iPhone Lover

I absolutely love my iPhone. In some respects, I am an Apple fanboy. However, I do not think the iPhone (like the Mac computer) is for everyone. The best thing about it is the overall UI (user interface). It’s so pretty! Everything about it from running applications to merging phone calls is beautifully designed and executed. The worst thing about the iPhone is the required AT&T contract. At least in Boston, AT&T phone service sucks. I don’t even get service in parts of the Emerson campus!

There are definitely aspects of most smartphones that the iPhone has been missing (like video and MMS), but the new iPhone 3GS and OS 3.0 have made many improvements. And I know the phone is very much still in development. I hesitate in even calling it a “phone” as it’s not so much a phone as it is a media platform/mobile computer.



My Top Ten Must-Have (Free!) Apps:

1) TwitterFon – Best free Twitter client.

2) Facebook – If you feel the need to stalk your friends when you’re away from a computer.

3) Skype – Talk to other Skype users for free over wi-fi or call anyone in the world for a small fee.

4) Evernote – The mobile version that syncs with your online account to help you “remember everything.”

5) The Weather Channel - Current weather forecast with radar tracker and video updates.

6) CardStar – Never carry another store membership card again with this fully-scannable barcode generator.

7) Urbanspoon – A fun way to shake for restaurant suggestions in your area.

8) Zenbe Lists – A great, simple to-do list maker that syncs with an online account.

9) Backgrounds – Never get bored with these really cool designs to use as your iPhone wallpaper.

10) WordPress – A must-have for the avid blogger on-the-go.

(This post was written with the WordPress app on my iPhone to demonstrate its awesomeness.)



- extraordinarIAN

WWDC09

Today is the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference 2009. I’m mad excited about it because they are definitely going to publicly launch the new iPhone OS 3.0, Snow Leopard, and (hopefully!) a new iPhone.

Everything up to this point has been speculation as people rarely know what Apple will actually present during the keynote address. (Sometimes I don’t think even Apple knows what Apple is going to do.) That being said, the rumors have been making my mouth water.

I knew the event started at 10am, but what I didn’t realize was that is in Pacific Standard Time. That means that it doesn’t start here on the East Coast until 1pm. So unfortunately, I’ll be at work during unveiling.

However, both Engadget and Gizmodo are liveblogging the event. Be sure to track the happenings live. (I know I will be.)

- extraordinarIAN

Digital Transition

I didn’t actually change my major, but I did change my “specialization.” I was accepted to Emerson College as a Media Production: Film major and last year I switched it to Media Production: Interactive Media.

So what the heck is Interactive Media?

You know, I don’t have a clear definition of what it is so I usually adjust my answer depending upon the circumstance I find myself in. It’s sort of like having a degree in “liberal arts.” According to my school’s website:

The specialization in Interactive Media provides students with the opportunity to produce creative and professional-quality interactive works. While the emphasis in the specialization will be on production, the student will encounter various concepts of digital interactive media. Introducing Web design, non-linear narrative structure, databases, and user-defined functions, students make innovative, artistic pieces for DVD, CD-ROM and the Web.

I was taught in elementary school never to define a word with the word, but I guess college-level academia is excused from that kind of minutiae. But whatever “interactive media” really is, it is something I’m really interested in and it sure sounds cool.

Why the sudden shift?

1) Changing interests. To keep it simple, I started becoming increasingly interested in so-called “new media” as in blogs, social networks, user-generated content, etc. and I ultimately realized I preferred being on the computer more than being behind the camera.

2) Breaking the mold. Emerson’s VMA (Visual & Media Arts) program is huge. Almost half of the students here are film majors. While the program itself is fantastic, it is also very cookie-cutter. The school’s curriculum is practically designed around teaching student’s narrative structure. Students are expected to take the same “film” classes (see #4) as all the other film majors and then they fill the same Hollywood internships that the recent grads did. I just felt as though I was being stifled of my individuality in choosing a career path.

3) Spanning worlds. Interactive Media is in-between video and new media so I’m not technically in the New Media department, although most of my junior and senior-level classes are with the New Media majors. Many of the film majors (but not all) are very egotistical. They believe they are going to be the next Steven Spielberg or Stanley Kubrick. (I wonder how long it will take for reality to sink in…) Although the New Media kids tend to be more artsy (which can also be irksome at times), they are definitely more laid-back.

4) Digital transition. The reason I tell most people who ask me why I switched my major, I say (truthfully) that I didn’t want to take any of the film classes that are required of a Film major. How does that make any sense? Well it makes sense when I say that the mandatory film classes (Film Production I and Film Production II) require the use of Bolex cameras, 16mm film, Steenbeck editors, and the like and I really didn’t feel like bothering with vintage technology. The new movement in Hollywood is digital and HD. Sure, there are still “film purists” out there, but the practicality of shooting on celluloid filmstock is rapidly diminishing. The reality of the business is that you must adapt to new technologies and shooting on a Bolex is a step backward. I’d rather go forward than back.

That’s probably more about my major than you ever needed to know.



- extraordinarIAN