The world as frankps sees it!
Posts tagged iPod Touch
Bought myself a gift …
24 years ago
I love my iPod Touch and couldn’t stand the fact that the headphones were limiting my music experience, so for a few days now I have been walking through Oslo on the search for a pair of headphones for approximately 500 NOK. So what did I end up with? A pair of WeSC Street phones. Ever heard of WeSC? No, neither had I. WeSC stands for WeAretheSuperlativeConspiracy, and is actually a clothes company! I know, I know, there’s a slogan that goes something like this: “You don’t buy your HIFI-system where your uncle buys his toaster!“.
So true, but in fact the WeSC collection of headphones don’t just look cool, they sound even better! Not only that, I found myself reducing the volume with 10-15 % compared to the old headphones, and still getting a much richer music experience.
WeSC has 10-12 concept stores across the world, but as I bought the headphones at Eplehuset, other shops/chains are selling parts of their collection.
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Upgrading to Leo?
04 years ago
I have the last days gotten a lot of questions about what I think about MacOS X 10.5. I sadly cannot tell you yet, but I will be getting a copy of Leopard from the central computer department at work on Monday or Thuesday. I hope to be able to install it on a test machine the very same day.
I am eager to try many of the new features, but there are also features that we will not be getting full benefit from, as for instance Time Machine. If I have understood it correctly, you will not be able to sync with Time Machine to Samba shares. We also don’t have any MacOS X 10.5 server at work, so any new features on the client OS that is titly integrated with the server OS will not work for us. I personally don’t have an .Mac account any more either, so these features are excluded as well.
There are, as far as I can see, three other real “show stopers” that I will run in to with MacOS X 10.5, two at work and one at home. The Mac guys at the central computer department have, as so many others, not been able to bind the MacOS X 10.5 clients to Active Directory. So what does that mean? We have no working centralized login (network authentification), and that also leads me to the second problem, as we are using Windows servers (kerberos) for printing, we also don’t have any working print service for MacOS X 10.5. Having said this, I should end with saying a few things about the many reviews I have been reading lately: Many of them pisses me off. Why? They compare Vista with Leo. One of the biggest things with Vista is the enhanced use of Active Directory and Group Policies, in other words getting it easier to administrate big networks with Windows machines from one place. Apple also have these tools for clean MacOS networks. But when the magazines write that MacOS X 10.5 is so much better then Vista, and that it should be considered as an option, then please also consider the costs of mantaining a few Macs in an Windows environment! Administrators will find themselves setting most of the configurations manually on each machine. For home users MacOS X might be a great option, especially if you have some friends around that can help you the few times you get stuck on something. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Macs (MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, Cube, Apple TV and iPod Touch).
The third problem I will mostly meet at home, and that is to get Leopard to see Windows file shares on your home network. I have a Vista machine with a bigger hard drive than on the Mac, so I guess that Vista will be used as “server” once in a while.
These are the negative parts, hopefully some of them will be fixed in the nearby future. I have never been the biggest fan of Exposé, so I am really excited about Apple finally integrating virtual desktops in to the OS. Some third party solutions have been around, but not met my needs. I loved BeOS and it’s Workspaces, and by the little I have seen of MacOS X 10.5, I can say that Spaces is the closest I have seen to Workspaces. I will now be a happy “BeOS-user” on my Mac! I am looking forward to try the small integrated applications, like iCal, Mail and iChat. With iCal, what are the new features and can I get them on my iPod Touch? We don’t use Mail at work, but Thunderbird, but I would love to try out the html-templates that comes with Mail, even though I prefer getting mails as simple text! And iChat, wow, finally an easy way to take over the screen and help my scientific staff and now the possibility to work on presentations, spreadsheets and documents together online. Taking over somebody’s screen has also been possible before, but then through Apple Remote Desktop or Timbuktu.
Finally, will all the shareware, freeware and other software that I am using be working? The next following days are gonna be fun.
iPod Touch
04 years ago
I haven’t had time writing on my blog lately, and there has sadly been a few things that should have made it to the blog. One thing that I really want to blog about, is that I have gotten myself an iPod Touch! I know, I know, after 6 years resisting the iPod, I gave in and got myself a 8 GB iPod Touch. I was trying it out in a local Apple store close to where I live, and got asked to demo it for three people that came in to the shop. Ok, so I did, but strangely enough it was me that ended up buying one!
As some of you might know (iPhone – No Thank You! and Another Reason to Say NO!), I have been critical to Apple’s approach to the mobile market. There is no reason for them to keep the phone completly closed. Windows Mobile and Symbian are both open, and the same goes for the Linux-driven phones. What made me change my mind was an article published on Engadget, that Apple had announced on its Hot News feed:
“that it is currently at work on an SDK for the iPhone, the apps from which will naturally work on the iPod touch. Apparently it’s going to take ‘em until February to do it up right“
I guess the combination of the impressive graphical userinterface and that the iPhone/iPod Touch soon will be more open, made me give in. iPod Touch is simply one of the best PDAs that I have ever tested: Beautiful calendar, addressbook and worldclock with alarms. And Safari, I am speachless. There is no mobile browser like it. Opera, my other favourite, isn’t even close. I haven’t tested the YouTube-player included, or playing video on the device. But iPod Touch is great way of listening to my favourite music and podcasts. My HTC 4350 is currently collecting dust on the shelf. It used to be my music player and phone. Now I am back to carrying two devices around, my Nokia E60 and the iPod. But it is worth it. If or when Apple is releasing iPhone in Norway, I guess that will be the next device that I buy. Apple has brought PDAs and Smartphones to a new, higher level, and it is time for others to try to catch up.
If I can come with two finally advices, it would be one for you as a buyer and one to Apple. If you plan to buy an iPod Touch, and as me have ripped your music collection to 320 Kbps, then go for the 16 GB version of the iPod Touch. Other wise you will only have space for about 700 – 750 songs. I use such a high biterate cause I also sync my Mac against Apple TV, and that device is connected to my homecinema system. The advice to Apple should be no surprise, please update both the iPhone and iPod Touch to include WPA Enterprise! Students need it to be able to use the devices at universities across Europe and probably also in other parts of the world.