Sometimes I get a feeling that Japan gets away with the coolest gadgets (which isn't really the case I assure you, as was the case with 1G iPhone and XO laptop). Apparently the above USB-Tachikoma can connect to the Japanese Windows OS (no love for linux???) and do some minigames, hang around the desktop, and inform the user of any new emails using their cute Tachikoma voice. I've tried looking for one, but the GS4U website seem to be out of stock. The photo and the article come from way back, so I guess it can't be helped.
Speaking of gadgets, the amazon is going strong with their XO laptop give one get one program since this monday. I have some pocket money (a bonus for a job well done), so I was thinking about buying a cool new gadget/book to satisfy my cravings (curses, this hollow consumerist society!)... I have around ten or so books I'm laying my eyes on that I'll be picking up dirt-cheap from the Strand bookstore, a lovely benefit of living in middle of NYC. As for gadgets, I'm trying to decide between an iPhone and a XO laptop... Both of them can be used for my work, so I'm not entirely wasting my money away. :)
iPhone is more refined of the two devices, with beautiful human interface design, OS X, and a plethora of applications available for free or for real cheap that can be directly attributed to my work at the lab (though I must note that most science apps on the iPhone seem to lean toward the biology side of things. When will physicists get some love from the Apple community?). It's light, it's portable, the benefits of the machine goes on and on. XO laptop on the other hand, is a little clunky. I love the little machine (I've had chance to use both the iPhone and the XO laptop first hand), from its kid-friendly design to some amazing engineering employed in construction of the machine itself. It's only that at this stage the laptop is still a bit rough around the edges from the bits of bug in the OS to some tweak necessary to turn it into a fully functioning work-capable machine... Also, considering the nature of the laptop, it's not much more powerful compared to the iPhone's computational capacity, as odd as it might sound.
On the surface, iPhone is really a winner. Being a phone it's connectivity is ever present, and it's more mobile compared to a full laptop, no matter how small it might be. Since I'm already a AT&T customer the monthly bills are not much of an issue... Yet when I sit down and think about it there's this pesky issue of philosophy. The popularity of iPhone is not built on its novelty multitouch/design factor. It;s the extensive software library available for the phone... As you can see I'm more of a google Android type of person you see :P Seriously, the matter of openness on hardware platform is something I'm rather concerned with, so the claustrophobic software landscape espoused by Apple isn't something I feel comfortable supporting by buying their product... Compared to the iPhone, XO laptop is the platonic ideal of software freedom materialized. And it's ever-hackable.
If I was only a few years younger I would have snapped up the XO-laptop in a heartbeat.... Now that I have a full time research job now I just don't think I can spend the amount of time required for me to do all the DIY stuff required to fix the XO laptop to fit my usability profile though. Sigh, choices choices. Maybe I should just be grateful that I eve have time to type up something like this on a weekday?
No comments:
Post a Comment