning Show by itself, you can do so here.
Facebook Fights Back
December 12, 2007
Punch and counter punch. As I have pointed out already, 2008 is going to be the battle of the social platforms. Google Open Social fired the first real shot toward Facebook and now Facebook fires back by making their API platform available to any other social network that wants to use it. Of course, this is a double whammy for Facebook because they are not only spreading their technology wider, but collecting a licensing fee as well. This all assumes other networks take them up on the offer. Bebo already has, being the first.
The Facebook advantage: Open Social is a dream, but the Facebook API is real and here now. Thousands of apps have already been created and by adopting the API, you gain access to them all instantly. That’s a powerful proposition.
Two smart, aggressive companies going at it toe to toe; This should be fun to watch. And once again, Microsoft is asleep at the wheel.
Technorati Tags: facebook, google, OpenSocial
Social Networks to Social Platforms
December 12, 2007
The hot buzzword in 2008 will be social platform. Rising social network star Facebook got the ball rolling this year when they announced their open development platform which allowed software developers to create custom applications to run inside Facebook. This has turned out to be wildly popular and other social network sites are following the leader. Myspace has been working on a platform and more recently, news that LinkedIn, the popular social network for business professionals is also creating an application platform.
Social networks will become much more than networks in 2008 as more social platforms arrive, allowing users access to more features and marketers access to more of the so-called “social graph“.
Social Media Morning Show 12/11/07
December 11, 2007
Talk about how social networks will become social platforms in 2008. Links referenced: http://www.linkedin.com
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Social Media Morning Show 12/5/07
December 5, 2007
Topic: Coworking and the new world of work
Links referenced on this show: