Evolution of Tech
Posted April 27, 2010
Coming back from a huge tech conference with thousands of people it was interesting to see how tech has come a long way. It is interesting to see both the number of iPhones and also the number of people on their phones during the break times and during the times that have traditionally been networking times.
I probably saw only a handful of non smart phones and those with smart phones, probably 60%-70% were probably iPhones. I’m thinking I only saw one other person with a Motorola Droid. During lunch and during all the breaks, a good majority of people were on the phone checking back with the office or on their phone checking their twitter feeds, Facebook accounts, rss feeds, etc. These times have been traditionally to network with other people, pitch their company to new people.
I think the biggest change that I saw at this conference was the amount of laptops. It wasn’t too long ago that only a hand full of people had laptops because they were so expensive. I remember getting my first laptop… a Pentium 200 Mhz generic brand. It probably had 30-45 min of battery power. Even in the last few years, the advancement in laptops has change dramatically as well. People with laptops that were only bought a year or two ago were searching for plugs because their batteries couldn’t last that long. I even heard someone say, “Can I plug this in for a second while I swap out my battery?” Those with newer Macs or Netbooks were good for the conference.
As I mentioned before, I only saw a handful of people with iPads. I imagine, next f8 conference, there will be a whole lot more.
At f8
Posted April 21, 2010
So I’m at a Facebook conference. Yes, a Facebook conference. When I told why I was in San Francisco to some friends, some reacted by saying, “A Facebook conference?”. Whether we like it or not, Facebook and the social media things are a big part of the web and if you have some kind of presence on the web, you need to integrate your site or branding with these social media platforms.
Facebook is announcing and showing off some new tools that will make it easier for websites to integrate Facebook into their site. You can find out all the information at on the F8 site.
I’ll do write another post on the technology I’ve seen at this conference. I haven’t been to many of these conferences but it’s interesting to see how things have changed in general. Everyone with a smart phone (mostly iPhones), laptop (a lot of Macs), etc. I’ve only seen like 3 iPads. 🙂
Chez Mamma
Posted April 20, 2010
I’m in San Francisco and I went to a great restaurant called Chez Maman. Thanks to Ty and Ben for driving up to hang out. San Francisco is full of these cool little restaurants all over the city. I got a burger with bacon and cheddar. Yes, I got a burger and it was delicious. This is a definite thumbs up from me.
Traveling light, with little tech
Posted March 19, 2010
I’m out of town again. It seems like I’ve been traveling a lot lately… at least in the past two years. As always the case, I have a lot of work to do when I go, so it requires me to take a lot of tech with me. Because I am traveling and I may potentially see a lot of things, I have to take my camera with me. So, between the Macbook Pro, the DSLR, the phone, the iPod, and all the accessories and chargers that go with it, traveling is no small matter.
Baduku adds Friend Connect
Posted March 2, 2010
I’ve been working on this site for the past half a year. It’s called Baduku. What is Baduku? Baduku is an opinion engine that helps people make informed decisions or gauge public opinions about anything. You can find out more on the website. We’ve just added Google Friend Connect to the site. We added Facebook connect not too long ago. What this means now is that you can login with your Google, Twitter, Yahoo, or Facebook account. I think it’s interesting that as more and more services like Baduku come along, the hassle of remembering another login here and there is less and less. I was talking to a friend the other day about Baduku and her response was, “Do I have to signup for another account?” The answer is no. We’ll see what the future holds for social networks.
The Apple iPad: iWant vs iNeed
Posted January 28, 2010
After all the hype and all the rumors, Apple finally released their long awaited tablet, the iPad. My initial reaction was that I was underwhelmed. After thinking about it a little more, the iPad may be one of the best consumer electronic devices ever made. It all depends on what type of person you are. Are you mainly a consumer or are you a content creator? I would definitely consider myself a content creator. Digital photography and programming don’t seem to be the strong points of the iPad. I’m also a consumer, but realistically, the iPad is a perfect device for a certain type of consumer. I definitely think the iPad will give the Kindle a run for its money but there is something that the iPad lacks… multi tasking. No doubt, the iPad will be the best experience for browsing the web, just as the iPhone/iPod Touch has the best browsing experience for a mobile device. No doubt, the iPad will probably give you the best experience for consuming your digital photos, but I’m a consumer who browses the web, views digital photos, views tweets, checks emails, all at the same time. Is there a portable device that does this already? Sure, it’s my Droid, but I’m not going to get the same user experience that Apple offers, plus there isn’t an Android tablet yet. Maybe things will change with the iPhone 4.0 OS or if someone comes out with an Android table (that truly has multi-touch).
So, do I want the iPad? Sure… but do I need it… definitely not. The iPad can’t fulfill the needs that I have as a content creator. The question someone has to ask is, can they justify paying $500+ on an additional device? Maybe this year, I’ll start to do projects for the iPhone and the iPad. If that’s the case, of course I’ll “need” to get one for “testing” purposes. Until then, I’m excited to see how other manufacturers will respond to the iPad and I’ll save my money for now. Of course, if things change, I’ll be sure to give my review on it. 🙂
Update: There are a number of Android Tablets out there. There were a few announced at CES but nothing getting as much press for sure.
Israel Day 3: Caesarea
Posted January 23, 2010
Great picture day today. We went to Caesarea today saw a lot of great ruins. I finally busted out the DSLR today to take pictures. Here are some shots from the trip.
Israel: Day 1 and 2
Posted January 22, 2010
Map of approximately where we went today using a GPS tracker:
First day and half of Israel is in the books. Arrived here Thursday afternoon, mostly jet lagged and still feeling a little jet lagged. All it means is that I slept well the first night here. We didn’t do much today. We mainly hung out with Titus and Sharon. They took us down to one of the outdoor markets, Carmel Shuk. There were a crazy amount of people. I mainly had my small camera with me taking a few shots and a few videos here and there. Not much to say other than it’s an interesting country so far. Tel Aviv is like any other big city…. lots of people, cars, etc. Our plan is to go to Caesarea and Jerusalem soon. Hopefully we’ll make it to the dead sea. Tonight we have a sweet college meeting Netanya.
Here’s a slow motion video I took from the bus:
More pictures coming tomorrow.