RaffyJohn.com Rocks In My Head

Leave it to Jason Calacanis and his review of the MacBook Air to impede my efforts, calming myself from plopping down $1,700 for a MacBook Air.

Ugh! More internal rationalizations

Weight: My 6lb+ PowerBook is just too damn heavy. Those trips between my office and my living room are brutal!

Ethernet: What’s that?

USB: I think my digital camera still uses this…

DVD drive: Um. Ok. I need that.

Price: No. $1,700 is not overpriced. Calacanis argues that “for business folks there isn’t much difference between $1,000 and $1,700″. Most business folks I know are willing to pay a hefty tariff for ultra-portability, $2,300+.

Must… Fight… Rational…

Leaving what technological advancements there may be out of the picture and what do we have? Just a gorgeous, thin Apple MacBook. Yes. But there is much more to it than that.

Does it challenge human computer interaction like the iPhone? I think so.

While the iPhone challenges human computer interaction, the way one explores and plays with data, the MacBook Air challenges the way one approaches computing all together. Computing being a form separate from mobile devices.

Wh can’t computers be like my stereo or dvd player?

I have heard this from people a surprising number of times. Some people want the computer to be a set-top box, each “feature” on its own. Ok. Completely ridiculous. It did work very well for blackberry, breaking out email, but that was a necessary baby step. In any event it negates the purpose and advantage of a personal computer in the first place; Personalization. Each machine can be setup to do specific jobs determined by its owner, since it is all software anyway.

So…

…there is a lot in this statement:

This thing weighs nothing but feels “full” because of the full keyboard and monitor. This leads to AMAZING “lap feel.” The lap feel on this thing is off the charts. It’s so light that you don’t feel like anything is on your lap! I picked up my laptop bag the yesterday, put it on my shoulder and started looking for my laptop. Then I realized the laptop was in the bag I’d put on my shoulder! That’s how light it is… you’re going to think you forgot it when you pick up your bag. - Jason Calacanis

It is still a full on personal computer, sacrificing things that may very well be useless (see above). It is pushing this new process of how we use our computers, keeping the personalization intact. The last time I had heard someone say that they wish computers were more like home stereo equipment was a few years back, because peoples’ attitudes have changed. Laptops are now becoming the norm, the preferred computing device.

I have always imagined a truly dynamic piece of hardware, similar to Bug Labs’ modulated devices. But instead of modulation, where desired pieces snap together, imagine a piece of hardware that could dynamically grow and shrink in size. Imagine if the iPhone, by pulling on its corner, could literally be stretched out 15″, into a full on MacBook.

I don’t think I’m dreaming…

It is official. Apple is now selling a new iPhone with double the storage, a bump from 8GB to 16GB. The 16GB model fetches for $499, with the 8GB model is still at $399.

Is it enough? While the limited 8GB storage was a factor in holding some people back, myself included, will the lack of 3G still keep people from buying one?

I outgrew my iPod Nano before I even owned it, so doubling its capacity would be a big deal for me. I’ve never really been annoyed with the speed of EDGE on my blackberry, I am usually around a WiFi connection, so it may be time for me to snag one of these bad boys.

Apple also announced a new iPod touch.

iPod touch now comes in a 32GB model for $499, joining the 16GB model for $399 and the 8GB model for $299. from apple.com/pr

The recent cut cables that had taken the Internet offline in Asia, the Middle East as well as a post on news.ycombinator.com to a map of undersea internet cables lodged some fond memories lose:

A few years back I lived with him (my grandfather) for a year in Brighton, UK and we’d spend hours discussing technology and engineering over tea or a pint. What I enjoyed the most most about our talks was learning about his life, who he was and discovering that he helped lead the teams that laid the fiber optics between the US and the UK.

Previous to that he had spent quite a bit of time in Canada, vancouver i believe, working with Canadian engineers developing methods to push the effectiveness of fiber optics past 3 miles. As a parting gift he gave me a fiber optic stub from the factory he was an engineer at - A tear shaped piece of glass from which the tiny fibers are pulled.

This map just sparked so many fantastic memories of my time with him! The great talks as well as being humiliated at the pub as an 83 year old man drank me under the table! - news.ycombinator.com

And here it is, the fiber optic stub my grandfather gave me:

This little guy produced its share of fiber threads that are now undersea, passing an array of data and voice between the U.K. and the rest of the world.

I just think it is so cool to own a little piece of history, something so important as bridging the communication gap between nations.

My grandfather grew up in an era where the World started becoming a whole lot smaller and the Internet is another piece in that puzzle.

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Of interest:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_communications_cable
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Mike Mangino gave a fantastic talk on Facebook and Facebooker, a Ruby gem and Rails plugin for the Facebook REST API, at the Chirb meeting tonight.

What is fantastic about Facebooker, a point Mike reiterated throughout his talk, is that all you are really doing is creating a typical Rails app. Facebooker is all about helpers, doing all the FBML (Facebook’s Markup Language) lifting for you.

It took some time for my brain to wrap itself around such a simple concept, but the last thirty+ minutes Mike spent actually building a Facebook app., which put most of my concerns into perspective.

I just wish there would have been more time for a detailed discussion on topics like caching and scaling. Something that Mike alluded was simple, thanks to Facebook’s architecture.

I have never created a single profile on a single “conventional” social network. But I might have to now.

I am a muesli junkie and by far my two favorite “boxed” mueslis are Jordans Special Muesli and Alpen original.

So many mueslis I have tried are not toasted correctly, or not at all. They lack that right balance of oats, barley, wheat, almonds and fruits. Both Jordans and Alpen, while different, get it just right for their own blend.

I can’t find Jordans here in the States, but Alpen is available at a few grocers here.