Category: All Things Geek

Geeks are looking to the future by their very nature

Today’s Star Wars Items

Carl Setzer

Interesting that today brought me not one, but two Star Wars items.

  1. I came across David Brin’s collections of essays putting Star Wars…well, George Lucas…on trial: Star Wars On Trial. I feel some weakening of my geek-cred since I’ve never even heard of this collection.
  2. My friends over at Geekwire posted this piece about the upcoming Kinect Star Wars game. This will certainly be an affront to the Star Wars faithful. Perhaps if you liked Jar-Jar, you’ll be ok with this.

I’d never considered the controversy around Star Wars. Ok, I’ve heard the debates about the prequels, and then the whole Shatner incident. Maybe you have. Let me know. Otherwise, just another weird, drippy day here in the great Puget Sound basin.

Animated Physics

Carl Setzer

Piled Higher & Deeper comics created a great animation to go along with an interview with Jonathan Feng. A fun look at where we in the realm of physics research. If you’re a physics geek, though, you’ll be a bit bored as it’s very high-level. But the animations that go with this are still worth watching.

Dark Matters from PHD Comics on Vimeo.

Star Wars Exhibit

Carl Setzer

We went to the Pacific Science Center’s member’s preview for theirStar Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination production. As a (nearly) life-long Star Wars fan, it was a delight to be part of. Many other geeks my age were there; I’m pretty sure there were more adults than kids. The official show starts today, and I expect the attendance to be more balanced.

Microsoft Challenges the iPod (Again) – New York Times

Carl Setzer

Microsoft Challenges the iPod (Again) – New York Times

I’m glad Microsoft is getting going in this space; it’ll serve to keep Apple honest and not take us for granted. Competition is good, blah, blah. Apple is (hopefully) not going to make the same mistake as they did in the desktop wars of the 80’s.

Apple Waves Its Wand at the Phone – New York Times

Carl Setzer

Apple Waves Its Wand at the Phone – New York Times

One of a zillion articles on the debut of the iPhone. Dave Pogue has one key piece missing from most others: he’s actually handled one (albiet for around an hour). I really appreciate Pogue’s review, especially in lieu of the aforementioned point. If you’re excited by the thing, this a great piece to give you some insight about how the thing actually works. With that in mind, another good piece on all of this is over at Treonauts. They’ve done a great job comparing the Treo 680 and the iPhone.

Another good piece to read is this one at the NY Times. It gives a good explanation about Cingular’s motivations in all this. In here, I have one point to argue with Roger Entner an analyst with Ovum Research (Ovum? Anyway…). He’s arguing that the price point ($499) will limit its appeal. He needs to look at the iPod, and how it was introduced. I would gamble that Apple has several lower cost options in the works (the iPhone Mini and Nano?), which it will release after it has solidly grabbed the “cool” market. The iPod was quite expensive to start, which ensured it was the domain of the chic. Notice, too, that Apple always has something in the spendy category, keeping the elite fueled with ego stoking while expanding the product’s reach.

It looks to me that the keyboard will be the key marketing grounds for these devices (remember, the iPhone has the virtual one). Though I’m filled with gadget lust for one of these, it’s hard for me to ignore price (I can get an unlocked 680 for the low end price for an iPhone. It is my deepest hope that the iPhone will kick start Palm, Motorola, RIM and the rest to redouble their efforts. It’s very clear that Apple’s here for the long-haul and will innovate the pants off of anyone slacking. To my chums at Palm, look closely (and quickly) at the iPhone, then get to WORK. You have the best chance to really compete.