Nick in Japan

Thankful I don’t own an HTC Android Phone

From John Gruber:

According to Trevor Eckhart, on HTC Android phones, the Carrier IQ daemon logs the following: every number you press in the phone dialer, every key you type on the keyboard, every SMS message you receive, every URL you open in the web browser, every app you open, all media playback, and your location. There is no visible sign that this is running, the process is hidden from the process viewer, and there is no way to turn it off.

That is frightening. How is this data of any use to the carriers?

Knee-jerk iOS 5 Impressions

• The improved notifications are great. I only had a few apps using push notifications in iOS 4, but now that they’re less intrusive I have brought games and other “non-necessary” apps into the fold. However…
• It’s really annoying that lock screen notifications disappear completely when you unlock the phone. Pushing the wake button and sliding to unlock has become such a casual motion that I accidentally clear my notifications more often than I read them.
• Lots of other bloggers have hit on it, but the “close” button in Notification Center is way. too. small.
• Reminders is awesome. I was never willing to pay $15 for the best to-do apps before, and Evernote is a little too bloated for a simple grocery list. 
• The weather widget in Notification center is nifty, but I would love more widgets. Especially quick access to the wi-fi on/off switch like some android phones have.
• I don’t know how many more major OS versions Apple can get through with such a static home screen. Android and Windows Phone 7 both offer a great deal of glance-able information on their home screens, and are better for it. I really hope that iOS 6 or 7 sees that the home screen has more utility, and that I don’t feel like I am jumping in and out of apps all the time.
• iCloud has hit a few snags in its first few days, but will be incredible once the kinks are worked out and everything “just works.” I would love to see more games doing cloud saves like Scribblenauts Remix.
• I don’t get all the newsstand hate. It’s great at what it does, and you can put it on another screen if you don’t read subscription content on your phone. I would rather avoid the solution that will crash iOS if you accidentally open it.

Overall, I am loving this new OS. It is starting to show its age, and is still lagging behind the competition in some areas, but iOS is still the most polished and reliable mobile operating system available.

Thoughts on Jobs

So Steve Jobs resigned from Apple today. An era has ended. One of the most incredible eras in the history of consumer technology, in fact. Apple went from almost nothing, to now being the most valuable company in the world. Whether it’s the iPod, iPhone, iPad, or MacBook Air, tech companies just can’t seem to catch up to Apple’s vision and innovation. And a lot of this was largely due to good ol’ Steve. 

Now I’m not naive, Apple is full of talented people. The coming years will see that Apple’s signature products only get better. Steve Jobs has been out of the spotlight since his most recent Medical leave earlier this year. However, the “Steve 2.0 era” contributed to a lot of my personal experiences with technology.

My first mp3 player was a 3rd generation iPod. My first laptop that I could call my own was a 12” PowerBook G4. My first Smartphone was an iPhone 4. Beyond all this, the first computer I ever even remember using was an Apple II. I don’t use Apple products all the time, and don’t want to claim any “loyalty” to one company or the other. However, I realized this morning that a lot of my enjoyment of technology came through using Apple products to discover new ways to use my computer, phone and tablet.

Thanks for showing me how to love technology, Steve.