Kudos to Steve Jobs, Jonathan Ive and everyone else at Apple.

Look how far you’ve come. People seem to forget your status as the underdog just a decade or two ago.

I remember.

I remember being reluctant to switch from the industry leader, to move from a PC to a (gasp!) Mac. The PC was king. IBM was a player — a blue chip/work-there-for-50-years-get-a-pension-and-a-gold-watch company. In fact, I remember having IBM as a client, touring a facility in Poughkeepsie, New York and marveling at the mainframes.

What a different world it was. It was all about the software. Or so some people thought.

Who predicted that you would be bigger than Microsoft?

Not many.

But you are. I consider it a magnificent accomplishment, worthy of some applause and respect.

Instead, you get an uproar over death grips and faulty antennas.

Many (most?) iPhone owners don’t mind a little frustration and imperfection.

My guess? The vast majority of iPhone 4 owners (okay, well, at least my husband and I) believe the product is marvelous. Beautiful and efficient. Elegant and powerful.

Yet some critics delight in their schadenfreude over a pseudo furor that’s actually relatively insignificant.

Why?

It leads me to wonder (with some degree of sadness) why people like to knock other peoples’ success. Why they expect (demand?) perfection and then pounce (shine a spotlight on it?) when they discover the slightest flaw.

I believe in a principle of abundance, where people support one other and trumpet the greatest achievements of friends, family members and respected colleagues then support them and encourage them through hard times or whenever they stumble.

So I applaud you, Apple.

And you know what?

The iPhone has improved the quality of my life. I often forget that it’s a phone because that’s the least important part of the device. People who don’t use the iPhone don’t understand that fact. It’s not about the telephone. Even the word, telephone, is so…last millennium.

Now, it’s all about the apps…and the developers’ passions. Not to mention the passion of each and every iPhone owner. Each device is so customized, so specific to each user that it becomes special. Each owner makes it special, depending on his/her own interests, needs and passions.

Oh, and FaceTime?

It’s now. It’s tomorrow. It’s very Jetsons. And it works. Simply. It helped me endure some recent trips away from my family. Heck, it made them feel as if they were right there with me. It affected our quality of life. It brought us immeasurable joy.

So forget about those naysayers, haters and foes.

Congratulations on another extraordinary creation.


New Google Phone Service Whispers Targeted Ads Directly Into Users' Ears

Aw, c’mon now, it’s just meant to make you smile. Did it? Did the corners of your mouth turn up just a little?

I hope so.

Check out some of his remarks at this year’s All Things Digital Conference:

This one (above) is on the iPhone and the iPad.

And how about that whole Gizmodo mess?

Finally, watch him when talks about Google (below) and at the end softly says, “Just because we’re competing with somebody doesn’t mean we have to be rude.”

Wonderful. Very nice.

For more videos (brief enough to view selectively) click here.

My family and I got to work, shooting a week’s worth of video, full of different skits, shorts, and scenes. We had a blast. The vast majority of footage ended up on our cutting room floor. But I didn’t want it to completely go to waste. So I’m putting together bits and pieces of it, hoping you’ll find it entertaining.

Take, for example, something that started out to be an example of a technology segment but ended up sounding more like a commercial for an Apple product. So…yeah…we nixed it. Here it is:

And the title of the show? “Let’s Talk About It”? Turns out it’s nearly identical to Greg Grunberg’s charity effort he co-founded a while back, called Talk About It. So…even though, my daughter did a great job designing that logo, we all thought we should just stay away from it. Thanks anyway, sweetheart! You did a great job!!

Then there’s this one – where I just couldn’t keep a straight face when I tried to defend my qualifications to speak about parenting:

More to come (about the iPad as well as our cutting room floor clippings, some of which are quite amusing).

But for now, I’d appreciate your help over on my OWN show page. It would be a blast to host a talk show, but I still have a long way to go to get to the top.
Thanks!!

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I think that we can learn a great deal about collaboration and competition by watching this interview* (again?), especially now, in 2010. Let me know what you think.

Love it.

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It’s from 2007. Jobs and Steve Ballmer are expected to speak at this year’s D8, (the eighth annual All Things Digital Conference (June 1-3). For coverage click here.

The iPad.

Ahhh…soak in its loveliness.

My favorite part? It’s too hard to choose.
hi-res color iBooks, the keyboard dock, the revised iCal (that looks much better (and resembles my ancient (no, wait, did I ever actually use one of those?) Filofax)) or the ability to view all my apps on a larger screen.

Here are David Pogue’s first impressions.

Honestly? It is so very tempting for me. To say the least.

I was in a bus filled with middle school kids today and they were all atwitter, excitedly chattering away about how each and every one of them wanted to get an iPad. Mmmhmm.  Those naysayers on Twitter don’t know what they’re talking about.  This baby is going to be sizzling hot. I can feel it.

What about you?

Just another gadget you don’t need or want? Or are you dreaming about it and frequently thinking about it? Giving up your Kindle for this thing? Or sticking with your hardcover bestseller?

Hmmm….

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Some BlogHer attendees were a tad uncomfortable with items being placed in our rooms, but I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed these fresh flowers (which lasted for the duration of my stay).

Visit Wordless Wednesday HQ here

Also…
If you’re interested in my latest giveaway (over on my review site), Kijiji is giving away a $25 iTunes giftcard to one* of my readers. For a chance to win, just leave a comment over there telling me which iPhone/iPod Touch app you like most.

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*Winner’s address must be within the continental United States. Contest ends August 23, 2009.

For more information about the iPhone 3G s, read this or this.

Anyway…
my daughter knows I love Roger Federer, so when I got a new app called ColorSplash, she made this for me:

Original Image by Jonathan Fickies from the 2006 US Open

Nice.

What do you think?  How much do we influence our kids?

I remember arguing with Mac people, insisting that most of the software I bought was only made for PCs so I had to stick with them. My sisters were some of the strongest advocates for Macs. We would debate pros and cons until they would give up, throw their arms up in the air and say things like, "Suit yourself! Maybe someday you’ll understand."

Somehow, one of them convinced me to get an iPod for my hubby for his birthday. Shortly after that we bought our first Mac. It was one of those sleek, shiny MacBook devices. That Mac led to another iPod, then another Mac, then another iPod and, before I knew it, I was seeking out information on that mysterious new device that was supposed to change the way all phones were made – they called it the iPhone.

I wanted one, but I was not about to stand in line for hours to buy it. On a fateful night last June, we coincidentally decided to go out for dinner – to a restaurant in a shopping mall that just happened to have an Apple store. We passed by the unreasonably long lines as we walked to get to the restaurant, enjoyed a long, leisurely meal and started to head out to the car. But, in order to get to the car, well, we just had to walk past the Apple store again…but this time the pull was too much. It seemed like a huge, sleek, well-designed Mac magnet gripped me and wouldn’t let go.

"Oh, what the heck. Kids, go run over and see how long the line is," I commanded, without any idea where my boundary lay. Would I stand in line if the wait were 15 minutes? What about an hour? Two hours?

One of my kids ran back and excitedly reported, "Mom, the line is like nothing compared to what it was when we first got here. DD is already in line! Come on, Mom, you have to do it. You know how much you want one."

Mmm, err, yeah. I do…

In the next instant, I was hustling my way down the hall to the line where my daughter stood, smiling like she just caught a blue marlin . It’s so sweet when your kids are so … supportive. Isn’t it? Thanks, sweetie.

I’ll always remember the next thirty minutes of my life. Sounds crazy, maybe, but I will. The employees of that Apple store were so efficient, courteous and enthusiastic, I think they should provide instruction to places like Office Depot, Circuit City or even the Post Office. The line moved swiftly and, as I walked through the doors of the store, several Apple folks had their arms in the air, their hands poised to meet mine with a high five as they exclaimed, "Congratulations! You’re getting an iPhone!" It was exciting.

Then, I carried it home, waiting to make the opening into a moment. When I walked in the door, I just looked at the sleek, well-designed shopping tote specially made for the iPhone. I set it on the counter. Then, slowly, I reached down into it and lifted out the gorgeous, sleek, brilliantly-designed box. So small yet housing so much wonder and fun. The experience felt just slightly surreal.

Activation of my phone service was seamless, so within a very short period of time my iPhone was up and running.

Skip ahead a year or so and guess what? I still love my iPhone.

So when I heard the news about this new 3G iPhone being released July 11 all sorts of things raced through my mind.

Will it make mine obsolete? Am I essentially going to be penalized for being an early adopter? If so, how could they do this to me – a loyal Apple/Mac devotee. Will my iPhone be just another phone? A has-been? A good-for-a-year but rendered obsolete product? The kind of thing where the patient people who waited for the price to come down will look at those of us who jumped right in and say, "Yeah, see? You should’ve waited." More importantly, would I feel as if I had to buy another iPhone? Or, horror of horrors, even start considering other phones?

Then, just this week I read a wonderful article by David Pogue. You know, he’s the New York Times technology guru, better known in my family as the guy who had me singing the "I Want an iPhone" song (sung to the tune of Sinatra’s My Way) so much that my kids knew the whole song by heart.

Bottom line?

Owners of the original iPhone will reap the rewards of the new software, will be able to play new, exciting games, use a better (scientific) calculator and choose from a vast array of cool applications from the Apple App Store.

Yes!

The only thing we won’t have is the increased internet speed (2.4 x faster) from the third generation (3G) technology. But, I don’t mind. Would I like a faster connection? Sure! But, as mentioned in Pogue’s article, the network is not yet functional in much of the United States.

So, if you have an iPhone all you’ll have to do on Friday is sync your phone in your usual way, then update your iTunes and update your iPhone software and you’ll enjoy all sorts of new features, applications and games. Free!

Now I’m excited! I can’t wait to play Monkey Ball on my updated iPhone!!

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Here’s a link to a guided tour if you want more info…