Posts by The Graphite Raven

If there ever was a case to wait for the next generation ...

... the iPad is it, particularly for one who already has an iPhone (and yes, a shiny new iPhone 4, too).

The screen in the iPhone 4 is such a revelation that I would be quite reluctant to sit and stare at an iPad all day with the decreased resolution. The extra RAM in the iPhone 4 also make operation a pleasure rather than the increasingly sluggish experience it was on my 3G.

I'll consider the iPad only with a that Retina Display and an extra 256MB (at least) of RAM. THEN the device will be truly magical.

Though I still would probably pick one up in the US - have to love that 20pc VAT soon!

Stability and superior functionality at last!

When I decided to become homeless for a season and wander the world I took full advantage of iTools, then .Mac and the webmail was simple but worked beautifully wherever I went.

Then came MobileMe and the webmail interface was one giant FAIL. The damn thing would refresh at odd times and I lost more than one e-mail draft. People who used my iDisk reported random access problems and the whole thing looked pretty but insanely useless.

The stability improved over the past six months (though the Mail beta was tres buggy).

But this morning I'm happy to see the web-based MobileMe services rock-solid in Safari and Firefox. The interface is lovely, responsive and intelligently laid-out.

Huzzah!

This smacks of a technology experiment ...

... not a serious exploration of a new business model and a new settlement between readers of single issues, subscribers, advertisers and the publisher.

Old habits die hard? Sorry, but old habits are dead. I live in London and have a devil of a time finding a well-stocked newsagent (though those damn Wired bills are everywhere). Borders closed last Christmas and who actually wants to browse anything at Smiths?

I love the magazine culture that arose in the US and Britain in the early 1800's, but surely it's as dead as a doornail? The distribution points will inexorably diminish for quality titles and the whole notion of a printed volume circulated every month will fall away. Frankly, it has already.

Conde Nast should pour their gazillions into a technology news and features offering that publishes limited content on the web and sell subscriptions to "magazine"-quantity feature pieces on everyone's favourite iOS device.

Without a strong editorial POV and quality writing, Wired is just a passé POS.

How does this compare to the O2 plans and pricing?

I'd love to move from my venerable 3G to the iPhone 4, but these plans are madness incarnate. The occult symbols on Knock's papers in the Murnau Nosferatu are easier to decipher than O2's website.

So for my £35 per month, how much is an iPhone 4 on O2 vs Orange vs everyone else? Or haven't O2 published the up-front prices for the thing yet?

Telecommunications is such a nasty racket ...