Can iTunes in the Cloud Make Me Cool?

I am loving the idea of a feature of iTunes in the Cloud… iCloud stores your purchase history. With this feature you can re-download any previously purchased song. My sons have downloaded countless songs over the years… and they did this all on my account.

So… I can download all the “cool” songs my sons have bought. Will this make me cool, listening to all this hip, new music? Probably not… after all, who uses the word hip anymore.

I am a little stoked about the iTunes Match feature. This will allow you to have iTunes look at all your songs… and it will add any songs it finds to your iCloud library, even if the source of the song was of questionable origins. This is a paid service, so you will have to cough up $24.99 per year. When you use this service iTunes will replace your music with 256-Kbps AAC DRM-free version from its own catalog.

For people who have acquired music in an unethical manner, this could be looked upon as an amnesty program. Pay the $25 for one year… and after you have downloaded all the songs form iTunes just delete the old copies. You are instantly legal. Then drop the service.

I am sure that I am not the first to think of this, and I am sure that not many people will do it either. Think about it… you would be replacing open MP3 files with proprietary AAC files. Although they are DRM-free, they are still AAC files. Essentially you would be locking yourself into Apple’s eco-system. This would not be worthwhile as I am still using my Zune HD. However, if/when I get an iPhone this is looking like a way for me to get my entire library in a consistent format.

Since I am in the market for a new phone… I have a couple of hard decisions to make.

I’ll keep you posted.

iPhone 4S – Are You Dissapointed?

There seems to be a lot of outcry over the underwhelming announcement of the iPhone 4S. People seem to be let down it was not an iPhone 5.

Get over it.

Clearly people have a short memory. When was the last time Apple did a product announcement that was not a disappointment? Here are the times when people really were blown away:

1. iPhone (Original)
2. MacBook Air (Original)
3. iPad (Original)

That’s about it. It is the same thing every time. Mac Fanboys spread rumors for months leading up to a major announcement. But in the last 6-8 years Apple has really only had three truly major announcements. Every other announcement was just more of the same.

In this case we get a dual core processor, improved graphics, 8 MP camera & 1080p video recording. What more do you want. Siri… if that works as well as it is hyped might be cool, but I don’t put a lot of faith in voice recognition yet. But it is nice to have.

Let’s take a little trip down iPhone memory lane. The original iPhone blew people away. Shortly after it launched people wanted more… so they got more… the App Store followed shortly after. It was inevitable that Apple would allow developers to create apps for it, so this was nice but not revolutionary. The first three iPhones all look a LOT alike. Sure, it got a little slimmer & a little faster, but the basic design was still there… iPhone, iPhone 2, iPhone 3, iPhone 3S, iPhone 3GS. All the same general appearance. And let me remind you… all still work with the same OS as the iPhone 4.

So why would anyone believe that Apple would get away from the basic design of the iPhone 4 after its first run. I would venture to guess that when they do come out with the iPhone 5, it will look mighty close to the iPhone 4 (No… this is not a rumor for next’s years iPhone 5… but probably more likely than all the rumors that will fly around).

Apple came out with the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air a few years ago. How much have they changed in general appearance since they initially launched. None… just incremental improvements in the hardware over time.

The same disappointment happened over the iPad 2. How different was it from the original. Not much. I little slimmer, faster, etc. No retina display, no USB ports, no SD card slot. Just minor improvements to performance. About on par for Apple.

I am not surprised that Apple did not include 4G with the iPhone 4S. Two reasons. First, and most important, Apple stays away from bleeding edge technology. It is all about the user experience. 3G is pretty fast. We have become impatient, so we want faster. Apple would rather have a reasonably fast phone that worked more reliably than to have a faster phone with less reliability… or a smaller audience (4G is not as widespread as 3G).  Second… why not milk the iPhone 4 for all it’s worth. Have an iPhone 4S now that is twice as fast… and then when 4G is more mature, and the chips are smaller inside the phone, Apple can release an iPhone 4GS. Then the iPhone 5 can come after that… and it might be time for a fresh design to go with the new hardware.

My only disappointment with the iPhone 4S is that is did not get an edge-to-edge display. I wanted that for selfish reasons. My 47 year old eyes are having a harder and harder time reading my current 3.5 inch screen without reading glasses. I was hoping Apple would increase the viewable area (no… I was not expecting a huge increase in resolution from the retina display… that would be foolish) to make it easier for us older people… and to compete with the wave of 4+ inch Android phones.

As you know, because Sprint loves me I am eligible for a new phone on Nov 1st. I am a little short on cash at the moment, so I have a little time to think this through. I need to get a little hands on time with some of the large screen Android phones. Presently these are my choices:

•   $29 – Nexus S 4G (4.0″, 16GB)
•   $99 – HTC EVO 4G (4.3″, 1GB ROM, 8GB microSD)
•   $99 – Samsung Epic 4G (4.0″, 1GB ROM, 16GB microSD)
• $199 – Samsung Galaxy S ll, Epic 4G (4.52″, 1GB RAM, 16GB ROM)
• $199 – HTC EVO 3D (4.3″, 4GB ROM, 8GB microSD)
• $199 – Motorola PHOTON 4G (4.3″, 16GB ROM, 1GB RAM)

The EVO 3D isn’t really in the running. 3D is too much of a gimmick and I would not pay extra for that. Looking at this list I see two phones that stand out… the Samsung Galaxy S ll and the HTC EVO 4G. Of course, there is the iPhone 4S now at Sprint.

It looks like I will be heading to my local Sprint store near the end of the month.

Zune… Dead!

Microsoft officially killed the Zune… even though everyone already knew it.

I love my Zune HD. It still has a feature I have never seen in an Apple portable player… HD output vie HDMI to a TV. Yep, I can pump 720p video from my Zune HD to a TV through the dock and HDMI cable. I pack this with me on every trip I go on. If the TV in the hotel/motel room has HDMI I am golden.

What I don’t understand is WHY??? Apple has the iPod Touch and the iPhone using the same OS. Why didn’t Microsoft just migrate the Zune to the Windows Phone 7 OS.

I guess this is another reason for me to look at getting an iPhone.

iPhone 4S on Sprint

I have been hoping that the one rumor about the iPhone 5 was that it was coming to Sprint. Hooray!!! I am not as disappointed as many others are going to be that we did not get a 5, but instead got a 4S. Certainly there is no reason to upgrade from 4 to 4S.

I was hoping for a larger screen, though. A 4 inch edge-to-edge screen in the same size body, so that all the cases still worked, would be cool.

I just wrote about the iPhone vs. Android and how that impacts my Zune. I have about 35 GB of music. With my 32 GB Zune I only sync songs that I have rated, which is about 15-16 GB. This almost dictates me getting a 32 GB iPhone if I get one at all.

Do I really want to buy a $300 phone? Or do I want a 4+ inch Android phone?

Maybe I need to check the latest Android Phones from Sprint first.