You knew it was coming. Now what?

So it's here. Officially. TV on your phone. But only if you're a Verizon customer. Cool in theory, but does it work? I had the opportunity to play with a beta version of a program called mobiTV on Sprint's network a couple of years ago. It was smooth enough to be considered TV, and the audio was decent enough to understand what was going on.

Why wasn't it ever released to market? I don't know the official answer, but I can certainly guess. The fact is that most carriers are so darn arrogant that they think they can 'steer' where the public decides to spend their money. But they're only half stupid. They've seen things like this fail before, and are a bit more cautious when deploying a new technology.

I see a couple of real problems with it that may or may not have worked themselves out in Verizon's camp:

• Lack of penetration with their users.
• the only people I see using this are the early adopters and possibly sports fanatics. Grandma isn't going to want to watch TV on a 1.8" screen.
• It's too expensive, and not worth the extra (pricing hasn't been announced yet) $20 or so a month to most people.
• No or very little advertising to keep costs down.
• We begin the vicious cycle of the classic 'Chicken and the Egg' debate. With such shallow usage, only the biggest advertisers might bite. And they're not going to bite hard.
• Do you really think that Verizon is going to use that ad revenue to cover their costs and pass the savings on to the users? Nope.
• Jittery video streaming and poor audio quality.
• This isn't going to fly with your average Joe. TV hasn't made a real presence on the home computer yet (soon to change, see Joost for an example) - what is going to help it succeed on the mobile phone before it is widely adopted elsewhere?

I'm almost convinced that Verizon/Sprint/AT&T wants to keep this service exclusive and inaccessible. They consider their bandwidth precious, so why not make the consumer pay for it? Maybe it's not such a terrible model for them - however, don't count me in. At least initially.

Gives "Bullet Proof" a whole new meaning

I've been saying it all along. Had I bought a Dell Inspiron or a Toshiba four years ago, I would have long ago replaced my primary machine - my 12" PowerBook G4.

An article over on Engadget supports my claim:

"A mugging victim in Brazil avoided a trip to the ER thanks to his trusty bodyguard, a seemingly bulletproof MBP. According to the image holder (who isn't the victim or MBP owner), the lappy continues to function, although it isn't clear to what extent."

MacBook Pro takes Bullet like a Champ - Engadget

Now I can't say that I've thrown my PowerBook in the line of fire, so to speak, but it has had its fair share of bumps and tumbles. the dents in its aluminum casing are there to tell the tale. This machine owes me nothing - it has been nothing short of fantastic.

Which leads me to problem - there's no obvious upgrade path from my 12" PowerBook - many other 12" PowerBook users are complaining of the same thing. The MacBook isn't exactly a pro-sumer model, and the MacBook Pros are simply too big to be considered a 'lightweight portable.'

Fortunately there are some rumors in the pipe of Apple working on an ultra-portable model. I for one have my fingers crossed...

-Jameson

Ramping things up.

So I've really been getting into the design aspect of web design, and trying to go beyond simply throwing a page up. In developing my skills, I keep a couple things in mind:

• The user determines what is good and what is not.
• Content is king.
• Less is more.
• Don't try and reinvent something that simply confuses people (i.e., navigation)

In keeping these principles in mind, I hope to have some really great pages up to show you all. This is my first real venture into this world, and what fun it has been! I'm sure that's exactly what all of my clients want to hear.

Thanks for reading.

-Jameson