No half measures

As you may be aware, I've done a lot of tinkering with various distributions of Linux on my Eee 901 netbook over the past few months (mainly due to the evangelism of my mate Rich). I've tried Mandriva, Eeebuntu, Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Mint and Fedora - all with varying degrees of success.

I've either been running these distros as live versions from a USB stick, or (if they work reasonably well) installing them to the Eee's SD card. This has had the benefit of leaving the default Windows XP installation untouched, allowing me to choose which OS to boot on startup. The downside has been that trying to run an OS from an SD card hasn't exactly provided the smoothest or quickest experience.

So, to that end, I decided the other day to go the whole hog and remove XP and install Ubuntu (my preferred flavour) onto the main solid-state drive of the Eee. I'm pleased to report that this was a very simple process - I just went with all the default options, rather than having to mess about with partitions and boot loaders and the like.

As I've previously reported, Ubuntu 9.04 works with all the Eee hardware - wifi, audio, bluetooth, webcam etc - out of the box so there were no issues with any of that.

Pleasingly, running Ubuntu as the main OS from the SSD has provided an exceptionally quick user interface. Power on to login screen takes just 19 seconds, and from logging in to fully running desktop with active wifi connection takes just another 15 seconds after that. Compared to the minute and a half that XP was taking to perform the same actions, that's quite an achievement. Of course, the real benefit of Linux ownership comes from the refreshingly bloat-free nature of the OS - no extraneous rubbish running in the background to slow everything down, no need for virus checkers, no "helper" applications annoying you in the system tray.

And of course, like Ubuntu itself, all the  installed software is free and open source - OpenOffice, Firefox, GIMP - and with a quick trip to the Skype homepage that's been painlessly installed too.

All in all, a very successful and simple transition.

I'm not even remotely tempted to go back to XP after seeing how nicely Ubuntu works on the Eee - it's an ideal OS for a netbook. I may start tinkering again when Moblin gets properly established though!

Fixing my Denon DCD-825 CD player

Although it's 14 years old, I've grown very attached to my Denon CD player and when it stopped playing discs I was most upset. The most probable cause was a defective laser/lens assembly, so I found out that it's actually a generic Sony unit - the KSS-240A - which is still widely available. A quick visit to eBay and £20 later, and I soon had a new unit waiting to be fitted. I wasn't really sure how to do it, or even if it would work, but I figured the best way to learn was to try it!

See my Flickr set here.

Need for speed

I'd just like to say thank you to Virgin Media for my free upgrade... it's not often you get a whole lot more of something for no extra money. This time yesterday I was running at just under 2Mb/s, so this is quite an improvement!

Essential upgrade - maybe

Word on the street (i.e. internet) says that there will be a new version of the iPod Touch arriving as early as September this year. And, if rumours are to be believed, it could come complete with everything from a built-in camera to a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

The things I would most like to see, and the things that are most likely to be included in the update, are a camera (hopefully the autofocus/macro model from the iPhone 3GS) and the GPS capabilities (also from the iPhone). These two things would make the Touch even more indespensable than it already is. The number of apps that would benefit from a camera are immense, and equally GPS for being properly "location aware" would be brilliant. Less likely, but also high on my personal wishlist, would be a built-in microphone. I'm guessing a processor speed bump and more RAM are a given, as is the version 3.0 OS.

However, if these things really were included the the third-gen Touch, wouldn't it be straying just a bit *too* far into iPhone territory? Already it's 75% iPhone, and these additions would push it to about 90%. The only thing missing would be the telephony features. I'm thinking that Apple would be wary of eating into its iPhone sales (and associated revenue from the stupidly long and stupidly expensive tarriffs).

Needless to say though, if they did manage to put a camera and GPS in the next model, mine would be straight on eBay and I'd preorder the day it was announced - providing it can come in at a sensible price. Let's hope that the money men at Apple see the sales opportunities for a better Touch and don't fret too much about their iPhone contracts...

And... thanks for nothing.

So the WWDC keynote has been and gone, and it was all a bit... well... meh.

The iPhone 3.0 OS looks like a good upgrade, but it wasn't exactly a surprise as it was announced months ago - and if I want it on my iPod Touch it'll cost me, whereas iPhone users get it for free. What's that all about?! But it's definitely worth the outlay as it will give me the ability to CUT, COPY, PASTE AND UNDO!!

As for Snow Leopard, again it looks like a worthwhile step forward. And the best bit? Only $29! That's a serious bargain. Oh, wait... what's this?! Intel only? Ah. Not for me, this brave new world. There will be no snow on my ageing G5 Leopard.

And so on to the much anticipated new iPhone hardware - the iPhone 3GS! Marvel at the camera that is THREE WHOLE MEGAPIXELS WHICH CAN RECORD FRICKIN' VIDEO! Gasp in wonder at the introduction of HSDPA! WHOA! What is this, 2007?!

Way to go Apple. Sometimes you disappoint me greatly. But I still love you. I think.

WWDC today - but do I care enough?

With only a few hours to go until Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference 2009, it is now pretty much accepted wisdom that there will be an announcement of a new iPhone. If this is true, it'll be the third year on the bounce that they've released new iPhone hardware. Now I'm all up for technological advancement, and bearing in mind I'm about 6 weeks away from the end of my current mobile phone contract I may well be in the market for just such a device.

However, I have a few issues with the whole iPhone sales model. If Apple continue this 12-month cycle of hardware upgrades, how are customers going to fare with this incessant pace of change? If I got myself a new 18-month contract for a 3rd generation iPhone as soon as it's released, I'm pretty much guaranteed to have an obsolete model after 12 months. So do I then get the 4th-gen iPhone when the contract expires, knowing that if I'm just a bit more patient I can have the 5th-gen in just another six months? My god, it's enough to make your head spin!

But my *real* problem with the iPhone is unfortunately more fundamental than the obsolescense of the hardware. The cost is just a bit rich for my blood. I know that you're getting what is arguably the best mobile phone in the world, but the monthly cost is what's putting me off. The cheapest contract for an iPhone is £30 a month, for 18 months, with an upfront cost of £100 for the 8GB model. For that outlay, you get 75 minutes and 125 texts and unlimited data.

Now I can get a super-shiny Nokia E71 (which admittedly, isn't an iPhone but is widely recognised to be the best smart phone on the market bar none) for free on an 18-month contract with 200 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data for £20 a month from three.co.uk.

There's an interesting comparison between the two phones from Wired.com - just try to ignore the geeks and concentrate on the phones...



So over the life of the 18-month contract the iPhone will set me back £640, the Nokia will cost me £360. That's some significant margin - £280 is a lot in my world.

So there's my problem - I *know* the iPhone is better. I *know* it's cooler. I *know* it's made by the almighty Apple. But when I already have an iPod Touch (which is 75% of the iPhone anyway), I just can't justify the cost. My iPhone-owning friends have all said "but it's only an extra £10 a month", but the flip side of that is that "it's a WHOLE £10 extra a month".

So yes, let's have some shiny new hardware. Let's make the best phone in the world even better. Let's bask in the glory of Apple's design and vision. But more than any of those things, LET'S MAKE THE DAMN THING CHEAPER.

*** UPDATE ***

So now the WWDC keynote has been and gone, and Apple have announced their new iPhone model, the iPhone 3GS. So far as I can tell, it's very similar to the old model but now sports HSDPA and a 3 megapixel camera with video capability. Both of which the Nokia E71 has had since it's introduction over a year ago. But the best bit? The upfront cost for the 8GB iPhone 3GS is a bargain at only £185. Which, from my earlier calculations, pushes the total 18-month cost up to £725. Excuse me if I don't rush to buy one.

I almost didn't notice it was spam...

I was checking through the recent comments I've received on my postings earlier on, and as I was going through and deleting all the obvious Cyrillic-character rubbish and adverts for Viagra, I ALMOST DIDN'T NOTICE THIS LITTLE BEAUTY WAS SPAM. Honestly - it could almost have been a real comment couldn't it?! Incidentally, I've deleted out the hyperlinks just in case anyone felt the urge to click through.

"Once in a while my internet disconnects and reconnects all eveningand one day every 2-3 weeks. stiga quickplay indoor outdoor table tennis table. It's bewildering, seeing as flanders valley proper for flanders valley the most part0 my internet works penalize and is trouble-free. sampras tennis star sampras tennis star. Although the infrequent cosmos of the disconnections is not all that bothersome,lee on solent tennis clublee on solent tennis club it is EXTRAORDINARILY annoying and apt to the character of my deal with I ask for a unchanged, sure and unwearied connection at all times."

Yeah. Good point, well made. Couldn't have said it better myself. SPAM FAIL.