The Gadgets Page

Jon and Heather used to shoot all their pictures with a Nikon, but they have recently purchased their new camera from Canon. He explains the switch here:

• Blurbomat | Camera FAQ

He wanted to buy a Canon 5D last year, why did he wait?

When we were in Austin last spring, I shot with a Canon 24-70 2.8L USM and its buttery goodness forced me to make a mental note. A couple of hours later, I was able to take a few shots with a 5D and the game was nearly over at that point. So a Canon would be our second camera. And then we replaced our sewer. And got sued. I took on more freelance work. And then Santa Claus came.

It’s nice to hear reviews of products from real people instead of insane photography nuts. Of course, it’s hard to justify the sanity of anyone willing to drop $25K on a camera.

We were at CES when Steve Jobs announced the iPhone. Somehow, Steve Jobs stole the show from 568 miles away. I have been ruminating about the iPhone for a LONG time. In fact, I’ve been waiting for it ever since Steve Jobs closed down the Newton division at Apple so long ago. Here’s a wrap-up of what I said and how it actually turned out:

The Gadgets Page » Rumors of Apple’s iPhone

Well, the pictures were bogus, but the basic advertising idea is the same, “Many Abilities. No Buttons” isn’t quite right, though. The iPhone has ONE button, so in the end, this was just a rumor or a red herring placed by Steve Jobs to test the marketing company’s security.

The Gadgets Page » Can I Have My Newton Back, Please?

The rumor mills were all-abuzz about an ultra-portable, but Steve Jobs just blew them away with the iPhone.

The Gadgets Page » The Return of the Newton?

This is yet another mockup that never came to pass. Sure, the iPhone is a wide-screen iPod, but it looks nothing like this.

In the end, all the rumor-mongering is just excited fan-boys. I find it interesting that Steve Jobs was able to bring in the iPhone with no leaks. He said himself in the keynote address, “We wanted to announce it ourselves instead of having the FCC announce it for us.”

This is the first product from Apple that literally blows the Newton out of the water. Newton was so ahead of its time. Watch these commercials from Apple of what the Newton was to know why I have missed it so:

This is the Apple Newton Getting Started Video that describes all the functions of the Newton and how it works:

When I was at Comdex so many years ago, I remember sitting in front of a huge screen listening to Douglas Adams talk about how cool the Newton was going to be. I would have to wait a year to see one in person. The only Newton they had was under glass at Comdex, much like the iPhone was at MacWorld. It’s the first thing I’ve seen that could woo me away from the Palm OS platform. I’m waiting for June like everyone else…

I need a new computer. My video editing software runs like molasses on my current PC and I need a faster one. Unfortunately, Windows Vista is now offered on every new PC that I look at. I don’t want Windows Vista. I’ve watched it run. It runs like molasses on the fast machines.

All over CES, there were huge signs screaming “The Wow Starts Now,” but everyone on the shuttle buses and on the convention floor were talking about the iPhone. Any “wow” that was discussed was reserved for Apple, not Windows Vista.

The thing is, I don’t want an Apple computer. There are some things about Apple that just aren’t as good as on the PC. I know the Apple Cult cries foul everytime someone says that, but it’s true. Some much greater minds have discussed in detail here:

• Windows features OS X should ‘adopt’ at The Apple Blog

• Apple Matters | What OS X Could Learn From Windows

Sure Apple is better at some things, but they aren’t better at EVERYTHING and I have a hard time giving up the PC. But Windows Vista is totally different than Windows XP. I’m going to have to learn a new system if I upgrade to a faster PC and I’m going to have to learn a new system if I upgrade to a Mac.

In the end, I don’t think Microsoft was thinking of me when they created Windows Vista. I think they were thinking a little too much of how to compete with Apple. I don’t know if Apple was thinking of me either. I’ve never really felt part of the Apple Cult. It always seems like Steve Jobs is a little elitist and I don’t know if I’m “good enough” to be an Apple owner.

All I want is to be able to edit my video and burn it to a DVD in less than 12 freakin’ hours. Is that too much to ask?

Here is a great video from Ryan and Jay at Ryan is Hungry. Greg Rose gives an indepth look at his veggie oil car. He gets used vegetable oil from a local Asian restaurant and powers his car with it.

Greg makes this conversion look so simple until I realize that half the year, I would have to run on straight diesel fuel because it’s so cold in Utah that veggie oil can’t be heated enough to actually work as auto fuel. There are so many ideas on how to make cars that are fuel-efficient and even liberated from fossil fuels, but unless they can work in places like Utah and Canada, they won’t catch on in the mainstream.

There are some places where you can get Bio-Diesel mixed fuels for colder climates. Here is a link to find a distributor in the U.S.

• Biodiesel.org – BioDiesel Distributor Map

You’d have to have a pretty fuel-efficient car to get from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas without a fill-up. That means packing your fuel with you or risking frozen fuel in your lines in Cedar City if you buy a big bottle of Wesson Oil at Costco. Veggie cars aren’t quite ready for primetime. The biggest problems are the climate issues and the availability.

Can’t wait until it’s easier to drive my car without making a dent in our environment!

For all of you who are worried about the Apocalypse or just like to go camping without your car, I bring you Freeplay Energy.

You are looking at Freecharge. It is a hand crank that can power anything with a cigarette adapter. For all of us who worry about the end of the world or anyone who has ever read The Stand, knowing that we can still charge our computers, is a comforting thought. I was raised in a religion that planned for Armageddon and my inner child clings to anything that lets me generate electricity with my own abilities. Freeplay has made a huge array of items that can do just that.

• ..:: Freeplay Energy Plc. Best in the World – Best for the World ::..

I thought that my obsession with hand cranked power was just because of my borderline-cult upbringing, but it seems that everyone likes the idea of not depending on batteries. Whether you’re camping, planning for power outages or just crazy like me, Freeplay Energy has many products to fulfill your needs.

If you have ever tried to take a picture in the rain, you know how difficult it is. You have maybe five to ten seconds before you have raindrops on the lens. That can make for an interesting effect, but not everyone is a fan of “interesting effects.” This gadgets locks into your tripod connector attaching a small umbrella to your camera.

• Popabrella: Protect Your Camera

The umbrella is fully articulated, so you can position it to protect your camera no matter which way the wind is blowing. It is also good for avoiding lens flares from sunlight. It’s such a simple item that can dramatically alter your photographs. If you regularly take pictures outside, an investment of less than thirty bucks is worth it.

You can find them at Amazon.com here:

• Popabrella Sun/Rain Blocker for Camcorders and Digital Cameras (small)

• Probrella Sun/Rain/Snow Blocker for Camcorders/Digital Cameras (large)

On another note, this product was demonstrated by an energetic woman who truly believed in it. She was able to display all the different positions for the umbrella and eagerly removed the popabrella to show how easy it was to attach. Sometimes that makes all the difference in the world.

Wil Wheaton was at CES this year and has written his evaluation of the show:

• WWdN: In Exile: 2007 CES: Day One

• WWdN: In Exile: 2007 CES Day Two

It’s strange how two people can encounter the same visual and auditory input and come up with two different experiences. Here is his description of my favorite part of the show:

The best part of CES is the International area, where there are gigantic signs in Engrish that say things like “Digital your new life! Smart Power Saving Socket! Eliminate the energy consumption of the equipments which are off work.” But my absolute favorite, which made me laugh so hard I almost vanished into the land of Wind and Ghosts, is “With the concept of FOUR ASPECTS & EIGHT HARMONY communicate with all over the world by music!” (The bold text is, in fact, in the original.) Seriously. Awesome.

He’s right. The International area is my absolute FAVORITE part of CES, but for me, it’s not about the massacre of my native tongue, although that is entertaining. I am shocked at how innovative and divergent so many companies are. Things that are interesting and unique that might never make it to the U.S. because they lack the ability to jump through our hoops.

Additionally, you get to talk to the inventors of the product instead of marketing drones like you do at the Microsoft and Intel booths. I know engineers aren’t that personable and sometimes they will fall over their words, but I’d rather talk to an inarticulate engineer than an actor. I can ask the engineer questions. The marketing drone will just fake their way through my questions and I hate that most of all. I’d even prefer an engineer who barely speaks English to an eloquent marketing employee.

I love the International area of CES because I have more access to the Steve Wozniaks of the world, not the Steve Balmers.

I have heard only a little bit about the One Laptop per Child initiative. It was started by some folks at MIT. Their goal was to create a laptop computer that could be inexpensive, wind-up powered, and easily useable for third world children. You can learn more about it here:

• One Laptop per Child

In the Pepper booth at CES, we actually got to play with a prototype for the $100 Laptop. Sadly, the windup power was not featured in this product. It is run on standard electricity, so for third world countries where electricity is a luxury, not a right, these computers are a lot less useful.

They are computers made for children, so the keyboard is SMALL and almost untypeable for an adult. I was unable to get a full sentence typed without several errors because the keys are so close together. I didn’t have a 75 wpm child-typist around to see if it would work just fine for children, but I suspect that it’s more than adequate.

If you are thinking of buying a $100 Laptop for your children, however, it’s not really an option. They sell the computers in lots of thousands to third world countries. When we asked at the booth, the minimum number that they would sell was so high that it didn’t seem worthwhile in our market. For countries wanting to create a technology aware population, they are perfect.

For more information about this particular unit, here is a link to the wiki:

• BTest-1 Release Notes – OLPCWiki

It looked so small and the screen was so very tiltable that I was sure it was a Tablet PC, but it isn’t. It runs Windows XP with no problems. It’s one of a large list of Ultra-Mobile PCs that were unveiled at CES. This tiny computer is made by Kohjinsha, a Korean company. They have teamed up with AMD to create a computer that is too big for your pocket, but the perfect size to tuck away in your purse. A Google search of the word Kohjinsha just brings up all the fan-boy reviews of this product until you scan to the second page to find the company’s website. Sadly, you won’t be able to buy this from Amazon.com yet. Although it looks like older versions of this product are available through GeekStuff:

• GeekStuff4U.com – Kohjinsha SA1-A

This computer does not use Intel technology. Its motherboard chip is an AMD Geode. Considering that until recently AMD was seriously kicking Intel’s butt on speed and reliability, that is not an issue, but if you’re married to the idea of having an Intel Core Duo Processor, then you might be selling yourself short.

Unlike the crippled thumb keyboard of the Sony UMPC, this is a keyboard that I could actually type on. The crowd around this machine was so thick that my hands are probably splashed all over the Internet on other sites. I just wanted to test my typing ability on a keyboard so small. Unlike the $100 computers that I found at CES, this keyboard was very typeable.

The American market seems to enjoy notebook computers that require muscles to cart around, but I’m not one of those people. I have been waiting for the tiny computers to come to the States. Here’s a taste of what my next laptop computer might be like.

The thought never once occurred to me, not even when I was staying in San Francisco and parking was so burdensome that I just left my Beetle in the one good spot I could find the entire time I stayed in the city. Why own a car when you live in San Francisco, New York or other towns with amazing public transportation? Well, sometimes you need to buy pillows and taking them home on the bus is just an exercise in futility. Sometimes you have a last minute appointment and you need to be there NOW, not 45 minutes from now. Sometimes you need to actually LEAVE the city.

Those are all rare occurrences, though. What if you could share a car? These few companies are actually making that idea a reality:

• Zipcar – Car sharing, cars by the hour or day

• Flexcar

• City CarShare – San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, CA USA

I heard about this concept from Tara Hunt on her weblog, HorsePigCow:

• HorsePigCow marketing uncommon: Why I heart Zipcar

She lives in San Francisco and she has been using Zipcar for awhile. She has a list of what she loves about them, but my favorite reason is here:

“It’s a ‘community shared’ car. This means when you join Zipcar, you are part of a community of people. I was walking down the street in NYC, chatting Zipcar up to my friend and a very stylish guy walked by us, turned around and said, ‘You are right, honey, Zipcar is da bomb!’ winked at me and gave me a big grin. I was on the bus and mentioned Zipcar to my son and a couple smiled at me and said, ‘We love Zipcar.’ People can connect through these things.”

In cities like Salt Lake City, Utah, reliquishing my car would limit my life to five square miles. Our public transportation is merely adequate in the city and pathetic in the suburbs. I could get rid of my car, but my access would shrink to the area available to my bicycle. I wouldn’t even be able to visit my mom without an hour-long bus ride (not including transfers). In larger cities where these car sharing services are available, however, it actually makes sense. I wonder if it will spread to the inner reaches of the country and if it does, how long it will take…