Tech News Vermont

It didn’t take long to see that I was wrong about the iPad. In January when it was first announced I was disappointed. Having used a Newton MessagePad for a number of years I was hoping to finally get a device that was modern but still fulfilled the space left by my retired MP2100. The pre-release press seemed to show the iPad as a giant ipod touch. That is not the case.

The iPad is a good fit for the hole left by my retired Newton. I was concerned about the lack of pen input. I like to doodle and often find myself sketching network maps or gantt charts in my notes. I was worried that the on screen keyboard would not be sufficient to take notes or write longer pieces.

The keyboard in landscape mode is as comfortable to type on as a netbook. Typing on the glass takes a little getting used, but it only took me a few days to get up to a descent typing speed.

The device does live up to the hype and is more than a giant iPod. The lack of connectivity and lack of printer support makes it hard to look at the iPad as a laptop replacement. However, for day to day use in and around the office and classroom the ipad will replace my laptop or the need to sign into a shared computer.

The new Droid ad infers that other touch phones are beauty queens while the Droid is ugly but functional.  The metaphor the commercial uses is a racehorse duct taped to SCUD missile.  I’m not a marketing whiz by any stretch of the imagination but I think Verizon and Droid need to seriously consider connecting their service and phone with a 1950’s era missile that has been used to attack Israel in 1977,  fired by both Iran and Iraq during their war in the 80’s, and used against US troops in the first Gulf War.

Watch carefully and you’ll see that the missile doesn’t appear to be a SCUD at all but, resembles the American Polaris missile.

I suppose Verizon and Droid want to emotionally connect their phone with a Soviet weapon system employed by such wonderful countries as North Korea, Iran, and Vietnam for some particular reason.  Perhaps Droid is going to go for the left over international market where other touch phones are not available. Why would you sell to the American market by comparing your product to an adversarial missile system?

The Macbook Pro issues resolved nicely, but now the connectivity issue has derailed the show.  I’ve got no DSL at the northern command post  presently and Fairpoint said they would fix it in 2-3 business days.  That puts me at tomorrow…

In his speech, the FCC Chairman has shown that the government “gets it”  The Internet needs to be a free and open space and Internet users should not be restricted by their sevice provider.  This is expecially important in places like Vermont where most consumers and small businesses have very limited choices in service providers.

In larger markets if you don’t like the service level agreement of your current provider, you can vote with your feet/wallet and move your service to another company.  In more connected regions of the country end-users and business owners have many choices for Internet service.

The FCC’s position is great news for rural places like Vermont where Internet consumers don’t have choices for their sevice provider.  Now if you have to get Internet from satellite or Fairpoint because of where you live,   the FCC wants you to have the same unfettered access as any other Internet user.