The "i" of the iPhone

The iPhone is a very nice cell phone. For being a first generation product, it is quite good. But it isn't perfect; there are still advancements that need to be made. Without considering the bugs that hinder user experience, let's simply consider the purpose of the iPhone and how well it meets its purpose. But first we must determine the meaning of the "i" that makes the phone distinctive.

The purpose of the "i" in Apple's products since the iMac has indicated that it is Internet friendly. The iMac and iBook line was all about ease of use on the Internet. But then came the iPod. Now the "i" stood for something else--the individual. The iPod is a product where the user can place customized lists of music, videos, pictures, and other information that meet their desires. The "i" in iPhone has taken a bit of both of these meanings.

The iPhone is Internet capable, but it also is able to function like an iPod. The "i" represents, I think, a blended meaning. The iPhone is geared up for the Internet with the individual in mind.

This sort of evolution of the "i" is important. It demonstrates the background out of which the iPhone came forth and is therefore necessary for how it ought to be understood and how it ought to work.

The iPhone ought to be understood as a product meant for the individual. It is highly customizable. It is adaptable. It has a camera and an mp3 player. It has a calendar. It has all these features and more that are user-friendly. The iPhone excels in this aspect of the "i".

The iPhone ought to be used to meet the individual's needs with the Internet in mind. It is applied well to user function, especially in respect to the camera, calendar, etc. But when the Internet is also taken into consideration, the "i" is not quite so focused.

The Internet on the iPhone struggles in many ways. Safari for the iPhone crashes way too easily. Safari cannot view some of the most standard features of the Internet, such as java, embedded videos, or flash videos. Download times are quite long due to the Edge network by AT&T. The Internet friendly features found on the computers are not an option on the phone, such as drag and drop photo saving. Safari cannot run in the background, so a site cannot begin to download and continue it in the background as an email is being written, for example. As far as the "i" is concerned with respect to its initial meaning, the iPhone falls short.

The iPhone really needs AT&T's 3G network in order to improve the user experience on the Internet. Safari also needs to be enabled for actual Internet experiences. When the iPhone came out, Apple boasted that on it you could view the actual Internet and not a mobile version. Such is not actually the case. Media rich web sites are more and more common, which means the iPhone is not capable of showing the majority of the Internet as it really is. It is going to need to incorporate Internet standards before it can really do a good job.

Until the iPhone receives a better Safari and network, users will benefit from web applications designed for the iPhone. What is ironic and annoying about this is the initial claim about the iPhone, that it views the real Internet, was not true and that it does benefit from mobile Internet. Web applications are iPhone specific mobile sites. The Internet through Safari can be quite annoying in overall experience without these web applications.

I don't know if the "i" is meant by Apple to mean Internet friendly anymore. Perhaps it only means individual friendly now. If such is the case, they have excelled with the one exception of allowing the Internet to irritate the individual while using Safari. Perhaps they should have an "i" on the Internet like they used to.

Problematic iPhones?

My wife has (or had) one of the first iPhones available. She got it nearly 1 year ago. She has been experiencing a lot of problems with it, as have several other friends who bought the iPhone when it first came out. It took Apple four or five months to work out the bugs, so when my wife bought my iPhone for me in December, I was fortunate enough to not experience the same difficulties.

What difficulties did she have? One bug was the camera not saving pictures that she would take. Another, the photo library on her iPhone would wipe out, leaving the screen a grayish white and the pictures would not be accessible. Other bugs, which even I have sometimes, include applications closing unexpectedly. I have found that media-rich web sites will likely cause Safari to close unexpectedly, especially BeenUp2.com. Also, her iPhone would no longer register on a computer. Nor would it register as being plugged in to an electrical source.

I told my wife to wait until the June software update comes out, but what she did instead was a better decision. She made the trip out to Arden Fair Mall and Apple replaced her phone. She was within the one year warranty and she had been experiencing these problems on an ongoing basis. I was able to fix her phone when she first came across the photo screen wipe by reformatting her phone, but since it was no longer responding, I could not reformat it for her this time. She did the right thing--she took it back to Apple. Their superb customer service kicked in gear and she walked out of their with a brand new iPhone replacing her old one.

If your iPhone is experiencing the same problems, perhaps you should consider taking it in to the nearest Apple store. As long as it is within the 1 year warranty, they should help you. They have very good customer service. I don't know why they wouldn't help.

Why Google Reader?

I began to use Google Reader recently to organize and read my RSS feeds. I used to use Safari, and I thought I would use Mail 3 when I got Leopard to view my feeds. Nothing was wrong with Safari, and Mail worked good too. But then I thought, "I could check these throughout the day while on my iPhone if I use Google Reader."

As a result, I switched to Google Reader. I can check them all throughout the day on my iPhone. Something interesting comes up, and when I have a moment to read, I check it out. I don't have to wait until I get home. Plus, Google Reader enables me to set up a blog roll, which you see in the right column of this blog. This comes as an advantage, for I used to have to manually update my own blog roll when I would add feeds to Safari, but now Google Reader does it for me.

Google Reader is nice also because it can be accessed anywhere--from any computer, phone, or gadget, provided the device is connected to the internet.

Overall, Safari and Mail have good RSS capabilities, but in terms of my own needs, Google Reader suits the job quite nicely.

Gmail's IMAP, Leopard

I know I have stated before that Gmail's IMAP didn't work very well with Tiger's Mail 2, but now I would like to update you on Leopard's Mail 3 and its use of Gmail's IMAP.

It works.

As I hoped, it works similarly as the iPhone Mail application. It updates appropriately and makes adjustments on my iMac when it checks for new mail. Now I don't have emails waiting for me at home that I have already seen and archived with my iPhone.

Time Capsule is Currently Incompatible with XBox Wireless

I have purchased Time Capsule for its wireless functionality. However, when I went to connect my Xbox 360 to the Time Capsule, I ran into some connection issues. My Xbox could not connect with the Time Capsule.

To the forums I went, and I found out some disheartening information. Time Capsule is currently incompatible with the Xbox wireless adapter. No one is able to use the Xbox wireless adapter with their Time Capsule unless they force Time Capsule to broadcast at 802.11b, and without WAP2 security. Since these two settings were undesirable, I decided to connect my Xbox with an Ethernet cord to my Time Capsule.

So who is to blame? Apple? No, Microsoft. The wireless adapter needs to be updated to support WAP2 security. Since it does not support that technology, I cannot secure my Time Capsule and play Xbox 360 Live at the same time. But WAP2 is a necessary technology. Former wireless security measures do not secure the network nearly as well. It is time for Microsoft to get their products up to date.

Upgraded to Leopard

It is going well so far. I have successfully upgrade my iMac, PowerBook and MacBook to Apple Mac OS X Leopard. I like Leopard a lot. Safari 3 seems to be faster in Leopard than in Tiger. I like the new desktop features--a new-looking dock and especially Stacks. Also, Quick Look in Finder is a very helpful deal. Time Machine has successfully backed up all three computers and my information is protected on a 1 TB Time Capsule. Mail seems to be doing just fine. I was having difficulties with Gmail's IMAP with Mail 2 in Tiger, but Mail 3 in Leopard seems to have it down good. It is still early on; there is plenty of time to find frustrations with this system. But overall it is going well and I am enjoying the upgrade.

Ready to Switch to Leopard

I am ready to switch to Apple's latest operating software, OS X Leopard. I would love to be able to do it right now, but I need to wait due to funding.

I am looking forward to a better Spotlight, from which I can launch applications and will no longer need Quicksilver, a third-party application. I am looking forward to the cool iChat and Mail features for viewing chat sessions and emails. I am looking forward to Quick Look. I am looking forward to a lot of stuff in Leopard, but most of all, I am looking forward to doing a trial run with Mail and Google Mail's IMAP.

So far, in Tiger, as I already reported, I am having issues with Mail and Gmail's IMAP. Mail does not update correctly. I will look at an email in my inbox on my iPhone, and the IMAP should show the email as already read, but when I get home, Mail has not updated and the message appears unread. A minor issue, but a pesky one still. I am hoping that Leopard will operate similarly as the iPhone, so that I won't give up on Mail altogether.

The 300+ features that come with Leopard will be nice. But most of all I am looking forward to testing out Mail and Gmail.

Goodbye, Mail, Hello, Gmail Notifier

I relented and decided to give up using Apple Mail in order to strictly use the browser-based Gmail.

The decision was based on the frustrating inconsistency of Apple Mail's handling of IMAP for Gmail. I have three places that I receive email--my PowerBook, iMac, and iPhone. They all check the same IMAP Gmail account. The reason why I use IMAP is so that I do not have to read a message as "unread" on all three mail viewers. Well, the iPhone use is perfect, but the Apple Mail's use on the PowerBook and iMac is far from it. They inconsistently update the connection with the Gmail server so that the emails are not synced. With Gmail Notifier I no longer have this problem, and I can use Gmail as my default email program.

Sorry, Apple. Until you can figure out how to get a better system working with Gmail's IMAP, I won't be using Mail. Perhaps you did fix the issue in Leopard, but I do not have that system yet. Bummer.

The New iPod Line-Up = Amazing

Apple introduced their new iPod line and it sure looks good. The Shuffle remains practically the same but the Nano has undergone some changes in appearance and size alongside the addition of video capabilities. The Classic has an all metal casing with two different drives--the 80 GB and now the 160 GB. New for the iPod line-up is the iPod Touch, which is quite similar to the iPhone in functionality and appearance, with the one major difference being the Touch can't make phone calls. The Touch does have Wi-Fi functionality, however. If you are in the market for something to listen to music and watch videos with, the Nano, Classic or Touch might be just right for you. Go check 'em out!

Mac OS X Leopard

Ten features of Apple's new operating software for the OS X line was previewed earlier this week (download the keynote presentation in Quicktime format by clicking here). Of the ten features--a new desktop, new Finder, addition of Quick Look, Time Machine and Spaces, changes to iChat, a modernized 64 bit setup, a built-in Boot Camp, an addition of Core Animation for developers, and more Dashboard functionality--I am most excited about the new desktop and Time Machine.

The new desktop is going to be sweet. All windows will look the same. The menu bar is going to be a little transparent so that the wallpaper can be seen beneath it. The "glass pane" that sits behind the dock is going to be three dimensional in Leopard so that the dock icons will sit on the "glass pane" instead of stand in front of it. The dock is going to have a new thing called "Stacks." Stacks will enable the desktop to have much less clutter and quick access to commonly used files and programs. Check out more information on the new desktop in Leopard by clicking here.

The program, Time Machine, will be most helpful. Right now, when I want to back up my computer, it is not exactly a fun and easy task. It also demands a little bit of time. However, with Time Machine, it will be automatic, nightly, hassle free and a peace of cake. It archives in such a way that no file, picture or song will ever be lost, and it won't create duplicates of the same files as it archives. What I plan on doing is purchase an Airport wireless router and connect my external hard drive to the router and then wirelessly back up all my computers using Time Machine on a nightly basis. Check out more information on Time Machine by clicking here.

Overall, Leopard looks very promising. Tiger had 200 new features over Jaguar; Leopard has 300 new features over Tiger. Wow. This OS will be a purchase that I must make!

For more details on Leopard, click here.

Safari: better than ever, now also for Windows

The new Safari browser that will be shipping with the latest version of OS X in October is quite nice. Tabs can be dragged around and re-ordered, and they can also be dragged out of the tab line to create new windows. Site downloads are quite quick. Spotlight works within Safari, which helps to find things within the web site much better than the old "Finder" pop-up window. What's most cool about it is that it is now available for Windows XP and Vista. Check out Safari 3 by clicking here.