Mobile Dad

Just say no

Apple iPad has fired up an industry that dragged it’s feet for the last decade. The reason why tablets sucked in the past was the fact that they were old dogs with cheap new tricks.  UI, software and hardware that did not work as a unified experience prevented mainstream folks to grasp the need for such distinctive products.  What made it worse were hybrid products like the one to the left that confused the public and gave a false sense of security with a keyboard and touchpad to keep the mindset deeply rooted into a laptop mentality, far from what a tablet is trying to achieve.  Sadly I wish the product to the left was from the past but unfortunately it is an upcoming release from Panasonic.  It is just another reminder that PC vendors still do not get it.  Thank goodness for Apple and Microsoft.

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Being a bleeding edge kind of guy, I typically have a lot of first gen tech that gathers dust in my closet or handed down to my children.  That is the nature of buying edge products, you basically pay a premium to beta test a product that will be updated under 13 months with features requested at a lower cost (mostly).  I do not have a problem with that, well actually my wife at times does but thankfully she gets me and understand why I have to take the plunge.

It is a rarity that a product long forgotten be allowed to join the ranks of it’s updated brothers and sisters and still be part of the tech race.  So it was wonderful to see Sony do just that for my aging PRS-500 reader:

We recognize that you were one of the first to take the digital reading leap with Sony. As part of our commitment to providing an open solution to our customers, we are excited to inform you we will be converting the current eBook format to the industry-standard ePub format. This will occur at The eBook Store from Sony in mid-December, 2009.

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Sony has created a firmware update for your Reader, allowing it to remain compatible with the new eBook Store format. This update will allow your PRS-500 to support the ePub and Adobe DRM format and add the ability to re-flow PDF documents.

Due to the nature of the work required, you will need to send your PRS-500 Reader to the Sony Service Centers for updating. Sony will pay the postage and have your Reader back to you within 14 days.

Re-flow PDF documents, oh how those words warms my heart.  I will ship my Reader back to Sony and await for it’s return.  Thank you Sony for rewarding those who were willing to take the bleeding edge plunge.

Here is the link for those who are in the same boat as me.

Image from Electricpig.co.uk

Now granted I arrived to the iphone 3G a bit late in the game so it was expected that the shelf life of my phone would be fairly short.  I just did not expect it to be six months short!  Rumors are flying fast around the tubes about a possible hardware refresh of the much loved iphone.  With talks of the background notification for apps, Adobe Flash support, and maybe even video phone capabilities, much requiring a potential hardware update, it may be time for this boy to start saving his pennies again when the time comes to buy yet another new phone. continue reading…

Could it be true? T-Mobile will launch the over-the-air update that will include the now merged cupcake branch?
http://www.googleandblog.com/g1-cupcake-update-released/3612/

The other day I was required to update my insurance information. I find it interesting that in this day and age we are still using paper as our primary mode of information exchange with regards to personal data. With the cost of healthcare spinning out of control, one must wonder where are the oppertunities to help aliviate the bleeding. If I look at it on a personal, I see the paper trail as a massive drag on cost. Think about that for a minute on the number of hands that will need to touch my record. From the person who transfers my paper information to the people that manages the accounts of a region. We are not even talking about the number of hands that touch my record during a doctor’s visit or when I fill out a prescription. Now take one individual’s data and multiply that by tens of millions. One sheet of paper enacts a process of wasteful spending that though I worry about, have no solution for. Why? Because to aliviate that cost factor will require the removal of countless hands and elevated unemployment.

So as I sat and waited, I accept the necessary need to perform this task. Adding tech is not always a possibility when trying to mobilize a society.