Ok, so I’m going to continue my week of Apple bashing by talking about the new iPhone OS 4.0 that was announced today.  While there are a number of very nice things in it (thank you, finally multitasking) something really struck me as I was following the live blog.  Apple thinks we’re all stupid and that it’s their job to make things easy for us.

While yes, I’ve done my fair share of stupid shit in my life I’m by no means a moron.  I can handle using computers just fine (well maybe a little more than that) but I think that at this point most of us know what we’re doing.  During a post announcement Q&A session Steve Jobs was asked about multitasking in OS 4.0.  Here’s the exchange:

Q: How do you close applications when multitasking?
A: (Scott Forstall) You don’t have to. The user just uses things and doesn’t ever have to worry about it.
A: (Steve Jobs) It’s like we said on the iPad, if you see a stylus, they blew it. In multitasking, if you see a task manager… they blew it. Users shouldn’t ever have to think about it.

Now at this point I 100% agree on the comment about using a stylus.  We’ve grown beyond that and every major mobile OS (hell maybe all of them now) don’t need a stylus.  But his comment about multitasking is so basically flawed that it really got to me.  What, I’m not smart enough to manage what’s running on my device?  Now I agree that you shouldn’t have to use a task manager but for the millions of users out there that are smart enough to use one GIVE IT TO ME.  Why would you not?  Why does Apple consistently dumb down the functionality of their products for some unknown lowest common denominator?  I bought this device and I’m not stupid – don’t treat me like I am.

Apple has done this for years in all their products.  They’ve consistently said things like “so easy even your mom could use it”.  I don’t know about you but my mom isn’t an idiot either.  And I’m guessing there are lots of smart moms out there.

So thank you for finally giving us multitasking.  I mean it only took you 3 years to get around to it when every other mobile OS has had it since day one.  Oh and one more final choice quote:

"Now we weren’t the first to this (multitasking) party, but we’re gonna be the best.”

Uh, how is it going to be the best when it lacks functionality that virtually all other platforms have and handles it the exact same way as Android?  Nope, sorry, not the best – but the best if you’re stupid.  But I’m not stupid.  At least if I am I don’t realize it…

As I’ve read a few articles around the net about the iPad and all the issues with it another thing struck me – the iPad isn’t the best way to experience the internet, it’s the worst – in fact it’s the anti-internet device. 

The internet is built on open standards.  Open ideas.  Open flow of information.  I can put anything up on the net and anyone virtually anywhere can access it.  There is no middle man, no one that decides what users can and can not do with that information.  From text, photos, videos, software, music, etc. the internet is about as free and open as anything on the entire planet.  But with the iPad you don’t get this freedom, you don’t get this openness.  What you do get is a closed, controlled and locked down experience.

I’m said many times how the lack of Flash on the iPad is huge.  It is.  Huge.  This is such a limiting factor for a device that is supposed to be “the best way to browse the web”.  Uh, no, I don’t think so.  Many webpages don’t render properly and there is no tabbed browsing.  Best device for the web?  No.  The only way I can get photos onto the iPad is through a computer that I have to already have.  Best device for photos?  No.  The way to get videos on the device is to buy them from iTunes or stream through “approved” apps.  Best device for video?  No.  It’s the exact same with music, once again I need a PC and iTunes.  Best for music?  No.  And software, here is the real issue.  I can put NOTHING that I want on the iPad, only what Apple allows me to install.  With their terribly inconsistent rules and controls over what that software is and what it can do.  Can you imagine spending the time to create an app only to have it rejected – I can, our Jinzora app was rejected for “duplicate functionality”.  Really, there’s another Jinzora app in the App Store?  No.  And do you realize that if Apple had to go through the same approval process with the iWork suite they just released that would be rejected too – it uses APIs that aren’t publicly available.  Best for software?  No.

So what is this thing best at?  Fingerprints.  Acting as a mirror.  Making me much poorer.  Impressing people that I have the latest shiny Apple product.  Sure it’s fun and shiny but haven’t we all grown beyond that.  Don’t we want substance.  So I’m sorry, the iPad isn’t the best internet experience, it’s not even a good internet experience.  What is it, well it’s the anti-internet experience.  Closed.  Locked down.  Isolated.  Controlled.  Thanks Apple, but I had enough with the iPhone and I’ve already had enough with the iPad.

I hate reality TV.  With rare exception I will not watch it.  I strongly feel that it’s designed for the low-brow masses that don’t really care about the quality of their programming but rather the amount of wow factor it can bring them.  The drama, the fights, the stupidity.  The only reality show I’ve ever watched with any regularity is The Biggest Loser.  While yes, I hate all the stupid drama the build (almost force) into the show I still feel good watching a show that promotes a healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise, something I dedicated myself to a few years ago.  Along those lines I’ve seen the first two episodes of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and I think it’s the best terrible show I’ve ever seen.

The premise of the show is simple – famous British chef Jamie Oliver comes to the most unhealthy town in America as show by obesity rates, disease and death in this town.  The reaction of the town is shocking.  He is met with disbelieve and mistrust – “we don’t want to sit around and eat lettuce all the time” says the local radio talk show host (who is very overweight).  It is unreal how this town eats and when you see the family that Jamie tries to help it is shocking.

In one episode a group of 6 year olds don’t know what a tomato looks like.  Or a potato.  Or spinach, broccoli, eggplant, etc.  As soon as they see pizza or chicken nuggets they know what that looks like.  When Jamie takes all the food that one family eats in a week and puts it all out on the table guess what, it’s all brown/yellow, it’s all loaded with fat and sugar and it utterly disgusting.  Their 15 year old son is a good 100lbs over weight and is on the verge of developing diabetes.  The doctor proclaims he’s cut 30-40 YEARS off his life.  Still they don’t get it.

Jamie has a huge task – to change the school lunch program from a disgusting mix of processed foods into fresh prep, healthy (and very tasty) food.  It is shocking to see the resistance from the staff, from the lunch ladies all the way up to the principal.  They really see nothing wrong with how they are feeding their children.

Anyone with kids in school should see this show.  They should be required to watch Super Size Me and Food Inc.  We should know what is in our food and what we are putting into our bodies.  I don’t eat organic all the time but I do try to avoid as much processed food as possible.  Watch these shows/movies – learn what you are consuming and what it does to your body.  If not for you then think of the children, just think of the children!!!

On Monday night I sat down to watch one of my favorite shows Chuck.  If you haven’t seen it in a while (or ever) you should give it another watch has it has picked up considerably over the last 4-5 episodes this season.  I’m not sure if they hired new writers or just decided to change the show a bit but whatever they did really stepped it up a big notch.  On Monday night I watched the first 38 minutes of the episode, thanks to my DVR that’s all I got to see.  I’m not sure what happened but of course it cut off right before the climax of the episode.

So I decided to head to NBC.com so I could watch the last few minutes.  Fail.  Major fail.  After spending over 20 minutes trying to get it to stream (it would constantly stutter and stop, and I have 50MB cable modem service) I decided to download and install their plugin.  It claims to give you access offline, HD quality and no buffering as it downloads the video for local playback.  Sounds perfect but it isn’t.  After another 15 minutes I said screw it and stopped.

I then searched my favorite BitTorrent site to see if I could find it.  Yup, in less than 10 seconds.  With more than 20,000 people sharing it.  It downloaded in less than 10 minutes.  And looks great (720p HD).  And I now have the episode forever if I want.

I truly hope that the content publishers figure this out and soon.  After trying for almost 45 minutes to do it the “right” way I was able to watch what I wanted in less than 15 the “wrong” way.  Score one for the wrong way…

As it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything I’ve been looking for something that would get me started blogging again.  Given that I can be hugely critical of bad customer service I decided I should be equally complimentary when someone gets it right.  Men’s Health (and their publisher Rodale) gets it right.

I’ve been a subscriber to Men’s Health for about 8 months now and really enjoy it.  Easy to read, informative and very useful.  A few months ago I got a random letter from Rodale (their publisher from what I can tell) that I owed them $49.95 for the Men’s Health Total Fitness Guide, something I never ordered nor received.  At the time I pitched it in the trash assuming it was some sort of error or way to get me to order the books.  When I got a second one that listed my account as delinquent I decided I better take action.

Today I called up the customer service number ready for a fight.  I explained to the rather polite lady that I’d never ordered these books nor had I ever received them.  She immediately apologized for the trouble, noted this in my account, canceled the order and confirmed for me that I was all set.  “Are you still there?” she said, as I sat there stunned that it was so easy.  As I thanked her she commented “it’s nice to help cheery people” – to which I explained I was ready for a fight and stunned that I didn’t have to have one. 

Not really sure what this book is but now I may actually want it.  Well done Rodale, well done.

So this is going to be a little bit of a rant as this is a huge pet peeve of mine.  Ever since I’ve been into electronics (AV stuff specifically) I’ve been a fan of just about the cheapest cables I can get.  I usually get my cables at Home Depot and the best advice I got a long time ago was to use lamp cord (you know the bulk stuff you can buy to rewire lamps and such).  I’ve argued this a lot with people, mostly with sales guys trying to sell me the expensive stuff.  There have been study after study (and even a $1 Million dollar bounty if you can prove the difference) that show that the human ear (or eyes) can not hear the difference these extremely high end cables give.

While this is a little hard to argue for analog sources, for digital the argument is totally ridiculous.  Recently a salesman at Best Buy tried to sell me a 3 foot $265 Monster HDMI cable.  I burst out laughing when he suggested it and tried to explain to him “if it’s digital, then it’s digital”.  He just couldn’t understand that if ones and zeros are flowing then ones and zeros are flowing – the fucking cable makes no difference whatsoever.  Then yesterday I find this great post on Engadget showing that not only can people not hear the difference between Monster cable and cheap cables they went one step further and used COAT HANGERS to connect the speakers!  And guess what, no one could hear the difference between the coat hangers and expensive Monster cable.  Hey, anyone want to buy some $100 coat hangers???

Next time you need cables get the cheapest ones you can find, especially if they are HDMI.  Don’t ever let the sales guy talk you into the expensive stuff no matter how hard he pushes.  If you need HDMI cables here are the ones I have, I have about 5 of them and they all work great (oh and they are $4.99 each!).