Recently I had installed iTunes on my PC at work, these days iTunes comes bundled with QuickTime. When QuickTime installed, it forced mp3 files in FireFox to be associated with itself rather than be saved to disk (which was my previous default).

To solve this irritating problem load up FireFox click on Tools then Options.

Next click on the content tab, click the manage button in the file types section at the bottom.

You’ll see a big list of file which have been associated with Quicktime, find mp3 files in the list and click on the button that says “remove action” to remove its association with Quicktime. When you click on hyperlinks to mp3s you should now get the prompt to open or save.

I’d like to take this chance to publicly apologise to Tom from mySpace as I know he’s very sensitive about mockery especially when it comes from a prominent member of the blogosphere like myself!

/* Pete Graham */

/* Pete Graham */

Personally I found the adverts quite amusing the first time I saw them (I’m now sick of them because they’re on the UK version of mySpace all the bloody time), did the adverts make me want to buy a Mac? No they didn’t. The reason for this the same reason other Mac adverts have irritated me in the past, they’re quite smug! The casting of Michelle and Web probably doesn’t help as we know their characters from the peep show. So before the advert begins I was imagining the “PC” character as being a quite likable but bumbling oaf, and the “Mac” character as being a slightly irritating pretentious twat.

I wondered if it was just me that saw the add like this because I’d watched a lot of the peep show but there is an article on the BBC site which voices very similar opinions. Maybe Apple underestimated how well known the comedy duo were in England.

Now I’m not anti-Apple, I used to own a iPod until it broke. One of the thing that I have found about some Mac owners is they will quite happily bore you about how much better Macs are than PCs with a slightly smug look on their face. Becoming one of these is the reason more than anything that’s prevented me from buying/using Macs. Is this attitude reflected by the adverts or caused by them? Your guess is as good as mine.

# Pete Graham

There is an interesting article on Information Architects about a theoretical iPhone range. The article is quite detailed and explains the features each model would offer and the type of consumer they would appeal to. I can’t see anything like these actual models produced as they suggest dropping music playback from the iPhone, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple do attempt to create a range of iPhones.

One topic the article touches upon is the huge scope for simplification and reduction of facilities in modern mobile phones. You might want the latest phone with mp3 player, camera, and video games but your Gran probably doesn’t.

To read my previous iPhone pondering click here.

/* Pete Graham */

The other reason I don’t use the iTunes store is I don’t think its great value for money. If I buy a CD it’s around the same price as downloading the Album but I get a nice case and a booklet, I can put that on a shelf with other CDs and impress chicks. I’d like to see Apple offer a subscription based service where the user pays a set free for as many downloads as they like. If people had no download cap on the iTunes store why would they bother “illegally” swapping mp3s with each other anyway?

Interesting Bill Gates stated in December 2006 that he feels that digital copy protection for music and video is too complex. Hopefully with big names in Technology realising that DRM is a problem this could be the begging of the end for DRM, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

# Pete Graham

Most people have an mp3 player and a phone; combining the industries best selling mp3 player and a phone makes excellent sense, one device less hassle. What Apple is aiming to do is much more ambitious they are attempting to create a portable multimedia device that will have mainstream appeal.

Looking at the above size comparison from sizeasy.com the iPhone is slightly bigger than a 30gb iPod and a normal mobile phone (its exact dimensions are 115mm x 61mm x 11.6mm). It is smaller than most PDA’s (It’s worth bearing in mind that the iPhone will have a 4GB or 8GB flash memory so is actually a combination of a iPod Nano and a mobile).

Apple are often praised for their highly innovative products, I would argue that many of Apples products aren’t particularly innovative at all. However Apple does produce highly polished products with effective user interfaces and stylish designs. This makes their products highly desirable and is why there is often such a cult surrounding them.

Heres a list of the key features that the iPhone is meant to achieve:

• Play mp3’s
• Make phone calls
• Browse the web
• Send emails
• Take photo’s
• Video Playback

An impressive list, but if you cut thought the hype there isn’t much that is being offered that can’t be done by high spec PDA or Smart Phones which are currently available, and the iPhone will not be on sale until June.

I believe how good the iPhone will be as a multimedia lifestyle device will be determined by four major factors:

1. Touch screen
2. Internet
3. User interfaces
4. Durability

Touch Screen
I used to use a PDA however I found that it took too long to input data with it. Either you had to use the hand writing recognition software which was rubbish or use the stylus to point at characters on a onscreen keyboard, very slow. Blackberry’s have full QWERTY keyboards but they’re tiny. With the iPhone apple claim to have patented a revolutionary touch screen technology, if the touch screen works genuinely well then this reason alone could justify buying one instead of a smart-phone/PDA alternative.

Internet
People are becoming more reliant on Internet services as time goes on. Even though Internet connectivity has been offered on mobile phones by various means for the past few years it has never taken off. This is probably because it tends to be very expensive to connect on most mobile tariffs and if you do manage to connect its painfully slow. The interesting thing to see will be if Apple can achieve decent connection speeds and what sort of coverage the iPhone will get. Apparently they want to offer music and movie downloads so their going to need some fast speeds.

Like a PDA the iPhone features Wi-Fi connectivity, this is a nice feature however at this point in time not many public places in Britain offer Wi-Fi access. This means the only places you’ll be able to use the Wi-Fi is your house or your office where your likely to have a Computer anyway so why bother using a portable device?

User-Interface
I used to own a 4th Generation iPod and I was very impressed with its user-interface; it was intuitive and common tasks could be achieved with minimal effort. Early mobile phones especially Nokia’s had fairly good UI’s however as extra features crept in they began to lose some of their simplicity and elegance. I currently use a Samsung D500, when I get a new message it takes 5 button presses before I can actually read it, my old Nokia 3310 took 2.

The iPhone is an ambitious project but if Apple can keep it so core features can be achieved quickly and effectively this will be a huge selling point.

Duabilty
The hard-drive on the 4th Gen iPod I owned broke after 14 months; the 1st Gen iPod Nano’s had defects with the screen’s cracking. Majority of people I know that have owned iPods have had them break. You can’t really have an essential digital lifestyle device if it’s likely to break on you at any minute. Apple really have to make sure the durability on the iPhone is good otherwise it just won’t be worth buying. It will be interesting to see if insurance is offered on iPhones like it is on mobile phone contracts.

I look forward to having a play with an iPhone when it’s released. Will I be buying one, no, well not straight away anyway I’ll probably give it 6 months and see if the people who were raving about them when they initially came out still rate them. I do think convergent devices are the way forward, for a while when I was carrying a mobile, PDA, iPod and laptop around with me I was starting to feel like inspector gadget. Maybe we can all read this article again in a years time and mock me for my ridiculous predictions.

// Pete Graham

[1] UrbanDitionary.com has this definition of the word iTurd: When you drop your iPod in the toilet

“I was such a fucking dumbass, I dropped my brand new iPod in the toilet, now it’s a iTurd.”