Razor Hail

So today is supposed to be the day that VZ announces that they’re going to carry the iPhone. But if the announcement was about something entirely different, there’s a few reasons why I wouldn’t be totally surprised.

The biggest reason would be voice & data. Verizon’s network uses a technology called CDMA to carry your voice and data traffic. The problem is that CDMA can’t handle voice and data at the same time (so you can’t access the web while on a call). There is an alternative called Voice over Rev A (VoRA) that allows simultaneous voice & data. However, as of October of 2010, I had yet to see anything about it being deployed en masse. Is it possible that Verizon rolled it out and tested their entire network in 3 months? Have them had it all along? Possibly.

The other reason is the speed of Verizon’s network. Their “theoretical” data rates are approximately half of what you can get through AT&T. Of course, that’s not real world usage, but even if it’s “half-true”, you’ll still have people on Verizon getting slower throughput on their device that an AT&T user standing next to them. Would Apple release the same product that performs different depending on carrier?

Third is the iPhone 5. Assuming the iPhone 5 comes out in June, why release hardware that will be obsolete in 5 months? What happens to those people who bought iPhone 4’s on Verizon? Is the Verizon iPhone 4 going to be the only VZ phone until iPhone 6 in 2012? Again, not very “Apple-like”.

However it pans out, the tech world will be buzzing for quite some time.

Verizon just announced their LTE network will go live on December 5th in 38 US markets.

Initially, only USB modems will be able to access the LTE network (with handsets to follow in mid-2011). The biggest shock is the pricing. 5GB of data is $50/month. 10GB per month is $80/month!! And $10 for each additional GigaByte after that!

Are they on crack? With LTE’s increased speed, you’ll be able to easily chew through 5GB.

By making the monthly cost so high, they’re making sure that the public DOESN’T flock to this new technology.

On Apple’s homepage and also their iTunes splash page is a teaser for an anouncement that “Tomorrow is just another day. That you’ll never forget”.

What could it be? Some have speculated they’re announcing the server data farm in North Carolina is going to be up & running. I doubt that will be it, however (most people don’t even know about the new farm). The server farm might be providing infrastructure to whatever they’re announcing, but it won’t be the “big reveal”.

Here’s some ideas:

- Subscriptions for TV shows. For $X per month, you get unlimited access to any and all TV shows (perhaps split by network?)

- Everything is streaming now. No more downloading songs/movies/TV shows if you don’t want to. You’ll be able to stream everything from “the cloud”. This would also put an end to the 5 machine limit in iTunes.

I’ve also read “iTunes email”. WTF? Seriously? File that under “less than useful”.

It has to be big for Apple to hype it on their homepage (and in iTunes). I’m betting on all iTunes content being streamed…

ADC Search is an extension I created for Safari & Firefox that lets you search directly on the Apple Developer website.

When searching in Google for Apple framework keywords, results from the ADC (Apple Developer Central) website are usually buried.This extension provides search results directly from the ADC website.

On Oct 20, Apple revealed two new MacBook Airs (11” & 13” models).

I had thought that the 11” model ($999) would all but spell the end of the white, polycarbonite MacBook. That turned out wrong :-)

Apple made no subtractions to the product line that day, only additions. And what additions they were!

If you do any sort of traveling (even on a moderate basis) and don’t already have a MacBook, the MacBook Air is the *perfect* machine to have. Especially if you have a desktop already and just need something to travel with and do some light computing.

At $999 and 11”, it really is a great alternative to the existing ‘netbooks’ that are on the market now. It has a full-size keyboard, 11” screen and TONS of battery life.

It does cloud the waters a bit, though, when it comes to the iPad. Not as far as price, but as far as product function. I suppose if you already have a laptop, then you’d probably go for the iPad to use when traveling.

If you don’t already have a laptop, your choice is harder. Do you go for the iPad, or one of the MacBook Airs? It really is a tough decision. But either way, you can’t go wrong.

Steve Jobs got on the Apple earnings conference call this past Monday, and made some criticisms about their competitors.

One particular criticism was aimed at Google. Jobs called them out on their stance that Google’s Android is an ‘Open’ system and Apple is ‘Closed’. You might be thinking “What? What does “open” mean anyway, and why do I care?”

And that’s exactly the point. Most people don’t know and/or care. What they care about is how easy something is to use and what can a given thing (phone/app/gadget) can do for them.

What’s even more laughable is that Jobs must have really struck a nerve (especially with Andy Rubin (Google’s VP of engineering). Rubin tweeted in response to Jobs’ barb:

the definition of open: “mkdir android ; cd android ; repo init -u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git ; repo sync ; make”

Way to go, Rubin. I’m sure the droves of Linux users just did a collective fist-pump in the air. Meanwhile, the other 99% of the population said “wha?”

Framed another way: Apple can’t hear you, Rubin. They’re too busy counting the FIFTY BILLION IN CASH THEY HAVE IN THE BANK.

On Wednesday, Apple is holding a ‘Back to the Mac’ event. The current rumor du jour is new MacBook Airs along with a sneak preview of OS X 10.7 (Lion?)

I do think that the MacBook Air will see a refresh (espeically since it’s been almost twice the number of days (on average) since the last refresh (http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#MacBook_Air))

The idea that there will be MacBook Airs (plural) is interesting. But where will a new one fit? The current lineup looks like:

iPad - $499/$629, $599/$729, $699/$829 (WiFi/WiFi+3G)

MacBook (13 in) - $999

MacBook Pro (13 in)- $1199

MacBook Air (13 in)- $1499 

Let’s assume the rumors of a smaller one are true and that the 13.3 inch model stays at $1499. What does that do to the MacBook & MacBook Pro (13”)? 

I’m thinking this spells the end of the line for the MacBook ($999) and the 11 inch Air will replace the MacBook at $999.

Let’s face it, the $999 MacBook priced so close to the $1199 MacBook Pro just doesn’t fit with Apple’s usual strict separation between models. Those two machines are just too similar (the essential difference is one has an aluminum case, the other polycarbonite plastic). 

If the new, smaller Air is $999, consumers can opt for the following:

iPad - $500-$829

MacBook Air (11 in) - $999

MacBook Pro (13 in) - $1199

MacBook Air (13 in) or MacBook Pro (13 in) -$1499

MacBook Pro (15 in) - $1799/$1999

A lineup like that fits more into Apple’s usual pricing/model structure.

A while back, Posterous had a bad couple of days. First they were hit with a Denial of Service attack on a Wednesday & Friday. They quickly fixed that and then moved to new data centers on that Friday night. They worked over the weekend to get things running right. 

A few days later, their CEO (Sachin Agarwal) sent out an email to all Posterous users. In it, he outlined what happened, but more importantly, he apologized for user’s websites being down. Note, that he didn’t say “We regret any inconvenience this may caused”, he geniunely said “I’m sorry”.

So many companies these days put out “apologies” that are very carefully worded as to not accept blame or responsibility. 37Signals ‘Rework’ book calls this the ‘non-apology’ apology. And they’re absolutely right.

Companies and people alike are so afraid to say “I’m sorry”. Because that means “this was my fault”.  I don’t understand when it became such a faux pas to make a mistake? Isn’t that how we learn? Would we have gone to the moon if we were afraid to make a mistake? I think not.

Think I’m wrong? Next time you’re standing in line, step on the foot of the person behind you. When they say something, turn and say “I regret any inconvenience your foot may or may not be experiencing”. 

In case you missed it yesterday, The Chive posted a story about a girl that had quit her job via dry-erase board and sent pictures to the entire office.

It was revealed today that it was a hoax. But it doesn’t matter. It wasn’t intended to “increase brand awareness”, “increase engagement”, or “share brand experience”. It was supposed to make people laugh. 

Now that Apple’s “antennagate” has died down, let’s take a look back, shall we?

If anything, this whole fiasco has illustrated the difference between a blogger and a journalist.

The thing lost in all the “OMG! The sky is falling!” reports is actual data. There wasn’t ONE report from any of the blogs and/or news outlets of how many people this affected.

MacWorld said “Report: Users having iPhone 4 antenna reception issues”

Network World: “iPhone 4 owners report reception and signal issues”

The list goes on. Notice how none of those reports quantified the number of users? Then the mainstream media gets wind of this (also without doing due diligence), and suddenly your molehill is a nice mountain.

Contrast that to the press conference that Apple held in response to this mess. 0.55% (one HALF of ONE PERCENT) of users have called in with this issue. What? What was that? An actual FACT? That’s odd. And their return rate is 1/3 of the return rate of the 3GS.

Apple backed up their stance with hard data, but at that point, it didn’t matter; perception had become reality.

Lost in the noise was the fact that the iPhone 4 had an EXTERNAL antenna. Of course if you put your hand over it it will attenuate the signal. BUT, the new phone got much BETTER reception than previous models (by having the external antenna) so the trade-off was worth it in Apple’s eye(s). But based on the media reports, you’d be hard-pressed to find this little nugget of information.

The news is supposed to report facts. Instead it’s all about eye-balls. And page/ad impressions for blogs. By jumping on the bandwagon, this whole issue spun out of control. Even after Apple showed that other smartphones also “lost signal” when gripped over their antenna, you didn’t see ANY reports about those other phones, did you?

ZDNet might have been the worst of all:

Consumer Reports: Thumbs down to iPhone 4; antenna to blame

Really, ZDNet? In fact, that’s a bald-faced lie. Consumer Reports didn’t say “don’t buy”, they said “we cannot recommend”. Not exactly splitting hairs there.  Thumbs down would be “don’t buy the phone”. But that doesn’t get people to click on the story on their website, now does it?