The hot new gadget
Category: Pirates
Posted on: June 13, 2007 12:32 PM, by PZ Myers
While once I might have pined for an iPhone, I think right now I might prefer an rPhone. Arrr.
Watch out, Apple.
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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
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Comments
I'll take the Sonic Screwdriver, thanks.
Posted by: TombeauDeCouperin | June 13, 2007 12:39 PM
Off topic: PZ, I really love the random quotes. I there some way we can access and read them all?
On topic: This phone needs some sort of convenient holder that can be screwed right into one's wooden peg leg. Have we any smiths aboard this dinghy who might try their hand at fabricating one?
Posted by: Brownian | June 13, 2007 12:43 PM
Brownian:
http://pharyngula.org/infidelquotes.php
Posted by: Diogenes | June 13, 2007 12:49 PM
There seems to be so many things not right about the iPhone - not the least is being locked into a 2G network and no 3rd-party apps. I am going to take a "wait and see" attitude.
Posted by: Homostoicus | June 13, 2007 12:53 PM
Actually there is going to be 3rd party software for the iPhone. Still it won't be able to do things that lots of other smartphones can do.
Posted by: Brian W. | June 13, 2007 1:08 PM
Thanks, Diogenes. A measure of grog to ya.
Posted by: Brownian | June 13, 2007 1:12 PM
It's so good to see a rotary dial again!
Gawd I miss those things!
Posted by: minusRusty | June 13, 2007 1:29 PM
But what do you expect of pirated software?
Btw, the hardware is defect too. The antenna should be external, long for longrange sea use, sharp and useful to fend off other pirates and the occasional vengeful wench with. Such ungainly antennas must be attached to current pirated phones, what else explains how pirates gets to wear all those fancy eye patches?
Posted by: Torbjörn Larsson, OM | June 13, 2007 1:41 PM
My biggest gripe with Apple (and with the iPhone as it's expected to be delivered) is its closed and proprietary nature...
I like the iPod as a device - I hate the bloatware that it imposes on me (iTunes & quicktime) and I hate that I can't easily buy songs from non-apple stores...
blacchh!
I don't expect the iPhone to be much different.
As a device in and of itself - pretty and reasonably functional, and relatively easy to use (but NOT intuitive).
I don't expect it to play nice with anything else, or indeed anyone else... and don't expect much of a third party market for add ons or enhancements (this is a $600 phone that doesn't even reach the cutting edge - technologically speaking).
From a marketing perspective - lots of hype - but I don't see the same market for the iPhone as for the iPod. Entry point for iPod is less than $200. For something that is essentially 100% customizable (i.e. MY music).
The iPhone is pretty, and cute, and uses a different interface metaphor than anything else.... but it just doesn't have the depth or the price point to get beyond the niche of gottahavits with significant disposable income. Most of whom already have Blackberrys or Treo's!
Given Apple's history - I don't expect a price drop anytime soon - so the target market is already saturated.
Posted by: tony | June 13, 2007 1:50 PM
Rosewood, me lads, be on the endangered list, thanks to clear-cuttin' forests by the Navy for frigates and ships o' the' line.
{short interlude for a tear and an ale.)
I'm thinkin' that oak is a more wholesomely piratical timber to shivver with - white oak, recycled from a whisky barrel, t'be sure.
fusilierrrrrrr
James 2:24
Posted by: fusilier | June 13, 2007 3:02 PM
I think that's what William Dampier (my new favorite historical figure---sorry, Leonardo) used to record his findings, actually.
Posted by: Chinchillazilla | June 13, 2007 3:29 PM
Long gone are the days when Wozniak flew the Jolly Roger over the Apple compound. Nowadays, Apple is viciously proprietary and fascist in how it runs its peripherals on your computer. I was raised on Apples and Macs but I just recently built a smokin' fast PC for $850. It will blow any other pre-fab PC under $4000 out of the water and sink an Apple faster than a double broadside from a Man o' War. Best of all, it is only loaded with open source material and a few sadly essential bits like Word and Quicktime.
Posted by: Vitis | June 13, 2007 3:41 PM
Brownian:
They are great, aren't they? I've been keeping a Word doc of the ones I particularly like. This Word doc also includes a few pithy quotes from the comments section of this blog, and an informal list of pro-evolution talking points with supporting references and links to educational materials on biology, evolution and related topics (including Separation of Church and State issues).
I need to keep notes, because most of what's in my head can be indexed by phrases like "mylittlepony", "coldplay", "vampireslayer", "depp", "lovecraft" or "горілка" and much of that is useless in the realms of evolutionary biology and politics.
Posted by: Kseniya | June 13, 2007 3:50 PM
Tony, while I don't completely disagree with you, there's a couple points I'd like to make.
First, it is still possible to purchase music from online stores other than Apples, as long as they are using a compatible format, like MP3s. I would suggest checking out eMusic.com as an iTunes compatible alternative (or supplement) to the music store. And of course ripping CDs is still an option.
Second; keep in mind that WMA is just as "closed" and "proprietary" as Apple's M3P format; the only difference is that Microsoft has widely licensed it. Worse, when Microsoft produced the Zune, They made sure that the Zune and the Microsoft music store were incompatible with "Plays For Sure" WMAs, locking their partners/competitors out of their store and player.
Third, while Apple has not yet opened up the iPhone to developers, they do allow Web 2.0 internet applications to run on the device (announced at WWDC this week). That opens up the possibilities significantly.
Finally, I think much of the entry cost of the iPhone is going to be covered by the carrier; where the company pays for a chunk of the phone to lock you into a multi-year contract. To that end, the price will likely to be very similar to competing Blackberries and Treos.
Posted by: Left_Wing_Fox | June 13, 2007 3:51 PM
PZ-- This is somewhat off topic, but you and your rPhone would fit in well at the offices of this video game company, profiled in Wired.
Thar she blows
Squid desks, treasure chests, and giant tentacles to relax upon... this is how I imagine your office at UMM!
Posted by: Apikoros | June 13, 2007 5:26 PM