Politics and Hypocrisy

More Bad News For South Dakota Gadget Nuts

Being a gadget nut like me in South Dakota isn’t always easy. Having a population as a state smaller than most urban cities means that technology usually passes us by until everyone else has long since adopted and been using it for years. The iPhone is a perfect case in point.

We are one of the few areas that AT&T deems unworthy of providing service to and because of Apple’s exclusive contract with the cell phone provider, we were left to wait until that agreement expired in 2009 for any hope that we could get Apple’s cell phone crown jewel from a provider that actually services South Dakota.

Did I say 2009? Shame on me, or should I say shame on Apple and AT&T.

In an overlooked USA Today article from Friday, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson and “insider sources” quietly all but confirmed that the company has retained exclusive rights to the iPhone until 2010. The previous exclusivity agreement with Apple had AT&T retaining the rights until 2009. The article implies AT&T managed to negotiate the extension thanks in part to the subsidized $200/$300 iPhone 3G’s it’s eating by the hundreds of thousands right now.

Well at least the now increased to 2 year wait will mean I can renew with my current carrier and not have to worry about any early cancellation fee’s that would have been associated with moving to another provider. Thanks AT&T and Apple!

Won’t Win You Friends

This item, while funny to those that aren’t sitting (if you know what I mean) when they discover it, probably won’t win you new friends unless of course they have a very good sense of humor.

To gain access to the toliet paper you’ll have to work out how to undo the puzzle first. Just make sure you know how to undo the Don’t Pee Me Off before you feel the need to go.

(h/t - Gizmodo)

Good Luck

As D-day for the release of the iPhone 3G is now upon us, I wanted to wish good luck to all those waiting outside of their local Apple stores, I hope you aren’t stuck having to get a white one because the black ones have already sold out (we all know the black ones are so much cooler).

What’s that, you don’t have an Apple Store? No problem, then good luck at your local AT&T retailer.

What, you say there are none of those either?

Let’s see, no Apple Store and AT&T doesn’t provide service, where are you South Dakota?

Yep.

Nevermind…

Added Thoughts - Considering all 3 members of South Dakota’s Congressional delegation voted to give AT&T retroactive immunity in the recently signed FISA legislation, don’t you think it would only be fair for them to spend some of the millions that they will be saving in civil judgments and legal fees to build some infrastructure in South Dakota? I think our elected leaders scratched their back pretty well, how about returning the favor.

Evening Update: I’d say I felt sorry for the thousands who waited hours for their shiny new toys only to have Apple’s servers crash under the load not allowing them to activate, but then I would be lying.

Where Do I Sign?

I am a huge fan of satellite radio and have had it for almost 5 years with Sirius being my provider of choice. Anyone that must drive any distance in South Dakota will realize that it is a must have to keep your sanity so when someone offers free service for life, I am there! Unfortunately with most freebie’s there is fine print and in this case the free radio just happens to be mounted in a 2009 Lamborghini Murciélago with a MSRP of $392,400.

Ok, so maybe I’m not there.

Unbelievable Stat Of The Day

According to a University of Hertfordshire study, the average 14 to 24 year old has over 800 illegally obtained songs on their iPod.

Teenagers and students have an average of more than 800 illegally copied songs each on their digital music players, the largest academic survey of young people’s music ownership has found.

And

The average digital music player carries 1,770 songs, meaning that 48 per cent of the collection is copied illegally. The proportion of illegally downloaded tracks rises to 61 per cent among 14 to 17-year-olds. In addition, 14 per cent of CDs (one in seven) in a young person’s collection are copied.

2 items from this story stick out. First I am surprised at the apparent lack of concern from today’s youth over the obvious theft that they are perpetrating and much more amazing to me, how can anyone find 1700 songs that they would want to put on their iPod? I have just under 400 (all legal by the way) and a majority of those I never listen to…

Big Flippin’ Deal!

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the coming of the iPhone take 2 otherwise know as the 3G iPhone today at WWDC (Apple Worldwide Developers Conference).

Coming July 11th

Apple Introduces the New iPhone 3G

Twice as Fast at Half the Price

SAN FRANCISCO, June 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today introduced the new iPhone(TM) 3G, combining all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that is twice as fast* as the first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK. In the US the new iPhone 3G is priced at a stunning $199 for the 8GB model, and just $299 for the 16GB model.** iPhone 3G will be available in more than 70 countries later this year, beginning with customer availability in 22 countries — Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US — on July 11.

“Just one year after launching the iPhone, we’re launching the new iPhone 3G that is twice as fast at half the price,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPhone 3G supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync right out of the box, runs the incredible third party apps created with the iPhone SDK, and will be available in more than 70 countries around the world this year.”

iPhone 3G gives users ever faster access to the Internet and email over their cellular network with quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA for voice and data connectivity around the world. iPhone 3G supports Wi-Fi, 3G and EDGE
networks and automatically switches between them to ensure the fastest possible download speeds. The new iPhone 3G also makes it easier to multi-task with simultaneous voice and data communications, so with iPhone 3G you can browse the web, get map directions, or check your email while you are on a call.

iPhone 3G includes the new iPhone 2.0 software with both the iPhone SDK and key enterprise features such as support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide over-the-air push email, contact and calendar syncing as well as remote wipe and Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to corporate networks. The iPhone SDK allows developers to create amazing applications that leverage the iPhone’s groundbreaking Multi-Touch(TM) user interface, animation technology, accelerometer and GPS technology on the world’s most advanced mobile platform.

iPhone 3G includes the new App Store, providing iPhone users with native applications in a variety of categories including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. The App Store on iPhone works over cellular networks and Wi-Fi, which means it is accessible from just about anywhere, so you can purchase and download applications wirelessly and start using them instantly. Some applications are even free and the App Store notifies you when application updates are available. The App Store will be available in 62 countries at launch.

Additional features available with the iPhone 2.0 software include the ability to do real-time mapping and track your progress with GPS technology, mass move and delete multiple email messages, search for contacts, access a new scientific calculator, turn on parental control restrictions for specified content, save images directly from a web page or email them to your iPhone and easily transfer them back to your photo library on your Mac(R) or PC. iPhone 3G delivers an amazing 10 hours of talk time on 2G networks and 5 hours using 3G, with up to 5 to 6 hours of web browsing, up to 7 hours for video playback and up to 24 hours for audio playback.

iPhone 3G takes advantage of MobileMe(TM), a new Internet service that pushes email, contacts, and calendars from an online “cloud” to native applications on iPhone, iPod(R) touch, Macs and PCs. With MobileMe email, messages are pushed instantly to iPhone, removing the need to manually check email and wait for downloads, and push keeps contacts and calendars continuously up-to-date so changes made on one device are automatically updated on other devices. With iPhone, you can even snap a photo and post it directly to a MobileMe Gallery to share with friends and family.

iPhone 3G will be available in the US on July 11 for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 8GB model and $299 (US) for the 16GB model in both Apple and AT&T’s retail stores and requires a new two year contract with AT&T for qualifying customers. iPhone 2.0 software will be available on July 11 as a free software update via iTunes(R) 7.7 or later for all iPhone customers. For further information about iPhone 3G pricing and availability in the US and internationally, visit http://www.apple.com/iphone.

* Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site conditions.

** Based on iPhone 3G (8GB) and first generation iPhone (8GB) purchases. Requires new two year AT&T rate plan, sold separately.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.
Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its
award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple’s PR website (http://www.apple.com/pr/), or call Apple’s Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042.

(C) 2008 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iPhone, Multi-Touch, MobileMe, iPod and iTunes are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

And as usual, because of Apple’s exclusive deal with AT&T, those of us in South Dakota will again miss out on this new toy.

Hey Steve, do you really want to impress me? How about making it available to those of us that AT&T has deemed unworthy?

Sorry Mr Gates, I’ve Had Enough

You may or may not have noticed that things here were awful quiet yesterday. For months I have been fighting a very temperamental Microsoft Vista PC that often would not shut down, wouldn’t let me install programs or drivers, and just was a general pain in the a**. All during those months I had been burning up Google looking for fixes for my troubles only to find out that my problems were minor compared to many.

To make a long story shorter. I had held out hope that SP1 for Vista would fix the long list of issues with this operating system and yesterday after attempting to update Quicken only to have it corrupted to the point where it would no longer load, I decided to set aside some time to get and install SP1 after reading awhile back that it had finally been released. 4 hours later (only a 65mb file) I finally got SP1 installed and after a number of reboots I was finally ready to put it through it’s paces.

To my utter disgust, none of the issues I had originally were fixed, it still wouldn’t shut down, I still couldn’t load software, and new to the list, all my user settings including my iTunes library had disappeared. To put the icing on the cake, the PC now ran so slow that it was pretty much useless.

Ok, so what was plan B? I figured I should go back to the point before installing SP1, at least the PC was usable. So I went to Windows restore to go back to the restore point that I had set before the upgrade and of course I discovered that not only had that restore point disappeared, every one that I once had was now gone! Thank you Bill Gates, may I have another?

I had hoped that Microsoft had learned from Windows ME that rushing a product to market and then expecting it’s users to wait patiently for them to fix it once it was released would not fly. Obviously I was wrong so Mr Gates, my latest hair pulling experience with one of your products will be my last. I did something yesterday evening that at one time I said I would never do, I bought a Mac…

iPhone Going 3 G

Those that have read this blog for awhile probably know by now my obsession with Apple’s iPhone and news that the newest 3G version could be released as soon as late next month has me salivating.

According to cellpassion, AT&T’s pulling a similar move as Apple did last year, disallowing any employee vacations for a period from June 15 to July 12. If this is true, there’s only one reason why AT&T would do this: the 3G iPhone.

What’s that you say, we can’t get the iPhone in South Dakota? Nevermind…

Shameless Advertising

Just a bit of shameless advertising here to let my handful of readers know that I am selling my prized Microsoft Zune MP3/Video player on eBay. Along with everything Microsoft includes I am also including an extra sync cable, a leather case with belt clip, and a Belkin Tunebase car charger with FM transmitter.

If you’ve been wanting a large capacity (30gb) portable MP3 player now is your chance at a fraction of the cost. Check it out and feel free to bid as I need to pay off it’s replacement because unfortunately most of Bush’s incentive check arriving next month will probably have to go towards paying for the $4 a gallon gas that is coming around the same time.

What did I get to replace this you ask?

So how cool is that? It’s an iPhone minus the phone also known as the iPod Touch. Why not an iPhone? I would have loved to get one but as I have documented here numerous times, AT&T doesn’t think us South Dakotan’s would would like such cool toys, too bad.

What Took So Long?

Some ideas take forever to come out and when they do they are so obvious and useful you just have to say, what took so long? You know, iPods, cell phones, sliced bread, peanut butter and jelly…

Of course with others you might say, it should have taken longer. I am not quite sure which category this falls into but it is interesting just the same.

(h/t - gizmodo)