Andy’s Home, Home on the Range

Andy January 9th, 2007

Well the well hyped and highly speculated MacWorld keynote by the head Apple, Steve Jobs, has come and gone. For the first time ever, I’m under-impressed. For the first time ever, I was not driven to immediately run to the Apple store and place an order. For the first time ever, Steve Jobs has not “wowed” me.

And this troubles me.

I’m impressed with the announcements…the Apple TV DVR type deal device and the ultracool Apple iPhone are very cool and very “Apple”…but…they don’t call out to me.

Maybe it’s a problem with me. I don’t think I fit their target demographic anymore. Being a 40 something family guy is not who Apple is targeting with their latest offerings. They are trying to hit the 20-30 somethings that are single or attached but with ample disposable income.

I’ve always wanted Apple to come out with a PDA device. The iPhone is it. All the PDA functions one would expect from Apple complete with iTunes integration. This also gives it the ability to download and play videos and movies as well as pictures. It has a doc connector and will surely be capable of utilizing the existing array of peripherals on the market.

Sure it’s cool and with a phone built in. I should be chomping at the bit to get one. I should be the guy that’s camping out at the local Apple store pitching a tent and waiting until June when the device is expected to be available.

But I am not.

I guess I’ve finally come to the point in my life where I have enough “stuff”. The things that I want more than anything right now is the health and safety of my son and wife. I don’t need a whole lot of “things” anymore.

My reputation has always been as an early adopter. I currently have (or have had) just about every sort of handheld PDA you can imagine….a Psion 3a, Palm 3, 5, 7, Handspring Visors, Prism, Sharp Zaurus, Windows CE and Windows Mobile devices. I’ve also been fortunate enough to have (or had) just about every type of iPod Apple has offered. I should be drooling at the new iPhone. It’s what I expected I would want…it’s OS X based and has a freaking 2 megapixel camera built in too boot….but I am lukewarm to this great device.

It’s a flash based device with an expected retail of $399USD for a 4 GB model and the 8GB model running at $499USD. Plus, you’re obligated to a 2yr Cingular contract with unlimited packages at around $20/month that’s nearly $1000USD over the course of the 2 years..about $75.00 /mth for the 2 years.

It’s not just about the money…I think I’m getting too old to be this excited about a hunk of hardware….

Now…my son getting over his cold…now THAT excites me!

iphone

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Andy October 17th, 2006

Well…just over 24 hours and the Google mail spam filters have nabbed 244 spam…

Will they ever learn?

sigh….

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Andy October 16th, 2006

Do people really click on links in e-mail spam?

Why are these people still using this as a marketing tool?

When will they learn that our e-mail programs are way more sophisticated now a days and the majority of us don’t even see their lousy spam? Do they know this? Are they so stupid that they aren’t keeping up with the technology?

I now have all my e-mail pretty much going into a single Gmail account. I will clear the spam out of this account to see how many spam I can collect over the course of a week. Since it doesn’t count toward my space, it’ll be cool to see what the count is. I will make updates over the course of the week and let you know what the count is.

This could be fun!

Stay tuned!

Ok…as of Mon Oct 16, 15:41 ..there is no spam in the account. I’ll update each day…

Aren’t you excited?

If you think this is fun, check out these sites the AndyCast Podcast and the AndyCast Deuce .

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Andy October 12th, 2006

Jim Vance is a TV newscaster here in the DC area for the NBC affiliate. I have never been a fan of his. I really don’t like his constant smirky grin despite the news story he’s relating. Most times, I endure him and never really pay attention.

This evening, at the close of the 11:00 new cast, he was tasked with a story about about Canadian troops in Afganistan dealing with a marijuana forest that they burned. He attempted to be funny by reporting as a Canadian soldier under the influence, which was completely inane and really in bad taste.

As a Canadian in the US, I am usually one of the first to enjoy a good joke at the expense of my birth country. The comment this evening was in very poor taste…and ..it wasn’t even funny nor well done.

This isn’t the first time this station has closed the news with a “funny” story at Canadian expense. I can only imagine what kind of outrage would be in US border towns if a Canadian news station bash US troops. Hell, if a US comedian makes a less than flattering joke about US troops, people here are in an uproar.

I think this really boils down to the way in which many Americans view Canada and Canadians. My experience has been that people think of Canadians as “Generally Harmless”, to borrow from Douglas Adams of Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy fame. Most times, I don’t give it a second thought … being a Canadian never living more than…you sort of get used to the rest of the world thinking “Oh..that’s nice…they have great beer and that game played on ice..that hockey thing…”.

I don’t know…maybe I need to just suck it up and get over it…

I’m sorry for wasting your time with this.

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