So, what’s the verdict? Basically, “Where’s my Treo?”

The wheel navigation on the right has always been hard for me to navigate. That’s why I didn’t like my previous BlackBerry. Therefore, I use the touch pad on the front, but I really miss my Treo’s touch screen. A lot.

It is harder in Mobile 6 to customize my front screen and easy-access applications, but at least I can run TinyTwitter with the new CLR.

And get this: You have to hack the registry to change the home page on the browser. That’s right. You have to HACK THE REGISTRY to change the home page. Microsoft, you are already under a microscope. Do you have to make yourself a standing target? This is just bad.

Lastly, where is the mechanical mute switch? Oh, that’s right. There isn’t one. That means I get to fumble this thing like a hot potato in a meeting where I forgot to set vibrate mode. Jeez.

At least it makes phone calls.

I use Boot Camp to dual boot the machine between Windows and Leopard. I spend 10 sessions in Vista for every 1 session in Leopard.

The Mac has the best display I have ever seen on a laptop. It is gorgeous. It has the cleanest form factor of any piece of hardware I have ever owned. It is light. It is fast.

I carry a keyboard with me to do coding demos in public because the keyboard layout is tailored for Mac and cutting and pasting in Windows ties my fingers in knots.

I cannot get a full compliment of drivers for Vista 64 that will drive the machine to its fullest, so I run Vista 32, leaving 1G of RAM on the table unused.

I even use Audacity in Windows to publish the Elegant Code Cast, so I don’t use the multimedia love of the Mac.

So, what’s the bottom line? Did I make the right choice?

No. There are too many other decent hardware form factors out there on which I could love the keyboard and get my 4G of RAM. They are heavier machines than this one. They are often louder.

They are, however, more practical.

Duh.

And to think this came from Apple. Well, RealTek, actually.

Seriously, though. Let’s take a lesson from this. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. My wife reminds me of this frequently so I admit to being guilty of this from time to time. Like the bed I made for us when we were first married. It was solidly constructed of 2X4s and drywall screws.

Most thought leaders around elegant design agree that simple solutions often add more value. Is this simple? Is it valuable?  Personally, I find it more distracting than valuable. I would love to have an opportunity to speak with the product manager who okayed this feature into the product.

Elegant design often means walking away.

At the time of this writing, I am sadly using my MacBook Pro (MBP) running Vista x32, which is addressing only 3 of my available 4G of aftermarket RAM.

The attempt to install Vista 64 went swimmingly all through the Boot Camp process until some of the drivers failed to install properly. It turns out the incompatible drivers were for the both wireless and Ethernet network devices and the iSight built in camera on the MBP. While I can easily live without the trick camera in the laptop lid, I cannot function without network access.

A quick trip to the web (running OS X) revealed that although people were running Vista x64, few were doing so flawlessly. Although most of the problems I read from others trying to install Vista64 on their MBPs were regarding the ATI and video drivers, I experienced none of those issues. My screen looked great.

I hope Apple releases drivers for 64 bit Vista simply because it is frustrating to be unable to address that last 1G of RAM. Frankly, that is my one and only reason for wanting the OS.

I am running Vista 64 on my Dell and have actually run into a few issues installing software on the system, and I don’t need it for development projects. I am looking for the extra RAM for running VMs in Virtual PC. Although Parallels is great, I want to run the VMs released by MS to the development community.

I’m sure drivers will get out there. As soon as they do, I will be there with bells on. I should add that the installation of Vista x32 via Boot Camp was flawless.

Ships by: Oct 18 – Oct 22
Delivers by: Oct 22 – Oct 26

I haven’t been this excited to get a new piece of hardware since the VA made my custom prosthetic leg. I think Agile Joe Ocampo said it best, “Why wouldn’t I buy a MacBook Pro?”

Since Apple decided to offer a Leopard upgrade for $10 for Mac purchases made in October, I had to go ahead and jump. I will be comparing BootCamp to (dual boot to Vista 64) and Parallels to virtualize my Vista development environment.

The coolest thing about this purchase was the automated phone call from the credit card company to let us know that someone had just spent a lot of coin using our card that we never use. Now that is cool technology.

And! As if that weren’t bad enough, do you know that there are 2 startup sounds on Vista? One for when the login screen appears and yet another for when you login?

Lastly, did you know that one can set one’s login sound to a recording of Homer Simpson shuddering at the thought of Marge’s sister’s hairy legs?

Well, now we all know.

And laptops should have switches on them so that you can manually (without software) control the audio mute and volume. Christ, do you realize that when running iTunes I have 3 ways of lowering my volume that all rely on software? iTunes has a volume control, Windows sound applet from the control panel or system tray, and the buttons on the keyboard which are bound to volume controls in the OS, not simply within a hardware circuit.

Freakin’ gosh!

Technorati tags: Dell, Laptop, hardware

How is it? Well, it is an external hard drive with USB 2.0 and 500G of storage.  It is fine, I guess.  I put every MP3 and educational video I have on it and then I made a computer image of my laptop using the new Vista backup utility.

I still have room.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2110595,00.asp

So, what’s next?  The MIT Media Lab continues to crank out impractical wearable devices, but seems to be focusing more on mining data from wearable monitoring systems at the moment.

Here is a model for the perfect PC.

Controller Unit

The Module Integration Unit (MIU) hosts the CPU and storage space in a device that fits comfortably in a shirt pocket, although most people prefer to wear their MIUs on their belts.  The MIU projects a micro wireless network connecting peripherals via the signals riding the skin of my body.

Although most peripheral devices are functional without pairing to an MIU, the MIU provides connectivity and interaction between all peripherals.  Software is managed and state is stored here.

Video Display

Small video projection buds are mounted inside the earpieces of my off-the-shelf glasses frames.  The buds are mounted outside my line of sight, therefore they do not interfere with my standard vision.  The adjustable projection buds receive their power through the frame, not unlike track lighting.  The frames are powered from batteries discretely recessed into the ear pieces.

The buds project video onto the inside of the lenses.  My lenses are coated with a special film, not unlike the special UV coating that you pay extra for at LensCrafters.  This translucent coating allows the projection buds to cast a scaled video image onto my lenses and still see through them, a la a heads up display.

This technique allows translucent projection which means that I can leave the display on throughout the day.  Unobtrusive WorkSpace Gadgets (tm) sit permanently within my peripheral vision and display real time monitoring of such things as my biometric monitors (pulse, oxygen, blood pressure, blood sugar), my current location and direction, and quick access to Microsoft OneNote.

Sound

The in-ear audio buds provide excellent sound reproduction and sound amplification. Not only is my music on demand, but my video games are in perfect stereo, and I can amplify any natural sound that I have trouble hearing while filtering out ambient noise.

In place of an old fashioned microphone, micro-vibration pickup coils are included in the ear buds.  The pickup coils read my voice through vibrations traveling through my head, ensuring that I don’t need an external pickup device. 

This self contained audio system is perfect considering that it is standalone and works well without the video projection addition.  The audio system receives signals from the MIU and is a much easier telephone to operate than the old ones that had buttons and external devices.

Input

No idea I come up with will be more practical than the far out ideas that have not yet panned out for alternative input techniques.  No other aspect of HCI (Human Computer Interaction) has been studied more than alternative input devices. 

Other than carrying around a keyboard, I got nothing here.  I will leave this to the wizards that have a shot of solving this problem.

Conclusion

This stuff feels like it is right around the corner, just like it did 15 years ago.  Do you know who is closest to a vision that competes with this?  I’d like to watch the evolution more closely.

I am very excited at the prospect of ubiquitous computing.  Is it really so much to ask?

Introducing my new Treo 700W. Woooo Hoooo!  This thing is awesome!

I am now able to take voice memos, listen to podcasts, use Instant Messenger, reasonably use a blue tooth headset, and (oh yeah) make a phone call with one device.

The interface of Windows Mobile and the integration of Office Mobile is so clean that I can use it without the stylus if I have must.  I cannot believe I have lived this long without a device like this.  I do have to say though, that if you can get through your day without a similar device I envy you.  I had 2 days last week that I came it at 8:00, but didn’t turn on my laptop until after 1:00.  That’s a typical day of meetings for me and I need something like the Treo to get me from one place to another without missing an appointment.

The only 2 downers so far:

1. To listen to podcasts, I have to use a wired single ear phone mike/headset.  This is because there is no standard headphone jack on the device.  I’d really like a way to listen with both ears .  It’s a fair trade for everything else.
2. The battery life could be better.  With heavy use, I can kill this battery during the course of a day, so I will order an 1800mAh aftermarket battery next week.

All in all, I love this thing.