Blog post

June 30, 2007 [LINK / comment]

iPhone, youPhone, wePhone

Will everyone have an iPhone in the future? If Apple's marketing department achieves their goals, we will all own one of those incredible devices some day, and we will wonder how we ever got by without one. Telephoning, Internet browsing, music listening, and personal organizing all in one tiny box. Like a Ronco multi-function kitchen utensil, it slices, it dices, and probably cuts julienne potatoes. See apple.com. To me it looks just a little too big to be convenient, but I'll have to see one up close to make up my mind. Apparently, the iPhone runs Mac OS X, Safari, iCal, Mail, etc., and I wonder how long it will take to boot up if you just want to make a quick phone call. Some people worry about the exclusive cellular telephone deal with AT&T, so there will be a lot of scrutiny to see whether Apple might be exploiting its monopoly position in this sector -- which is pretty ironic. That highlights the real revenue-generating side of the iPhone, which is not the hardware but rather the various (pricey) service options that customers will have to pay month after month after month. What about the Clems? Jacqueline is very eager, but we may hold off for a few months until the technological kinks are worked out...

Venus and Saturn converge

I had to wait a while for the clouds to move out of the way, but I finally got a good view of Venus and Saturn right next to each other in the southwestern sky tonight. Saturn was dimmer than I would have thought, but still visible to the naked eye. As detailed at skyandtelescope.com (link via Connie), they are presently less than one degree apart in the night sky, which is quite rare, although perhaps not quite as unique as the planetary "triple play" (Mars, Mercury, Jupiter) last December.