Here’s how far technology has come in the last couple of decades–I actually used to own most of the items in the top photo at one point or another. Now it sure is easier to carry all of it in the nice, compact package shown in the lower photo…
(This came from W&CIE via the Minimal Mac blog.)
Yippee! My new iPhone 4S (Unlocked, Black, 64GB) has been delivered to the FedEx office near my house where it is being held for pickup. I’m now only a few hours away from finally having it in my hands!
For years I have been subscribing to the email list for J-List in Japan–an online store that sells all manner of cool things from Japan run by an expat from San Diego, Peter Paine. I particularly liked what he wrote in today’s email:
Like everyone else yesterday, I was saddened to hear of the death of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple and one of my idols as a businessman. The news was widely reported here, and the reaction by Japanese fans was as expected, with many expressing great sadness at his passing in TV interviews. Steve Jobs was well-respected in Japan, a country where business leaders are seldom charismatic and inspiring–only a few, like Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita or Honda founder Soichiro Honda, have stood out in a similar way. Jobs was feared by hidebound Japanese companies like Sony, too, who would rather their business go on forever without being disrupted by outside ideas like the iPod.
The reaction on 2-channel, the ubiquitous Japanese BBS, was also strong, and I opened a few threads to see what Japanese users were saying. In addition to lots of posts expressing arigato! to such a unique individual, one poster pointed out how similar the relationship of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates was to Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin, two samurai lords from the Warring States period (1467-1573) who were lifelong rivals, though they had great respect for each other.
But the comment I liked best was, “Now we know where the iPhone 4S got its name from. The 4S stands for ‘For Steve.'”
You know, I really like that last one myself and I shall always refer to my new iPhone as the “For Steve” model.
Its now 4:00 AM on Friday, October 7th—the big iPhone 4S pre-order day. I woke up about 20 minutes ago to get a drink of water and decided to go online and order my new dream machine: a black, unlocked, 64GB iPhone 4S.
Only to find out that the unlocked models are “Coming in November”!
Guess I will have to be patient for another 4 weeks…
This was not something completely unexpected, but still a shock. As is being reported virtually everywhere, Steve Jobs was kind of like the Thomas Edison of the computer age and his vision will be missed. Stop and think for a moment about how Apple–the company that he helped create and spur on to greatness–has radically changed entire industries over the past few years and how we all think about and interact with technology. Quite mind-boggling, really…
I have complete faith that Apple will continue to be the innovative company it has grown to be going into the future. With Apple’s new CEO, Tim Cook, and his team announcing the new iPhone 4S on Tuesday and then having Steve pass away quietly on Wednesday, I can’t think of a more dramatic or definitive “passing of the torch”. I look forward to a continuing bright future for Apple and many more thrilling moments that will change my life for the better. But as I pre-order my new iPhone 4S tomorrow morning–and no doubt every time I use it going forward–it will be with a slight tinge of melancholy.
I actually heard Steve Jobs speak at more than one Macworld Expo Keynote over the years and it was always a thrill. I’m saddened that he passed away at the relatively young age of 56–that’s only 8 years older than I am. Kinda makes me realize just how mortal we all are. My condolences to his family and friends. Thank you, Steve, for helping to actually change the world for all of us.
May you rest in peace…
With this week’s shocking news from HP that they’re leaving the PC business and the Tablet/Smartphone business, it’s a great time to be an Apple aficionado. Maybe HP is actually doing the right thing (albeit in a rather un-elegant way) by finally admitting that they shouldn’t be trying to compete on every platform at every level.
But this post isn’t as much about my position as it is about reblogging a brilliant post by Patrick Rhone from his Minimal Mac blog. I liked this quote, but there is so much more in the full post (linked at the bottom):
The iPad is causing such disruption in the PC business that HP, a company fundamental to the creation of the personal computer itself, is getting out of the PC business.
Wow. Just wow.
His main conclusion is that nobody can compete with Apple on the iPad front (and that they should just stop deluding themselves by calling it the “tablet” front) and instead should begin doing what Apple does: creating entire markets.
Dear Anyone Else Who Thinks They Have A Chance In The iPad Market,
You don’t. The iPad is the fire that sucked all the oxygen out of the room. Apple zigged and you guys are still trying to figure out what a zag is.
…
Apple did not beat you with the iPad. They beat you with the iPad market. A market they created out of the ashes of burning netbooks, low cost laptops, and PCs that no one really liked or wanted in the first place. There simply was no other option at the time available for them to buy otherwise. Apple created that option.
The whole post is really quite insightful, and not necessarily unabashed Apple fanboy-ism either. Read it all by clicking here.
I know that I live right across the street from the Valencia Town Center Mall. And I know that I had already heard that they would be opening an Apple Store there. But…
Imagine my surprise when I found out from a City of Santa Clarita tweet yesterday that the grand opening would be today! I guess that just tells you how often I bother spending time at the mall.
journey, not destination 