Master Dilettante

I know I’ve been complaining a lot about my iPhone.  Apple products are supposed to just work — that’s their brand — and this one just hasn’t, at least not for me.  But I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of technology torture, and just about everything’s working now, if not the way I would have liked originally.  I’m going to recount in the next few posts my trials and tribulations and how I overcame them.

Recall my most recent complaints:  (1) abysmal battery life and (2) broken Microsoft Exchange integration.

I was sometimes getting less than 5 hours of battery life, even after Apple replaced my unit with a new one.  Firmware 2.1 plus some more prudent battery conservation practices have all but solved #1.  I’ve read too many articles, blog posts and discussion board threads on this to recount.  Plus, I’ve finally succumbed to logical suggestions — most of which I daresay I had heard already — from BW and ES.  Here’s what’s worked for me:

First, I’m only fetching data now, and only hourly.  Such is the disappointment of and lowered expectations in performance of the iPhone 3G that the very reason for buying it — push — is what must be disabled to provide more reasonable battery life.  I’m not even upset that I don’t get push, because it was working so poorly — that battery-killing wheel seemed to be spinning constantly — and I’m so grateful for longer battery life.

Second, I’ve slightly reduced the number of accounts from which I’m fetching data.  I have work Exchange, Yahoo, Gmail and MobileMe accounts.  Instead of fetching data from all of them, I’m forwarding Gmail to Yahoo and fetching from Yahoo.  I use MobileMe only for calendar and contacts syncing, so I have it set up but never check that email.  And I’m even fetching from my work email account.  I came to terms with the fact that I don’t need push email to distract me in meetings, and I already get push when sitting in front of my destop with Outlook open.

Third, I’ve turned brightness down fairly low.  Even with a protective film on the glass, it’s still bright enough for me.

Fourth, I’ve left Bluetooth and Location Services on.  I use my Bluetooth headset to and from work every day, it’s too much of a pain to go into Settings to deactivate and activate it repeatedly, and I’m not convinced it’s a drain on the battery.  For Location Services, much of the time I have this off, but I just end up switching it on when prompted when using Google Maps or some other geo-aware application that calls for it.

Finally, I’ve left both 3G and Data Roaming turned on.  As eBay alumnus Ryan Spoon notes, push has a much greater effect on battery life than 3G.  I know at least one other iPhone 3G owner — ES –  who switches off 3G not because of the perceived battery life drain but because he believes the network is unreliable and results in dropped calls.  I’m accessing the Internet often enough that I want the speed from its being on all the time.

The net effect?  I can go over a day without recharging.  And I don’t live in constant fear of a sudden drained-battery-induced shutdown.  Frackin’ fantastic.  Reasonable battery life?  Check!

Next, I’ll bemoan the complete failure of Exchange integration, my data sync requirements and then the awkward but functioning solutions I’ve devised.

Some of you may know that I’ve been having myriad problems with my iPhone 3G, mostly around rapidly deteriorating battery life and inability to restore from backup.

Today, Apple released the new 2.1 firmware, and it’s broken my Exchange integration.  Right now, I have no calendar, no contacts and no email — the unit is useless to me without these core functions.  I’ve tried deleting the Exchange account and re-adding it, but that doesn’t help.  Apple support forums indicate that at least a few others are experiencing the same problem.  Frankly, I’m sick of the inability of the iPhone to perform basic functions, and I’m seriously thinking about switching back to BlackBerry.

Two reasons to buy Apple products:  (1) They just work and (2) sex appeal.  So far, (1) is absent leaving my iPhone decidely unsexy. 

A good friend of mine just asked me which Bluetooth headset she should get. I’ve done a fair amount of research here, bought a few too many devices myself and actually had planned to post reviews of the BlueAnt Z9 and the Plantronics Discovery 925. I’m going to skip those reviews and instead copy-paste my response to my friend right here:

What are your requirements? Are you thinking of a wireless Bluetooth headset?

J.I. just got the original Jawbone, which has come down in price quite a bit, particularly since a new model has been released. I wrote three blog posts on the original Jawbone, with mixed reviews: http://www.joonsookim.com/blog/?s=jawbone.

In general, I think you should be considering (1) sound quality, both receiving and transmitting, (2) ease of use, (3) physical comfort/fit and (4) durability.

Here’s what I think the options are:

I’ve looked at reviews of other Bluetooth headsets. Some folks like various Motorola versions. My sense is that these four above are among the best if not the best. Certainly, the BlueAnt and the Jawbone receive the highest acclaim.

Lemme know if you have more questions!

With this said, I continue to get some feedback that the Plantronics Discovery 925 transmitting sound quality can be spotty. I’ll likely check out the Jawbone NinjaAssassin at some point and will let you know how that goes.

I’ve been the proud, delighted owner of my 16MB white iPhone 3G for a week now. I love it. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its drawbacks. And I find that many of my complaints are around the absence of functionality I had on my BlackBerry Pearl. Following my first impressions, here’s what Apple could do that would make me say, “What BlackBerry?”

Must Have:

• Improve the battery life. The battery life is so bad that I find myself now becoming accustomed to charging my iPhone throughout the day. Granted, my usage is high. I ran the unit several times until it shut down to maximize battery life as an Apple Genius recommended. But any handheld communications-organization device needs to be able to run from the time I wake until the time I sleep. End of story.
• To-Do List/Notes Sync. I used Notes and the To-Do List (the “NextAction” add-on) extensively on my BlackBerry, and they integrated beautifully with Outlook, including Outlook Exchange Web mail. Now, I remain in a quandary as to what to do with the iPhone. I’m looking at Evernote, EasyTask Manager and OmniFocus as replacements (I’m a partial GTD adherent), but none solve all of the problems I have. (More on GTD applications to come).
• Copy/Cut-Paste. It’s beyond my understanding why this is not available.
• More Robust Email. The litany of issues is too long to enumerate. BlackBerry is way better, period. This is essential if Apple wants to steal share in the enterprise market.
• Voice Dialing. Especially in California, where headsets are now required by law when driving, easy dialing while in the car is essential. Favorites, Recents, Contacts — all of these are too difficult to use when driving. I’ve tried the SpeechCloud Voice Dialer application and it (1) isn’t a dialer - it’s a voice recognition lookup tool and (2) it doesn’t work well. In 4-5 tries, it never found the name I was seeking, and I then uninstalled it. In general, contact and phone number lookup on the iPhone require too many keystrokes, and the ease of use of the basic phone function is less than ideal.
• Overall Stability. My iPhone crashes. Not infrequently. Usually when flipping among applications. An open platform is great. It’s got to be more stable that this.

Nice to Have:

• IR Beam. Remember the Palm V? I do. I’d love better capability to transmit data from phone-to-phone.
• Video Recording. This isn’t that important to me, but I look forward to the day.

I’m still a satisifed promoter of the iPhone and look forward to future improvements. It’s been a week, and I’m still having fun.

Here’s what I’m loving so far:

• Evernote — This is a pre-existing capture-organize-search application new to me. Take notes, photos, voice notes. Among the many potential uses, I’m taking photos of random scraps of paper I’ve had lying around, tagging them for Evernote and then tossing ‘em. Love it.
• WritingPad — You’ve got to try this to understand it. It’s faster than the keyboard but lacks the magnifying glass cursor placement. Getting to numbers and symbols is a bit of a pain, but for sheer input speed, it’s cool.
• Twitteriffic — Who knew I had so much nonsense to say? (Yes, yes, everyone).
• Pandora — I was using this Web-based before. The iPhone application is great. It’s already changing how people regard radio.

Check these out!

Over a year ago I endorsed the Jawbone Bluetooth headset with unbridled enthusiasm. At the time, it was clearly superior to any other Bluetooth noise reduction headset. Not too soon after I bought it, my enthusiasm subsided and I reluctantly acknowledged a few concerns. Yet I remained satisfied.

Now, over a year later, events since then and the emergence of competing products prompt this reassessment.

Last year, I articulated my evaluative criteria: (1) sound quality, both receiving and transmitting, (2) comfort/fit/usability and (3) durability. I rated the Jawbone as outstanding in sound quality, I was noncommital with regard to fit, and I questioned its durability.

I stand by my assessment of transmitting sound quality, and reports are that the new Jawbone NoiseAssassin has much improved receiving sound quality.

However, I grew more and more dissatisfied with the fit the longer I used the original Jawbone. No matter which ear bud or ear loop I tried, I could never get a reasonably comfortable, snug fit in my ear; the Jawbone always felt as if it might fall.

On top of this, the usability and/or durability of the Jawbone wasn’t up to snuff. I’d originally broken my first one by a single short drop to the floor. Next, I found difficulty getting the Jawbone to charge. The awkward fit between the charger and the Jawbone port was a difficult marriage to make. Even using different chargers, sometimes I simply couldn’t get the Jawbone to fit and charge. Finally, the last straw for me was when the Jawbone would appear to charge but simply wouldn’t power on or function anymore.

Now, the NoiseAssassin is sexier in its sleekness, but I’m reading even more criticisms of its hit or miss fit. (I think this is the downside of relying on a heralded designer — the wrong designer will emphasize aesthetics over function). Apparently, Jawbone recognized the charger issues and has addressed them. But at this point, I’m once bitten and twice shy about trying the Jawbone again.

Oddly, I remain a promoter of the Jawbone. I’ve found that no headset is perfect. But I’ve since parted company with Aliph and its products and moved on to other alternatives. More on my quest for the perfect headset very soon.

After 6 hours spent at 6 different retail locations over 3 days from Southern to Northern California, I finally have my iPhone 3G!

I switched from my BlackBerry Pearl once Apple removed my primary barrier to adoption — lack of push email and calendar — and I am overlooking the challenging keyboard and lack of notes/to-do list sync.

I’ll miss the dedicated convenience of my Pearl, but “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”* between me and my iPhone.

The good:

• It’s cool and gorgeously, super sexy.
• The usability, both setup and ongoing use, is extremely good.
• The open platform and applications significantly increase the utility.
• 3G is pretty darn quick.
• The GPS is sweet. I could drive around all day just watching my car on the map. (Dork, I know)
• I do love it and am having a ton of fun.

The bad:

• On balance, I still believe Apple botched the launch weekend. Even aside from the long queues and the likely artificially suppressed inventory at AT&T stores, Apple made two critical mistakes: (1) Apple should have been better prepared for the server traffic from the iPhone 2.0 software upgrades and new 3G purchases. Apple now has placed itself in a position where it is offering mission-critical services to individuals and businesses. Effective outages (from bricked phones) and activation slownesses of the lengths experienced Friday are inexcusable and unforgivable. (2) Requiring that users with corporate accounts or discounts activate only at AT&T stores resulted in horrible customer experiences and undermines Apple’s entire strategy of acquiring business users. Business users require convenience, and the need to go to an AT&T store was decidedly inconvenient.
• Battery life on 3G is atrociously bad. I had a full overnight charge, started using the iPhone at 7:00 a.m., and my battery already is 30% drained. Granted, I’m using the thing a ton and haven’t optimized power consumption yet, but still . . . it needs to make it easily on one charge from the time I wake until the time I sleep.
• As with all things Apple, when things go wrong, you have few options and much frustration. Ringtones purchased on iTunes wouldn’t play at first. I’m frequently prompted to re-enter my iTunes password. A song spontaneously started playing this morning. Once I synced with my Outlook calendar through Exchange, I found that I have two calendars, including one that contains events from four years ago. The device has rebooted spontaneously a few times. It’s frozen a couple times inexplicably. In all these cases, your options and explanations and guidance from Apple are few.
• The touchscreen is great, but I have a hard time believing a touchscreen keyboard will ever be as good as a keyboard with tactile buttons.

Tips:

• The solution for freezing in some cases is to soft reset the device by simultaneously pressing and holding the power/sleep and home buttons for 30 seconds.
• I’ve found that the MacRumors Forums contain a wealth of information on troubleshooting. Just about every problem I’ve encountered, someone else encountered first.
• Apple’s site has a helpful page on battery optimization, although many of the suggestions are to disable the core functions that make the 3G worth getting.

On balance, I’m loving my new toy. Just remember: The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.

* Humphrey Bogart’s “Jack” in “Casablanca”

Unless you’re totally unplugged or otherwise hiding under a rock, you should know by now that Apple has released a new “iTunes Plus” (version 7.2) that allows for the purchase of DRM-free (Digital Rights Management-free) music. Once you download the new iTunes Plus, you can now download DRM-free music, particularly music from EMI, for $1.29 per song (as opposed to the typical $0.99 per song). You can also upgrade existing DRM-protected songs and albums for $0.30 per song.

It completely sucks eggs for three reasons:

• It doesn’t work. When you download the new version, in-product messaging indicates how many songs you have that are DRM-protected and gives you the option to upgrade them. Fewer songs than you would expect are DRM-protected. Of the 391 songs I’ve purchased from Apple, only 35 are available for upgrade. I understand that the servers may be busy given the popularity of this new release, but I have now been trying to upgrade these 35 songs CONTINUOUSLY FOR THREE DAYS and I keep getting this error message for each song: “‘There was a problem downloading “[song]“. An unknown error occurred (504). Please check that the connection to the network is active and try again.’” Now, don’t the Apple TV advertisements promise no cryptic messages? PROMISE BROKEN. I have no idea what this means, and my iTunes is now completely debilitated as it tries futilely to download just 35 songs. It appears to have downloaded 7 songs in three days, but I have no idea even whether the downloads worked, frankly. It is taking FOREVER.
• DRM-free does not mean device freedom. DRM-free effectively means that you can now play your Apple Stores-downloaded music on non-iPod devices that also support play of music saved in Apple’s proprietary AAC format. So what? If you have one of those non-iPod devices, you probably download music from another source. If you have only an iPod, the DRM-free music provides you no incremental benefit.
• iTunes Plus prevents AAC-to-MP3 conversion. Before the recent release, you could download a song through iTunes and then burn a disc in MP3 format. This function allowed you to play the disc on a CD player — such as my car stereo — that supported MP3 but not AAC. Now, as Boing Boing reports, you cannot do this. Lame!

Perhaps I’m missing something, but I’ve been completely disappointed in and frustrated by iTunes Plus so far — the first time I’ve ever had complaint with iTunes.

Contact lenses companies seem to release new products each year, and I’m usually skeptical about their claims of year-over-year improvements. However, if you’re at all like me when it comes to eye care, you rely heavily on the recommendations of your optometrist. And when my optometrist describes a new product as potentially “more comfortable” or “better for your eyes,” I am going to tend to try it.

For the past two years, I’ve worn Ciba Vision’s Focus Dailies single-use, daily-disposable lenses, and my optometrist just recommended I try Johnson & Johnson Vision Care’s new, 1-Day Acuvue Moist lenses. I’ve worn soft, daily disposable lenses for a few years now, for convenience (to eliminate the need for cleaning and storage) and safety (from minimal contamination from handling and protein buildup). For a week, at my optometrist’s design, I wore an Acuvue lense in one eye and a Ciba Vision lense in the other.

I have mixed judgments on the 1-Day Acuvue Moist lenses.

The new 1-Day Acuvue Moist lenses do work well with regard to the one attribute that matters most to me: comfort. They are, indeed, more comfortable than my existing Focus Dailies, although my optometrist estimated that around 50% of his patients perceive them as an improvement over other lenses and the other 50% detect no difference. By “comfortable,” I mean two things: (1) the Ciba lense was more palpably more noticeable in my eye and more irritable if dust were beneath it — relative to the Acuvue lense and (2) the Acuvue lense was noticeably less dry at night.

However — and this is a bit difficult to describe — although the 1-Day Acuvue Moist lenses are less noticeable in the eye and dry out less towards the end of the day, I am experiencing the sensation that my eyes are getting slightly less oxygen throughout the day. I’m speculating that this perception is because the Acuvue lenses are 58% water content, whereas the Focus Dailies are 69% water content. Two other drawbacks are (1) delicacy and (2) cost.

Likely due to the technology that makes the lenses “moist,” the 1-Day Acuvue Moists collapse or fold more easily when handling (less rigid) than the Focus Dailies and are slightly more susceptible to dislodgement, for example, if you rub your eye.

Also, the cost is steep. A year supply of Ciba’s Focus Dailies costs $368. After a $200 rebate Ciba presently is offering and the $140 my Vision Service Plan covers, the next cost to me is just $28. The 1-Day Acuvue Moist lenses, new that they are, cost a whopping $638 for a year’s supply. After a rebate and the VSP contribution, the net cost to me $423. Frankly, my optometrist is charging usurious prices, and I expect a little research would reveal better deals online.

On balance, comfort is important enough to me and the increased overall comfort was enough that I’m making the switch from the Focus Dailies to the 1-Day Acuvue Moist lenses. To his credit, my optometrist left the decision to me and actually counseled against a switch unless I noticed a significant difference.

If all you’d like to know is my impression of the 1-Day Acuvue Moist lenses, stop reading here. If you’d like to learn a tad bit more about how these lenses work and about basic contact lense information, continue reading.

__________________________

You may know that contact lenses may be characterized on a number of different dimensions, including:

• Function (corrective, cosmetic, etc.)
• Construction Material (plexiglass or Lucite (”hard”), water-containing plastic (”soft”) or waterless plastic (”rigid gas permeable”)
• Wear time (typically daily or weekly)
• Frequency of replacement (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, yearly)
• Design (spherical or toric, etc.)

Here, we’re discussing corrective, soft, daily-wear, daily-replace lenses, despite arguments that rigid gas permeable lenses are better. For soft lenses, different manufacturer use different plastics, including, but not limited to: Lotrafilcon B, Nelfilcon A, Balafilcon A and Etafilcon A. The plastics are all gas-permeable and contain water.

The source of the increased comfort in the 1-Day Acuvue Moists is Acuvue’s unique and proprietary “LACREON™” technology that “permanently embeds a water-holding ingredient, similar to that found in natural tears, into the proven etafilcon A material.” In other word, the Acuvue Moist lenses permanently hold water around the lense (see below).

Ciba Vision, which introduced Focus Dailies in 1997 and was the market leader as recently as March 2006 (I’m too lazy to find current measures), employs a different technology: “AquaRelease.” The Ciba Vision Web site explains:

“New Focus DAILIES with AquaRelease provide time-release comfort. A moisturizer, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), is released slowly (through pumping and shearing action) from the lens into the tear film, where the PVA lubricates the lens to increase comfort (Figure 1). The distribution of AquaRelease begins to diminish at the end of the day, which helps ensure compliance with the recommended wearing schedule.”

Because my eyes tend to dry out towards the end of the day, the Acuvue Moists, with the persistent water embedding, has greater appeal to me than the time-release technology of the Focus Dailies.

Additional Resources:

• Acuvue’s Contact Lenses 101
• Ciba Vision Web site
• Discussion on advantages & disadvantages of different types of lenses
• Consumer Guide to Contact Lenses

It’s here!

Just two days ago I wrote that I was making the switch from PC to Mac. I had ordered an iMac Monday through my friend Lisa and was told to expect it “by the end of the month.” Aiyah! I require instant gratification! Imagine my delight when Lisa called me this afternoon to let me know the package already had arrived!

So far, so great. My early thoughts:

• The out-of-box experience is phenomenal. My friend Emily suggested I photograph each step of the process, but, hey, this was like unwrapping presents on Christmas, and I had no patience for documentation. Open the top of the box (~24 in. height x 23 in. width x 10 in. depth), and the first thing seen is a smaller 11 in. x 5.5 in. x 1.5 in. box labeled simply “Designed by Apple in California.” Centered inside this smaller box is a pamphlet labeled “Everything Mac” and an identically-sized sleeve beneath it labeled “Everything Else.” The “Everything Mac” pamphlet is a quick start guide containing simple, clear, illustrated startup instructions. The “Everything Else” package includes the warranty and two backup installation disks. Flanking these items are Apple’s Mighty Mouse on one side and the remote control on the other. The only other three items in the overall box, all carefully and cleanly packed in Styrofoam, were the keyboard, the power cord and, of course, the iMac itself. Utter minimalist simplicity. Just beautiful.
• Startup is as easy as advertised. Plug one end of the power cord into the back of the iMac and the other into an outlet. Connect the Ethernet cable. Connect the keyboard to the iMac and the Mighty Mouse to the keyboard. Press the power button. A few startup and registration screens later, and I was opening Safari (the Mac’s Internet browser) and surfing the Internet. That’s it. Really. I timed the entire process from the moment I opened the top of the box; it took 10 minutes, and only that long because I was taking particular care with the unpacking and placement of items on my desk and marveling at the clarity of the user interface. Shockingly easy.
• I just joined a fun fan club. Usually, I eschew online registrations and avoid mailing lists like the plague. With this first Apple, I was happy to provide contact information during registration and to opt into mailing lists. I wanted to be known and to know. Can you imagine thinking such things with a Dell or a Sony?
• Bigger is better (for displays). I thought my Vaio (PCG-K13) screen was huge compared to the tiny screen of the Dell laptop (Latitude D410) I have for work. This 20-inch iMac dwarfs those. This is not unique to Mac — of course, larger displays can be had for any computer — but it’s still contributing to the delight I’m experiencing.
• Small is beautiful (for footprints). With the CPU, display and disk drive all combined in a single unit, this desktop hardly takes more space on my desk than my Vaio did. Efficient.

Again, so far, so great! The two early drawbacks I noticed:

1. Installation of new applications was marginally confusing. I installed Firefox and Skype during the first 30 minutes but experienced minor difficulty getting their icons to persist in the Dock. I expect to be able to do this more efficiently with familiarity.
2. The ergonomic designs of the keyboard and mouse aren’t very good. I think the spacing of the keys on the keyboard is too close, but I’m prone to think that because I use a Goldtouch keyboard at work. The mouse doesn’t feel great either, but I’m prone to think that, too, because I use a Whale Mouse at the office. I expect I’ll replace both Mac input devices to suit my idiosyncratic needs.

Overall, I’m very happy and looking forward to learning how to play with my new toy!