Where C-SPAN is the local TV news
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| The Washington Canard Where C-SPAN is the local TV news |
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Friday, July 20, 2007
FREE IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR... In an article today, Amy Schatz and Kevin Delaney at the Wall Street Journal quote my friend and former colleague Peter Greenberger: Google's newly hired team leader for political sales, Peter Greenberger, explained how attendees could use online ads and other services from Google to help their candidates win. One Google product could provide details about people who visited a campaign's Web site, such as the approximate area where they lived, Mr. Greenberger explained. "Tremendously valuable info," he said, adding, "It's free. Did I mention it's free? It's free."That's vintage Greenberger, I tells ya. P.S. But what is "free" just another word for? I dunno. I guess I was thinking something like "all you need is a Google account." But if you have a better idea, you know where the comment section is. P.P.S. This whole thing is pretty interesting, but this analysis from CNET makes no senses: Once the company announces the wireless broadband to the nation, it will immediately announce that Google Phone everyone has been talking about. The Google Phone will work specifically with the Google system (kind of like Skype) and will be free of charge. The only fee to the consumer is the cost of buying the phone, which can be done over the Google checkout system from online retailers or at fine brick-and-mortar retailers nationwide.Sure, you can buy the Google Phone -- I'm sure it will be a good ones. But if the whole point is to offer access for any device, and that deal only lasts 5 years, why would I be chucking my fourth or fifth gen iPhone? And this: I'm sure you will see advertising when you start up the phone, but most of the benefits from this system will be earned on the Internet, where people will be lauding the company for all it has done to move the industry forward. In a matter of months, Google would practically control Internet advertising. And by giving people free Internet access on the phones, guess where the default home page will be pointing?Yeah, I don't see ads on my iPhone. And despite Google's sometimes-moronic attempts to out-Microsoft Redmond, I'll bet you can change the home page. P.P.P.S. Now that I use WordPress more than blogger, I keep forgetting that Save reverts the post to Draft mode, and only Publish republishes. Post now restored. That said, Blogger certainly has gotten better since I came to prefer WP -- and it only just occurred to me that this whole post has been composed using Google-owned software. At least it was free! Labels: Google, iPhone, Wall Street Journal Sunday, July 08, 2007
iPHONE, THEREFORE iAM You won't believe me now, but last weekend I had a thousand word-plus blog post ready to go, detailing my three-and-a-half hour wait outside the AT&T store in Dupont Circle to be among the first to purchase an iPhone. Alas, it's now lost to the ages, on account of a worn out iBook cord that failed to keep my computer on overnight, which is not so bad considering the plastic is now singed and I suppose it could have set my apartment ablaze. (Killed by a Mac? That would be something.) But history does preserve the pictures I took that day uploaded to Flickr. Here's a thumbnail version of the photoset:  And I have a couple videos uploaded to my YouTube account. Here's one where I play chicken with a foreign news camera: As for the iPhone itself? I'll point you toward Engadget's 16,000-word review and just say that I'm quite happy to be in on the ground level. It certainly isn't perfect, but it's a solid A. It's also my first smartphone -- ask me about my sordid history with cell phones sometime (though I swear, I have a great track record with iPods) -- so maybe after fighting one dumbphone after another, this feels like a bigger step up than it is. But... I don't think so. Yeah, GPS would be neat, but the Maps do it for me. The EDGE network is slow, but I've never been on 3G (though I am hoping Cringely is right on this prediction). Most of my problems with the device are software-based -- it's bad enough you can't copy or paste in Safari, but lately it's been crashing on me -- and since Apple is known for its free, automatic software updates, I imagine these issues will be addressed in due time. And the things that I don't even know to complain about will? They'll probably blow me away when I'm ready to go back for another one by the third generation. Labels: iPhone |
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