CT Blue

I find I must weigh in on the new Iphone. The political punditry game is growing stale, considering that everything happening right now is pretty much déjà vu all over again, with the glorious exception of those kids on the street, about which I have had my say. As to what’s left, how many times can you point out that the Republicans are crazy or that we’re being devoured by Wall Street, or that we are attempting to solve our economic problems using time tested nostrums that have failed every other time they’ve been tried.

So, on to the Iphone, which has apparently left a lot of folks cold.

First, I have a confession. While I am a tech fan of the first order, I consider a phone, even the marvelous little Iphone, in the same category as my car. So long as it continues to work, I’ll use it until I run it into the ground. Now, computers, cameras, Ipads, are all different, for reasons I don’t care to articulate because in truth there is no sensible distinction.

Now, back to the Iphone. We can gather from the 4s moniker that a 5 is probably around the corner, but I ask those folks looking for a blockbuster advance on current technology: what more can you reasonably expect, from a hardware standpoint, out of a device small enough to fit in your pocket? As a matter of physics (optics subdivision) the camera on a device as thin as an Iphone can only get so good. You can add all the pixels you want, but after a certain number, they don’t make a difference. After a while, it’s the size of the sensor that counts, and that’s limited by the distance of the lens from the sensor. Display quality is already pretty good, and making it better is probably not going to enrich the user experience very much. Other than near field technology, which may or may not be a good thing, and 4g compatibility, neither of which is that exciting in my book, what was anyone expecting? A different shape, so everyone would have to go out and buy new cases? More storage? No one is really talking about that. The future appears to be in the cloud, and everyone seems to be going in that direction. I’d be for more storage in the Ipad, but in my phone, who cares?

For the most part, future advances are going to be under the hood. Faster processing; faster Wi-Fi, better software, better battery life, etc. That’s where the action is. On those fronts, the new phone delivers quite well, For my own part, I’m more interested in IOS 5 than in Iphone 5. So long as my 3g (or is it 3gs) can run the latest software ( I don’t need a talking digital assistant, so that’s no attraction) I’m fine with it. Most of the changes to the OS were announced months ago, so they’re old news, but that’s where the real improvements will be coming on these devices. I’ve had an Ipad since they first came out. I like my Ipad 2. It’s lighter and thinner, and it has a camera I never use. But the real advance since the device’s first appearance is the evolution in the software as developers learn how to make the device more useful and a possible replacement, in many circumstances, for a regular computer. When I first got my Ipad, I searched for months for blog editing software that would do something as simple as embed a link. Now I have two programs that will do pretty much everything I need. In fact, I haven’t written a post on my computer in months, because my old Mac based blog editor won’t run anymore, and the only replacement I’ve looked at cost $50.00, as opposed to the $4.99 I spent on software for the Ipad.

By the way, for Hitler’s reaction to the new Iphone, go here.