iPod-Touch? - OR - iPhone-Upgrade?

I purchased an iPod-Touch (iTouch) last Friday on September 21, 2007. I boasted that it would be ‘the’ ultimate portable media experience. I thought it would be the ‘end all device’ of all devices, but boy was I sooooooooo wrong. I posted a blog a few days ago titled “The iPod-Touch my 17 year quest.” Basically its my personal 17 year journey exploring different ways to minimize my physical carrying load. The post started out talking about how I used to carry two book-bags and a portfolio case. It moved on to discuss about how I wanted to maximize my mobility by optimizing all my media and organizational data into a pocket sized device. I really thought the iTouch was my answer, but within 24 hours I capitulated and upgraded to an iPhone.

Let me backtrack for a bit… before we get into the iPhone, I want to talk about the differences between the iTouch and the iPod Classic. In a nutshell the iTouch is a touch screen mini computer. Its an entirely new kind of device experience. I guess the only thing you can equate it to is a pocket sized Tablet PC. Hmmm did I hear someone say Tablet Mac???

All iPods to date have a 320×240 viewable screen, but this new iTouch has a 480×240 viewable area. You can surf the web off of any available WIFI network, which in my city New York, thats pretty much any block. The iTouch has innovative tactile navigation feature’s, a lot of double tapping, pinch resizing, and scroll pushing with your fingers. It also offers a single physical ‘home’ button that gets you back to your main setup. This is truly something yet to be experienced in the mass computing market. Its so refreshing, that even the non techies seem to be geeking out over its futuristic qualities.

The iTouch has everything I need, video, audio, internet and easy to access data. As a portable media strategist these are the key features I need to test, access and showcase my content. The iTouch is truly a remarkable device and will please a bunch of people, but for my personal tastes, I feel its a dud.

First of all there is a $389 price tag with Apple Care and It has an 8 GIG media capacity, far below what most people have come to expect for that cost. Other tidbits: no email client, no bluetooth, no ability to take photos, no SMS, no ability to type notes, and no application hacks. On top of all of that, its 3 months behind the iPhone with consumer and expert testing. Other things Ive discovered, the video playback is not as crisp or clear as the iPhone and an active iTouch will need to be charged more frequently than an equally active iPhone. The iTouch has been striped of numerous features unnecessarily, to accommodate a slimmer and a slightly lighter feel, as a result there were no external protective iTouch cases on the market at the time of this writing (in other words its too small for an iPhone case). I have been waiting for Apple to create this all in one phoneless PDA internet device for about seven years now. Though I am terribly disappointed, I do think that if you want to see a proper upgrade of this product wait till the annual Mac World Expo in January 2008.

As I was saying earlier in this post, I took back my iTouch the next day and purchased an iPhone (btw It was a $30 restocking fee). Actually I’ve mentioned many aspects of the iPhone in this post, if you want a more comprehensive breakdown of the device check out this iPhone website link. One thing that I forgot to mention is that there are some external extras on the iPhone, that the iTouch lacks. There is a volume control in the upper left side, a silent/vibrator switch and on the back in the upper right corner there is a camera.

I have tons of geeky pals that also have iPhones. I have seen some of them use no protective case and it looks practically new. Others like me have hard core cases. I personally have a Crystal Jacket Set that comes with a film protector for the touch screen area. I have also read articles about how you should maximize the battery’s life span. For the past 3 days I have been putting my iPhone to the test and I must say that I am so overwhelmed with geek lust that I feel the need to retract a statement I made referring to the iPhone, back on June 29th, 2007

Being a tech and mac geek I tend to have a first round adopter mentality but a second round adopter practicality. I think I am going to have to sit this one out.

I really really really tried hard to fight the iPhone craze, but I can’t deny that Its a shockingly functional device and I’m excited to say that I actually do need it for my work. As prices come down and other mobile carriers come on board, people will swarm over to iPhones just as they have with iPods. People want an all in one user friendly lifestyle device to help entertain, capture and manage parts of their lives. Oh lets not forget that they also want to connect and communicate with others.

Apple has already shook up the entire music industry and the major media networks. Now they are taking on the cell phone market. The telecoms should be nervous because they will no longer be able to push off half assed inferior technology and services. Apple has raised the bar and now the the manufactures will feel the pressure to meet or exceed the Apple standard. The fact is Apple is preparing to double their iPhone shipment for the fourth quarter. Already there have been numerous reports of over 1 million iPhones sold in less than 3 months. I believe that this device will take a HUGE chunk out of the cell phone market in the next 3-5 years. But hey what do I know… all I know is that I no longer have to carry 2 bookbags and a portfolio case and thats plenty to celebrate about.

- bendrix

Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media (Brand) Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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The iPod-Touch my 17 year quest

In the 1990 my freshman year at college I used to carry 2 book-bags and a portfolio case. In one book bag I carried my books and a Kinkos Customized Notebook that included my To Do List, Calendar, and Notes. In the other book-bag I carried music cassettes. Yep you heard it cassettes not CD’s!!! In the portfolio case I carried all of my graphic art work. It was all ridiculously heavy and I began to gripe about my mobility. I wanted a more compact mobile lifestyle.

In November 1999, I was among the first to get a Handspring Visor. Negating from Apple’s Newton it was the worlds first official multi-platform PDA on the market. It was 2 MB and I was absolutely geeked to finally get rid of my custom Kinkos notebook and manage my To Do List, Calendar, and Notes. I was finally able to micro-organize my life. Since 1999 I have gone through 5 Handsprings and 2 Palms.

On August 16, 2002 I was among the first to purchase the worlds first ever 20 Gig iPod. I specifically held out for the 20 GIG because I was looking for a pocket sized device to store my files and applications. Not to mention listen to my 150+ GIG’s of music. Since 2002 I have gone through 3 iPods.

On July 7, 2005 I was among the first to purchase the Palm LifeDrive Mobile Manager. It was the first of its kind. I was specifically looking for three things with this device: 1). It was the largest PDA on the market, 4 GIGs 2). I wanted to play music 3). I was looking to showcase my video portfolio and visual art graphics. The photo and video capabilities was key because it took 15 years for Palm to create my ultimate dream device. Alas the PDA was buggy and eventually died within the year. Foolishly I did not have the extended warrantee. Even worse lack of support that Palm provided. Three months later the video iPod came out and lacked some of the major features that the Lifedrive had. I was disgruntled once again and that was the last device I purchased until now …

On September 21, 2007 at approximately 7PM, yet again I am among the first to purchase the worlds first iPod-Touch. I somehow avoided the long line brewing at the Apple store on 5th Ave and got there 1 hour after it went on sale. It is now 9PM. For the past 17 years I have been searching for this very Apple specific pocket sized device: PDA, Video, Photo, 8 GIG Storage, Bluetooth, Wifi/Web capable dream machine. I believe I’ve met my match.

I admit that I am a gadget geek, I admit that I love being on the bleeding edge, but first and foremost I aim to make my life simple and efficient. No longer do I have to carry 2 bookbags and a portfolio case, everything is at my fingertips. I am a digital lifestyle junkie and I wish to communicate to the world as I open the box and unleash it from its plastic underpinnings … Stay tuned!!! I will have a full report sometime next week.

- bendrix

Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media (Brand) Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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Bendrix iPhone clip featured on the Jetset show

On Monday July 1st, I was sending a clip to my good buddy Zadi to show her the madness over at the 5th Avenue Mac Store in Manhattan, and she wrote back… “that’s insane! Hey — if you’d like, we can probably feature a part of it on jetset this monday.”

I was flattered by the offer because I did not expect to be featured in the show. Jetset happens to be one of the few shows that I check out regularly. For those of you who do not know, Jetset is a show created by Zadi Diaz and Steve Woolf. They conduct interviews and showcase whats hip and cool on both online and offline. For me I watch to see coverage of the newest online applications and to see what is interesting on the web. They also touch on the music scene and there are some very funny skits throughout the 5 min episodes. Oh did I mention that Zadi is a real hottie, (oh and yeah Steve is a dashing young devil as well). But Jetset is so much more because they are an “Internet and pop culture show for young adults featuring cool, weird, fun, geeky, underground, true-to-life, curious, quirky things and people found online and off.” I also wanted to mention that Jetset has accumulated rave reviews from the online community by winning Vloggie and a Webby awards and they just have a growing number of fans world wide.

I highly recommend the Jetset Show and hope you will watch the clip below and go to the following links to support the Jetset movement: website, youtube, mix.jetset

- Bendrix

Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media (Brand) Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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iPhoNe DiarY(s): MadNESS 5th Ave, New YoRk Pt. 2

On Friday June 29th I traveled to the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in New York City to witness the pandemonium over the iPhone. I have been present at both the SOHO and 5th Ave Apple Store grand openings, about 9 Mac World Expo’s, and a slew of Apple product release events. Let me just say that this was a crowd that stretched a full city block and the largest police presence and gathering of news teams that I’ve ever witnessed at an Apple event. So why all the madness and what exactly is the value of this product?

Some people are interested but think the $600 price tag is steep. Others ask what’s the big deal over a stooooopid gadget that is nothing more than an indulgence. Others are griping about the exclusivity with AT&T.

The significance of this event and this device marks the beginning of a Telecom revolution. Just like the iPod+iTunes and now AppleTV are revolutionizing digital downloads and the way we view our entertainment – the iPhone will do the same. Apple will make the cellular networks and device makers step up their game - forcing them to offer services and innovations long over due. I will be blogging more on this topic over the next few weeks… stay tuned and check out the mayhem on the video clip below.

- Bendrix

Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media (Brand) Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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June 28th Iphone Madness at the Apple Store SOHO NYC

Yesterday I traveled down to the Apple Store in SOHO New York City and saw the first line brewing for the iPhone. Its absolute madness, in order to be first in line you would have had to have been there on Tuesday June 26th before noon. Some people have been camping out for a few days, but today Friday June 29th is the release date of the long awaited iPhone. The revolutionary device that I predict will change the face of the telcom industry just like the ipod is doing to music, and what iTV is about to do the broadcast and film industries.

Being a tech and mac geek I tend to have a first round adopter mentality but a second round adopter practicality. I think I am going to have to sit this one out. I am very interested in the iPhone but at a $600 price tag and the AT&T carriership, its just not exactly what I’m looking for. Actually, I’m not really the phone that excites me… its the video capabilities, the touch screen simplicity, Bluetooth, and the internet.

I will be taking a trip to the Apple store 5th avenue within the next few hours. I gather the madness is probably more intensified there… The real geeks go to SOHO the wannabe’s go to 5th Ave that’s gonna be my theme over the next few days… stay tuned and check what I post over the next 48 hours and peep this exclusive clip below

- Bendrix

Bendrix is the founder and Digital Media (Brand) Strategist for Codedsignal; a portable media network featuring; 1. Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop, 2. Beneath the Beat: Electronica, 3. Digital Media Tips N Tricks.

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