iPhone Obsession

I haven't been writing here for a long time, I guess I haven't gotten into the habit of posting here. Not much has happened that caught my attention, except for one thing: the Apple iPhone. I wasn't very interested in it before it was announced, I just don't care much about either cellphones or PDA/smartphones. I was more interested in a widescreen iPod Video.

When the iPhone was announced I looked at the Apple website and I was kind of interested, since it included the widescreen video functionality. However, once I managed to watch Jobs' entire keynote I was blown away.

Yes, it was partly Jobs' ability as a presenter, but the product itself was impressive. It really felt like a gadget from the future. A true touchscreen phone/video/audio/internet device. I have already decided that I will buy an iPhone sooner or later in my life.

It is only scheduled to come out next year here in Asia, and once it really comes out in US in June it might get bad reviews. But once they have a stable product in Asia I will get one. I haven't been buying mobile phones for 4 years, so by the time the iPhone is available I will have saved 5 years of phone purchase.

I don't care how much it costs, I don't care that I don't really need it, actually I don't need it at all. I want it. I am obssessed by it, so much that I actually dreamed about it. And sometimes I catch myself thinking of ways it would useful to me.

For example, if I am away from home for a long time, I could use the iPhone to surf and check my e-mails instead of using the crappy hotel computer, or having to bring a laptop (which I don't have). Or while travelling I could watch a movie or TV show in a decent sized widescreen device.
I just obsess about it very often. Can I wait for next year? I think once it is out in US I will go insane!!

Apple's streaming video

For the first time I watched the streaming of the entire presentation by Steve Jobs, which you can find here. It's a little over an hour long, and even though I already knew everything he said, I was still entertained by him.

He is a very good speaker, and the presentation material is excellent. I like how every once in a while he will sit down on a Mac and demo the new features.

Watching Jobs in action did make me change one opinion: iTunes 7 looks very good. I am now tempted to download it. I am afraid that it will break my podcatcher, but I am even willing to risk that in order to try the new iTunes features. However there will be bugs on Windows, so I still will wait.

Also the games on iPod 5G look very cool, but I won't be able to buy them anyway. The iPod 5G is also very cheap especially for its 80GB version.

Steve Jobs is very good.

Apple Showtime

Go here for details on Apple announcement. Here are my thoughts:

• iPod 5G: disappointed that it's not the widescreen video, but we knew it was too early. This is a good upgrade, if I didn't know about the possible widescreen video I would get this. Games are also cool, though I will never be able to buy them in China...
• iPod Nano: they now look like the old Mini, just thinner. I prefer the more squarish design of the first Nano. Colors will surely appeal to girls, I am happy with my black. The difference between 4GB and 8GB is a lot, but not enough to hold an entire music collection.
• iPod Shuffle: now this I am tempted to buy, even though I already have the first Shuffle. It's just so tiny and cheap. Although the first Shuffle with a headphone/lanyard combo is more wearable than the new one, since there's no cable cluttering.
• iTunes 7: iTunes on PC never works very well at first, so I will wait for bug fixes before upgrading. It also almost always breaks my podcatcher integration, so I'll wait. I don't think I am going to use Cover Flow though, since I rip all my music and I don't have covers. And since I don't have an iTunes account, I can't download cover art freely.
• Movie Download: prices are reasonable, video quality seems good. Catalog is very limited, for the moment. Hopefully more studios will jump onboard. But what I think Jobs is counting on to make this successful is...
• iTV: so that you can stream what you download from iTune Store to your TV. I have my PC wired to my TV, so I can watch video on my TV. But my PC is in the living room, which is not very beautiful. So video streaming is something I would use everyday. Waiting for 2007 Q1...

These are the highlights. My wife and wallet are happy that there's nothing I want to buy at the moment, apart from the inexpensive Shuffle.

New iPod, a mirage?

I have an iPod Nano (black, 4GB), like many other people. I am very satisfied with it, I listen to it 18 hours a day. I wear it on my neck the whole day, inside my shirt so it doesn't bother anyone. However I've been wanting to watch some video on the go, but I don't want to buy the current iPod 5G, the screen is just too small. I am waiting for the new widescreen/touchscreen iPod Video that everybody has been talking about. However it still isn't here, and I am getting a little bit disappointed. It's been almost a year since the last new iPod, and we keep hearing delays on the next one.

At least we might get wi-fi, according to DigiTimes. I like the idea of wi-fi, but I hope I won't have to wait later than Jan 2007...