Robert Paterson's Weblog

iPhone - Drooling

It is soooo cool - really an entire computer in a phone/iPod

I would not like to be Motorola today

iTunes Store & iPod Transforming Music Ownership

I love it! What I have been enjoying the most is following a thread of an idea. I watched De-Lovely the other night with Kevin Kline playing Cole Porter. So with CP's music on my brain, I have been able to search the site and create my own playlist of great songs. Many of these songs are played by many different artists in many different ways. With iTunes I have been able to customize my own playlist precisely to my own taste.

I recall with wonder visiting a friend years ago who had all of Ella Fitzgerald's music on 78's and LP's. It took him a lifetime and occupied a room in his house. Now I can have it all on my iPod and find any song I want in a moment.

The ease of purchase extends beyond merely a download to choice. The ease of storage extends beyond scale to organization.

Now I have to make the connections to my home stereo system and to the car system. How long will it take for the iPod to be not an add on but the centre of these systems?

iTunes in Canada

I wait and wait.
Any ideas?

Dina - Her Dell Story

Do Dell offer any worthwhile service anymore?

Here is Dina's story - Bonus you get to see her place in the country as well

Switch to Apple

Movie Making - A Cottage Industry? - The end of work as we know it

I normally pass by pieces about Apple on my Apple Splash Page but this one caught my eye.

The essence of the Industrial system is that it used very expensive tools and processes that could only be owned by the corporate entity. So we all became employees and went off to work. This post is about how the producer of the BBC's most popular Gardening Show, Ground Force,who with his partner and assistant edits his show at their cottage in the country using an Apple system and software (A G4 and Final Cut Pro). The growth of specialty channels has been a boom for documentary makers and a Sony/Apple system puts the costs inside an individual's budget. I am sure that in 5 years time most documentaries will be made "at home" by film makers who own and control all the production process. The real costs of film drops and the life style of the maker improves.

This then raises the larger issue of the erosion of the corporate ownership of tools and processes. Even lowly me has an office equipped way beyond most corporate counterparts. We have not only 2 PCs but 2 iBooks, a La Cie backup and all the peripherals. I can produce documents and do research that only a few years ago would have taken several people. Now I can do it all at home or on the road. Talking about on the road: I am even spared Hotel costs. I have family houses where I can stay for free in all the major cities in Canada and in London and Amsterdam. If pushed, I could stay with friends in many other places. My clients get my full attention and they do not hire the big guy and then have all the work done by a kid. They get all of me.

My costs are so much lower than a conventional consulting firm as I have next to no overhead. So I too am like the film maker. Obviously music is on its way as is all creative work. How soon before book publishing and print on demand going to change even the book trade. As PayPal becomes ubiquitous, it will be possible to run even the money side. Part of the growth of eBay has been that it provides many small businesses with a brilliant and cheap online interface. I can see how steel making will continue to have lots of employees. But maybe most of them will be robots?

I wonder how many other fields of work will soon fall out of the corporate need to have a job so as to have access to the tools of the trade?

The dark side, which we can see already, is if creative folks can work from home on their own schedule, what of those that have no creativity and have looked for jobs as their only salvation.

More later on the end of jobs.

Ecto - the posting answer for the dummy Apple user

I have been using Ecto for about 2 months now and love it.

For all you Apple dummies who don't know how to use code - it's ideal. So simple, stable and flexible.

iPod & iSight

Well it's my birthday soon and there are no better presents than the ones that you buy for yourself!

I have just bought myself an iPod and an iSight

OOOOH they are so wonderful. I am just getting a glimpse of what Apple is all about - a better experience. Yes the Apple world is small but everything works so much better. Will there not be a separation between the commodity computing world and Apple?

Switching to Apple - week one

Well its the end of week one and what have I learned?

A lot! In Apple you can have a lot of windows open. Use f9 to find where you are. The value? Moving from one to another. Everything is connected. I can open huge picture files. I never shut down - only close the lid. When I get better at iChat I will have my friends at hand - hope I don't annoy them too much by asking all sorts of newbie questions. (Thank you Jevon, Peter and Dale)

I am pissed off however with with the need to know a lot of code - posting into my weblog still requires me to use my PC. I don't know how to make links and so on. I am pissed off with the lack of a backspace key and I am having to learn to use only delete from the rear as it were.

I love the mail function and I am finding my way with Safari

More next week - any local users out there who will offer a bit of time to answer newbie questions such as how to force quit versus control alt delete/
Rob