ThunderPunch

A co-worker forwarded me a link to an article that pretty much says AT&T is losing the iPhone deal and Verizon will be getting access to it soon.

Here is the link to the article.

RayzrShrp Blog Apple, ATT, IPhone

Great article giving new hope to getting the iPhone without the shit sandwich of a provider a.k.a. AT&T!

This gives me great hope that I may someday own an iPhone again, for a 3rd and hopefully final time.  I’ve already bought and returned 2 of them so far. The first one I was blown away by how totally awesome this phone was. I got it home and couldn’t put it down but right off the bat I was unhappy with the service in my neighborhood and the battery life. I don’t have a house line so it was imperative it worked well in my house which it did not. The battery life could have just been from all the playing on it I did but regardless I returned it on the basis of service issues.

Then Apple comes out with the software upgrade which was suppose to fix the radio issues and give better service levels. Wrong, still had same crappy coverage in my area and again returned it.

Next they came out with the 3GS. Finally put in the landscape keyboard, voice commands, compass and MMS (if AT&T ever stops being fuckheads). Also many people say the 3GS gets much better battery life but until I can get the iPhone minus AT&T I will never own one.

RayzrShrp Blog Apple, ATT, IPhone

Read a mildly irritating article this morning from digg.com.

So not only has Apple decided it’s a good idea to remove all the buttons from the IPod Shuffle and incorporate them into the inline headphone remote, surprise surprise the chip set to do so is proprietary. Meaning anybody else who wants to make headphones that control the new IPod Shuffle will have to pay Apple licensing fees for the privilege of doing so. From what the article said it sounds like the chip set isn’t encrypted or locked down in anyway but without the fancy Designed for IPod logo you pretty much lose all credibility with Apple customers.

RayzrShrp Blog Apple, IPod, Shuffle

The second-generation iPod shuffle’s controls are pretty familiar to anyone who’s used any sort of playback device, whether it be an iPod, other music player, or even a DVD player. The buttons are clearly marked with the nearly-universal symbols for Play/Pause, forward, previous, and “more” and “less.” This is an iPod that my mom or dad could pick up and grasp without too much trouble.

Now the new IPod Shuffle:

The fact that Apple has to put up this diagram tells you how much more complicated it is: how would you figure out the controls without this chart? The only markings on the controls are the “+” and “-” that mark volume controls. There is no indication of how to play or pause music. There’s also no way to know where the previous or next track buttons are; you wouldn’t be out of line thinking that it might involve the use of the volume up and down buttons—not so. In order to go to the next track, you double-click the center of the controller; to go the previous track, you triple-click the controller. You can also hold down the center button to hear the name of the currently playing track, then release it after a beep to hear the name of all your playlists.

Look, even buttons have their place: having discrete controls for discrete functions is not necessarily a design failure. Sometimes it’s just the best way to get the job done. There’s no inherent, intuitive cognitive connection between double-clicking to go forward or triple-clicking to go back; it requires the forging of a new link in our minds. Where does it end? Will future versions require you to quadruple- or quintuple-click? Will there be a system where you can spell out the name of the song, artist, or album you want in Morse code?

I realize that it seems elegant to Apple—look, ma, no moving parts—but anybody who’s going to spend some time helping a less-than-tech-savvy individual deal with their new iPod is quickly going to encounter frustration: “No, dad, click three times to go back to that last song. No, don’t hold it down! Okay, let’s start again.” It’s enough to make you wish for a feature that lets you click your heels together to go home again.

Then, there’s the lock-in aspect. I suffer from a not uncommon genetic condition called “the stupid iPod earbuds don’t stay in my ears.” I simply can’t use the iPod earbuds for anything that doesn’t require me staying absolutely still; if I walk around, the earbuds fall out—never mind jogging. Up until now, no problem: just swap in any pair of headphones, from the cheapest pair of over-the-head models to a $300 pair of noise-cancelling cans. Headphones are headphones are headphones, right?

Alas, no more. The decision to put the controls on the headphones means that unless Apple opens up the controls to third parties, you can’t even play music on the iPod without using Apple’s own earbuds. What happens if, as is also not unheard of, Apple’s stock earbuds break? Your iPod is completely useless until you get another pair of approved headphones.

I know there will be plenty who say: well, the iPod shuffle isn’t for you, then. True, it’s not; I’ll stick to my fifth-generation iPod or a nano. But it also means the new shuffle won’t be the iPod I’d recommend to others, as the previous shuffle often was.

I understand the desire for the Apple design team to push themselves and try to accomplish something new and perhaps even revolutionary, but in the words of Dr. Ian Malcolm, perhaps they were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.

RayzrShrp Blog Apple, IPod, Shuffle