My "Girlfriend"

October 14^th, 2011. Mark that date. I believe history will treat it as the day we began using speech to interact with our computers. It is the day Apple released the iPhone 4S with Siri, the automated assistant built exclusively into the 4S. Before I elaborate, a brief disclaimer. I am an unapologetic geek and a huge Apple fan. Having said that, I honestly believe I'm being objective when I predict Siri will be viewed as a transformative technological innovation.

Apple describes Siri as an "intelligent assistant". After using it for just three weeks, I believe their description is accurate. We've been able to speak commands in varying degrees to our computers, cars and smartphones for some time now. So, what's new and/or different about Siri? A lot. First, Siri doesn't restrict what you ask or tell it. For example, my car is a 2006 model and uses voice input to dial phone numbers, set the A/C temperature or change the radio station...

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The iPad's First REAL Competition

The greatly anticipated Amazon tablet (dubbed the Kindle) is expected to hit the streets before the Christmas buying season begins. M. G. Siegler at TechCrunch says he’s played with the new device and reports the new 7” tablet will be available sometime in October. So what makes the new Kindle different from every other Android tablet and why will it be the first to challenge the iPad?

Content, content and more content.

Unlike every other iPad “competitor”, Amazon has the content infrastructure in place to provide buyers with a true “end-to-end” experience. It’s something the Samsungs and Motorolas of the world don’t have and can’t provide. This complete solution including great hardware, a sound and user-friendly operating system and a convenient, well-stocked content market is what has made the iPad so successful (with over 80% market share). Take away any one of these three ingredients and the iPad would be no more successful than the HP TouchPad. Motorola and Samsung both make great hardware and the latest Android build, while no iOS is arguably good enough, but users wanting movies, music and more apps for their device are forced to navigate through a hodgepodge of content providers with no unified method of getting apps and media purchased and installed. Amazon is the only company that seems to get it. Their MP3 store has been on-line for years now and Amazon Prime customers recently got access to a wealth of movies. Additionally, according to Mr. Siegler, Amazon plans to open their own app store. If there’s one thing Amazon does better than anyone, it’s operate an on-line market. The Android Marketplace won’t even work on the new Kindle’s forked Android version that Amazon is customizing specifically for this device. Word is, it won’t look like any Android version we’ve seen.

So, it looks like Apple is finally going to have some competition in the tablet space. I say GREAT! Competition drives lower prices and innovation and so far, no one has mounted a serious challenge to the iPad. Amazon certainly has the chops to do it.

History's Take on Steve?

Since Steve Jobs’ resignation as CEO of Apple last week, the tech press has gone completely wild with retrospectives. Being the Apple fanboy that I am, I spent an inordinate amount of time reading, watching and listening to all the media had to say. From favorite Steve quotes and reporters’ personal anecdotes to complete synopses of his life and career, the tech world was literally abuzz covering what was arguably the biggest technology story of the year. Frankly, the tone ranged from playful to funereal and everything in between. Amongst all this noise I came to the the realization that the real story here has hardly been touched: How will history judge Steve Jobs?

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The Future is Here

There's been a lot of talk lately about a bevy of tablet devices due to hit the market for this year's Christmas shopping season.  If you believe the rumors, no less than ten devices from several well-known manufactures will join Apple, Dell and Samsung in a bid to capitalize on this nascent market currently dominated by Apple's iPad.  Like the Dell Streak and Samsung Galaxy Tab, most of these new tablets will be Android devices and each manufacturer will add their own customization to attempt to differentiate themselves.  The one company not following this formula is HP.  Having recently bought...

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Note to Apple TV Haters: Lighten up!

The last three or four days have been entertaining.  I’ve watched several recap podcasts and read several pundits' analysis of Wednesday’s Apple announcements.  Almost all were positive about the new iPod offerings but slammed Apple for not adding enough to the new Apple TV.  It sounded like most were wanting an iPad that hooked up to a TV, replete with Facetime and calculator apps.  I think they’re spoiled.  Sure, it would be cool to launch a weather or hulu app on my TV like on my iPhone, but I’m a geek (as are most of the afore-mentioned pundits) and we’re accustomed to having all the information, communication and entertainment we need or want in our shirt pocket.  With the new iPhone 4 and iOS4, Apple has raised the expectations bar so high it is becoming almost impossible for anyone to clear it, even Apple.  I, on the other hand, really like the new Apple TV and think it will wind up being much more than a “hobby” for Mr. Jobs.

First, this tiny device sports a beautiful interface for browsing, renting and streaming content in my living room.  It’s something my wife and 11-year-old daughter will pick up and use without needing help from me, mainly because there's no synching or other computer work involved.  Like all Apple devices, it will "just work".

Next, this device does something that none of my current hardware will do, it streams all of my iTunes content from every computer and iOS4 device in the geek ranch (the MacTexan house) to my home entertainment system.  Being a Mac family, iTunes is the repository for all our media, even on the Windows PCs.  I have a Windows 7 Ultimate media center PC, a Playstation 3 and a DVR from DirecTV.  All promise to stream media using the DLNA standard and none work reliably, especially the crappy DVR.  My Windows PCs work well together, but that’s about it.  Besides, I don't want to use (or pay for) a PC for every TV in the bunkhouse.  99$ is a small price to pay for a useable home media aggregator that plays nice with iTunes.

From a commercial standpoint, the big question is: “Will the internet provide a good enough experience?”  I’m not talking about my home internet connection.  The cable company reliably delivers 5 Mbps outside the hours of 6 - 10 PM.  Getting the required 3.5 - 4.5 Mbps required for HD content might be problematic in prime time though.  I’m expecting some buffering, but QuickTime does a good job of analyzing your connection and waiting to start a video until it can deliver a contiguous stream.  I’m worried about Apple’s media servers and the “jittery” nature of the internet in general.  I’m sure most content will be just fine, but what about the first-run HD movies released in prime time?  Is there enough server-end horsepower and bandwidth to serve a million users simultaneously?  I can imagine a hot new movie like Avatar putting a serious strain on Apple’s data centers on release day were Apple to sell 10 or 20 million of these devices.  Granted, movies as popular as Avatar don’t come along every day.  I’m just wondering where the system’s breaking point is and if things will work well enough for the average consumer.

I’m sure I’ll rent a 99¢ TV show or $5 movie now and then, but I’m more interested in the podcasts and other independent, free content.  In that respect, I’m way outside Steve Jobs’ target demographic.  His proclamation that everyone wants “Hollywood content” is probably near the truth and that’s what will sell Apple TVs at Best Buy.  This device’s success will depend on Apple’s ability to deliver that content in a reliable, easy manner. That's all 99% of consumers care about.

I, on the other hand, am very interested in what’s inside the case and what the operating system looks like.  The day these things are available, iFixIt.com will have an illustrated teardown posted on their site and I can’t wait to see what makes this thing tick.  It will probably take a while longer, but someone will hack one of these and we’ll understand just what and how capable the operating system is.  It does use the same A4 processor as the iPad and new iPhone and I’m guessing it runs some variation of iOS.  If that’s true, the sky’s the limit with regards to the device’s capabilities.  Remember the first iPhone?  I know 2007 is an eternity ago in the tech world, but I recall it being quite limited with only a fraction of the capabilities of today’s version.  This is fairly typical for Apple.  They tend to only deliver features they consider essential and rock solid in early versions of their products.  So far, this strategy, while aggravating to us geeks, has worked well for them.  It’s hard to argue with success.  I’m betting this is just the beginning for this new platform and if successful, apps will surely be in Apple TV’s near future.

Apple can only deliver so much for $99 and for me it's no gamble at all.  Even if the device is a complete commercial failure and internet streaming sucks, I’ll finally have a device to stream all my existing content to my entertainment center.  I’ll gladly hand over a Ben Franklin for that.