Reflexions

The Politics of the iPhone

When I first got my iPhone last year, I was so impressed by the brilliance of what was there. But I was also so frustrated by what wasn't there. I found its shortcoming and limitations inexcusable. I found it had to reconcile my reaction to the universal adulation in the marketplace.

The iPhone is a perfect example of how exponential adoption often comes down to irrational factors such as addiction and codependence. When technologies are imperfect but hackable, users who customize them end up excusing and defending their flaws.

For me, as a device and as my device, it's the political issues I resent the most. Its usefulness as a productivity tool for me is limited because it is more of a revenue tool for ATT/Apple in ways that are counter to a dedication to customer satisfaction. So here is my opinion—not a typical technology review but a political response.

You could fry an egg on this laptop

Anybody else having over-heating problems with a ThinkPad X60? Mine has always run hot, due to the fast core duo processor in its little 12" fame. But lately it's been running really hot and then putting itself to sleep with heat exhaustion.

I only get this problem on AC power. The fan does work, but it still overheats unless I throttle back the processing power. It even overheated on the plane with seat power. In New York, this was a big problem because I had to get some work done. Fortunately, my room at the W Hotel had the HVAC built into the window ledge, so I was able to maintain full power by using the air conditioner's register as my workspace. Then all I had to do was zip on my parka and keep typing.

This is my fourth ThinkPad in a row. In general, they have been incredibly hardy workhorses. But I have to admit this one has had some bugs and the warrantee is just about to expire.

This is your brain on iPhone.

Eric and I will present our session on mobility & productivity using TheBrain Technologies' Personal Brain 4.

Please preview at http://brains.ica.com/office20/

Many thanks to Harlan for recoding his latest beta on the fly to overcome the iPhone's java-phobia. And many thanks to Eric for the late night, posting our koans on the first-ever iPone-enabled Web brain.

This is your brain. This is your brain on iPhone.

Favorite Word Processing Tools

Natalie Goldberg, in Writing Down the Bones, calls it “your equipment, like hammer and nails to a carpenter.”

When you hold a pen imbued with quality design and craftsmanship, it’s inspiring. And that’s the whole point, isn’t it? This is a post about how much I appreciate my Lamy 4pen. But since it’s my blog I’ll ramble a bit first.

Whatever Happened to the Page?

My article on Adobe Creative Suite 3, “Whatever happened to the page?” is up on KMWorld as part of its June issue.

The digital age has deeply undercut appreciation for how graphic design not only makes information more appealing, but more learnable. When documents are digital and/or disposable, we tend to forget that they have tangible power in their form as well as their function. Meanwhile, design is a field in which much of the skill is tacit—both the art and the technique. Crafts like art direction, graphic arts, photography and page layout blend training, experience, invention and automation to create new value on demand and on deadline, inevitably under constraints of inadequate time or money.

See also: “Maintaining the integrity of design in a virtual world”

Adobe,InDesign,graphic design

CleverKeys for Quick Reference

CleverKeys is a free app for hot-key access to definitions at Dictionary.com, synonyms at Thesaurus.com and articles at Reference.com. Just select a word while writing in Word, for example, and look it up in your browser. As easy and much more comprehensive than MS Task Pane sources such as Encarta. Reference.com accesses Wikipedia and Columbia encyclopedia articles. A cool function of these sites is that results auto-generate citations in styles such as CMS and MLA, so you can cut/past source info into your notes.

Chicago Manual Style (CMS): marsupial. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/marsupial (accessed: May 01, 2007).