Steelso V6.0

This time of year you can see a whole lot of tech bloggers go all misty eyed and reflected on what the big thing was in 2007. The iPhone got some love from Time, and the BBC team passed on their thoughts. One thing that I thought was a huge game changer and that I’ve not seen any mention of is inclusion of a flat rate data plan for the iPhone.

Sounds pretty dull doesn’t it?

Mobile data and the way that it’s charged is a bit like the situation that the wired Internet went through 10 years ago. You had to pay a monthly charge (I was with Demon, £15 per month) as well as paying per minute for your phone bill. You could do all sorts of cheeky measures to reduce your cost per minute but it was still a costly affair. One eye on your screen, the other on the clock.

Then came Freeserve. Freeserve was a game changer. No monthly charge, you just paid through your phone bill. If you were on for 5 minutes you were charged for 5 minutes at a very, very low rate. It meant that a whole new audience could go on line, those people who wanted to dabble on-line rather than commit. Internet growth during that time climbed. Then unmetered access through dial up came about but never really took off.

Then came unmetered broadband. And that took Internet usage in the home through the roof. Why? Well the experience was better (freed up your phone line, speed) and as you paid a monthly amount it meant that you could plan what you could spend. Internet connectivity had become a utility service.

Mobile data is still in the early stages. Previously I was on a monthly contract that gave me 5Mb of data free on my phone then charged me about 85p every additional Mb. That could get pretty expensive for me. Though on my Nokia N80 it was hardly the best experience. And getting a wifi connection was painful and then even connecting to it was a nightmare.

Since the introduction of free wifi with The Cloud and connecting my home Internet connection to BT Fon means that I can get pretty good wifi access quickly when needed too. Since moving on to the iPhone data package I’ve saved around £75 of data in a month. This totally changes the way that I’m using data on the move. I’m looking at the screen and not with one eye on the costs. I’m using the mobuile Internet all the time now for updating things, maps, all sorts. It’s pretty liberating.

I’m not sure if O2 are planning to roll this package out to all their calling plans regardless of which phone you’re on. For me it has been a big step for casual computing and the most important step forward in making mobile Internet a real, everyday occurrence, it’s as big as the way that broadband revolutionised Internet use in the home.

Steelso :: Dec.28.2007 :: Thoughts, iPhone :: No Comments »

Nintendo started it all really with the idea of casual gaming, giving a gaming gaming experience to those outside the general gaming stereotype. It worked. Really well with Amazon sell 17 Wii’s every second. When they had them in stock.

So what’s casual computing? For me it’s about doing information related tasks such as catching up with friends, getting directions, etc that can be done through a web browser and eventually will do small transactional tasks such as pay for travel passes, get your coffee, etc. These devices won’t be super powered, they’ll be cheap, have a great screen,  good data connections, almost instant startup times, possibly incorporate GPS and very focussed on their intended tasks. Devices like that kind of exist, most notably the iPhone and the Nokia N800.

After a month with the iPhone I see it as an evolutionary step in the field of Casual Computing. I’m using it more as a easy way to get information. I’m catching up with my Twitter feeds through the browser, viewing Google Reader on it and checking out Facebook through my iPhone rather than firing up my laptop. It’s quicker and a lot more convenient.

None of the websites that I’m viewing carry any ads, the screen and experience has been streamlined to be a quick and easy download. I’m enjoying that but I know it’s a matter of time before the ads are going to be creeping in. It’ll be interesting to see how Google will use location based services to deliver ads based on what I’m looking at and where I am. So if I’m searching for a good pen (which I have been) then it will deliver an ad for a pen company that is in my geographical area rather than just being a company that’s based through the Internet.

It’s not got to the point where I can buy my pen using the iPhone but it’ll happen.  It’ll be so easy to use that my Gran will want one.the blockers that I see are that the devices will be too tricky to use, that there will be a hundred standards that block these devices talking to each other and data coverage will be patchy.

Seems that casual computing will be a talking point in 2008 with Apple leading the charge.  Buzz is going around for a new type of laptop to be launched next year and the always insightful John Dowell talks about Apple wanting to help you get a coffee quicker.

Steelso :: Dec.28.2007 :: Learning, Nintendo, iPhone :: 1 Comment »

I’ve had my iPhone now for 10 days. Overall I love the phone, I love the simplicity. I was shown how to work my new work Blackberry the other day and it scared me, it all seemed so tricky and complicated. My mind is now melded into a lovely, push icon simple mushosity and having to go back into menus and obtuse iconography makes me feart.

That’s not to say it’s not perfect. No way. It’s tiny things, small details that annoy me. What frustrates me more is that some of the details of the iPhone are amazing. Things that are currently ripping my knitting are:

• Lack of multi send on SMS.  Never thought I used it before I noticed I couldn’t do it on the iPhone.
• Safari crashes quite often as does the iPod software. Very annoying.
• Camera isn’t great. Not that I take a lot of images with any camera phone but I really don’t like the camera
• SMS takes an age to access for some reason
• No copy and paste. Again not a big deal until you find you can’t do it.
• Lack of to-do syncing between iCal and iPhone
• Notes is just way to awkward to use and I’m not entirely sure you can sync between iPhone and Notes on my Macbook
• The EDGE network isn’t brilliantly fast, I miss my 3G.
• It’s not the Internet if I can’t use Flash or Java

I could go on. But all these issues are tiny compared to the actual joy of being able to read Google Reader anywhere. I love the fact that I can catch my messages while listening to music or not if I go into Airplane Mode. I am now viewing all my constant websites via iPhone specific versions which is fine and actually preferable than their fully inflated big brothers. I adore how easy it is to share a call, I had Sam on the line and Sean on another line so we could both congratulate him on his new job. It was great. And easy.

So do I recommend one? Yes. Yes. If you have the money. If you use a lot of Internet on your phone (I’ve saved a fortune thanks to the unlimited data plan and lovely wifi coverage, at least £25 in 10 days), if you like gadgets and if you enjoy the new then yes. That’s not a great, overwhelming reason I know but it is good enough to me. It’s just joyous. And, as another gadget fiend put it more eloquently than I, that just can be enough.

Steelso :: Dec.02.2007 :: iPhone :: 1 Comment »

So a couple of pints and a bit of seduction in the Apple shop left me with a new iPhone. Oh dear.

There are so, so many reviews and insights into the iPhone that I feel a bit boring going into it. So I’ll just go into ta couple of things that I’ve not seen given that the there is now a certain maturity to the web side of the iPhone.

Firstly the Apple staff really know their shit. Which is a good way to sell. Well done.

Secondly activation was a breeze. I’m already on o2 so I didn’t expect any problems but it was very simple to set up.

Thirdly I have noticed the drop in speed between 3g and the EDGE network that the iPhone uses. But the the iPhone specific web apps are very speedy on EDGE which gives the whole thing a bit of a retro feel. It’s like the days when we used to have to really bear in mind dial up download speeds. With broadband we’re rarely thinking about it but I imagine that it is a major consideration for iPhone apps. Anyway the one I’ll use the most is the one I use for GTD, Remember the Milk.  It’s a great app, very well thought out and means I can take my lists on the road with me rather than having to depend on my MacBook.

All in all I’m enjoying it. With all the chat about ebooks just now I did settle down and use my iPhone for an hour so looking over RSS feeds in the iPhone capable Google Reader. It was a joy. And I could listen to music.

I’m a proud owner. Bless.

More as I see fit.

Steelso :: Nov.23.2007 :: iPhone :: 1 Comment »

So Glasgow became the host of the 2014 Commonwealth Games today. It was all very exciting in the office, my kids are at school watching it on a big screen. You can tell it is a big deal for the school as the kids didn’t have to wear school uniform today. That’s the biggest thing they’ll remember I’ll bet. It’s an all round good thing for Scotland esp. given our national resurgence on the sporting stage. While initially skeptical of the bid I was very jumpy about if we would win or lose. I’m delighted we’ve won and feel it’ll be a great event. Glasgow has a history of hosting great events that help define our identity and push it onto the world. Very exciting.

I’m probably not getting an iPhone today due to the fact I’m jumping jobs and therefore unsure of what/when I get paid again. I’m being mocked that I’ll be raging the first time I see someone with an iPhone and I don’t. Sadly that’s not wrong. I’m a monkey.

Edit: This is magic, watch the video….

steelso :: Nov.09.2007 :: Glasgow, iPhone :: No Comments »

While browsing O2’s website for more details I noticed that they are saying that the date for launch is 19th October. It’s more likely that someone didn’t up date the website but I’m interested as to why it was possibly pushed back? EDGE netowrk, wi-fi sorting, not enough inventory? And no cash either? Hrmmmmmmmm.

steelso :: Sep.18.2007 :: iPhone :: No Comments »

The smoking ban came in place in Scotland in March 2006 and it’s been deemed a pretty good thing for health and the like. It’s seen publicans  having to change how they provide for their customers, mainly in introducing a nice and friendly area outside for smokers to indulge. Other places such as shopping centres have just banned smoking outright. The image above is from Tesco in Maryhill. Rather than throwing out the old ashtrays/bin someone has reinvented it as a plant pot/ bin. Loving that work.

Not been blogging much recently though I’ve got lots of things that I want to write about. Things like how photography’s changed since digital, the process at work, finding and retaining inspiration and 10 reasons I know that I’m a dad. Outside the fact that I have two kids. I know what I mean.

Things are not so much hectic but heavy at work at the moment and until that’s resolved I can’t see the Muse coming to visit for a while. I’m going to try though, the whole point of this is to stretch me and I’m not keen on stopping just because my head’s mulchy.

iPhone on Nov 9th at an expected £280. Amazed at the deal that O2 supposedly have done with Apple to secure the rights. It does seem a little mad, esp with them having to install an EDGE network that’s inferior to the 3G network that O2 spent billions buying and then trying to monitise. However, the other side of that coin is that the hype for the iPhone will help shift customers from other operators to O2. Seemed to be quite effective with AT&T in the US, we’ll see how it goes here. I have 6 weeks to decide to get one. Yeah. Right. I’ll be camping outside a Carphone Warehouse with all the other geeky-must-have-on-launch saddos.

steelso :: Sep.18.2007 :: Big on Small, iPhone :: 1 Comment »

The next week is going to be iPhone daft. Friday 29th at 6pm geeks will go bonkers, the world will change and a new love affair with mobile technology will begin.

Do I want one?  Oh yes.

But.

The iPhone is a convergence, a single device that does a lot of stuff. It brings your camera, iPod, phone, diary, etc, etc into one single unit.

I haven’t had a great experience with convergence devices. In theory my N80 covers all the bases. It plays music, diary, 3Mp camera. It’s not a bad phone at all but as soon as you start you use the additional features then you feel it’s all a little compromised. The camera’s not as good as my Canon, the data entry for my diary is a nightmare, playing music is hellish, the radio needs a dongle to work.

So I go back to carrying my objects. The iPod, my N80, my Canon are all used as the best of breed tools.  I’ve never seen a convergence device that’s been even just acceptable on all levels. The balance between convenience of having every that I like to use in one gadget, being happy with the experience using one gadget and then getting results that I am happy with has been impossible for me to get with any convergence device.

Will the iPhone change that? It’ll be interested to see how people find the phone after the gloss and gleem of using a fancy pants touch screen was worn off a little. It looks great, it does beautiful visual effects. But is it a great camera, phone, music player, video device, PDA? Or will I be still be packing the best of kit to get good results?

I can’t wait to find out.

steelso :: Jun.22.2007 :: iPhone :: 9 Comments »