Here's to ten years fellas!

Apple isn't Jesus

Disclaimer: This article is not about religion at all. The author is fairly apathetic about the whole debate. The title was meant to be a snappy way of stating that people shouldn't seek personal salvation through the acquisition of corporate products or get butt-hurt when their sense of entitlement is slammed to the ground.

As you have perhaps heard, Apple's WWDC is happening this week in San Francisco. After Monday's keynote there has been a flurry of trash talk and aired grievances by the press, bloggers, and tech heads mostly in regards to AT&T and the newly announced iPhone 3G[s].

Now I'm not going to defend AT&T at all and I'm not even going to really defend Apple all that much either. I wanted to explore the underpinnings of this debate and philosophize a little bit.

To get straight to the point I think that many so called "modern" (post-religious, post-ideology) people invest too much of their hope and happiness in consumer electronics. When things don't measure up to their idealized standard (read: anytime an Apple product is released) they get pissed off and even feel depressed and angry.

Now, this is partly Apple's fault for projecting such an image. If you talk the talk then you have to walk the walk. People are constantly expecting something as revolutionary as the iPhone out of Apple. When a new release such as the iPhone 3G[s] comes along and it doesn't have an OLED screen and a telescope people feel let down. Maybe rightfully so? Apple set a very high bar for itself. Spec bumps and slight improvements are not the messiah everyone is looking for.

The truth is that you should never get so worked up about a gadget that you feel ANY emotion about its release or existence whatsoever. This means that you are seeking your identity in an arbitrary external object. Cut it out, save yourself the anguish. Gadgets are meant to be fun and entertaining. There are created to delight and help you. You should be actively seeking your authentic place in life elsewhere. What skills can you hone? What things can you learn? How wide can you make your mind? Which people can you help? What technology can YOU design? How can you make the world a better place for yourself and the people you love? Insert purpose here: ___________

So let's take a different perspective on the new iPhone release. From an engineering standpoint: This thing is a marvel! The iPhone has never been able to accommodate 32GB of storage, the iPod Touch has but there isn't a PHONE inside the iPod Touch. From early reports the new iPhone has a 600 Mhz processor (up from 412 Mhz) and 256 MB of RAM (up from 128 MB). The battery life, while not making a huge leap forward, has stayed the SAME or in most cases increased even with the faster processor. The new camera is better and shoots video. There are also several other features I won't get into (such as the new magnetometer) that all fit into almost the exact same form factor. This is also a smart business (as well as environmental) move seeing as all the bajillion accessories out there will still work with the new version. All this while still retaining the same price points.

I think you will admit that it took a lot of engineers a ridiculous amount of time to improve this thing so that you can surf Facebook faster and fire up Mew-mew Tower in less time. Our hats should be off to them. The iPhone is simply falling in step with the other products in Apple's lineup. New laptops get a processor boost, slight improvements here and there, a new unibody, a new SD slot, etc. The main point of these products is their FUNCTIONALITY!! Everything you do on an everyday basis can be easily handled by these incredible modern machines. Even these "spec bumps and slight improvements" take a massive amount of time, energy, and innovation.

Can you make calls and listen to voicemail on the iPhone? Youbetcha! Can you send texts? Yup! (even MMS by the "end of summer") Can you surf the Internet? Yessiry. Can you get emails and push notifications? Affirmative. Can you take pictures and upload them to Flickr? Si! Can you download fart apps and impress your friends? Perhaps. They are very few features lacking here. Sure, I understand the Palm Pre can multitask but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you don't need to multitask nearly as much as you think you do.

There are pros and cons to every single phone on the market right now. There always will be. Most differences are superficial and come down to something as fickle as personal taste. The reason we are all having such a conversation about this in the first place is because of how important cell phones and technology are in the world today. Consumers demand nothing but the very best because it is of dire importance to their lives.

All I ask is that you step back and remember how things were ten years ago. We got along fine then and we're getting along just fine now. Take a deep breath and go pet a kitty.






Mew!

Gotta look good in my bikini!

Summer is almost upon us! I better drop some weight before Kate dumps me for an (early) twenty-something. So here's a nice boring log for the next 4 weeks. I'm going to record how much I exercise and any other points of interest. I'll make this more entertaining as I go along but I just wanted to get something up tonight before I start forgetting what I've done.

Weigh-in: 224 pounds (eek!)

Monday, May 18th - Rode Albus (the Schwinn Evolution indoor bike) for 62 minutes, Rode Liu (the skateboard) for about 45 minutes. Ate vegetarian.
Tuesday, May 19th - Rode Albus for 62 minutes. Ate vegetarian.
Wednesday, May 20th - Rode Albus for 45 minutes. Rode Liu for 75 minutes. Ate vegetarian.
Thursday, May 21st - Worked SLO Farmers' Market (4 hours of non-stop action). Moved several hundred pounds of architectural materials into Chumash. Ate vegetarian
Friday, May 22nd - Snapped my vegetarian streak with a turkey sandwich at Gus's. Went wine tasting at Saucelito Canyon with Kate, Sarah, and Nicole. Attended "Rise and Run" the Cal Poly 5th year architecture show (amazing). Not much exercise to speak of besides walking a lot.
Saturday, May 23rd - Photo shoot with Sabina. Cleaned the house. Dinner with the Bartons and Wes (Sushi at Yanagi, yum!). Obviously did not eat vegetarian.
Sunday, May 24th - Finally got back on Albus for 60 minutes. Walked to Cal Poly and then to Cal Park and back. Did not eat vegetarian due to a delicious Bon Temp Andouille Sausage.

Weigh-in: 223 pounds (slightly less eek!)

Monday, May 25th - Kate and I recovered from our exhaustion from the past week with 11 hours of sleep. Great BBQ at Eric's. Terminator Salvation followed.
Tuesday, May 26th - Walked for 45 minutes. Rode Albus for 60 minutes. Ate vegetarian.
Wednesday, May 27th -
Thursday, May 28th - Worked Farmers' Market.
Friday, May 29th - Went to Cal Poly Spring Show Dance Concert.
Saturday, May 30th - Rode Albus for 62 minutes. Saw Pixar's new movie "Up".
Sunday, May 31st - Rode Albus for 45 minutes.

Weigh-in:

Monday, June 1st -
Tuesday, June 2nd -
Wednesday, June 3rd -
Thursday, June 4th - Worked Farmers' Market. Great fun at Novo.
Friday, June 5th - Went to "Alchemy" at Cal Poly. No exercise :-(
Saturday, June 6th - Rode Albus for 60 minutes.
Sunday, June 7th - Rode Wendy for 10+ miles

Weigh-in:

Monday, June 8th -
Tuesday, June 9th - Finished week long binge of Sarah Connor Chronicles
Wednesday, June 10th - Rode Wendy to work and back. 10+ miles
Thursday, June 11th -
Friday, June 12th -
Saturday, June 13th - Kate graduates!
Sunday, June 14th - Party in Camarillo!

"The Lust" Rears Its Beautiful Cyclindrical Head!

Just because I haven't posted anything about my ongoing "gadget lust war" doesn't mean it isn't raging on people!

Look at this little bastard. He's all cute and shaped like a pen. Nope!
He's got a little ARM9 processor for a brain, an infrared camera in the tip, a badass microphone, a pretty loud speaker, and even a screen built into the side. Not just an ordinary pen. The "LiveScribe Pulse" (as some moron in marketing named it) uses a microdot system on special paper (which is surprisingly affordable at $5 a notebook) to sync up your notes with the recording e.g. While in your English class you start an enumerated list of things to study for in the upcoming test. The teacher is talking quite quickly and you are struggling to keep up. You think you have written everything down but three days later you come back to your notes and 6.) looks like it's written in Farsi. All you do is tap the pen to the paper where 6.) is and the pen will playback the audio at that exact moment in class where the teacher spoke that item.

So what you say? Well I kinda agree with you and truth be told the lust has already come and gone. I will be strong and it won't be this little guy that pushes me over the edge. But perhaps without you dear readers I would be $200 in the hole now?

What was the initial allure though? I've been looking for a quick way to reference, index, and backup everything I write (because I like to write) and nothing was really working for me. While I was in China the first time I kept a little Moleskine with tons of notes and thoughts about everything. Those books are hard to beat. I bet most of you would agree. It still pains me to this day but in one of my many college moves my little journal completely disappeared. I've looked everywhere (and for several years). It would have been nice to "backup" those notes I took by syncing them to a computer. The physical object would still be there but in case it is ever lost at least there is a digital copy (which I am very aware can be lost as well).

This backup scheme is a similar (fallacious?) argument to the "your house is on fire. What do you take with you?" scenario. Moms usually answer, "the boxes/books of photos." I think most people now would simply say, "My laptop." Photos, music, notes, documents, etc. They all have digital homes now. I think it is one of the better aspects of computing (minus nasty hard drive failures) and keeps homes a little less cluttered and eco-friendly.

Anyway, even though I never had a laptop in college I STILL wouldn't be caught dead with one in a lecture. I just like how easy it is to write by hand. Notebooks are cheap and easily replaceable. Maybe it's just my generation who thinks you are a dork if you bring a laptop to a lecture hall (Legally Blonde didn't fool anyone!) but they are becoming more and more common. Even a sexy Macbook Air or Vaio P weighs more than a few pieces of paper (there's a slight price difference as well) and needs to be plugged in every 3 hours.

But really to get to the heart of the matter (why I think the Pulse is pretty sweet in theory) we must go back into my childhood to understand this gadget lust.


I always loved to record things. This little fella to the right I believe came out the same year I was born. All of you who have experienced the awesomeness know there is nothing that can compare. It's like playing Super Mario Brothers. You know the graphics suck but it's a classic and there is absolutely nothing that can take its place.


Enter 1993 and this little piece of crap.
One of the first (and last) times I was completely duped by Hollywood advertising. It was originally designed as a non-working prop for Home Alone 2 but "it was made into a retail version, brought on by a massive letter-writing campaign by young fans of the film." I was not one of those "young fans" but I did get it for Christmas and was mildly thrilled. Now the Talkboy didn't really have anything on the old Fisher Price except for its size, portability, and doofy "extending" microphone. I think I broke mine in less than a year. The one cool feature it did have was pitch shifting. Still, again with the slight nostalgia. I was 12 years old.

The rest of my tale isn't that exciting. I had a microcassette recorder in high school which basically just succeeded in embarrassing several people I felt like messing with. My recording career got its first big break with Gary Miyasaki's Yamaha MT4X four track recorder at the end of high school. God I loved that thing! I realized in recording and mastering the "Dresdens" album in 1999 that this would be sort of fun to do all the time and that I was at least slightly good at it.

My third year of college (after two years of recording really funny stuff on my newly purchased four track with my good friend Jimmy) I moved up to the big boys: ProTools 6 with a wide array of State Owned (and locked up) microphones ranging in price from $100 to several thousand dollars. Now this was all well and good but I completely lost portability in all those years. I never got a pocket digital recorder because the audio quality completely sucked compared to the stuff I was working with at the time. Portable DATs are WAY too expensive (even now). I also take really good notes so didn't need to record lectures. Plus who wants to deal with a huge 2 hour unlabeled wav file on Calculus??

So it's not really rational to want the "LiveScribe Pulse" purely for the audio recording itself (minus nostalgia and nerdiness) unless you count the referencing ability that renders that aforementioned 2 hour wav file completely usable and linked to visual notes. However, the fact that you can sync your hand written notes to a PC or Mac and index them is VERY seductive. If I have a huge notebook full of writing and I can simply type "Husserl's founding of Phenomenology" into my computer and find exactly on what page I wrote it but then can also copy and paste those notes into a paper I'm writing then I'm one happy little philosopher. The Pulse does not have OCR yet but there is a search function built into the software. Unlike most things and food, Technology and Jazz Musicians often improve with time!

Again, I may take my own advice in my gadget article and wait for a newer and better version to come out (I hear the Pulse 2 is powered by blowing into it). The important thing to note here I guess is that technology is capable of "improving" things as simple as a pen. This should make you afraid.

Hey Kate!
If I buy you one of these things will you get me the other two for Christmas?

A Smaller Post

This blog was originally intended for me to give updates on my health goals with sprinkles of other commentaries now and then. It seems to have turned into the opposite! Several Homeric articles (that only a brave few dare read) and no information on how the whole health thing is going. Well today I'm going to change it around! Prepared to be bored!

Sunday: Rode my bike around SLO (15.82 miles)
Monday: Rode my bike to work and back (10.28 miles)
Tuesday: Rode my bike to work and back plus 35 minute lunch ride (18.44 miles)
(update: I'll just keep adding to this post as the week goes on)
Wednesday: Rode my bike to work and back (10.28 miles)

Running total for this week: 54.82 miles

Since the construction on Broad makes it pretty dangerous to ride there (not to mention that I've popped 3 tubes now because of all the metal in the road) I took a suggestion from my friend Ben to ride a different route. Although it adds almost 1.5 miles to my round trip ride it is much safer and WAY more scenic. The route wasn't possible last year because a clutch piece of construction off of Orcutt wasn't finished. Here's a graphic for those with reading disabilities.


Yes, my architecture friends! I did use Illustrator to draw those beautiful paths!

Muenster Cheese. I like it. Had no idea it was American.

From the Muenster Cheese article at Wikipedia:

Muenster cheese is an American cheese, vaguely related to the French Munster cheese. The name Muenster is derived from a English transliteration of Münster, a city in Germany. The original name of the French cheese comes from alsatian abbey of Munster in the vosgian mountains. Munster simply means monastery, altered from latin monasterium.

Muenster cheese is a smooth textured cheese with an orange rind and a white interior. This washed-rind cheese is made from cows’ milk. The orange color is derived from vegetable coloring. It usually has a very mild flavor and smooth, soft texture. In some cases, when properly aged, it can develop a strong flavor with a pungent aroma. This cheese is commonly served as an appetizer. Because it melts well, it is also often used in dishes such as grilled cheese sandwiches, tuna melts, and cheeseburgers.

What would it take to "green" the computer industry?

I've had several questions in regards to the "tongue biting" in my last post about how computers are presented in The Story of Stuff. Just so I didn't make a total ass of myself I went back and watched the entire video just to make sure my comments below were framed in the proper context (I hadn't watched the whole movie from front to back in about a year since it is over 20 minutes long). For those of you who would rather skip the viewing (long or short) here is the first section on computers (at 13:10 in, under the Consumption heading) quoted in its entirety, and checked by me, from the footnoted script (located here).

"I opened up a big desk top computer to see what was inside. And I found out that the piece that changes each year is just a tiny little piece in the corner. But you can’t just change that one piece, because each new version is a different shape, so you gotta chuck the whole thing and buy a new one."

Where did she (Annie Leonard, the "host" of the video) get this information? It seems that she attended a workshop called "The Literal and Figurative Story of the Computer" in 2005 sponsored by the Environmental Grantmakers Association in Mohonk, New York. You can find a full description of the course (from the original 2005 webpage) here. Or you can just read the best part right now:

The many inner parts of computers are rarely seen, touched or understood—here’s your chance. Computers are manufactured and disposed of all over the world, and the global impacts are stunning. E-waste is toxic (contributing 70% of the nation’s hazardous wastes) and the volume is rising—three times faster than any other source of municipal waste. Meanwhile, more than half a billion obsolete personal computers sit idle in closets and basements around the world. What should we do with them? Come grab a screwdriver and hear about the life cycle of the computer and promising solutions for reducing both the volume and toxicity of electronic waste through the patchwork of state and global initiatives.

Seeing as this was late 2005 maybe we can give Annie somewhat of a break. This course seems to have its heart in the right place and the presenters seemed to be extremely intelligent from their bio blurbs. Perhaps her oversimplification is meant simply to make a point and get me to write this post about it. I would venture to say that E-waste is probably much, much, much worse in 2009 (although I don't have the research at hand to justify this claim). I think most people would agree with me unless there is a new form of municipal waste that streaked to the #1 spot. I've recently noticed it's even become fashionable (more on this later) to have 2-3 computers. One or two of these would be at home (desktop and/or laptop, media center, etc.) and the other is a netbook/lifestyle PC/ultraportable that fits into a small bag. I can't see this trend REDUCING waste. But before I really start to comment let's look at the second half of Annie's story.

This section of the movie (at 14:11 in) deals with the "fashion side" of computing.

I’ve have had the same fat white computer monitor on my desk for 5 years. My co-worker just got a new computer. She has a flat shiny sleek flat screen monitor. It matches her computer, it matches her phone, even her pen stand. She looks like she is driving in space ship central and I look like I have a washing machine on my desk.

This is what most people would define as "perceived obsolesence." I think the single greatest example of this in computing / gadgetry is the iPod. Say what you want about Apple but you have to hand it them in the marketing department. Usually a new product rev makes the front page of local newspapers. These things are HIGHLY visible. As for "perceived"...you can tell instantly how "hip" someone is by their iPod. If you saw a chick rocking a pink iPod Mini at the gym you would laugh your ass off. Don't lie to me.

Let's take a step back though and look at the big picture. We are talking about computers here but it is easy to see that this issue is social, political, economical, philosophical, psychological, etc. There isn't an easy fix for this problem. Freud and Bernaise helped create a monster. Those of you who know what I'm talking about can nod your heads slowly and for the rest of you...I'm not a talented enough writer to explain it quickly.

Now let's narrow our focus again. Computers (we'll just say laptops and desktops for now) change all the time. Some of the changes are small (a processor bump from 2.0 GHz to 2.1 GHz for example). Some of them are "large" (like the new Nehalem microarchitecture that integrates the memory controller and eliminates the need for a front side bus). Some of them are just related to power (the battery in new 17" Macbook Pro for example). Annie Leonard completely understates the complexities of computer evolution. Everything is changing, not just the "piece in the corner."

But the question remains: How on earth could we make this industry green? The short answer: we can't (at least not in its present form). In our current free market economy it makes sense to make things highly fashionable and ready for the dump. How else can these giant corporations survive otherwise? If those corporations go bankrupt (by say a complete consumer blackout) what happens to all the employees? How do those newly unemployed people vote? Is the crime rate affected? etc.

The brainstorm that follows is by no means meant to be comprehensive. This is a blog, a sketchpad for ideas. I am literally writing this as I think things up (with very little editing). Take it with a grain of salt.

• Standardization - Why are there nine thousand adapters for cell phone charging? Why doesn't Intel and AMD agree on the same socket size so that regardless of size or power consumption of the "piece in the corner" it would be easy to replace with upgrades? There need to be standards for development that everyone can agree to and move forward with. I don't think anyone would feel threatened by moving all cell phone charging and data transfer to a mini-usb plug?? Would you lament that stupid iPod/iPhone plug for even a second upon its future demise? Would everyone be alright with AMD and Intel becoming one giant super-corporation though? Macs and PCs becoming one and the same?
  
• Consolidation - I just hinted at this. One brand of computer, One OS (and its not Linux), One type of processor, One God, One Currency, One Government! EEK! It scares me even thinking about it (except the Linux part) but some of it has merit from a "green" standpoint whether you like it or not. If there were no free-market competition you have to admit that waste tonnage and emissions would plummet. Perhaps innovation (and numerous other things) would as well? At least there would be no need for sexy marketing campaigns because you would literally have only one brand to choose from. Perceived Obsolescence would stop all together (especially if things were designed to last as long as possible). If you were allowed one government issued laptop every five years (and were heavily charged to replace it) think how much would change.
  
• Less Emphasis - Jesus! Does everyone need their own personal computer? I'll donate mine back. I work with them all the time and I'm getting to the point of over-saturation. I'm ready to be a cave dwelling ascetic. For the sake of productivity and human progress we are spending countless hours learning, buying the latest book, maintaining, and backing up computers. While there are some fields were computing is absolutely essential there are other fields where it is a nuisance. There are also no alternatives. How could anyone hope to get through college without their own computer? It's next to impossible.
  
• Internet based services - We're getting to the point where it doesn't matter what computer or OS you are using. You have access anywhere (well...) to your web calendar, bookmarks, email, etc. If the trend continues think about how easy it would to......
• Socialize Computing! - You didn't think I would say it did you? Well I did. If the coffee shop already had computers there (state issued of course....oops maybe I should have said "Coffee Distribution Center") then why would you need to drag around your $899 doofy little tribal tattooed underpowered netbook PC?? Your state issued girlfriend wasn't really all that impressed anyway. If your data was backed up and protected by a well designed online system you wouldn't have to buy that extra hard/flash drive or optical media. Again, waste would be reduced. True it would be harder to watch porn and not get caught....damn it! Lost 75% of you right there.
  

I'll make two final points.

1. It seems there could be an endpoint on some things in the computer industry. Microsoft Word can only launch so fast. Phones can only get so tiny. These things still revolve around humans with hands and eyeballs (for now!). As long as we are flesh and bone with normal human brains there will be a point where exponential jumps in computing power will only be needed for niche researching (and gaming of course!). When all the marketers have been shot and no one can tell or care what year something came out in we might be in a better place then we are right now.
2. Computers actually ALREADY help the environment in some ways. We should push for expansion in these areas. Think of how many physical CD sales the iTunes Store (or Pirate Bay) prevented. Think of how much software was downloaded instead of burned onto optical media and packaged into cardboard boxes surrounded in plastic. Think of how many physical manuals were made into PDFs and posted online. Think of how many photolabs went out of business because of digital cameras and social networking. Think (if people stopped printing things out needlessly) how much paper (in theory) was saved by people checking the news online, buying their books online, and participating in online banking and bill paying. I'm not saying these systems are perfect but they are "pregnant with a future."

Ok, I'm out of energy for now. I intend this to be an open ended conversation though. My rough thoughts are not meant to be the end by any means. There are countless things I left out, misinterpreted, or got just dead wrong. Please leave your comments below!

Update: Wow. Nice with the 0 comments people. Anyway, I thought of an additional item to add to my list above...

• Government Regulation - Yup. It seems to be the new American bon mot. As much as people seem to hate it most people would vote for it over Socialism (mostly because no one seems to know what Socialism the concept actually is). But getting to the point how would this affect the computer industry? How would it even be done? Well, our auto industry is regulated and most consumers seem to enjoy this. What if your laptop had to last a minimum of 10 hours without a recharge and had to come with a 5 year warantee? What if they could only release one revision of a computer every other year? What if companies that strived towards this goal of environmental stewardship were subsidized in order to cover operating expenses and keep them competitive? What if companies were fined heavily for using toxic materials in their computers? What if people only bought computers that had a transparent environmentally friendly manufacturing process? Well, this all sounds fine and dandy (some of it is already being done) but the other side has a tale to tell. Government intervention can be stiffling, kill innovations, slow down the free market economy, and become corrupt quickly. These things would have to guarded for as well. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? It is my own personal opinion that corporations will not behave themselves if left to their own devices when it comes to the environment. They think short term profits, are responsible to petty/small shareholders, and that tends to lead to corner cutting and recklessness when it comes to the environment. Government and the people need to keep these entities in check. If it becomes fashionable (which it is) and can be marketed Capitlism can be bent to do good. Look at Apple. After enormous public pressure (and some from Greenpeace as well) they started making even better products (while still being guilty of every capitalistic flaw, especially perceived obsolescence. No one can blame them for that though in the current paradigm). When people vote with their money companies begin to listen. The problem is that they get real good about fooling us regular blokes with slogans, smoke, and mirrors. Do your research people!.....oh, and read my post on gadgets. That'll help too!